United Therapeutics oznámila pozitivní výsledky fáze III pro Tyvaso u IPF, což podporuje plánované podání doplňkové žádosti u FDA. Firma zároveň cílí na roční tržby ve výši 4 miliard USD do konce roku 2027.
Key Takeaways UTHR reported positive phase III results for Tyvaso in IPF, supporting a planned FDA supplemental filing.UTHR plans an FDA filing for ralinepag after phase III success & targets $4B annual revenue run rate by 2027.UTHR is advancing organ manufacturing while facing growing competition for its core PAH therapies. Shares of United Therapeutics (UTHR - Free Report) have gained 14% year to date against the industry’s 0.8% decline, driven by major clinical breakthroughs and improved long-term growth visibility that have significantly strengthened investor confidence.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
UTHR’s Meaningful Pipeline Expansion Encourages InvestorsInvestor sentiment has been boosted by encouraging progress across United Therapeutics' pipeline.
The company is expanding nebulized Tyvaso beyond its approved pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD) indications into larger pulmonary fibrosis markets such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF). The company's IPF development program consists of two pivotal phase III studies, TETON-1 and TETON-2. The studies share a similar design, differing primarily in their geographic scope. TETON-1 was conducted at sites across the United States and Canada, while TETON-2 enrolled patients at sites outside these countries.
In March 2026, the company announced positive results from the late-stage TETON-1 study, which achieved its primary endpoint by demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in lung function for patients with IPF. The magnitude of benefit observed in TETON-1 exceeded the already strong outcomes previously reported in TETON-2, representing a significant advancement for patients with IPF.
Positive phase III data from both the TETON-1 and TETON-2 studies support a planned FDA supplemental application for Tyvaso in IPF. Management believes the IPF opportunity alone could eventually surpass Tyvaso's current PAH revenues. It is also enrolling patients in the phase III TETON PPF study evaluating the drug in patients with PPF.
The company's late-stage PAH candidate ralinepag delivered positive phase III data from the ADVANCE OUTCOMES study in March. The study met its primary and secondary endpoints. UTHR intends to submit a new drug application for ralinepag to the FDA in the second half of 2026.
The company is developing an inhaled dry-powder version of ralinepag (RAL-DPI) in collaboration with MannKind Corporation. While initially targeting PAH, management sees potential opportunities for RAL-DPI in PH-ILD, IPF and PPF.
Together, Tyvaso's label expansion and the ralinepag franchise are expected to drive long-term growth, supporting the company's goal of increasing its annual revenue run rate from $3 billion to $4 billion by the end of 2027 and boosting investor sentiment.
Organ Manufacturing Business on MoveUnited Therapeutics continues to strengthen its long-term growth outlook through steady progress in its organ manufacturing platform, which spans hearts, kidneys, livers and lungs. The company is advancing multiple technologies, including xenotransplantation, regenerative medicine, bioengineered organs, 3D bioprinting and ex-vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) to address the global shortage of donor organs.
Its xenotransplantation portfolio includes development-stage candidates UKidney, UHeart and UThymoKidney. The FDA cleared the investigational new drug application for the phase I EXPRESS study evaluating UHeart in May. United Therapeutics received FDA premarket approval for LungFX, the first EVLP device for assessing donor lungs outside the body, with a commercial launch planned for 2027.
Earlier this month, the acquisition of Thymmune Therapeutics expanded the company's regenerative medicine portfolio with the preclinical thymic cell therapy THY-100, strengthening its long-term strategy to improve organ transplantation and immune restoration.
UTHR Faces Competitive PressureUnited Therapeutics generates most of its revenues from its treprostinil-based PAH therapies, including Tyvaso, Orenitram, Adcirca and Remodulin. The company markets two versions of Tyvaso: Tyvaso dry powder inhalation (DPI) and nebulized Tyvaso. The drug remains the company's biggest growth driver, with the more convenient Tyvaso DPI continuing to gain traction and posting 9% year-over-year sales growth in the first quarter of 2026.
A key concern for United Therapeutics is the increasing competitive pressure on its core PAH franchise. While Tyvaso DPI continues to grow, sales of nebulized Tyvaso have been declining due to market erosion following the loss of exclusivity in May 2025 and the FDA approval of Liquidia Corporation’s (LQDA - Free Report) Yutrepia, the first inhaled dry-powder competitor for PAH and PH-ILD. Yutrepia's rapid market adoption, with 44% sequential sales growth in the first quarter of 2026, underscores the growing competitive threat to Tyvaso products.
UTHR’s heavy reliance on the PAH market remains a risk as its established therapies face rising competition from generics and newer treatments. With limited diversification beyond PAH, United Therapeutics' long-term growth depends largely on the successful development and commercialization of its pipeline, making any clinical, regulatory or commercialization setbacks a potential headwind for the stock.
UTHR's Zacks Rank & Stocks to ConsiderUnited Therapeutics currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the biotech sector are Neurocrine Biosciences (NBIX - Free Report) and Amarin Corporation (AMRN - Free Report) , each currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Over the past 60 days, estimates for Neurocrine Biosciences’ 2026 earnings per share have risen from $9.15 to $9.47. Over the same period, EPS estimates for 2027 have risen from $10.23 to $10.79. NBIX shares have lost 25.6% year to date.
Neurocrine Biosciences’ earnings beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed in the remaining one, the average surprise being 9.08%.
Over the past 60 days, loss per share estimates for Amarin Corporation have narrowed from $15.20 to 65 cents for 2026. Over the same period, estimates for loss per share have also narrowed from $13.00 to 51 cents for 2027. AMRN shares have risen 8.5% year to date.
Amarin Corporation’s earnings beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed in the remaining one, the average surprise being 50.02%.
PNC Financial po akvizici FirstBank rozšířila síť o 95 poboček a posílila depozitní i úvěrovou základnu. Banka zároveň po stress testu Fedu zvýšila čtvrtletní dividendu o 18 % na 2 USD na akcii.
Key Takeaways PNC is expanding through FirstBank and other deals, strengthening its market reach and revenue base.PNC benefits from solid capital, liquidity and an 18% dividend hike after the 2026 Fed stress test.PNC targets long-term growth through branch expansion, though expenses and commercial loans remain risks. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (PNC - Free Report) shares have gained 14.3% in the past six months, outperforming the industry’s growth of 7.2%. Its close peers, Citigroup Inc. (C - Free Report) , have gained 16.7%, whereas shares of Wells Fargo (WFC - Free Report) have lost 9.9% during the same time period.
Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Can PNC shares continue gaining after their recent strength? Let’s take a closer look.
What’s Aiding PNC’s Performance?Business Expansion Through Strategic Acquisitions: PNC Financial has been actively expanding its business through strategic acquisitions and partnerships to strengthen its market presence and diversify its revenue base. In January 2026, the company acquired FirstBank Holding Company, substantially expanding its franchise in Colorado and Arizona. The acquisition added 95 branches and $26.8 billion in assets, with management expecting the deal to contribute nearly $1 per share to earnings by 2027. Further, the successful conversion of 780,000 FirstBank customers, more than 1,620 employees and all 95 branches in June 2026 marked the completion of a major integration milestone.
Beyond expanding its banking footprint, PNC Financial has continued to enhance its product offerings and investment banking capabilities. In August 2025, it acquired Aqueduct Capital Group to strengthen the fund placement capabilities of Harris Williams. In 2024, the company partnered with Plaid to facilitate secure customer data sharing and expanded its alliance with TCW Group to offer private credit solutions to middle-market companies. These strategic initiatives are expected to support revenue diversification and drive long-term growth.
Solid Liquidity and Capital Strength Drive Shareholder Value: The company maintains a solid liquidity and capital position. As of March 31, 2026, its total available liquidity (comprising cash and due from banks, and interest-earning deposits in banks) was $31.7 billion, while long-term debt totaled $63.9 billion, with no short-term borrowings. Further, in June 2026, PNC cleared the Federal Reserve’s 2026 stress test, with its Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 10.1% comfortably exceeding its stress capital buffer-based regulatory requirement of 7%. Backed by this capital strength, the company raised its quarterly common stock dividend by 18% to $2 per share in July 2026.
Over the past five years, PNC has increased its dividend six times, delivering a five-year annualized dividend growth rate of 6%. Further, its current dividend yield of 2.76% compares favorably with the industry's average of 1.66%.
Dividend Yield
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Likewise, its peers, WFC and C, also announced plans to increase dividends following the 2026 Fed’s stress test. Wells Fargo intends to raise its third-quarter 2026 common stock dividend by 11% to 50 cents per share, subject to board approval, while Citigroup plans to increase its quarterly common stock dividend by 12% to 67 cents per share beginning in the third quarter of 2026, subject to quarterly board approval.
Apart from regular dividend hikes, PNC also returns capital through share repurchases. The company has an existing authorization to repurchase up to 100 million common shares, with nearly 32 million shares remaining under the program as of March 31, 2026. Given its strong liquidity and capital position, PNC's capital deployment initiatives appear sustainable and are expected to continue enhancing shareholder value.
Steady Growth in Loans and Deposits: The company continues to benefit from steady growth in its loan and deposit balances, supported by a strong balance sheet and strategic expansion initiatives. Its total loans and deposits recorded a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5% and 7.3%, respectively, between 2019 and 2025. The growth momentum continued in the first quarter of 2026, with both loan and deposit balances increasing year over year. The acquisition of FirstBank further strengthened the company's balance sheet, adding nearly $16 billion in loans and $23 billion in deposits during the quarter. Earlier, in 2023, PNC Financial acquired approximately $16 billion of loan commitments from Signature Bank, enhancing its lending capacity.
Looking ahead, a well-diversified deposit base, continued growth in commercial and operational deposits and a relatively favorable interest rate environment are expected to support loan demand. Reflecting these tailwinds, management expects average loan balances to grow nearly 11% year over year in 2026, up from its earlier expectation of about 8% growth.
Expansion of Branch Network: PNC Financial continues to invest in its retail banking franchise through an aggressive branch expansion strategy. In November 2025, the company increased its planned investment in branch expansion to nearly $2 billion from the $1.5 billion announced in 2024. The initiative includes opening more than 300 branches across nearly 20 U.S. markets, renovating its entire branch network by 2029 and hiring more than 2,000 employees by 2030.
The company's focus on expanding in high-growth markets has already supported customer acquisition and checking account growth. Going forward, the expanded branch network is expected to strengthen PNC Financial's retail banking presence, deepen customer relationships and support sustainable revenue growth.
Few Concerns Prevail for PNCPersistent Expense Pressure: PNC Financial continues to witness an increase in operating expenses. The company's non-interest expenses recorded a CAGR of 4.6% between 2019 and 2025, with the upward trend continuing in the first quarter of 2026. While the company exceeded its 2025 Continuous Improvement Program cost-saving target, merger integration costs and continued investments in technology, branch expansion and personnel are expected to keep expenses elevated in the near term.
Total Expense Trend
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Loan Portfolio Concentration: The company's loan portfolio remains heavily concentrated in commercial lending. As of March 31, 2026, commercial loans accounted for 70% of total loans. Despite a diversified commercial portfolio, persistent weakness in office real estate and an uncertain macroeconomic environment remain concerns. Commercial loans accounted for 61.5% of total non-performing loans and 47.4% of net charge-offs as of March 31, 2026. Further, management expects commercial real estate charge-offs, particularly in the office segment, to remain elevated, posing risks to asset quality if economic conditions weaken.
Parting Thoughts on PNCPNC Financial's strategic acquisitions, expanding branch network, steady loan and deposit growth and solid liquidity position are expected to support its long-term financial performance.
Over the past week, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings per share has been revised upward, while the estimate for 2027 has been revised downward.
Estimate Revision Trend
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The expected estimates imply growth of 13.5% and 11.4% for 2026 and 2027, respectively.
However, persistent expense pressure and the company's significant exposure to commercial lending remain key near-term headwinds. Additionally, the Fed's signal of a possible rate hike later in 2026 might put additional pressure on asset quality.
From a valuation perspective, PNC stock appears inexpensive relative to the industry. It is currently trading at a forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 12.36X, below the industry's 14.67X. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo and Citigroup trade at P/E multiples of 11.51X and 11.73X, respectively.
Price-to-Earnings F12 M
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Investors already holding the stock may consider retaining their positions, given PNC Financial's diversified growth initiatives, solid liquidity profile and sustainable capital deployment strategy. Those considering fresh investments may prefer to wait for a more favorable entry point until there is greater clarity on expense trends and commercial credit quality.
Currently, PNC Financial carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
GE HealthCare spolupracuje s Mayo Clinic na studii MI-BET, která má pomocí zobrazování, biomarkerů a dat přizpůsobit radioligandovou terapii pacientům s pokročilým karcinomem prostaty. Využije systém StarGuide SPECT/CT a MIM LesionID Pro k monitorování odpovědi nádoru.
Key Takeaways GE HealthCare is collaborating with Mayo Clinic to advance personalized cancer theranostics.The MI-BET study will assess whether imaging, biomarkers and data can tailor RLT cycles.Researchers will use StarGuide SPECT/CT and MIM LesionID Pro to monitor tumor response. GE HealthCare (GEHC - Free Report) has announced a new research collaboration with Mayo Clinic to advance personalized cancer treatment through the MI-BET (Molecular Imaging Biomarker-Based End of Therapy Trial) study. The initiative will evaluate whether imaging, blood-based biomarkers and clinical data can help tailor radioligand therapy for patients with advanced prostate cancer, supporting more adaptive treatment decisions and expanding the use of theranostics.
From an investor's perspective, the collaboration reinforces GE HealthCare's growing focus on precision oncology and theranostics, a rapidly evolving area of cancer care. By leveraging its StarGuide SPECT/CT platform and MIM Software's advanced imaging capabilities in a high-profile clinical research setting, the company stands to strengthen the clinical validation and long-term adoption of its imaging technologies. If the study generates favorable evidence, it could enhance GE HealthCare's competitive positioning in molecular imaging, support future demand for its theranostics portfolio and create additional growth opportunities in the expanding precision medicine market.
Likely Trend of GEHC Stock Following the NewsShares of GEHC have traded flat since the announcement on July 8. In the year-to-date period, shares of the company have lost 21.2% compared with the industry’s 20.4% decline. The S&P 500 increased 9.9% in the same time frame.
In the long term, the collaboration is expected to strengthen GE HealthCare's position in the fast-growing theranostics and precision oncology markets by generating real-world clinical evidence for its advanced molecular imaging technologies. Positive findings from the MI-BET study could accelerate the adoption of the company's StarGuide SPECT/CT platform and MIM Software solutions across healthcare systems, while reinforcing GE HealthCare's role as a strategic partner in data-driven cancer care.
The collaboration also enhances the company's innovation pipeline, supports the development of imaging biomarkers and adaptive treatment workflows and could create opportunities for broader commercial adoption as theranostics becomes an increasingly important component of personalized oncology.
GEHC currently has a market capitalization of $29.52 billion.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
More on the NewsThe MI-BET study is designed to challenge the conventional approach of administering a fixed number of radioligand therapy cycles by evaluating whether treatment can instead be tailored to an individual patient's response. Using GE HealthCare's StarGuide SPECT/CT system alongside MIM Software's MIM LesionID Pro, researchers will monitor tumor response throughout treatment.
By integrating imaging findings with clinical outcomes and blood-based biomarkers, the study aims to determine whether these data-driven insights can guide decisions such as pausing or adapting therapy based on disease progression. Researchers also intend to identify predictive biomarkers that could help physicians anticipate patient response earlier in the treatment journey, enabling more personalized care.
The collaboration is also focused on expanding access to advanced theranostics by encouraging broader patient participation through community outreach, partnerships with advocacy organizations and the use of telemedicine to reduce barriers to enrollment. According to Mayo Clinic, the initiative reflects a broader shift toward adaptive, patient-specific cancer care models that seek to optimize treatment effectiveness while minimizing unnecessary therapy. In addition to evaluating treatment duration, the study will investigate novel imaging biomarkers and data-driven approaches that could further enhance clinical decision-making and improve patient outcomes.
The research will be conducted at Mayo Clinic's Rochester, MN, campus, combining the organization’s expertise in clinical practice, research and product development. As part of the collaboration, Mayo Clinic has also become the first U.S. site to investigate GE HealthCare's next-generation StarGuide GX SPECT/CT technology, which is designed to improve tumor assessment precision while potentially reducing scan times. Although the StarGuide GX system has received CE Mark certification and is not yet approved for commercial sale in the United States, the collaboration underscores GE HealthCare's commitment to advancing next-generation molecular imaging technologies and supporting the broader adoption of precision oncology solutions.
Favorable Industry Prospect for GEHCGoing by the data provided by Precedence Research, the global theranostics market size was calculated at $10.29 billion in 2025 and is predicted to increase from $11.50 billion in 2026 to approximately $31.38 billion by 2035, expanding at a CAGR of 11.8%.
The market growth is driven by the rising incidence of chronic diseases, the shift toward personalized medicine, and advances in molecular imaging and radiopharmaceuticals.
A Recent Development by GEHCRecently, GEHC announced the Allia platform upgrade pathways to help healthcare providers modernize select legacy Innova and Discovery Image Guiding Solutions systems. The initiative comes as healthcare providers face growing procedural complexity, rising patient volumes and aging imaging equipment.
The upgrades enable health systems to access the latest Allia technologies and AI-enabled workflows while preserving existing infrastructure, reducing the need for major construction and minimizing disruption to clinical operations.
Some better-ranked stocks from the broader medical space are Globus Medical (GMED - Free Report) , West Pharmaceutical (WST - Free Report) and Intuitive Surgical (ISRG - Free Report) .
Globus Medical, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), reported a first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.12, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 22.1%. Revenues of $759.9 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.0%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
GMED has an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 10.2% compared with the industry’s 12.6% growth. The company’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 26.3%.
West Pharmaceutical, currently flaunting a Zacks Rank #1, reported first-quarter 2026 EPS of $2.13, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 26.8%. Revenues of $844.9 million surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8.5%.
WST has an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 13.9% compared with the industry’s 9.5% growth. The company’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 19.4%.
Intuitive Surgical, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted EPS of $2.50, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 20.2%. Revenues of $2.77 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.2%.
ISRG has a long-term estimated growth rate of 14.6% compared with the industry’s 12.6% growth. The company’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 16.8%.
Bank of America uvedla, že plánovaná akvizice Synaptics společností Onsemi může přinést dlouhodobé synergie a posílit její portfolio edge AI. Akcie Onsemi ve čtvrtek odpoledne stouply o více než 5 %.
Onsemi (NASDAQ:ON)'s proposed acquisition of Synaptics could create long-term strategic benefits, with Bank of America writing that a meeting with management increased its confidence in the rationale and potential synergies of the transaction.
The analysts wrote that Synaptics adds highly complementary compute assets to Onsemi (NASDAQ:ON)’s existing strengths in power, sensing and control, supporting the company’s ambition to build a complete edge AI portfolio.
They wrote that acquiring these capabilities through M&A allows Onsemi to accelerate time to market while avoiding the distraction of developing them internally.
Bank of America wrote that the market underappreciates the potential long-term benefits of the transaction, noting that initial cost synergy assumptions of $200 million could underestimate the ultimate savings potential. The analysts added that revenue synergies could also be significant over time as Onsemi cross-sells Synaptics products through its distribution channel.
The analysts wrote that the all-stock transaction preserves Onsemi’s balance sheet flexibility to fund buybacks and invest in new products, including Synaptics’ Astra program. They added that the deal could provide solid EPS accretion above the $7 in long-term EPS power they see for core Onsemi.
Bank of America also highlighted an expanded market opportunity, writing that Onsemi now believes the total addressable market for its core business exceeds $200 billion, compared with $64 billion at its previous analyst day, while Synaptics adds an additional $30 billion.
The analysts wrote that Synaptics’ consumer and enterprise PC exposure could be viewed negatively by investors but noted that these businesses generate gross margins in the high-50% range, above Onsemi’s typical high-40% gross margins.
On artificial intelligence opportunities, Bank of America wrote that Onsemi’s AI data center business is on track to at least double in 2026 from $250 million in 2025. The analysts highlighted the company’s vertical gallium nitride technology, writing that it is differentiated as the only device supporting high frequency and high voltages in a single chip.
The analysts wrote that Onsemi’s core initiatives remain on track, including progress in automotive silicon carbide for China electric vehicles, ethernet and zonal architecture, while industrial segments are recovering as purchasing managers’ indexes move above 50. They also noted that the recent exit of two facilities represents 50 basis points of a targeted 200 basis points of gross margin expansion from Onsemi’s fab restructuring initiatives.
Bank of America maintained its ‘Buy’ rating, writing that Onsemi’s upcoming analyst day could serve as a catalyst.
Shares of Onsemi traded up more than 5% on Thursday afternoon amid a broader rally in chipmaker stocks.
Denali Therapeutics oznámila, že spoluzakladatel a generální ředitel Ryan Watts, Ph.D., vystoupí s úvodním plenárním projevem na Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2026, která se uskuteční 12.–15. července v Londýně. Firma zároveň představí své kandidáty na léčbu Alzheimerovy choroby DNL628 a DNL921.
July 09, 2026 16:01 ET | Source: Denali Therapeutics Inc.
Denali co-founder and CEO Ryan Watts, Ph.D., to deliver opening plenary address at 2026 AAIC in London on July 12, 2026
Presentation will highlight recent scientific advances and future opportunities to accelerate discovery and development of medicines for neurodegenerative diseases
Denali is advancing multiple investigational therapies designed to cross blood-brain barrier for Alzheimer’s disease, including DNL628 (OTV:MAPT) targeting tau and DNL921 (ATV:Abeta) targeting amyloid beta
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., July 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Denali Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: DNLI) today announced that co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Ryan Watts, Ph.D., will deliver the opening plenary address, titled “Accelerating the Discovery and Development of Medicines for Neurodegeneration,” at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference® (AAIC), taking place July 12-15 in London. Dr. Watts will discuss recent scientific advances and future opportunities including new insights in the biology of disease, the use of biomarkers for diagnosis and assessment of treatment effect, and the potential for therapeutics to cross the blood-brain barrier for enhanced delivery to the brain.
“We are entering a new era of drug development for Alzheimer’s disease, driven by significant developments in biology, biomarkers and the blood-brain barrier, which has been a major hurdle for the treatment of neurodegenerative disease,” said Dr. Watts. “At Denali, our work has focused on solving the challenge of brain delivery so that people living with neurologic diseases such as Alzheimer’s can benefit from the power of biotherapeutics. We are excited to be part of the community working to transform the lives of millions of individuals and families worldwide by applying these scientific breakthroughs to deliver the next generation of therapies for Alzheimer’s disease.”
Denali Therapeutics has developed and clinically validated the TransportVehicle™, a proprietary technology designed to effectively deliver biologic therapeutics such as antibodies, enzymes and oligonucleotides across the blood-brain barrier by leveraging the body’s natural iron transport system (the transferrin receptor). In March 2026, Denali received accelerated approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the first and only FDA-approved biologic specifically designed to cross the blood-brain barrier: AVLAYAH™ (tividenofusp alfa-eknm), an enzyme replacement therapy for the treatment of neurologic manifestations of Hunter syndrome (mucopolysaccharidosis type II) when initiated in presymptomatic or symptomatic pediatric patients weighing at least 5 kg prior to advanced neurologic impairment.
Denali is developing a broad portfolio of investigational, TransportVehicle-enabled therapeutic candidates including DNL628 (OTV:MAPT) and DNL921 (ATV:Abeta) targeting tau and amyloid beta, respectively, the two hallmark pathologies of Alzheimer’s disease.
DNL628 (OTV:MAPT) is enabled by the Oligonucleotide TransportVehicle™ (OTV) and is designed to target the MAPT gene that encodes for tau, which has been shown to be closely associated with cognitive decline. Preclinical research (link) demonstrated that the OTV achieved broad and uniform central nervous system distribution of antisense oligonucleotides, including deeper brain structures, following intravenous administration as compared to intrathecally delivered therapy.1 The first patients in Denali’s Phase 1b clinical study of DNL628 were dosed in the first half of 2026, and Denali expects clinical safety and biomarker proof-of-concept data from the study in 2027.
DNL921 (ATV:Abeta) is enabled by the Antibody TransportVehicle™ (ATV) and is designed to reduce amyloid plaques. In preclinical research published in the journal Science (link), Denali demonstrated improved brain distribution of ATV:Abeta and reduced risk of swelling and small bleeds in the brain – effects collectively known as amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA) – compared to conventional antibody treatment. The findings suggest that TransportVehicle-enabled brain delivery of immunotherapy bypasses amyloid-laden large vessels by traveling through smaller capillaries, offering a potential strategy to mitigate ARIA risk seen with first-generation anti-amyloid therapies.2 Denali submitted a Clinical Trial Application (CTA) for DNL921 in the first half of 2026 and, pending regulatory approval of the CTA, expects to initiate a Phase 1/1b clinical trial, with potential for clinical safety and biomarker proof-of-concept data in 2027.
About the Denali TransportVehicle™ Platform
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is essential in maintaining the brain’s microenvironment and protecting it from harmful substances and pathogens circulating in the bloodstream. Historically, the BBB has posed significant challenges to drug development for central nervous system diseases by preventing most drugs from reaching the brain in therapeutically relevant concentrations. Denali’s TransportVehicle™ (TV) platform is a proprietary technology designed to effectively deliver large therapeutic molecules such as antibodies, enzymes and oligonucleotides throughout the whole body, including the brain, by crossing the BBB after intravenous administration. The TV platform is based on engineered Fc domains that bind to specific natural transport receptors, such as transferrin receptor and CD98 heavy chain amino acid transporter, which are expressed at the BBB and deliver the TV and its therapeutic cargo to the brain through receptor-mediated transcytosis. In animal models, antibodies and enzymes engineered with the TV platform demonstrate more than 10- to 30-fold greater brain exposure than similar antibodies and enzymes without this technology. Oligonucleotides engineered with the TV platform demonstrate more than a 1,000-fold greater brain exposure in primates than systemically delivered oligonucleotides without this technology. Improved exposure and broad distribution in the brain may increase therapeutic efficacy by enabling widespread achievement of therapeutically relevant concentrations of product candidates. The TV platform has been clinically validated, with AVLAYAH™ (tividenofusp alfa-eknm) as the first FDA-approved medicine leveraging transferrin receptor to cross the BBB.
About Denali Therapeutics
Denali Therapeutics Inc. is a biotechnology company pioneering a new class of biotherapeutics designed to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) using its proprietary TransportVehicle™ platform. With the first FDA-approved biologic specifically designed to cross the BBB, a clinically validated delivery platform and a growing portfolio of therapeutic candidates across all stages of development, Denali is advancing toward its goal of delivering effective medicines to transform life for people with neurodegenerative diseases, lysosomal storage disorders and other serious diseases. For more information, please visit www.denalitherapeutics.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements expressed or implied in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements by Denali’s Chief Executive Officer; statements regarding expectations for Denali’s TransportVehicle™ (TV) platform and its therapeutic and commercial potential; including the potential to deliver enzymes and the Enzyme TransportVehicle™ (ETV) franchise, antibodies and the Antibody TransportVehicle™ (ATV) franchise, and oligonucleotides and the Oligonucleotide TransportVehicle™ (OTV) franchise; statements regarding plans, timelines and expectations related to AVLAYAH™ (tividenofusp alfa-eknm); statements regarding plans, timelines and expectations related to the DNL628 clinical development program, including the ongoing Phase 1 study and timing of data readouts; and statements regarding plans, timelines and expectations related to the DNL921 clinical development program, including the planned Phase 1 study, the potential to mitigate amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA) and the timing of data readouts. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements due to a variety of risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, uncertainties related to the FDA’s policies and accelerated approval program; risks arising from adverse economic conditions and their impact on Denali’s business and operations; the possibility of events or changes that could lead to the termination of Denali’s collaboration agreements; challenges associated with Denali’s transition to a commercial company; the ability of Denali and its collaborators to complete the development and, if approved, the commercialization of product candidates; difficulties in patient enrollment for ongoing and future clinical trials; whether the current ongoing trials have been powered sufficiently to demonstrate approvability to regulatory agencies; reliance on third-party manufacturers and suppliers for clinical trial materials; dependence on the successful development of Denali’s blood-brain barrier platform technology and related programs; potential delays or failures in meeting expected clinical trial timelines; the risk that promising preclinical profiles may not be replicated in clinical settings; discrepancies between preclinical, early-stage or preliminary clinical results and outcomes from later-stage trials; the occurrence of significant adverse events or other undesirable side effects; the uncertainty surrounding regulatory approvals required for commercialization in the U.S., Europe or other international jurisdictions; Denali’s ability to advance a pipeline of product candidates or develop commercially successful products; developments relating to Denali's competitors and its industry, including competing product candidates and therapies; Denali’s ability to obtain, maintain or protect intellectual property rights related to its product candidates; the implementation and success of Denali’s strategic plans for its business, product candidates and blood-brain barrier platform technology; Denali's ability to obtain additional capital to finance its operations, as needed; Denali's ability to accurately forecast future financial results in the current environment; and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in Denali's most recent Annual and Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 26, 2026 and May 7, 2026, respectively, and Denali’s future reports to be filed with the SEC. Except for AVLAYAH, Denali's product candidates are investigational, and their safety and efficacy profiles have not yet been established. Denali does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, to conform these statements to actual results or to make changes in Denali’s expectations, except as required by law.
References
Barker SJ, Thayer MB, Kim S, et al. Targeting the transferrin receptor to transport anti-sense oligonucleotides across the mammalian blood-brain barrier. Sci Transl Med 2024 Aug 14;16(760).Pizzo ME, Plowey ED, Khoury N, et al. Transferrin receptor-targeted anti-amyloid antibody enhances brain delivery and mitigates ARIA. Science 2025 Aug 7;389(6760).
Investor Contact:
Laura Hansen [email protected]
Massive dividend yields are a huge draw for investors – both because everyone likes income…and because a company that can pay a dividend surely has the cash to pay out that dividend, right?
Most of the time, that’s true. But things can get rough when a company doesn’t have the cash to continue funding the dividend. One of your early signs is an especially high yield – in general, anything over 5% or 6% is worth digging into further. A yield that high may be a signal that the market is losing confidence in the business (and in its ability to continue funding the dividend). There are, of course, exceptions, but it’s a good initial rule of thumb.
It’s also worth understanding how much of a company’s earnings or cashflow are eaten up by the dividend.
For BDCs, the right coverage test is net investment income (NII) per share versus the dividend (GAAP EPS whipsaws on mark-to-market losses and distorts the picture). When NII stops covering the payout, when NAV per share slides, and when supplemental distributions quietly disappear, the payout is stretched. Here are five 10%+ yielders where those warning signs are lit.
Saratoga Investment Corp. (SAR) Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) advertises a 14.0% annualized yield on its $0.25 monthly base dividend. Shares have since slid to $17.98, inflating the yield further.
The coverage math is the red flag. Q1 FY27 adjusted NII came in at $0.47 per share against a $0.75 quarterly dividend, a coverage ratio of just 0.63x, and NII has stepped down from $0.53 the prior quarter. Saratoga’s own filing flagged a FY26 payout ratio of 122.95%. NAV per share fell 4.9% sequentially to $23.23 on $15.2 million in net markdowns, and financing costs jumped after a $175 million bond at 4.375% was replaced with debt at 7.25% and 7.50%.
The bull case: $196.8 million of undrawn borrowing capacity and low non-accruals at 0.2% of fair value. But with NII covering less than two-thirds of the payout, the monthly $0.25 base looks stretched.
FS KKR Capital Corp. (FSK) FS KKR Capital (NYSE:FSK | FSK Price Prediction) is already mid-cut, and the numbers suggest the second reduction may not be the last. Shares are down 41.24% over the past year to $10.56.
The Q2 2026 distribution was stepped down to $0.42 from $0.48, following an earlier reduction from $0.70. Yet Q1 2026 adjusted EPS of $0.41 missed the $0.4433 consensus by 7.51% and barely covers even the new payout. NAV per share dropped to $18.83 from $20.89, non-accruals climbed to 4.2% at fair value (8.1% at cost), and net leverage spiked to 131%.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Blue Owl Technology Finance didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
The KKR rescue package ($150 million preferred equity injection, $150 million tender at $11, a $300 million buyback, and a 50% incentive fee waiver for four quarters) is a lifeline that buys time without curing the underlying earnings gap. Securities class action lawsuits alleging overstated dividend durability tell you what the market thinks.
BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. (TCPC) BlackRock TCP Capital (NASDAQ:TCPC) has already cut once and still looks fragile. The quarterly dividend was reduced to $0.17 from $0.25 for Q1 2026, and shares have fallen 50.44% over the past year to $3.18, keeping the yield above 20%.
NII of $0.22 covers the new $0.17 dividend, but the cushion is thin and the trend is ugly. NAV per share collapsed 19% in Q4 2025 to $7.07 and slipped another 4.9% to $6.72 in Q1 2026. Thirteen portfolio companies sit on non-accrual, representing 7.6% at cost, and portfolio yield compression is severe: new investments are being originated at 8.1% while exits ran off at 11.2%. With management prioritizing exits over new deployments, forward NII faces further pressure.
Blue Owl Technology Finance Corp. (OTF) Blue Owl Technology Finance (NYSE:OTF) is the softer warning on this list, but the setup is classic price-driven yield inflation. Shares have dropped 24.32% year-to-date to $10.15, pushing the trailing yield well into double digits.
Q1 2026 adjusted NII of $0.29 beat the $0.25 estimate, but NII has slid for four straight quarters from $0.36 in Q2 2025 to $0.29 today, while the $0.40 payout ($0.35 base plus $0.05 special) has held. Crucially, that $0.05 special is part of a five-quarter series tied to the June 2025 listing. When it rolls off, the run-rate payout drops to $1.40. Add $494.28 million in unrealized losses, NAV down to $16.49 from $17.33, and new commitment spreads compressed to 4.6% from 5.2%, and the picture is a fading tailwind.
Blue Owl Capital Corp. (OBDC) Blue Owl Capital (NYSE:OBDC) already trimmed its base dividend and left itself no cushion. The Q2 2026 payout was cut to $0.31 from $0.37, described by management as an alignment with “go-forward earnings power amid declining base rates and spread compression.”
Q1 2026 adjusted EPS of $0.31 missed the $0.35 consensus by 10.74% and now exactly matches the new dividend, meaning zero coverage cushion. Total investment income of $396.77 million fell 11.4% sequentially, and the portfolio shrank to $15.34 billion from $16.47 billion as repayments outpaced deployments. On the other side of the ledger, Moody’s upgraded OBDC to Baa2 in January 2026, leverage improved to 1.13x, and management points to roughly $4 billion of liquidity. But 1.0x NII coverage leaves no margin for another bad quarter.
The Bottom Line Across all five names, the pattern is the same: NII squeezed by falling short-term rates, spreads compressing on new deals, and NAV grinding lower. A yield only counts if the payout survives. When a cut lands, the share price usually goes with it, and the “income” disappears in both directions at once. Yield alone has never been a buy thesis; in today’s BDC market, it may be the fastest way to walk into a trap.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Blue Owl Technology Finance didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Primoris Services oznámila další problémy a překročení nákladů v projektech obnovitelných zdrojů, což poslalo akcie v intradenním obchodování dolů o 40 %. Současně nečekaně odešel provozní ředitel.
SAN FRANCISCO, July 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Primoris Services Corporation (NYSE: PRIM) shares cratered again during intraday trading on June 23, 2026 (-$43.34, -40%), on the company’s disclosure of additional challenges to- and cost overruns within- its renewables business projects and the abrupt departure of its Chief Operating Officer.
The news follows Primoris’ May 5, 2026 disclosure that it suffered huge year-over-year and sequential declines in revenues and gross profits for its Energy segment and identified ongoing, expanded issues with its renewables business, news which sent the price of company shares tumbling $101.69 (-50%).
Hagens Berman is actively investigating whether Primoris’ pre-May 5 statements about trends in- and operational performance of- its renewables business misled investors and, if so, whether the company violated the federal securities laws.
The firm encourages Primoris investors who suffered substantial losses to submit your losses now. The firm also encourages persons with knowledge who may be able to assist the investigation to contact its attorneys.
Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/prim
Contact the Firm Now: [email protected] | 844-916-0895
Primoris’ renewable business is part of the company’s core Energy segment and historically has contributed roughly 40% of Primoris’ entire annual revenue.
After the markets closed on June 22, 2026, Primoris shocked investors when it announced that “[a]dditional challenges and cost overruns were identified as a result of continued progress on projects in the Company’s Renewables business.” Importantly, as a result of ongoing problems in six projects and additional challenges, Primoris said its 2026 renewables business revenues would decline 30% ($900 million) from the $3 billion revenues reported for 2025.
This news follows two previous disclosures about Primoris’ renewables business problems, one downplaying and the next partially indicating problems in the business.
First, in February 2026, Primoris management attributed lower gross margins to “unexpectedly higher costs” at certain renewables projects, citing difficult soil and rock conditions that required additional labor and equipment. While management later downplayed the issue as being isolated to a single project—expressing confidence in their remedial measures—they simultaneously touted the company’s ability to “accelerate project timelines” for 2026.
Second, on May 5, 2026, the market’s confidence in Primoris’s remedial measures was shattered when the company released its Q1 2026 financial results and revealed a staggering decline in the core Energy segment, with year-over-year revenues falling by $152.9 million (13.8%) and gross profits plunging by nearly 40%.
CEO Koti Vadlamudi admitted the next day during the May 6 earnings call that Primoris’s financial results were battered by cost pressures across multiple solar projects. Moving beyond the “rock and soil” reason used just months prior, Vadlamudi cited a litany of execution-related factors as the cause of the margin collapse:
Project Redesigns: Costly changes to existing plans.Labor Issues: Inability to manage specific workforce demands.Sequencing Errors: Failures in project management and timing.Weather Disruptions: Further complicating already delayed timelines Together, the May 5 and June 22, 2026 disclosures wiped out over $7.8 billion of Primoris’ market capitalization.
“We’re focused on when Primoris’ management learned of the full scope of the company’s renewables problems, including the apparent inadequacy of remediation measures,” said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the firm’s investigation.
If you invested in Primoris and have substantial losses, or have knowledge that will assist the firm’s investigation, submit your losses now.
If you’d like more information and answers to other frequently asked questions about the firm’s Primoris investigation, read more.
Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Primoris should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email [email protected].
About Hagens Berman
Hagens Berman is a global plaintiffs’ rights complex litigation firm focusing on corporate accountability. The firm is home to a robust practice and represents investors as well as whistleblowers, workers, consumers and others in cases achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and other wrongdoings. Hagens Berman’s team has secured more than $2.9 billion in this area of law. More about the firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com. Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome in any future case.
Teradyne v 1. čtvrtletí 2026 meziročně zvýšila tržby o 87 % na přibližně 1,3 miliardy USD, tažené poptávkou po datových centrech s AI. Poptávka související s AI tvořila téměř 70 % tržeb.
Key Takeaways TER benefits from AI data center demand, with Q1 2026 revenues soaring 87% year over year. TER's AI-related demand made up nearly 70% of revenues, up from about 60% in the prior quarter. TER faces competition from Advantest and Vertiv as both expand in AI and data center markets. Teradyne (TER - Free Report) is benefiting from the explosive growth in datacenter demand, particularly driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and the ongoing build-out of AI-centric infrastructure. In the first quarter of 2026, Teradyne reported revenues of approximately $1.3 billion, an 87% year-over-year increase and 18% above its previous record. This surge is directly tied to the company’s strategic focus on the ‘wafer to AI data center’ market, where AI-related demand accounted for nearly 70% of revenues, up from about 60% in the previous quarter.
The datacenter segment, especially devices that support AI workloads, has become a major source of revenue. In the auto/industrial segment, 46% of revenues came from datacenter devices in the first quarter of 2026. This marks a significant shift from past trends.
Teradyne is also seeing robust demand for memory test solutions, especially for high-bandwidth memory and DRAM, both of which are critical for AI compute applications. The company’s recent product launches, such as the Photon 100 for silicon photonics and Omnyx for server board testing, further strengthen its position in the rapidly evolving data center market. Strategic acquisitions and joint ventures, like the MultiLane Test Products partnership and the acquisition of TestInsight, further strengthen Teradyne’s capabilities in high-speed I/O and design-to-test software.
Teradyne expects continued robust demand, especially as AI data center build-outs drive increased need for compute, networking and memory test solutions. For the second quarter of 2026, Teradyne expects revenues in the range of $1.15-$1.25 billion.
Teradyne Suffers From Stiff CompetitionTeradyne is facing stiff competition from companies such as Advantest Corporation (ATEYY - Free Report) and Vertiv (VRT - Free Report) . Both Advantest and Vertiv are also expanding their footprints in the AI and data center markets.
In June 2026, Advantest and OpenLight partnered to develop silicon photonics test solutions for high-volume manufacturing, addressing growing demand for AI and high-performance computing applications. The collaboration aims to accelerate scalable production of next-generation optical interconnects for AI data centers.
In June 2026, Vertiv announced the completion of its acquisition of ThermoKey S.p.A., a move that enhances Vertiv’s thermal management portfolio, expands its heat rejection and heat-exchange capabilities and strengthens its long-standing relationships with OEMs and system integrators serving data centers and other critical infrastructure markets worldwide.
TER’s Share Price Performance, Valuation, and EstimatesTeradyne shares have surged 81.6% in the year-to-date period, outperforming the Zacks Computer & Technology sector’s growth of 14.7% and the Zacks Electronics - Miscellaneous Products increase of 53.3%.
TER Stock Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
TER stock is trading at a premium with a forward 12-month Price/Sales of 11.01X compared with the Electronics - Miscellaneous Products industry’s 8.31X. TER has a Value Score of D.
TER Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $7.20 per share, which has increased 1.55% over the past 30 days. This suggests 81.82% year-over-year growth.
Teradyne currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.
Exelixis čeká na rozhodnutí FDA o zanzalintinibu pro metastatický kolorektální karcinom do 3. prosince 2026. Akcie EXEL za tři měsíce vzrostly o 26,8 %.
Key Takeaways Exelixis awaits an FDA decision on zanzalintinib for metastatic colorectal cancer by Dec. 3, 2026.EXEL expanded zanzalintinib studies with Merck across colorectal and renal cell cancer programs.Zanzalintinib is also advancing in lung and prostate cancer studies, broadening its potential use. Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (EXEL - Free Report) have surged 26.8% in three months, outperforming the industry’s gain of 4.5%. The stock touched a high of $57.57 on July 7.
The stock has outperformed the sector and the S&P 500 Index during this time frame.
EXEL Outperforms Industry, Sector & S&P 500 Index
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The broader market recovery and investors' optimism about the company's pipeline momentum are most likely contributing to the rally, notwithstanding the recent pipeline setback. In such a scenario, a deeper assessment of the company's growth drivers and potential risks will be essential to determine whether current levels represent an attractive entry point.
EXEL’s Progress With Lead Candidate ZanzalintinibZanzalintinib is Exelixis' most important late-stage pipeline asset and represents the company's key growth driver as it seeks to diversify beyond its flagship cancer therapy, cabozantinib (marketed as Cabometyx). The next-generation oral investigational tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) targets multiple pathways, giving it potential across several difficult-to-treat cancers.
The company's near-term investment thesis hinges on the regulatory outcome for zanzalintinib.
EXEL’s new drug application seeking approval of zanzalintinib in combination with Roche’s (RHHBY - Free Report) Tecentriq for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is under review in the United States. The targeted population includes patients who were previously treated with fluoropyrimidine-, oxaliplatin- and irinotecan-based chemotherapy, and, if they are RAS wild-type, an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor therapy.
The agency has set a target action date of Dec. 3, 2026.
A positive decision would mark the first approval for zanzalintinib and establish a new commercial growth platform beyond Cabometyx.
The company's recent disappointment stemmed from the final analysis of the dual primary endpoint of overall survival (OS) in the subset of patients without active liver metastases (non-liver metastases, NLM) in the late-stage STELLAR-303 study, evaluating zanzalintinib plus Tecentriq versus regorafenib in previously treated non-microsatellite instability (MSI)-high mCRC.
This showed a non-statistically significant trend in OS favoring the combination in the NLM subpopulation. Median OS was 15.9 months for patients treated with the combination therapy compared with 12.7 months for those receiving regorafenib.
The disappointing results are a setback in the company’s efforts to get approval for zanzalintinib.
Meanwhile, Exelixis continues to aggressively expand zanzalintinib's development program through strategic partnerships and multiple late-stage clinical studies.
The company recently broadened its collaboration with Merck (MRK - Free Report) to evaluate zanzalintinib in combination with subcutaneous Keytruda Qlex in the planned phase III STELLAR-316 study in patients with resected stage II/III colorectal cancer (CRC).
Exelixis will sponsor the study, while Merck will supply Keytruda Qlex. The study will evaluate zanzalintinib with and without Keytruda Qlex in patients with resected stage II/III CRC who, following definitive therapy, have tested positive for molecular residual disease (MRD+) and have no radiographic evidence of disease.
Exelixis has also partnered with Natera, a global leader in cell-free DNA and precision medicine, whose Signatera molecular residual disease assay will be used to identify eligible patients for STELLAR-316.
The Merck partnership extends beyond colorectal cancer. In April 2026, Merck initiated the phase III LITESPARK-034 trial evaluating zanzalintinib plus Welireg versus Welireg and placebo in previously treated advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients who progressed after PD-1/L1 and VEGFR-TKI therapies.
This marks the second Merck-sponsored phase III study under the collaboration, following LITESPARK-033 (launched in December 2025), which is assessing the combination against cabozantinib in first-line advanced RCC post-adjuvant immunotherapy.
These studies highlight Merck's confidence in zanzalintinib's potential across multiple RCC treatment settings while substantially expanding Exelixis' long-term growth opportunities.Beyond CRC and RCC, Exelixis is advancing additional indications for zanzalintinib through the planned phase II STELLAR-202 study in squamous non-small cell lung cancer and an expansion cohort in the ongoing phase Ib/II STELLAR-002 trial in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Success in any of these indications could significantly broaden the drug's commercial opportunity.
Roche’s Tecentriq is a cancer immunotherapy that is approved around the world, either alone or in combination with targeted therapies and/or chemotherapies, for various types of cancer.
EXEL’s Cabometyx Maintains MomentumLead drug Cabometyx is approved for advanced RCC and previously treated hepatocellular carcinoma.
In March 2025, Exelixis obtained FDA approval for the label expansion of Cabometyx for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older with previously treated, unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic, well-differentiated pancreatic and extra-pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNET). The drug was also approved for adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older with previously treated, unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic, well-differentiated extra-pancreatic NET (epNET).
The Cabometyx franchise continued to gain momentum in 2026, maintaining its position as the leading prescribed TKI in renal cell carcinoma, the top TKI plus immunotherapy combination in first-line RCC, and the leading oral option in second-line and later neuroendocrine tumors.
Invest in EXEL StockWhile the STELLAR-303 results have tempered near-term expectations, zanzalintinib remains Exelixis' most most significant near-term catalyst. The upcoming FDA decision, multiple late-stage trials, and deepening collaborations with Merck and Natera provide several value-creating catalysts.
Positive regulatory and clinical outcomes could meaningfully diversify Exelixis' revenue base beyond Cabometyx and support the company's long-term growth trajectory.
We remain bullish on the stock's prospects and believe it offers additional upside potential. Accordingly, we view the shares favorably for prospective investors, while existing shareholders may consider maintaining their positions to capitalize on further growth opportunities.
Omnicell v roce 2026 počítá s asi 12 mil. USD nákladů souvisejících s cly, i když dál rozšiřuje SaaS a Expert Services a získává nové zakázky u zdravotnických systémů.
Key Takeaways Omnicell is advancing autonomous pharmacy with new solutions and major health system wins. OMCL expanded its SaaS and Expert Services portfolio through acquisitions and new customer commitments. OMCL's 2026 guidance includes about $12M in tariff-related costs amid competitive pressure. Omnicell (OMCL - Free Report) is well poised to grow in the coming quarters as it continues to steadily advance the autonomous pharmacy industry-defined vision for delivering improved medication management outcomes. The company is expanding its SaaS and Expert Services portfolio via acquisitions and new platform launches. However, macroeconomic headwinds and competitive pressures could weigh on its operating performance.
Over the past year, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock has had a remarkable run. OMCL shares have risen 51.6% compared to the industry’s 21.2% decline. The S&P 500 composite has grown 23.2% during the same time frame.
The renowned healthcare technology company has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion. OMCL’s earnings yield of 4.7% is comfortably above the industry’s negative 1% yield. In the trailing four quarters, Omnicell surpassed earnings estimates thrice and missed on one occasion, the average surprise being 34.7%.
Let’s delve deeper.Tailwinds for OMCL StockAutonomous Pharmacy Model Holds Potential: The industry-defined vision of Autonomous Pharmacy is a roadmap to improving operational efficiencies and ultimately targeting zero-error medication management. Over the past several years, the company has expanded its business from a single-point solution to a platform of products and services that will help further advance the vision.
OMCL also secured several wins with major health systems and government health care facilities. Its ongoing R&D investments across Points of Care, Central Pharmacy and IV Compounding, Specialty Pharmacy and 340B Program and Ambulatory Care market categories are expected to deliver solutions that drive positive medication management outcomes for customers.
Robust Pipeline for SaaS and Expert Services Portfolio: Omnicell derives an increasing portion of revenues from its subscription-based SaaS and Expert Services offerings, which includes a combination of robotics, smart devices and intelligent software, all optimized by expert services.
In recent years, the company has integrated three key acquisitions — Specialty Pharmacy Services, FDS Amplicare, and MarkeTouch Media. In the first quarter of 2026, several health systems committed to using Omnicell's inventory optimization service, alongside central pharmacy automation and point-of-care dispensing solutions.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
What Ails OMCL Stock?Escalating Expenses May Strain Margins: In response to changing tariffs, several foreign countries have imposed reciprocal duties on U.S.-manufactured goods. Changes in export or import regulations and other trade barriers may have an adverse effect on the company’s business. OMCL’s 2026 guidance incorporates an updated estimate of approximately $12 million in tariff-related costs impacting the P&L.
Competitive Landscape: Omnicell faces intense competition in the medication management and supply-chain solutions market. Major direct competitors in the medication packaging solutions market pose threats as they spearhead several expansion programs. This increased competition could result in pricing pressure and a reduced margin, which would have an adverse impact on the company’s performance.
OMCL Stock Estimate TrendThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for OMCL’s 2026 earnings per share (EPS) has jumped $1.97 in the past 30 days.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2026 revenues is pegged at $1.24 billion, suggesting a 4.9% increase from the year-ago reported number.
Key PicksSome better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Globus Medical (GMED - Free Report) , Integra LifeSciences (IART - Free Report) and Phibro Animal Health (PAHC - Free Report) .
Globus Medical has an earnings yield of 5.5%, well ahead of the industry’s negative 3% yield. Its earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 26.3%. The company’s shares have rallied 43.8% against the industry’s 4.8% decline over the past year.
GMED carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Integra LifeSciences, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, has an earnings yield of 16% against the industry’s negative 3% yield. Shares of the company have gained 22.8% compared with the industry’s 4.8% growth. IART’s earnings topped estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 16.8%.
Phibro Animal Health, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, has an earnings yield of 9.2% compared with the industry’s 2.8% yield. Shares of the company have climbed 43.1% against the industry’s 27.9% decline. PAHC’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 16.3%.
Regions Financial za poslední tři měsíce vzrostla o 8,4 % díky akvizicím a rozšiřování kapitálových trhů. Rizikem zůstávají vyšší náklady a koncentrace v komerčních úvěrech.
Key Takeaways RF is expanding fee-based revenue through acquisitions and stronger capital markets capabilities.Regions Financial plans new branches and expects low-single-digit loan growth in 2026.Higher expenses and commercial loan concentration remain key risks for RF. Shares of the Regions Financial Corporation (RF - Free Report) have rallied 8.4%, outperforming the industry’s 6.7% growth in the past three months. Moreover, RF’s price performance has been better than that of its close peers, Flagstar Bank, National Association (FLG - Free Report) and SouthState Bank Corporation (SSB - Free Report) . Flagstar Bank stock has gained 3.5%, whereas shares of SouthState have plunged 0.1% during the same time period.
Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Next, let’s examine the main factors likely to drive additional momentum for RF stock.
Key Factors Driving RF’s GrowthGrowth Through Strategic Acquisitions and Capital Markets Expansion: Regions Financial is strengthening its growth prospects through strategic acquisitions, expanded capital markets capabilities and a broader portfolio of fee-based services. Last week, the company completed the acquisition of Frazer Lanier, enhancing its municipal and corporate investment banking capabilities. The transaction expands Regions Financial's expertise in bond issuance, underwriting, debt placement and advisory services, supporting fee-based revenue growth and strengthening its capital markets business.
Prior to the recent acquisition, the company had consistently pursued inorganic growth to diversify its operations. In 2021, Regions Financial acquired Clearsight, Sabal Capital and EnerBank USA, strengthening its specialized banking capabilities and expanding its revenue base. Earlier, in 2019, the acquisition of Highland Associates enhanced the company's wealth management offerings for not-for-profit organizations and the healthcare sector.
Regions Financial has also been investing in growth initiatives to strengthen its fee-based businesses. In the first quarter of 2026, wealth management revenues rose 9% year over year, while treasury management fees reached a record level, helping drive a 5.9% increase in non-interest income to $625 million. Further, the company continues to invest in treasury management and wealth management capabilities while evaluating bolt-on acquisitions to broaden its product offerings and diversify revenue streams. These initiatives are expected to support sustainable long-term growth and enhance shareholder value.
Non-Interest Income Growth
Image Source: Regions Financial Corporation
Branch Expansion to Strengthen Customer Franchise: Apart from inorganic growth, the company is also expanding and modernizing its branch network to support long-term growth. Regions Financial plans to open 135-150 new branches over the next five years, primarily across high-growth Southeastern markets, including Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. It also expects to renovate more than 1,000 existing branches to enhance the customer experience and support its relationship-based banking model. These initiatives are expected to strengthen customer acquisition and retention, deepen deposit relationships and support long-term business growth.
Steady Loan Growth: The company has witnessed steady loan growth over the past several years. The company's loan balances recorded a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.5% between 2020 and 2025, with the upward momentum continuing in the first quarter of 2026. Looking ahead, rising loan pipelines, coupled with the company's broad presence across the high-growth Southeastern and Midwest markets, are expected to support further loan growth. Management projects average loan balances to increase by low-single digits in 2026 from 2025 levels, driven by continued strength in commercial and real estate lending.
Solid Liquidity Position Enhances Shareholder Value: Regions Financial maintains a solid liquidity position. As of March 31, 2026, the company had total debt of $6.3 billion (including short- and long-term borrowings), while total liquidity sources stood at $67.9 billion.
With a healthy liquidity profile, the company continues to enhance shareholder value through consistent capital deployment. In July 2025, Regions Financial raised its quarterly common stock dividend by 6% to 26 cents per share and expects to maintain a dividend payout ratio of 40-50% of earnings. The company has increased its dividend five times over the past five years, delivering a five-year annualized dividend growth rate of 11.3%. Further, its current dividend yield of 3.56% compares favorably with the industry's average of 2.42%.
Dividend Yield
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Likewise, its close peers, Flagstar Bank, offer a dividend yield of 0.28%, while SouthState's dividend yield stands at 2.46%.
Apart from regular dividend payments, RF also returns capital through share repurchases. In December 2025, the board authorized a new $3 billion share repurchase program effective from Jan. 1, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2027. As of March 31, 2026, nearly $569 million remained available under the authorization. Given its robust liquidity position, the company's capital deployment initiatives appear sustainable and are expected to continue supporting investor confidence.
What’s Hurting Regions Financial GrowthElevated Expense Base: The company continues to witness an increase in expenses. Its non-interest expenses recorded a CAGR of 3.4% between 2020 and 2025. The rising trend persisted in the first quarter of 2026, with non-interest expenses increasing 2.8% year over year to nearly $1.07 billion. Higher salaries and employee benefits, along with continued investments in technology and branch expansion, are expected to keep expenses elevated despite the company's cost-control efforts.
Non-Interest Expense Trend
Image Source: Regions Financial Corporation
Commercial Loan Concentration: Regions Financial's loan portfolio remains heavily concentrated in commercial lending. As of March 31, 2026, commercial loans, comprising commercial and industrial and commercial real estate loans, accounted for 57.2% of the company's total loan portfolio. Over the past few quarters, the company has witnessed pressure in several commercial loan categories, particularly office and senior housing. Further, commercial loans accounted for 76% of total non-performing loans as of March 31, 2026. Thus, any economic slowdown could further pressure asset quality and financial performance.
How to Approach RF Stock NowOver the past week, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings per share has been revised downward to $2.60, while the estimate for 2027 has remained unchanged at $2.85.
Estimate Revision Trend
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The projected figures imply growth of 11.6% and 9.3% for 2026 and 2027, respectively.
In terms of valuation, RF stock appears inexpensive relative to the industry. The company is currently trading at a 12-month trailing price-to-earnings P/E ratio of 10.88X, lower than the industry’s 11.14X. Meanwhile, Flagstar Bank holds a P/E ratio of 14.97X, while SouthState’s P/E ratio stands at 9.76X.
Price-to-Earnings F12 M
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Regions Financial's strategic acquisitions, expanding capital markets capabilities, steady loan growth and shareholder-friendly capital deployment strategy are expected to support its long-term growth.
However, elevated operating costs and potential deterioration in commercial credit quality during an economic slowdown could weigh on earnings growth and asset quality in the upcoming quarters. Additionally, the Fed's signal of a potential interest rate hike in 2026 amid renewed inflationary pressures may constrain net interest income expansion. Although RF stock is trading at an attractive valuation, the recent downward revision in the 2026 earnings estimate suggests limited near-term upside.
Investors already holding the stock may consider retaining their positions, given Regions Financial's diversified growth initiatives and solid liquidity profile. Those considering fresh investments may prefer to wait for a more favorable entry point until earnings visibility improves.
Currently, RF stock carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Wedbush zvýšila cílovou cenu SanDisk na 2 000 USD z 1 200 USD a čeká silnější hospodářské výsledky díky vyšším cenám NAND. Akcie byly ve čtvrtek odpoledne nahoře o 12 %.
SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) could see upside in its upcoming fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 report, according to Wedbush Securities, which raised its price target on the stock to $2,000 from $1,200.
The semiconductor firm's management had guided fiscal fourth-quarter sales to a range of $7.75 billion to $8.25 billion, with non-GAAP earnings per share of $30 to $33.
Wedbush said that outlook implied only mid to high teens growth in average selling prices under its prior model, but conversations with industry contacts suggested pricing gains in the high double digits, leading the firm to conclude SanDisk's initial guidance underestimated the scale of pricing gains.
Wedbush's updated estimates now assume blended bit ASPs rise roughly 30% quarter over quarter, a figure the firm still characterizes as conservative given industry trends and SanDisk's pricing strategy, even after the company posted triple-digit sequential ASP growth in its fiscal third quarter.
Looking further out, Wedbush raised its fiscal 2027 estimates, citing a higher revised fiscal 2026 base along with pricing data for the current September quarter that came in above its prior projections. The firm believes that quarter will likely see gains of more than 20%, with raw NAND prices climbing above $0.30 per gigabyte and finished goods, particularly enterprise SSDs, commanding a further premium. Wedbush's own model assumes double-digit gains, below the 20% threshold, reflecting its expectation that a larger share of SanDisk's NAND output will move under long-term supply and capacity agreements, referred to as SCAs, consistent with recent management commentary.
Those revisions push Wedbush's fiscal 2027 EPS estimate to $225.99 from $194.93, on projected revenue of $55.83 billion and gross margin of 84.7%.
The firm expects earnings strength to continue through fiscal 2027 and 2028, pointing to limited new fab capacity coming online before late 2027 or 2028 and the stabilizing effect of long-term supply agreements on pricing. Wedbush's model has earnings peaking in fiscal 2028 at approximately $264 per share.
Wedbush said it does not have a firm view on when NAND supply will normalize, citing its belief that supply currently runs well below true demand, that demand will keep accelerating through the end of the decade, and that uncertainty remains around the pace of future supply additions. Still, the firm argued that long-term supply agreements should allow for a more gradual decline in margins and pricing once existing contracts expire, offering greater visibility into earnings and cash flow than memory vendors have historically provided.
Shares of SanDisk were up 12% on Thursday afternoon.
Astera Labs těží ze silné poptávky po řešeních PCIe díky rostoucím investicím do AI infrastruktury. Tržby ve 1. čtvrtletí 2026 dosáhly 308 mil. USD, meziročně vzrostly o 93 % a mezičtvrtletně o 14 %.
Key Takeaways ALAB is riding on PCIe demand as AI infrastructure spending accelerates across data centers. ALAB posted $308M in Q1 revenues, up 14% sequentially and 93% year over year. Scorpio X-Series supports up to 320 lanes for scale-up networking in large AI clusters. Astera Labs (ALAB - Free Report) is benefiting from surging demand for its PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) solutions, particularly as the AI infrastructure market accelerates and hyperscalers, AI labs and sovereign entities invest heavily in next-generation data center technologies.
In the first quarter of 2026, Astera Labs delivered strong financial results, with revenues reaching $308 million, up 14% sequentially and 93% year over year. PCIe Gen 6 revenues accounted for more than one-third of the company’s total revenues in the quarter, underscoring the centrality of this product line to Astera Labs’ growth. Millions of PCIe Gen 6 ports have been shipped to date, demonstrating the maturity and adoption of Astera Labs’ portfolio across AI fabric and signal conditioning applications.
The company’s Scorpio product family, which includes both the X-Series and P-Series PCIe 6 switches, is at the forefront of this momentum. The newly launched Scorpio X-Series supports up to 320 lanes, enabling high-radix, scale-up networking for large AI clusters. These switches are purpose-built to maximize AI economics, featuring hardware-accelerated hypercast and in-network compute engines that can double collective operations performance.
ALAB is diversifying its customer base with new design wins and is well-positioned to capitalize on the industry’s transition to PCIe 6, 800 gigs, and 1.6T Ethernet connectivity. Management expects continued strong revenue growth through 2026 and into 2027, driven by the proliferation of AI fabrics and the ongoing shift to higher-speed connectivity standards.
For the second quarter of 2026, ALAB expects revenues between $355 million and $365 million, implying 15% to 18% sequential growth. The outlook is driven by the continued adoption of PCIe 6 across AI platforms, rising Taurus volumes for AI scale-out connectivity and a sustained early-stage ramp-up of Scorpio X-Series products for large-scale XPU clustering.
ALAB Faces Stiff CompetitionALAB is facing stiff competition from other industry players like Marvell Technology (MRVL - Free Report) and Credo Technology (CRDO - Free Report) . Both Marvell Technology and Credo Technology are making strong efforts in the connectivity space.
Marvell Technology’s expanding portfolio has been noteworthy. In June 2026, Marvell Technology introduced the Teralynx T100, a 102.4 Tbps AI-optimized switch silicon designed to enhance high-speed connectivity and networking efficiency in large-scale AI data centers through lower latency and reduced power consumption.
Credo Technology’s expanding portfolio has been noteworthy. In May 2026, Credo Technology completed its acquisition of DustPhotonics, adding industry-leading silicon photonics technology to strengthen its optical interconnect portfolio across 800G, 1.6T and 3.2T solutions. The acquisition enhances Credo Technology’s vertically integrated AI connectivity stack and is expected to be a significant growth driver in fiscal 2027, supported by increasing hyperscale AI adoption.
ALAB’s Share Price Performance, Valuation, and EstimatesALAB shares have surged 136.4% in the year-to-date period, outperforming the broader Zacks Computer & Technology sector’s increase of 14.8%. The Zacks Internet - Software industry has decreased 8% in the same time frame.
ALAB Stock’s Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
ALAB stock is trading at a premium, with a forward 12-month Price/Sales of 36.42X compared with the Internet - Software industry’s 3.89X. ALAB has a Value Score of F.
ALAB’s Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings is pegged at $2.94 per share, which has increased by a couple of pennies over the past 30 days. This suggests 59.78% year-over-year growth.
ALAB’s Zacks RankAstera Labs currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Reports that Meta Platforms (META +2.06%) has signed a "multi-year" deal to secure flash memory from Sandisk (SNDK +12.30%) sent Sandisk stock flying -- and Meta stock dying -- early this morning. Meta stock initially fell 4% on the news, before recovering.
As of 11:40 a.m. ET, Meta stock is back in the green, up 0.5%.
Image source: Getty Images.
Details, please Citing internal Meta documents, Reuters reports the social media giant will buy NAND from Sandisk, DRAM from Samsung, and fiber optics from Sumitomo as it builds out its very own artificial intelligence computing infrastructure.
Additional beneficiaries may include Broadcom (AVGO +4.51%), which is helping Meta design Iris AI semiconductors for its data centers, and also Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM +0.83%), which will contract-manufacture these AI chips.
All these companies are declining to officially confirm the details of the Reuters report. Regardless, investors are "buying the rumor" and shares of all the U.S. publicly traded stocks named -- Sandisk, Broadcom, and TSMC -- are moving higher today.
Today's Change
(
2.06
%) $
12.42
Current Price
$
615.54
Why Meta stock is slumping Meta stock, on the other hand, is not moving higher, or at least not much. Indeed, Meta stock initially sold off on this news.
Why is that? Consider that Meta has plans to spend $145 billion on AI infrastructure this year, and today's Sandisk news seems to confirm this plan is on track. On the one hand, that kind of money will buy Meta a lot of AI capacity as it competes with the likes of Alphabet, OpenAI, and Anthropic. On the other hand, $145 billion is even more than the $136.6 billion Meta is expected to bring in via cash from operations this year, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Meta's skating close to the edge these days, and if that makes investors nervous, I totally understand.
Rich Smith has positions in Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Broadcom, Meta Platforms, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
In a bid to lower its GPU costs amid an unprecedented component shortage, Meta is on track to start making the latest versions of its AI-specific chip in September, Reuters reported, citing an internal memo.
At least one chip sailed through its testing phase in about six weeks, the memo said. Meta is working with Broadcom on the chip design, but it will use Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to manufacture them. It is also buying RAM from Samsung, storage from Sandisk, and fiber-optic equipment from Sumitomo Electric, according to the report.
Meta detailed the four new chips, developed under its Meta Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA) program, in March, some of which are currently in deployment or will be this year or next. The company is taking a modular approach to designing these chips, anticipating that their needs will change as AI evolves rapidly by the time the chips are in production.
“Each MTIA generation builds on the last, using modular chiplets, incorporating the latest AI workload insights and hardware technologies, and deploying on a shorter cadence,” the company wrote at the time.
The chips are expected to help the company save on buying GPUs from chipmakers like Nvidia and AMD, although it still expects to spend plenty with those providers as well, Reuters reports. Meta intends to use the MTIA chips for training models for its ranking and recommendation algorithms, broader AI workloads, and inference aimed at its applications. The social media company has been producing its own AI chips since 2023.
Meta has been spending massively on securing enough compute capacity to power its various AI efforts. The company in April said it expects capital expenditures between $125 billion and $145 billion this year, a lot of which is going toward its AI efforts.
The company has been striking data center and power deals across the world, spending tens of billions to secure computing capacity to train and deploy its new Muse Spark series of AI models. It plans to deploy 7 gigawatts of compute this year, and double that next, according to Reuters, which cited the memo.
It also signed a deal with ARM last year to secure compute for its recommendation systems, in addition to a multibillion-dollar deal with AMD for its Instinct GPUs and a multibillion-dollar deal with Amazon to use the cloud giant’s homegrown CPUs for AI-related needs.
Meta isn’t the only company trying to stem the tide of capital going to Nvidia. OpenAI last month unveiled an inference processor that it is building with Broadcom, and Anthropic is said to be considering developing its own chips with Samsung. Amazon and Google both develop their own chips for AI training and inference, and there’s a host of startups building in the space to meet skyrocketing demand.
Meta declined to comment.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
Ram is a financial and tech reporter and editor. He covered North American and European M&A, equity, regulatory news and debt markets at Reuters and Acuris Global, and has also written about travel, tourism, entertainment and books.
You can contact or verify outreach from Ram by emailing [email protected].
Meta uvedla nový model AI Muse Spark 1.1 pro kódování a AI agenty s „velmi agresivní“ cenou. Jde o první AI model Meta, za který firma účtuje uživatelům. Zuckerberg říká, že má nízkou cenu a může otevřít nový zdroj tržeb.
Meta launches a new AI coding model with 'very aggressive' pricing, CEO Mark Zuckerberg says By You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC Meta could spark a price war in the booming AI coding market.
The tech giant announced its latest AI model, Muse Spark 1.1, on Thursday, saying it performs well on industry tests for coding and AI agents. It's Meta's first AI model that it charges users for.
In comments on X, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the model has a "very low price," though the company hasn't announced the cost yet. He also called out other AI companies for pricing their chatbots at "very extreme" levels in comments to Bloomberg. He told Bloomberg that the model outperformed Google's Gemini in several categories, including agents, coding, and other capabilities.
"We think that there's a real ability to be able to offer frontier or very high-level intelligence at a much more affordable cost," Zuckerberg told the outlet.
The model, which isn't fully available to developers yet, marks the latest milestone for Meta's AI efforts — and shows the company intends to compete on price.
If Meta's new AI models can compete with widely-used coding tools from rivals like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Cursor, that could represent a huge new source of revenue. Meta's stock was up nearly 2% on Thursday.
The cost of using AI has become a growing concern for companies as employees incorporate the technology into more of their day-to-day work. Companies have been throttling their employees' use of AI in recent months as vibe coding takes off. Coinbase, for example, now limits its engineers' weekly AI spending to $500 to $5,000 a week.
Meta quoted one of its customers, AI coding startup Cline, saying that the new AI model's price point makes it easy to run heavy AI coding tasks at scale.
"That combination is rare, and it's exactly why we wanted Cline developers to have access early," Saoud Rizwan, the Cline CEO, said on Meta's website.
Meta is spending massive amounts of cash on AI, raising its capital expenditure guidance for this year to $125-$145 billion, up from a previous estimate of $115-$135 billion. Meta remains highly dependent on its ads business, which accounts for about 98% of its total revenue, according to its first-quarter earnings results.
"We believe Meta is well positioned to generate ample revenue to support its spending, driven by monetization of its own AI initiatives, advertising share gains, incremental subscription revenue, an optionality of cloud offering, and fees for external use of its AI models," BNP Paribas Equity Research senior analyst Nick Jomes wrote in a note to investors on Thursday.
Meta is also working on a coming AI model codenamed "Watermelon," which its AI chief Alexandr Wang says has caught up to one of the latest versions of OpenAI's ChatGPT.
The model uses "an order of magnitude" more computing power than Meta's previous model, Wang told staff last week, Business Insider reported earlier.
Meta didn't respond to a request for comment.
Have a tip? Contact Charles via email at [email protected] or on Signal and WhatsApp at 628-282-2811. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.
Read next
Charles Rollet You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Charles Rollet is BI's tech correspondent in San Francisco. Prior to joining BI, Charles worked at TechCrunch covering startups and VC. Charles is based in the Bay Area, where he enjoys hiking with his dogs. You can contact Charles securely on Signal at charlesrollet.12 or +1-628-282-2811.
Meta v září začne navrhovat vlastní čipy pro AI, aby snížila závislost na Nvidii a zlevnila infrastrukturu. Firma spolupracuje s Broadcomem na návrhu a TSMC na výrobě.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta plans to design its own artificial intelligence chips in-house starting in September – part of an industry-wide effort by the biggest names in AI to start making their own chips amid ongoing high demand.
Zuck’s initiative, known internally as “Iris,” centers on developing custom silicon to supercharge the AI systems behind Facebook and Instagram, Reuters reported Thursday.
The social media giant — which expectes to spend up to $145 billion on AI infrastructure this year — is working with Palo Alto, Calif.-based Broadcom on design and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing on production.
Meta wants to use custom chips to supercharge its social platforms, including Instagram. ink drop – stock.adobe.com Meta joins a growing list of technology companies seeking to handle more of their chip development internally to cut costs and reduce dependence on Nvidia, which has dominated the AI chip business with its ultra-powerful semiconductors.
Even as Meta and other companies are launching their foray into chip building, the semiconductor industry remains under tremendous demand strain, and AI companies’ efforts to become more autonomous provides no silver bullet to the supply chain conundrum.
Demand for manufacturing, packaging and other chip production resources continues to outpace supply, while several specialized chip-making processes are controlled by a small number of companies already operating at capacity even as they invest mountains of capital to expand.
Meta’s latest project builds on a long-running effort to develop its own chips. Its Training and Inference Accelerators program, launched more than five years ago, has focused on in-house chip development, though progress has been slow.
Development of the new chip has reportedly moved much more rapidly. Testing took just six weeks and faced no major problems, according to Reuters. Meta plans to introduce a new chip roughly every six months through 2027, compared with the typical annual-or-longer release cycle for AI chips.
Meta is aiming to double its computing infrastructure in 2027, according to Reuters.
The custom product is intended to complement the large number of graphics processing units, or GPUs, that Meta buys from Nvidia and AMD for AI workloads.
Mark Zuckerberg’s chip initiative is intended to reduce Meta’s reliance on Nvidia and cut costs. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images But bringing the newest GPUs online at Meta’s scale “has been a heavy lift, and it has cost us time,” according to a company memo reviewed by Reuters.
Developing custom chips can potentially lower costs and diversify supply chains, Axios noted.
“I want something in my pocket when I’m sitting across the table from Jensen negotiating,” Bernstein senior analyst Stacy Rasgon told the outlet, referring to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
In addition to Meta, Amazon, Google and Microsoft all have in-house chip programs. OpenAI recently introduced its first custom inference chip with Broadcom, while Anthropic is reportedly in talks with Samsung about developing its own chip.
Nvidia, led by Jenson Huang, dominates the AI chip industry. Getty Images Apple announced this week that it plans to spend more than $30 billion with Broadcom over the next five years, helping the chipmaker expand a manufacturing facility in Fort Collins, Colo.
The consumer tech giant already designs its own chips for the iPhone, iPad and Mac, and is reportedly developing separate processors for AI servers.
Samsung manufactures advanced chips for both its own products and outside customers, while Intel is working to expand its contract manufacturing business after its production technology fell behind in recent years, Axios noted.
Showing the complexity of attaining chip autonomy, those manufacturers rely on lithography equipment from Dutch company ASML — the only supplier of the most advanced machines used to produce AI chips, per the news site.
The Post has sought comment from Meta, Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.
Akcie Nvidia od květnového maxima klesly o 15 %, i když očekávané tržby dál rostou. Investoři se mezitím přesouvají do paměťových firem, zejména Micron, protože cena DRAM roste.
Long the leading light of the industry, Nvidia has had a bad couple of months. Bloomberg has the ugly details, but the upshot is that the company’s stock price has fallen 15% since its peak in May, even as projected revenue continues to grow. Compared with expected earnings, the company is now cheaper than the S&P average; investors are paying less per dollar of Nvidia’s projected profit than they do for the typical large American company.
Money is still flooding into AI infrastructure stocks, but it’s mostly going into memory companies. Over the same period, Micron — one of the world’s largest makers of DRAM, the standard type of memory chip found in computers and servers — has nearly tripled in value, establishing memory as the new bottleneck for data centers and the hot new AI trade. The basic reason is simple: The GPU shortage that looked so alarming last year has eased off a bit. At the same time, data centers need all the memory money can buy.
For anyone who appreciates Nvidia’s technological accomplishments, this can feel a bit deflating. There’s a lot of genuinely impressive technology behind Nvidia’s rise, both in developing CUDA, its widely adopted programming platform that made Nvidia GPUs the default engine for AI research, and in pushing the pace of GPU development to a speed few thought possible. Nvidia’s success is the kind of thing you can write whole books about, and the GPUs themselves are among the most complex devices ever produced, right at the bleeding edge of human capability.
For memory companies like Micron, the story is much simpler. They build high-bandwidth memory chips — specialized components designed to move data in and out of processors as fast as possible — which have been getting incrementally better for 20 years. Without the chips or the companies changing too much, the service they provide suddenly became very valuable — and since demand is growing faster than anyone can scale up supply, they have been able to increase prices tenfold over the past year.
This, via Datatrack, is what the spot price for DRAM — the price buyers pay for chips on the open market, as opposed to long-term contract rates — looks like since 2023:
Image Credits:Datatrack (screenshot) You might think there was some amazing technical breakthrough in the summer of 2025, but no, the industry as a whole just vastly underestimated how much memory it would need for the data center buildout.
In comparison, this (via the compute marketplace Ornn) is how the spot price for an hour of time on an Nvidia H100 GPU has changed over the last year:
Image Credits:Ornn (screenshot) Just like Nvidia’s stock price, there’s a peak in May (around $3.20 an hour) and then a steady drop-off. For better or worse, Nvidia’s value as a company is tied to the price of compute and that price is falling. Micron and its cohort are tied to the price of DRAM, and that price keeps rising.
When I talked to Ornn co-founder and CTO Wayne Nelms about the forces driving that disparity, he framed it as a simple issue of supply and demand. Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and even OpenAI have launched their own custom processors to lessen their dependence on Nvidia; even if those chips aren’t as good as the latest model from Nvidia, they’re good enough to drive down the price of compute.
“More GPU and accelerator players are entering the market. Everyone wants to make their own silicon, but no one is making their own DRAM,” Nelms told me. “Until there’s a major technological breakthrough on HBM [high-bandwidth memory], a shift in supply and demand, or someone new [enters the market in memory], I think things will more or less persist as we see today.”
It’s a frustrating state of affairs for Nvidia, and largely a product of its own success. Having proven how valuable compute can be, the company finds itself at the center of a market everyone wants to be in — while simpler technologies and less interesting companies get rich on the sidelines.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
Russell Brandom has been covering the tech industry since 2012, with a focus on platform policy and emerging technologies. He previously worked at The Verge and Rest of World, and has written for Wired, The Awl and MIT’s Technology Review. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at 412-401-5489.
SemiAnalysis odhaduje, že NVIDIA v druhé polovině fiskálního roku 2027 dosáhne v datových centrech tržeb zhruba 203 miliard USD, asi o 20 % více, než čeká Wall Street. To by mohlo zvednout EPS a snížit valuaci akcie.
The Number SemiAnalysis, the semiconductor research firm that AI hardware investors track obsessively, pegs NVIDIA’s (NASDAQ:NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction) Data Center compute revenue at roughly $203 billion for the back half of Fiscal 2027, about 20% above Wall Street consensus of about $169 billion.
That gap is the anchor of this story. If SemiAnalysis is right, the sell-side model that currently underwrites Nvidia valuation math is materially low on the company’s largest business unit.
What It Means Data Center is the engine. Last quarter, Data Center revenue hit $75.246 billion, up 92% year over year, split between Data Center Compute at $60.4 billion (up 77% YoY) and Data Center Networking at $14.8 billion (up 199% YoY). Roughly 50% of Data Center revenue comes from hyperscale customers, and NVIDIA has already locked in $119 billion of total supply-related commitments and $30 billion of multi-year cloud service commitments.
SemiAnalysis carries weight because its estimates are stitched together from the full supply chain: wafer starts, HBM availability, server integrator shipments, hyperscaler build plans. That is grittier input than the sell-side models that lean on company guidance. The firm attributes the upside to a large Rubin ramp after earlier HBM4 issues that are now resolved and front-end wafer supply that has been built up.
There is a wrinkle. SemiAnalysis also flagged that NVIDIA’s Kyber NVL144 rack-scale system may slip from 2027 to 2028 due to a PCB midplane manufacturing challenge, a claim NVIDIA disputed by saying its roadmap is intact. That debate concerns a 2028 product. The bullish revenue call is about the 2H FY2027 ramp already in flight, so the two threads do not collide.
Market Reaction Shares closed at $204.12 on July 8, 2026, up 3.65% on the day. Year to date the stock is up 9.58%, and it is up 27.74% over the past year. Prediction markets on Polymarket assign an 83% probability NVDA closes July above $208, with the crowd showing a 75.5% historical accuracy on NVDA markets.
Bull Case The valuation math is the point. NVDA trades near $204, with a forward P/E around 35. If the largest business unit earns 20% more than consensus expects in the back half of FY2027, forward EPS moves higher and the multiple compresses on its own. The stock becomes cheaper without doing anything.
Don't wait: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just revealed his top 10 AI stocks. See the full list FREE now.
The trailing evidence supports the direction. Q1 FY2027 delivered non-GAAP diluted EPS of $1.87 versus a $1.77 estimate, a 5.42% beat, on revenue of $81.615 billion, up 85.23% YoY and 3.16% ahead of consensus.
That was the twelfth consecutive quarterly EPS beat. Margins told the same story: non-GAAP gross margin expanded to 75% from 60.8% a year ago, while net income rose 210.63% and operating income rose 147.42% year over year.
Cash generation is doing the work in the background. Free cash flow reached $48.554 billion in Q1, up 85.41% YoY. Management responded by raising the quarterly dividend from $0.01 to $0.25 and authorizing an additional $80 billion share repurchase with no expiration. Wall Street’s read is aligned: an analyst target price of $301.62 with 10 strong buy, 48 buy, 2 hold, and 1 sell ratings.
Q2 guidance from the company itself calls for $91 billion in revenue plus or minus 2%, gross margin of 75.0% plus or minus 50 bps, and excludes any China Data Center compute revenue. SemiAnalysis is layering a higher ramp on top of an already high bar.
Bottom Line For a retirement-focused investor, the real question is whether the denominator in that P/E is right, not the sticker multiple. SemiAnalysis says it is too low by roughly 20% in the biggest revenue line, driven by a Rubin ramp that is already staged.
The risks are real: the estimate is a research firm’s, not company guidance, consensus expectations are already elevated, and any execution or demand hiccup pressures a mega-cap at scale. The next hard data point is the Q3 FY2027 earnings report on August 26, 2026, after the close. Until then, the anchor number is $203 billion.
Don't wait: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just revealed his top 10 AI stocks. See the full list FREE now.
ExxonMobil čeká, že vyšší ceny kapalin přidají ve 2. čtvrtletí k zisku asi 3,5–3,9 miliardy USD ve srovnání s 1. čtvrtletím 2026. Marže v segmentech Energy Products, Chemical Products a Specialty Products mají zisk dál podpořit.
Key Takeaways XOM expects higher liquids prices to add about $3.5-$3.9 billion to Q2 earnings versus Q1 2026. ExxonMobil sees Energy, Chemical and Specialty Products margins boosting second-quarter earnings. Middle East disruptions hurt production, but supportive prices may still aid XOM's upstream profitability. Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM - Free Report) , a U.S. oil and gas giant, has an integrated business model spanning upstream operations, refining and trading. The majority of its earnings are generated by its upstream segment. While the exploration and production business is vulnerable to fluctuations in oil and gas prices, the current business environment seems favorable for XOM’s upstream activities.
The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted global oil and gas flows, causing a major spike in crude prices, with the West Texas Intermediate benchmark surpassing the $100 per barrel mark in May 2026. In its latest 8-K filing, ExxonMobil has provided an update regarding its second-quarter results. The company indicated that higher crude prices and the impacts of the Middle East disruptions are expected to boost its second-quarter earnings compared with the first quarter. In fact, XOM estimates changes in liquids prices to add approximately $3.5-$3.9 billion to its earnings compared with first-quarter 2026.
Moreover, the company mentioned in its filing that the Energy Products and Chemical Products segments are expected to benefit from changes in margins. The Energy Products segment is expected to gain between $2 billion and $2.4 billion, while the Chemical Products segment is expected to witness an increase between $1 billion and $1.2 billion. The Specialty Products segment is forecasted to add approximately $300-$500 million to its earnings compared with first-quarter 2026. The gains in refining and chemicals margins likely reflect stronger industry margins in the second quarter. However, ExxonMobil noted that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has caused production disruptions and operational shutdowns, partially offsetting these benefits. ExxonMobil is scheduled to release its second-quarter results on July 31.
The current market conditions, however, have changed significantly, and crude prices have retreated from the war-premium highs seen previously. Nevertheless, the current pricing environment remains supportive for ExxonMobil. Recent developments related to the conflict between the United States and Iran have again resulted in heightened uncertainty in global energy markets. The escalating geopolitical tensions may push oil prices higher in the near term, thereby supporting ExxonMobil’s upstream business. The company is well positioned to generate attractive upstream earnings and sustain its profitability, supported by its portfolio of low-cost, high-return advantaged assets in the Permian Basin and Guyana.
XOM’s Zacks Rank and Key PicksXOM currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks from the energy sector are Cenovus Energy (CVE - Free Report) , Par Pacific Holdings (PARR - Free Report) and FuelCell Energy (FCEL - Free Report) . While Cenovus Energy and Par Pacific currently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) each, FuelCell Energy carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here.
Cenovus Energy Inc. is a Canadian integrated energy company with operations spanning the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors. The company is involved in exploration and production from its low-cost oil sands and heavy oil assets in Canada. The strategic MEG Energy acquisition is expected to boost Cenovus Energy's production levels in 2026.
Par Pacific Holdings operates an integrated downstream energy business across the United States, with fuel retail operations in Hawaii, Washington, and Idaho, refining operations in Hawaii, Wyoming, Washington, and Montana, and a supporting logistics network. Its refineries have a combined crude oil throughput capacity of 219,000 barrels per day and produce gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, marine fuels, asphalt, and other petroleum products.
FuelCell Energy is a clean energy company that offers scalable, reliable, low-carbon power solutions. It produces power using flexible fuel sources such as biogas, natural gas and hydrogen. The company’s proprietary molten carbonate fuel cell systems generate electricity through an electrochemical process instead of burning fuel, reducing carbon emissions and minimizing the environmental impact of power generation. FCEL is anticipated to play a crucial role in the energy transition by enabling industries and communities to shift from traditional fossil fuels to low-carbon alternatives.
GE Aerospace oznámila, že tržby divize Defense & Propulsion Technologies v 1. čtvrtletí meziročně vzrostly o 19 % a objednávky vyskočily o 67 %. Pro rok 2026 čeká růst tržeb této divize v nižších až vyšších jednotkách procent.
Key Takeaways GE's Defense & Propulsion Technologies revenues rose 19%, with orders jumping 67% in Q1.GE secured defense contracts with Boeing Defence UK and a multi-year partnership with Palantir.GE expects mid-to-high single-digit 2026 revenue growth for its Defense & Propulsion Technologies segment. GE Aerospace (GE - Free Report) is benefiting from persistent strength in its Defense & Propulsion Technologies segment. After experiencing growth of 11% in 2025, revenues from the segment increased 19% year over year in first-quarter 2026. The surge in revenues was driven by the growing popularity for GE’s propulsion & additive technologies, critical aircraft systems and aftermarket services in the defense sector.
Some of the notable contracts secured by the company include a deal from Boeing Defence UK for the extension of support services for T700-GE-T701D engines. GE will be responsible for providing logistics management, repair, maintenance and technical support services for these turboshaft engines. Also, it entered into a multi-year partnership with Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR - Free Report) to improve the fleet management and operational readiness of the U.S. Air Force’s military aircraft.
The strong pipeline of projects boosted the Defense & Propulsion Technologies segment’s orders, which surged 67% in the first quarter on a year-over-year basis. The segment’s operating profit grew 17% to $379 million.
It's worth noting that the fiscal year 2026 Defense Appropriations Act was signed into law in February 2026, providing a strong budgetary allocation for defense. Such robust provisions set the stage for GE Aerospace, which remains focused on its defense business.
Backed by favorable geopolitical developments and consistent government support, the company’s Defense & Propulsion Technologies segment is well-placed for growth in the quarters ahead. For 2026, GE expects revenues from the Defense & Propulsion Technologies segment to increase in the mid-to-high single-digit range.
GE's Peers in the Defense MarketHowmet Aerospace Inc. (HWM - Free Report) is benefiting from strong momentum in its defense aerospace market. After experiencing growth of 21% in 2025, revenues from the defense aerospace market increased 10% year over year in first-quarter 2026. The surge in revenues was driven by the solid demand for engine spares, particularly related to the F-35 program, and an increase in orders for legacy fighter jet spares.
Northrop Grumman’s (NOC - Free Report) defense market is playing an important role in driving its overall growth. In first-quarter 2026, revenues from Northrop’s Defense Systems segment climbed 5.2% year over year to $1.90 billion. This improvement was driven by the continued ramp-up of the Sentinel program, as well as the higher volume of tactical solid rocket motor programs and the Integrated Battle Command System portfolio.
GE's Price Performance, Valuation and EstimatesShares of GE Aerospace have gained 9.8% in the past six months against the industry’s 6.2% decline.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, GE is trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 43.97X, above the industry’s average of 33.75X. GE Aerospace carries a Value Score of D.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GE’s 2026 and 2027 earnings has increased over the past 60 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Automotive výnosy Qualcommu dosáhly ve 2. čtvrtletí fiskálního roku 2026 rekordu 1,33 miliardy USD, meziročně vzrostly o 38 %. Firma čeká ve 3. čtvrtletí zrychlení růstu zhruba na 50 %.
Key Takeaways Qualcomm automotive revenues reached a record $1.33B in Q2 FY26, up 38% year over year.QCOM plans fifth-gen Snapdragon Digital Chassis shipments by FY26-end with major performance gains.Qualcomm expects automotive revenue growth to accelerate to about 50% year over year in Q3 FY26. Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM - Free Report) is benefiting from strong traction in the automotive business. Automotive revenue reaches a record $1.33 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2026, up 38% year over year. There are several factors driving this growth.
Growth is being fueled by its fourth-generation Snapdragon Digital Chassis, which integrates multiple vehicle technologies into one platform, including connectivity, telematics, digital cockpit and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Qualcomm reported that more than 1 million vehicles are already operating using Snapdragon Ride processors for ADAS and autonomous driving. The company expects continued share gains in fiscal 2027, particularly in ADAS. It boasts a worldwide client base that includes leading automakers and technology companies like Volkswagen Group, Toyota, Hyundai Mobis, Leapmotor, Li Auto and several other OEMs.
By the end of fiscal 2026, Qualcomm plans to begin commercial shipments of its fifth-generation Snapdragon Digital Chassis. Compared to prior generations, the platform will offer 3x higher CPU performance, 3x higher GPU capability and 12x higher NPU performance.
Qualcomm’s automotive revenue exceeded an annualized run rate of $5 billion for the first time. It expects to exit fiscal 2026 at a run rate above $6 billion. Third quarter fiscal 2026 automotive revenue is expected to grow approximately 50% year over year, faster than the 38% growth reported in the second quarter.
How Are Competitors Faring?The company faces competition from NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) and Intel Corporation (INTC - Free Report) in this domain. NVIDIA continues to build a longer-duration growth option in automotive, robotics and other physical AI applications. In 2026, NVIDIA announced multiple automotive and mobility partnerships at the GTC 2026, with BYD, Geely, Isuzu, Nissan, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia adopting or expanding use of its DRIVE Hyperion platform to develop Level 4 and next-generation autonomous vehicles, alongside broader robotaxi ecosystem collaborations.
The acquisition of Mobileye has helped the company to rapidly penetrate the autonomous car technology market, currently dominated by the likes of NVIDIA and Qualcomm. With the buyout, Intel has gained access to Mobileye’s technologies related to cameras, in-car networking, sensor chips, roadway mapping, cloud software, machine learning and data management. This has increased its customer base and augmented its top-line growth.
QCOM’s Price Performance, Valuation and EstimatesQualcomm shares have gained 17.1% over the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 75%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company's shares currently trade at 17.1 forward earnings, lower than 32.39 for the industry.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Earnings estimates for fiscal 2026 have remained unchanged, and those for 2027 have increased over the past 60 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Qualcomm stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Jim Cramer odmítl doporučit Pfizer, i když akcie nabízejí 7% dividendu a jsou poblíž 52týdenního minima. Uvedl, že firmě chybí růst a má problémy s růstem zisku.
Jim Cramer stared down a stock yielding 7% and sitting near its 52-week low, and still would not tell viewers to buy it. On the July 7 episode of CNBC’s Mad Money, a caller from Orland Park, Illinois pitched Pfizer as an income-and-value setup, and Cramer conceded the case looked tempting. He landed on a reluctant pass anyway, telling the caller, “It kills me to say that a stock that yields 7% that used to have a lot of growth is going to have growth again, but I can’t come up with where the growth is. I just can’t. I’m sorry.”
The Caller and the Setup After a friendly exchange about Cramer’s 2:47 AM wake-up habit and a shout-out to a staffer named Sean, the Orland Park caller framed the question plainly: “I’m looking at a pharmaceutical company. You’ve had the CEO on your show several times over the past few years. Pays a high dividend. Down near the 52-week low. What do you think about Pfizer, Jim?” It is the kind of pitch that usually gets a warmer response from a host who has hosted CEO Albert Bourla repeatedly.
Cramer’s Reasoning on Pfizer Pfizer (NYSE:PFE | PFE Price Prediction) drew a diagnosis rather than an endorsement. Cramer told the caller, “Okay, they do have earnings growth problems. They haven’t been able to make the Seagen acquisition work the way it should. The dividend is safe at 7%.” The Seagen deal, closed in December 2023 for roughly $43 billion, was supposed to seed Pfizer’s post-COVID oncology franchise. Padcev, one of the assets that came over, did grow 39% operationally in Q1 2026, but that has not been enough to offset a 59% drop in Comirnaty and a 63% operational decline in Paxlovid.
The headline numbers still show a company that beats and guides steadily. Pfizer posted Q1 2026 revenue of $14.45 billion against a $13.80 billion estimate, adjusted EPS of $0.75 (a fifth consecutive beat), and reaffirmed FY2026 revenue guidance of $59.5 billion to $62.5 billion and adjusted EPS of $2.80 to $3.00, per the company’s 8-K filing. Net income of $2.687 billion was down 9.44% year over year, and operating income fell 31.44%. That is the growth gap Cramer is pointing at.
The Core Tension: Safe Yield, No Growth Cramer’s stance boils down to a simple test that a safe payout alone does not clear. Pfizer’s quarterly dividend of $0.43 was raised from $0.42 beginning with the January 2026 payment, extending a long streak of modest increases. FY2025 dividends paid totaled $9.8 billion, and management has signaled no buybacks in 2026 despite a $3.3 billion remaining authorization. Cash is going to the payout and to deals like the ~$7.0 billion Metsera acquisition in obesity/GLP-1 and a $1.35 billion charge to in-license a PD-1 x VEGF bispecific from 3SBio. Those bets could re-seed the pipeline. They have not yet moved the earnings needle in a way that satisfies Cramer.
The same investor newsletter that told subscribers to buy Amazon in 2002, Netflix in 2004, and Nvidia in 2005 still publishes two new stock picks every month. Over 23 years, Motley Fool's Stock Advisor has more than quadrupled the S&P 500. New members get this month's picks, the Top 10 Rankings, and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Click here to unlock their next top stocks while new members are still being accepted.
What the Market Says The market seems to agree, at least for now. Pfizer closed at $24.05 on July 8, down 6.13% over the past month and roughly flat year to date. The 52-week range runs from $21.97 to $28.28, and the trailing yield sits at 7.25%. Analyst consensus target is $29.00, with 16 Hold ratings dominating the board. Forward P/E of 8x tells you the market is pricing in the patent cliff around Eliquis and Vyndaqel, IRA Medicare Part D redesign pressure, and Most-Favored-Nation drug pricing risk.
For readers weighing this against other high-yield names, our ongoing Paycheck Portfolio coverage tracks how income investors are handling yield traps versus durable payers in 2026.
The Bottom Line Cramer’s take is Cramer’s take. Income investors who care most about a covered 7% payout may reasonably read the same facts and reach a different conclusion, especially with the stock sitting closer to the low end of its 52-week range. Growth investors hunting a catalyst will hear Cramer clearly. This is reporting on his opinion, and readers should treat it as such. Do your own research before acting.
If You'd Bought Amazon When the Motley Fool Said To…In September 2002, Stock Advisor told subscribers to buy Amazon. In December 2004, Netflix. In April 2005, Nvidia. The newsletter still publishes two new stock picks every month — and over 23 years, has more than quadrupled the S&P 500. Here's how to get this month's picks:
- Join Stock Advisor for one year, with a 30-day money-back guarantee
- Get this month's two new picks — plus the Top 10 Rankings and the full historical pick list
- Read the analysis, decide for yourself, and trade through your own brokerage
Five years from now, you'll probably wish you'd bought this month's picks. Don't miss them.
Oracle oznámila partnerství s IMSA Labs a spouští Oracle Cloud Innovation Studio pro startupy pracující s daty z živých závodů. Zaměřuje se na zpracování velkých objemů dat, rozhodování v reálném čase a edge computing.
Partners With IMSA Labs On Cloud Innovation StudioOracle disclosed its partnership with the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) as the founding partner of IMSA Labs, launching the Oracle Cloud Innovation Studio.
This initiative aims to assist startups in developing solutions using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, leveraging real-time data from live race operations.
The solutions developed through Oracle Cloud Innovation Studio target challenges such as high-volume data processing, real-time decision-making, edge computing and distributed systems.
ORCL Technical Outlook: Momentum Weak Below Key AveragesThe stock’s current price of $141.30 is significantly below its moving averages, with the 20-day simple moving average (SMA) at $163.34, indicating a 9.7% gap. The moving average convergence divergence (MACD) is currently below its signal line, suggesting that momentum is fading, which could signal a potential reversal unless the stock can reclaim that baseline.
Oracle Earnings Preview and Analyst Price TargetsOracle is slated to provide its next financial update on Sept. 8 (estimated).
EPS Estimate: $1.67 (Up from $1.47) Revenue Estimate: $19.12 billion (Up from $14.93 billion) Valuation: P/E of 24.1x (Indicates fair valuation) Analyst Consensus & Recent Actions: The stock carries a Buy rating with a consensus price target of $268.79. Recent analyst moves include:
Bernstein: Outperform (Raises target to $325 on June 11) RBC Capital: Sector Perform (Maintains target to $190 on June 11) TD Cowen: Buy (Maintains target to $300 on June 11) How Oracle Ranks On Value, Growth and MomentumBelow is the Benzinga Edge scorecard for Oracle, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses compared to the broader market:
Value: 20.51 — Trading at a steep premium relative to peers. Growth: 81.73 — Strong growth potential indicated. Momentum: 7.54 — Stock is underperforming the broader market. The Verdict: Oracle’s Benzinga Edge signal reveals a growth-heavy profile, but with weak momentum indicators suggesting potential challenges ahead. Investors may want to consider these factors as they evaluate Oracle’s future performance.
Top ETFs Holding Oracle Stock (ORCL)Significance: Because Oracle carries such a heavy weight in these funds, any significant inflows or outflows for these ETFs will likely force automatic buying or selling of the stock.
ORCL Stock Trades Higher As Markets RiseORCL Stock Price Activity: Oracle shares were up 3.46% at $145.38 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Photo via 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
Globe Life v 1. čtvrtletí zvýšila upravený EPS o 12 % díky růstu pojistného a disciplíně v upisování. Tržby z prodejů zdravotního pojištění vyskočily o 58 % a prodeje životního pojištění vzrostly o 6 %.
Key Takeaways Globe Life posted 12% operating EPS growth, supported by premium growth and disciplined underwriting. Sales momentum accelerated with health sales up 58% and life sales rising across all distribution channels. GL returned $225 million to shareholders and expects excess cash flow of $650-$700 million in 2026. Shares of Globe Life Inc. (GL - Free Report) have gained 48.7% over the past year, outperforming the industry, sector and the Zacks S&P 500 composite over the same period. The stock closed at $177.07 on Wednesday, just 2.7% below its 52-week high of $182.32, reflecting investor confidence.
Strong earnings growth, premium expansion, higher investment income and aggressive share repurchases have driven the rally. Improving investor sentiment following the easing of short-seller allegations has further supported the stock.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
GL has outperformed its peers, Aflac Incorporated (AFL - Free Report) and Unum Group (UNM - Free Report) , whose shares have risen 19.2% and 10.7%, respectively, in the past year, while AMERISAFE, Inc. (AMSF - Free Report) has lost 18.7%.
GL’s ValuationDespite the rally, Globe Life shares are trading at a discount compared to the industry. Its forward price-to-earnings multiple of 10.96X is lower than the industry average of 13.66X, the Finance sector’s 16.51X and the Zacks S&P 500 Composite’s 21.14X. Also, it has a Value Score of A.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Shares of other insurers, such as Unum Group, are also trading at a discount, while Aflac and Amerisafe are trading at a higher multiple than the industry average.
GL’s Growth Projection EncouragesThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for Globe Life’s 2026 earnings per share (EPS) indicates a year-over-year increase of 7.7%. The consensus estimate for revenues is pegged at $6.40 billion, implying a year-over-year improvement of 6.3%.
The consensus estimate for 2027 EPS and revenues indicates an increase of 6.4% and 6.7%, respectively, from the corresponding 2026 estimates.
The company’s earnings have improved 16.1% in the past five years, better than the industry average of 0.6%.
Optimistic Analyst Sentiment on GLThe company has witnessed four upward earnings estimate revisions for 2026 over the past 60 days, against no movement in the opposite direction. For 2027, it has witnessed three upward revisions and no downward movement. Thus, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 and 2027 earnings moved 1.4% and 0.1% north, respectively, over the last 60 days.
GL’s Return on Invested CapitalThe return on invested capital in the trailing 12 months was 12.5%, better than the industry average of 6.6%. This reflects the company’s efficiency in utilizing funds to generate income.
Key Points to Note for Globe LifeGlobe Life continues to deliver strong earnings growth, supported by disciplined underwriting, healthy premium growth and prudent capital management. In the first quarter of 2026, operating EPS increased 12% year over year, marking the seventh quarter of double-digit operating EPS growth in the past eight quarters. The company also benefited from higher premiums across its Life Insurance and Health Insurance segments, providing a solid foundation for sustained earnings expansion. In the first quarter, total premiums grew 6% year over year to $1.3 billion.
Moreover, net investment income continues to be another important driver of the company’s top-line growth and has been improving over the last few years, benefiting from higher portfolio yields and disciplined investment management. The company expects investment income to continue growing in 2026, supported by elevated reinvestment yields and its conservative, high-quality investment portfolio.
Improved agent productivity, expanding distribution and growth at the American Income, Liberty National, United American and Family Heritage divisions are expected to support continued sales growth in 2026. These efforts have fueled strong sales momentum, with health sales surging 58% in the first quarter of 2026 and life sales increasing 6% across all distribution channels.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as an important long-term growth driver for Globe Life. The company expects AI to improve underwriting, claims processing, customer service, agent productivity, lower administrative expenses and drive long-term margin expansion, strengthening Globe Life's competitive position.
The company has maintained a strong liquidity position with sufficient cash-generation capabilities. For 2026, GL anticipates excess cash flow to increase to approximately $650-$700 million. Globe Life has targeted a consolidated Company Action Level RBC ratio of 300-320% for 2026.
A strong capital position enables Globe Life to enhance its shareholder value via share buybacks and dividend payouts. The company returned approximately $225 million to shareholders during the first quarter of 2026. The insurer has continuously increased its dividend over the past five years, witnessing a CAGR of 8.9%.
ConclusionGlobe Life’s higher life and health sales, improved investment income, premium growth, AI initiatives, strong liquidity position and effective capital deployment position the company well for long-term growth.
Coupled with the impressive dividend history, cheaper valuation, solid growth projections, and higher returns, as well as the optimistic analyst sentiment, the time appears right for potential investors to bet on this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) insurer. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Molson Coors těží z prémiových značek, cenových kroků a tříletého programu úspor za 450 milionů USD. Strategie Horizon 2030 má podpořit růst i mimo pivo.
Key Takeaways Molson Coors is advancing Horizon 2030 by expanding premium beer and beyond-beer categories.TAP is benefiting from premium brands, pricing actions and a $450 million cost-savings program.TAP is investing in innovation, marketing and acquisitions to support long-term profitable growth. Molson Coors Beverage Company (TAP - Free Report) is one of the leading brewers, having a strong portfolio of well-established brands. The company is focused on strengthening its core beer business while expanding into faster-growing beverage categories under its Horizon 2030 strategy. It is focused on premiumization and innovation to strengthen its core beer portfolio.
The company is benefiting from stronger performance in premium brands and using targeted pricing and improved mix to aid revenue growth despite volume pressures. Management highlighted solid momentum in above-premium offerings such as Peroni, Blue Moon and Coors Banquet, while value brands like Miller High Life and Keystone are being supported through targeted innovation and localized execution.
Molson Coors’ Horizon 2030 strategy to drive sustainable top-line growth bodes well. The plan focuses on strengthening its core brands, expanding in above-premium beer and accelerating its presence in faster-growing beyond beer categories. The company continues to invest in commercial capabilities, technology and marketing, while leveraging acquisitions such as Fever-Tree and Monaco Cocktails to broaden its portfolio and enhance growth.
TAP’s cost savings to support long-term value creation appear encouraging. The company is executing a three-year $450 million cost savings program, including restructuring and supply-chain optimization initiatives, to offset inflation and fund strategic investments. Such actions, combined with Molson Coors’ disciplined capital allocation, position it to improve profitability and create long-term shareholder value.
Overall, Molson Coors is positioned to improve long-term growth through its Horizon 2030 strategy, continued premiumization, portfolio diversification beyond beer and disciplined cost-management initiatives. While sluggishness in the Americas business and macroeconomic pressures with a soft beer industry remain near-term challenges, the company's focus on operational efficiency, innovation and higher-margin brands should support sustainable growth.
TAP’s Price Performance, Valuation and EstimatesShares of Molson Coors have lost 13.9% in the past three months compared with the industry’s drop of 1.2%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, TAP trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 7.91X compared with the industry’s average of 14.99X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TAP’s 2026 earnings per share (EPS) shows a decline of 11.4% while that of 2027 indicates year-over-year growth of 4.2%. The company’s EPS estimates for 2026 and 2027 have been stable in the past 30 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Molson Coors stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Stocks to Consider in the Consumer Staples Space United Natural Foods (UNFI - Free Report) , which is a major distributor of natural, organic and specialty food and non-food products, currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for United Natural Foods’ current financial-year sales indicates a drop of 2.1% from the prior-year level. UNFI delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 29.9%, on average.
Nomad Foods Limited (NOMD - Free Report) , which manufactures and distributes frozen foods, currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
The consensus estimate for Nomad Foods’ current financial-year sales is expected to rise 0.5% from the year-ago reported figure. NOMD delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 8.6%, on average.
Medifast, Inc. (MED - Free Report) , which is a leading manufacturer and distributor of clinically-proven healthy living products and programs, currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. MED delivered an average earnings surprise of 65.5% in the last reported quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Medifast’s current financial-year sales indicates a decline of 26% from the year-ago number.
Micron se po silné poptávce po paměťových čipech obchoduje za 13,6násobek očekávaných zisků v příštích 12 měsících, ale článek varuje, že jde o vysoce cyklickou akcii. S rostoucí nabídkou mohou ceny čipů klesnout a zisky se v dalším cyklu zhoršit.
Micron Technology (MU +6.90%) is one of the hottest stocks in the market right now. Massive demand for its memory chips has driven prices higher over the last year, leading to record-breaking earnings for the company. Still, the stock trades for just 13.6 times analysts' earnings expectations for the next 12 months. For comparison, the S&P 500 trades for close to 22 times forecast earnings.
Many investors have pointed out how cheap Micron appears to be at its current price. In fact, Micron's the largest position in the Vanguard Value ETF, suggesting the stock is undervalued right now. But the truth is Micron's not as cheap as it looks. Here's why.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Looking beyond the current price-to-earnings ratio It's true that Micron trades for low price relative to its earnings expectations over the next 12 months. And analysts expect Micron's earnings to grow even more over the next two years, projecting Micron will generate over $160 in earnings per share by fiscal 2028, making its price around $1,000 per share look like an incredible bargain.
But the semiconductor industry is cyclical, and few segments are more so than memory chipmakers. That's because memory chips are commodity-like; device makers and chip packagers can, for the most part, swap out a Micron chip with any of its competitors'. That means if one of Micron's competitors increases the capacity of its chip production facilities, it will negatively impact Micron's ability to charge a premium price.
That's exactly what's playing out. Not only is Micron building out new chip manufacturing capacity, but its competitors are as well. As the pendulum of supply and demand swings the other way, Micron will see unit volume increase while pricing declines. At some point, unit volume growth won't be enough to offset price declines, and, combined with the added costs of running new facilities, profits will decline. That's the nature of cyclical stocks.
Today's Change
(
6.90
%) $
65.47
Current Price
$
1,014.27
So, as Micron approaches the peak of an earnings cycle, its P/E ratio will decline. Investors shouldn't be willing to pay as much for Micron's earnings at the peak of the cycle if the expectation is for earnings to decline for the next few years. And because of the commodity-like nature of Micron's products, the decline can be severe, especially if Micron doesn't build as much capacity as its competitors. That puts it in a prisoner's dilemma where it must spend the money to build new facilities.
Micron has historically traded at a P/E ratio in the mid single digits at its earnings peaks. At nearly 14 times earnings, the market suggests there are still a few more years of earnings growth for Micron in the current cycle; analysts are currently underestimating the peak of its earnings, or that the next down cycle won't be as bad as previous ones. All indications from Micron and its competitors suggest that the supply shortage will start to abate by 2028, which should have a noticeable negative impact on earnings in 2029 and 2030. Expectations for Micron are already sky-high, and the market is increasingly valuing it as if its earnings will never come down again. Don't confuse a highly cyclical stock with a value.
Boom v oblasti obezity ovládají Eli Lilly a Novo Nordisk a fond OZEM na ně míří přímo: drží Lilly za 16,10 % a Novo za 13,13 % majetku. XLV je proti tomu výrazně rozředěný, protože Lilly tvoří jen asi 16 % fondu.
The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLV) is the default healthcare allocation for millions of investors, and for good reason. XLV owns the entire S&P 500 healthcare complex in one ticker: insurers, device makers, biotech, and Big Pharma. It has returned 21.61% over the past year and 159.84% over ten years. If the reason for holding XLV is simply broad sector exposure, it does that job well. The reason to look past it is narrower: investors who bought XLV specifically to participate in the GLP-1 obesity boom are getting a heavily diluted version of that trade, and a small thematic fund, the LeaderShares Dr. Bill Grace Global Obesity ETF (NYSEARCA:OZEM) offers a more direct route.
Why XLV Waters Down the Obesity Trade The GLP-1 franchise is concentrated in two companies: Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY | LLY Price Prediction) and Novo Nordisk. Lilly’s Q1 2026 results underline the scale. Revenue reached $19.8 billion, up 55.5% year over year, with Mounjaro at $8.66 billion (+125%) and Zepbound at $4.16 billion (+80%). Non-GAAP EPS came in at $8.55. CEO David Ricks said, “2026 is off to a strong start, we delivered 56% revenue growth… raised full-year revenue guidance by $2 billion.” The FDA has since approved Foundayo (orforglipron), the first oral GLP-1 pill with no food or water restrictions.
Lilly’s stock reflects this: shares are up 54.8% over the past year and 433.36% over five years, with a market cap of roughly $1.07 trillion. Yet within XLV, Lilly is the largest single position, accounting for roughly 16% of the fund. While that provides significant exposure, the remaining 84% of the fund is spread across insurers, device makers, and legacy pharma. For investors whose core thesis is specifically the metabolic-disease franchise, the heavy allocation to non-obesity segments can dampen the impact of Lilly’s specific trajectory.”
What OZEM Actually Owns If you’re looking at the obesity and GLP-1 supply chain, OZEM is the fund that comes up most often. According to its March 31, 2026, NPORT filing, Lilly is its largest holding at 16.10% of net assets, with Novo Nordisk right behind at 13.13%. Put those two together, and the two drugmakers that dominate the category represent 29.23% of the fund. For context, that is a materially higher single-theme weighting than either name individually delivers in XLV.
The remainder is a mix of GLP-1 developers and adjacencies: Viking Therapeutics at 5.29%, Zealand Pharma at 3.60%, Structure Therapeutics at 2.38%, plus Chinese biotech exposure through Innovent, Ascletis, and CSPC. Broader pharma names such as Pfizer (7.56%) and Amgen (3.94%) round out the book. The fund also carried a 12.89% cash position at the March filing, which can dampen performance during rapid market rallies, though it provides the manager with the liquidity needed to navigate the extreme volatility typical of small-cap biotech stocks.
The Tradeoffs Are Real The swap involves real tradeoffs. OZEM returned 32.8% over the past year, better than XLV’s 21.61%, but well behind Lilly’s 54.8%. Novo Nordisk shares fell 25.53% over the same period, and that weighting, combined with the cash drag and small-cap biotech volatility, explains the gap. Year-to-date, OZEM is actually down 1.18% while XLV is up 5.51%.
Other considerations: OZEM’s total net assets sit at just $51.4 million, which means wider bid-ask spreads and closure risk if inflows stall. Thematic ETFs also carry higher expense ratios than sector SPDRs, and Lilly itself faces pricing pressure, with realized prices down and Mounjaro added to China’s national reimbursement list. A prospectus review is warranted before committing capital.
How to Think About the Swap PineBridge’s 2026 equity outlook notes that “In 2026, we will see the expansion of obesity treatments to the broader population as lower-cost, easier-to-administer oral pill versions of the current injectable GLP-1s are introduced to the market.” That backdrop supports thematic exposure, but the vehicle matters.
For an investor whose XLV position is designed to capture the obesity story, three paths are available. Owning Lilly directly has delivered the cleanest exposure by a wide margin. A partial OZEM sleeve alongside XLV preserves diversification while raising the weighting to GLP-1 developers globally. Keeping XLV as-is remains defensible for anyone who wants the whole sector rather than one theme within it. In a taxable account, trimming XLV to fund the switch would realize gains that should be weighed against the incremental exposure, since XLV itself already owns Lilly. The decision hinges on how narrow the reader wants the bet to be.
CVS těží z konsolidace ve zdravotním pojištění, zatímco Walgreens a Rite Aid ustupují. RBC zvýšila cílovou cenu a společnost v Q1 2026 zvýšila celoroční upravený EPS výhled na 7,30–7,50 USD.
Jim Cramer used his July 9, 2026 CNBC Stop Trading segment to plant a flag on managed care, framing CVS Health (NYSE:CVS | CVS Price Prediction) as the consolidation winner in a sector where insurers are finally getting paid for the risks they underwrite. RBC raised its price target on CVS Health, and Cramer connected that call to a broader thesis: with rivals shrinking and premiums climbing, the operators still standing have real pricing power.
“The real bull market here has been for the last month the UNH managed care insurance business,” Cramer said. He added, “We had Walgreens basically disappearing. We had Rite Aid disappearing. We have CVS, CVS redoing the front of the store and CVS doing a terrific job with Aetna.” Cramer expected meaningful pricing power to return: “The price increases in DRAM and price increases in health insurance are going to be double-digit.”
For investors looking to build lifelong dividend income, our Free Report: Never Touch the Principal, explains how to structure a portfolio that pays you consistently and dependably without ever drawing down your principal.
Cramer Says CVS Is the Biggest Winner From Industry Consolidation The retail pharmacy shakeout has been a big tailwind for CVS. With Walgreens and Rite Aid stepping back, CVS captures more front-of-store foot traffic and prescriptions, flowing straight into an insurance and pharmacy benefit engine that just had its best quarter in years.
In Q1 2026, CVS posted adjusted EPS of $2.57 versus a $2.21 consensus on revenue of $100.43 billion. The Aetna-anchored Health Care Benefits segment saw adjusted operating income climb 52.6% year over year to $3.04 billion, while the medical benefit ratio improved to 84.6% from 87.3%. Management raised full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $7.30-$7.50 and lifted the operating cash flow target to at least $9.5 billion.
CVS shares are up 7.61% over the past month and 61.69% over the past year, trading around $104.72. The average analyst price target sits around $107.73, with 24 buy or strong buy ratings against just four holds. The stock’s forward P/E is about 14x, which still represents a discount to the group despite the run.
UnitedHealth Shows Why Pricing Power Is Returning UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) is the clearest evidence that Cramer’s double-digit thesis holds. Management explicitly cited “repricing across all lines of business in response to elevated but in-line cost trends” as the driver of Q1 2026 margin expansion. The medical cost ratio improved 90 basis points to 83.9%, and adjusted EPS came in at $7.23 versus a $6.61 consensus. Full-year adjusted EPS guidance was raised to greater than $18.25.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and UnitedHealth Group didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
UNH is willingly shedding members. Guidance calls for UnitedHealthcare enrollment of 46.9 to 47.5 million, down from 49.8 million in 2025, as the company exits unprofitable contracts. Shares are up 5.27% in the past month and 42.03% over the past year. Polymarket traders currently price in a 71% probability that UNH will beat its next quarterly earnings report, due July 16.
Humana Is Benefiting From Better Medicare Economics Humana (NYSE:HUM) rounds out the trio. Q1 2026 revenue jumped 23.5% year over year to $39.65 billion, with individual Medicare Advantage membership up roughly 1.14 million, or 22% year to date. The insurance segment benefit ratio landed at 89.4%, favorable to guidance. Humana shares have led the group over the past month, rising 11.58%, and are up 55.89% year to date.
FY2026 adjusted EPS guidance of at least $9.00 steps down from the prior year’s $17.14, reflecting the bonus-payment reset. Cramer’s argument is that improved CMS benchmark funding and IRA-driven Part D subsidies could pull the sector back toward equilibrium faster than bears expect.
What to Watch Next Cramer’s thesis ultimately comes down to pricing power. As weaker competitors shrink or disappear and insurers reprice policies to reflect higher healthcare costs, the industry’s earnings outlook appears far healthier than it did a year ago.
The next major test arrives with UnitedHealth’s earnings on July 16, followed by updates from CVS and Humana later in the quarter. Investors will be watching whether improving medical cost ratios and higher premiums continue translating into stronger margins across the sector.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and UnitedHealth Group didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
CEO Palo Alto Networks Nikesh Arora varoval, že ceny tokenů musí klesnout až o 90 %, aby se AI mohla rozšířit ve velkém. Současné náklady podle něj brzdí firemní adopci.
Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora warned that token costs need to drop as much as 90% to promote large-scale artificial intelligence adoption.
"I think 54% is a good start," Arora told CNBC's Seema Mody on "Squawk on the Street" Thursday, after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told CNBC that the frontier lab's latest model is 54% more token-efficient for agentic coding. "I think we probably need another turn at it."
Arora said token efficiency needs to drop to as much as 20% over the next twelve months, and 90% by the following year.
Rising token costs have emerged as a major pain point for businesses and put a strain on AI budgets. The current pricing, he said, makes AI tools increasingly difficult for businesses to implement.
"We need to see the pricing for AI come down," Arora said.
Arora is among a growing group of executives pushing for a decline in token pricing. The worry is that high token costs create a major barrier to widespread adoption, preventing many enterprises from using the tools.
Read more CNBC tech newsChinese lidar maker with Nvidia ties accused of being cyber risk for U.S.China's Alibaba bans Anthropic AI for employees after 'distillation attack' accusationSpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell to donate stock to Trump AccountsMicrosoft cuts 4,800 jobs, as Xbox unit downsizes and plans to spin off four gaming studiosLast week, Palantir CEO Alex Karp blasted the token model used by Anthropic and OpenAI, and called open-weight models a potential solution.
"I'm not throwing shade at them, but something has gone completely wrong," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box." "The basic view among enterprises in this country is I'm going to chillax and waste my time with tokens."
The token problem is leading many businesses to implement cheaper open-weight tools, including Chinese models that are quickly closing the gap with American labs.
At the same time, AI spending is accelerating to new highs to power the massive infrastructure buildout. Tech giants are also looking for new ways to fund these AI investments, with SpaceX raising $25 billion last month in a bond sale. Amazon raised $25 billion in debt this week.
Arora said the market will start to come to terms with the spending, or businesses will adjust to the market. Budgets will also decline as the technology becomes more efficient.
"It's important to understand the demand continues to be infinite, and as long as you have an infinite demand curve that you're facing, I think all these things will rationalize over time," he said.
Allstate v 1. čtvrtletí vykázala EPS 10,65 USD, nad odhadem 7,24 USD, a segment homeowners se vrátil k upisovacímu zisku 685 mil. USD. Progressive zvýšila výnosy o 8,8 % na 22,19 mld. USD, ale EPS 4,96 USD jen těsně překonala odhad a combined ratio vzrostlo na 86,4.
Allstate (NYSE:ALL | ALL Price Prediction) and Progressive (NYSE:PGR) just delivered Q1 2026 reports that inverted the recent pattern. Allstate’s underwriting engine rebounded sharply after last year’s California wildfire hit, while Progressive kept growing policies but couldn’t nudge its combined ratio lower. The valuation gap between the two now looks stretched, and the businesses behind the tickers are pulling in genuinely different directions.
Homeowners Rescues Allstate. Direct Auto Still Powers Progressive. Allstate posted $10.65 EPS against a $7.24 estimate, a 47.10% beat driven by the homeowners book swinging to a $685 million underwriting profit from a prior-year loss. The property-liability combined ratio landed at 82.0, and catastrophe losses fell 43.7% to $1.24 billion. CEO Tom Wilson credited “more affordable prices, new products, expanded benefits, bundled offerings, lower expenses, sophisticated analytics and increased marketing” for share gains. Auto new business applications rose 9.4%, so top-line growth is reaccelerating.
Progressive told a different story. Revenue climbed 8.8% to $22.19 billion, policies in force jumped 9% to roughly 39.6 million, and Direct Auto premiums earned surged 14%. But EPS of $4.96 barely edged the $4.88 estimate, and the combined ratio ticked up to 86.4 from 86.0. Property shrank 1% and Commercial Lines dropped 4%, exposing the auto-heavy concentration.
One Diversified Compounder, One Auto Specialist Lens Allstate Progressive Trailing P/E 5x 11x Forward P/E 9x 14x Return on Equity 45.2% 37.9% Dividend Yield 1.76% 0.18% Core Bet Bundled auto + home + protection services Direct-to-consumer telematics auto Allstate’s $4.0 billion new buyback stacked on the existing $1.5 billion program, plus a $1.08 quarterly dividend, signals real confidence. Progressive is repurchasing modestly, with 768,273 shares bought at an average of $204.48 in March. The Florida $950 million policyholder credit overhang and a CFO transition in July 2026 add friction Allstate simply does not carry.
The Next Test Is Whether Underwriting Discipline Holds I will be watching whether Allstate’s 82.0 combined ratio can survive a normal catastrophe season. Homeowners just flipped, but May 2026 housing starts fell to 1.18 million, down 15.4% from April, which softens the demand runway. For Progressive, Polymarket traders assign a 42.5% probability that Q2 combined ratio lands between 89% and 92%, worse than Q1. That would confirm the pricing pressure analysts have flagged.
Why I Lean Toward Allstate on This Setup For me, the valuation and returns numbers carry the argument. Allstate is up 15.49% year to date while Progressive has managed only 2.13%, and Progressive is still down 12.78% over the past year. Paying 5x earnings for a business generating 45.2% ROE feels like the cleaner risk-reward. If you prioritize policy-count growth and the direct model, Progressive still fits. If you want capital returns, valuation cushion, and a broader product base, Allstate is the one I keep watching.
If You'd Bought Amazon When the Motley Fool Said To…In September 2002, Stock Advisor told subscribers to buy Amazon. In December 2004, Netflix. In April 2005, Nvidia. The newsletter still publishes two new stock picks every month — and over 23 years, has more than quadrupled the S&P 500. Here's how to get this month's picks:
- Join Stock Advisor for one year, with a 30-day money-back guarantee
- Get this month's two new picks — plus the Top 10 Rankings and the full historical pick list
- Read the analysis, decide for yourself, and trade through your own brokerage
Five years from now, you'll probably wish you'd bought this month's picks. Don't miss them.
Lucid Group ve čtvrtletí do 30. června vyrobil 4 774 vozů a dodal 3 953, zároveň oznámil reorganizaci vedení pod vedením CEO Silvia Napoliho. Akcie LCID byly ve čtvrtek o 1,55 % výše na 5,91 USD.
Lucid Group stock is moving in positive territory. What’s driving LCID shares up? What Is Driving Lucid Group’s Recent Performance?Lucid produced 4,774 vehicles and delivered 3,953 in the quarter ended June 30, and it paired that update with a leadership overhaul aimed at simplifying the org chart and tightening accountability under CEO Silvio Napoli. The shakeup is designed to halve the number of direct reports to the CEO, with Alexander De Bock set to replace Taoufiq Boussaid after a handover.
Lucid also named Raja Ramana Macha as CTO, Billy Hayes as Chief Customer Officer and Kay Stepper as President of Lucid Technologies and Chief Digital Officer. Hayes’ remit spans sales, service, marketing and regional P&L across the U.S., Middle East and Europe, effective immediately.
Critical Technical Levels for LCID StockAt $5.89, LCID is back above its shorter-term trend gauges—trading 5.6% above the 20-day SMA ($5.64) and 1.5% above the 50-day SMA ($5.86)—but it’s still in a longer-term downtrend, sitting 21.5% below the 100-day SMA ($7.58) and 47.3% below the 200-day SMA ($11.28). That "short-term bounce inside a bigger downtrend" look is reinforced by bearish crossovers (the 20-day SMA below the 50-day, and the 50-day below the 200-day).
Momentum is best framed through RSI, which is neutral at 51.90—basically saying the stock isn’t stretched and is still trading more like a range than a runaway trend. For non-technicians, RSI is a quick way to gauge whether recent buying or selling has become overheated; near-50 readings often line up with choppy, two-sided trade.
Key levels are tight enough to matter for swing traders watching follow-through from the June low and the July rebound attempt.
Key Resistance: $7.00 — a round-number ceiling that also lines up with the area the stock would need to reclaim to start repairing the gap to the 100-day averages Key Support: $5.50 — a nearby floor close to the 20-day SMA zone where buyers have recently shown up What Is Lucid Group and Its Business Model?Lucid Group is a technology and automotive company focused on developing next-generation EV technologies, with a direct-to-consumer model that includes geographically distributed retail and service locations. Its approach leans on in-house hardware and software innovation, vertical integration and clean-sheet engineering—work that underpins the Lucid Air luxury sedan.
That backdrop matters for Thursday’s trade because the market is weighing execution: production/delivery cadence on one hand, and organizational focus on the other. The new structure (including a distinct Lucid Technologies business unit focused on strategic partnerships and advanced technologies like autonomy, ADAS, AI and robotaxis) is a clear attempt to sharpen accountability while keeping longer-dated tech optionality in the story.
Current Price Action for LCID Stock on ThursdayLCID Stock Price Activity: Lucid Group shares were up 1.55% at $5.91 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Image: Shutterstock
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Akcie Applied Materials vzrostly téměř o 7 % poté, co zprávy o plánu Meta vyrábět vlastní AI čip podpořily celý sektor polovodičů. Lam Research a KLA přidaly více než 6 %.
Applied Materials Inc. shares AMAT climbed nearly 7% on Thursday as semiconductor stocks rallied after reports that Meta Platforms plans to begin manufacturing its in-house artificial intelligence chip in September, boosting optimism around demand for wafer fabrication equipment and AI infrastructure.
The broader semiconductor rally also lifted Lam Research and KLA Corp., while optical networking company Lumentum led gains in the S&P 500.
Applied Materials gained nearly 7%, while Lam Research and KLA rose more than 6% as investors reacted to reports that Meta expects to begin work on its AI data-center chip, codenamed "Iris," using custom-built silicon. Reuters first reported the development.
The move was viewed as a positive development for companies supplying wafer fabrication equipment used to convert raw silicon wafers into microchips.
The rally comes as expectations continue to build around rising capital expenditure by hyperscale technology companies.
According to Citi, the wafer fabrication equipment market is expected to grow from about $145 billion this year to $200 billion in 2027 and $250 billion in 2028.
The brokerage also forecasts hyperscaler spending to increase 84% this year, 56% in 2027 and 38% in 2028.
Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Oracle are expected to spend more than $1.1 trillion in 2027, up from $650 billion this year.
Brokerages also turned more optimistic on semiconductor equipment makers.
Mizuho Securities raised its price target on Applied Materials to $650 from $540 while maintaining its Outperform rating. It also increased its target on Lam Research to $400 from $380.
TD Cowen lifted its price target on Applied Materials to $700 from $525 while maintaining its rating on the stock.
The brokerage models wafer fabrication equipment spending reaching $250 billion in 2028 and potentially $400 billion by 2030, supported by stronger industry profitability and demand backed by take-or-pay agreements.
Under its $250 billion scenario, TD Cowen estimates Applied Materials could generate earnings of about $25 per share, compared with its calendar 2026 estimate of $13.35.
Lam Research could earn between $11 and $12 per share, while KLA could generate $9 to $10 per share.
The firm said Applied Materials would be the biggest beneficiary under that scenario, followed by KLA because of their exposure to leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing and DRAM investment.
Investor sentiment also received support from comments by Applied Materials CEO Gary Dickerson.
In an interview with Nikkei Asia, Dickerson said Applied Materials has “tremendous visibility” into customer demand over the next 24 months.
He added that chipmakers are providing equipment demand forecasts at least two years in advance, giving the company confidence that the AI-driven semiconductor investment cycle still has years to run.
AMAT Technicals Applied Materials continues to trade above its 20-day, 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages.
Its relative strength index stands at 53.70, a neutral reading, while traders are watching the 20-day moving average near $503 as the first support level and the 52-week high near $739.67 as the next major resistance.
Toyota investuje 3,6 miliardy USD do rozšíření výroby v Texasu, aby posílila svou severoamerickou stopu a lokalizovala produkci. Akcie přesto zůstávají vnímány jako hodnotové, s poměrem ceny k zisku 9,7×.
The move strengthens Toyota’s North American manufacturing footprint at a time when supply-chain resilience and domestic production have become increasingly important for global automakers.
Yet despite that aggressive investment, Toyota continues to be viewed as a value stock.
The automaker currently ranks among Benzinga Edge’s Top Value Stocks, reflecting its inexpensive valuation metrics and strong profitability. That creates an interesting disconnect: Toyota is spending like a company preparing for its next phase of growth, while Wall Street continues to value it like a mature automaker.
Toyota Still Trades Like A Value StockToyota’s valuation helps explain why it continues to earn a place among the market’s top value names.
According to Benzinga Pro data, the stock trades at just 9.7 times trailing earnings and 10.8 times forward earnings. It also carries an earnings yield of 10.3% and an EV-to-EBITDA multiple of 8.0—metrics typically associated with value stocks rather than companies making multibillion-dollar expansion bets.
Rather than conserving cash, Toyota is investing heavily to localize production, strengthen its U.S. manufacturing footprint and reinforce its position in the profitable North American truck market. The company has also continued leaning on its hybrid strategy, which has helped it outperform many rivals as EV demand has moderated.
For investors, the question is whether Wall Street is fully recognizing what Toyota is becoming—or still valuing what it has historically been.
TM Stock Chart Suggests Sentiment May Be ImprovingToyota’s technical picture suggests investors may already be warming to that idea.
Although the shares remain down 18.7% year to date, they’ve gained 5.5% over the past five trading sessions and are up nearly 4% over the past year, indicating buying interest has started to return after months of weakness.
Chart created using Benzinga Pro
The stock has also reclaimed its short-term moving averages, while the MACD (moving average convergence/divergence) indicator is recovering from the negative territory, signaling that bullish momentum is building. Meanwhile, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) sits near the neutral 50 level, suggesting the shares are neither overbought nor oversold and could have room to build on their recent rebound.
The next technical level investors may be watching is the 50-day moving average, which could act as the next test for a sustained breakout.
It’s a strategic investment in manufacturing flexibility, localized production and one of the world’s most profitable pickup markets. Yet even as the company commits billions to future growth, the stock continues to trade at the kind of valuation typically reserved for mature value companies—a view reinforced by its place among Benzinga Edge’s Top Value Stocks.
If Toyota’s manufacturing investment begins translating into stronger earnings growth and improving investor sentiment, Wall Street may eventually have to decide whether the company still belongs in the bargain bin—or whether its valuation deserves a second look.
Image via Shutterstock
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Carvana čeká ve 2. čtvrtletí mezikvartální zlepšení hrubého zisku na jednotku v retailu, ale meziročně zůstane pod úrovní loňska kvůli ztrátě tarifních benefitů, nižším přepravním poplatkům a vyšším nákladům mimo vozidla.
Key Takeaways Carvana expects Q2 retail GPU to improve sequentially but remain below the prior-year level.CVNA cites lost tariff benefits, lower shipping fees and higher non-vehicle costs as key headwinds.Carvana also expects narrower wholesale-to-retail spreads to reduce retail GPU by about $100-$200 per unit. Carvana Co.’s (CVNA - Free Report) retail gross profit per unit (GPU) was relatively stable in the first quarter of 2026 but declined slightly from the prior-year period. A key factor behind the decline was the company's continued success in optimizing its logistics network, enabling faster vehicle deliveries over shorter distances. This improvement helped reduce logistics expense per retail unit sold to an all-time low.
As outbound shipping distances declined, Carvana also lowered the shipping fees charged to customers, passing the cost savings directly to them. While this enhanced customer value, it negatively affected retail GPU in both the fourth quarter of the previous year and the first quarter of the current year. Consequently, non-GAAP retail GPU declined by $58 year over year, primarily due to higher non-vehicle costs and lower shipping fee revenues.
Looking ahead, the company expects retail GPU to improve sequentially in the second quarter but remain below the prior-year level. The anticipated year-over-year decline reflects the absence of approximately $100 per unit in tariff-related benefits that supported results last year, continued pressure from lower shipping fees and higher non-vehicle costs, as well as an estimated $100-$200 per unit impact from narrower wholesale-to-retail spreads across the industry.
Meanwhile, non-GAAP wholesale GPU decreased by $83 year over year. Although wholesale vehicle volumes increased and gross profit per unit improved, these gains were more than offset by lower marketplace gross profit and retail unit growth that outpaced wholesale gross profit. Non-GAAP other GPU also declined by $88, primarily because the company chose to pass value back to customers through lower interest rates, partially offset by higher finance product and vehicle service contract attachment rates. CVNA currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
GPU Outlook of Other Auto RetailersGroup 1 Automotive, Inc.’s (GPI - Free Report) profitability across both new and used vehicle segments remains under pressure. In the last reported quarter, Group 1’s new-vehicle gross profit per unit slipped 2.5% to $3,296, and used-vehicle GPU fell 1.9% to $1,540. As inventory levels normalize and incentives increase, maintaining pricing discipline is likely to become more challenging for Group 1, which could continue to weigh on margins and overall earnings.
AutoNation, Inc. (AN - Free Report) new-vehicle profitability remains vulnerable to shifts in OEM incentives, vehicle mix and volatility in Premium Luxury volume. In the first quarter of 2026, AutoNation’s new vehicle gross profit per unit was $2,514, down from $2,803 a year ago, reflecting a weaker year-over-year pricing environment. BEV unit sales declined more than 50% year over year, with a disproportionate impact in Premium Luxury, where units fell 16% year over year. Amid affordability and inflation concerns, AutoNation expects vehicle demand to remain under pressure and has warned of margin compression this year.
Carvana’s Price Performance, Valuation and EstimatesCarvana has underperformed the Zacks Internet – Commerce industry in the last six months. CVNA shares have plunged 28.6% compared with the industry’s decline of 7.3%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation perspective, Carvana appears overvalued. Going by its price/sales ratio, the company is trading at a forward sales multiple of 2.28, higher than its industry’s 1.91.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Carvana’s 2026 and 2027 EPS has moved up 5 cents and 4 cents, respectively, in the past 60 days.
Carvana v 1. čtvrtletí 2026 snížila non-GAAP náklady SG&A o 170 USD na jednu prodanou retailovou jednotku, zatímco retailové prodeje vzrostly o 40 %. Společnost očekává další páku nákladů s růstem objemu.
Key Takeaways Carvana lowered non-GAAP SG&A expense by $170 per retail unit as retail unit sales rose 40% in Q1 2026.CVNA expects more SG&A leverage from efficiency gains and fixed-cost leverage as retail volumes increase. Carvana plans to keep investing in advertising while funding technology and AI initiatives for growth. Carvana Co. (CVNA - Free Report) delivered another strong quarter of SG&A expense leverage in the first quarter of 2026. The company’s 40% increase in retail units sold reduced non-GAAP SG&A expense by $170 per retail unit sold, including a $36 decline in operations expenses and a $226 decline in overhead expenses per unit. Carvana expects significant SG&A leverage opportunities as the business continues to scale, driven by both operational efficiencies and leverage from the fixed components of its cost structure.
Operations expenses include costs associated with executing transactions, providing customer service, fulfilling orders through the logistics network and completing last-mile deliveries. These expenses are relatively variable in nature. During the quarter, operations expenses declined slightly year over year, reflecting continued efficiency improvements. The company expects further reductions in operations expense per retail unit over the long term, although quarterly results can be affected by factors such as fuel prices because logistics costs are included in this category.
Overhead expenses represent the more fixed portion of the cost structure. While these costs can increase when the company makes strategic investments, such as its current investments in additional technology and AI-related initiatives, Carvana expects substantial leverage in this category as retail volumes continue to grow. The first quarter demonstrated strong progress in spreading these fixed costs across a larger sales base.
Advertising remains the third major SG&A category. Carvana has been increasing advertising spending to further build consumer awareness, understanding and trust in its platform. As a result, the company expects advertising investment to remain an important component of its growth strategy even as it continues to pursue efficiency gains in operations and overhead expenses. CVNA currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
What Are the SG&A Prospects for Other Auto Retailers?AutoNation, Inc.’s (AN - Free Report) operating efficiency remains a concern as SG&A has moved above the company’s long-term target range. In the first quarter of 2026, AutoNation’s adjusted SG&A was 69.8% of gross profit versus the 66% to 67% target range, reflecting higher marketing spend, strategic customer experience investments and unfavorable self-insurance experience related to weather events. AutoNation expects SG&A to moderate in subsequent quarters but remain above the targeted range, which can restrain operating income growth if revenues remain under pressure.
Penske Automotive Group, Inc.’s (PAG - Free Report) expense base is proving sticky even as gross profit softens, which reduces operating leverage in a slower volume environment. In the first quarter of 2026, Penske’s SG&A rose modestly year over year while gross profit declined, and the company attributed the gap to higher employee benefit costs, higher U.K. payroll taxes and social programs, and higher rent and real estate taxes. Penske highlighted that rent increases tend to recur, and benefit costs have not been moving lower, which can keep earnings improvement uneven if unit volumes remain pressured.
Carvana’s Price Performance, Valuation and EstimatesCarvana has underperformed the Zacks Internet – Commerce industry in the last six months. CVNA shares have plunged 28.6% compared with the industry’s decline of 7.3%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation perspective, Carvana appears overvalued. Going by its price/sales ratio, the company is trading at a forward sales multiple of 2.28, higher than its industry’s 1.91.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Carvana’s 2026 and 2027 EPS has moved up 5 cents and 4 cents, respectively, in the past 60 days.
Key Takeaways UiPath shares have fallen 34% in six months, while trading below the industry's forward earnings multiple.PATH reported its first-quarter GAAP profit and raised its full-year outlook on stronger demand.UiPath is positioning its platform to combine RPA, AI agents and workflows for enterprise automation. UiPath’s (PATH - Free Report) recent share price pullback has made its valuation more compelling, particularly for long-term investors. Despite improving financial performance and stronger demand for its automation platform, the stock trades at a more reasonable forward earnings multiple than it did during its earlier rally. This disconnect suggests that much of the market’s caution surrounding AI-related competition and enterprise spending has already been reflected in the share price.
The stock has declined 34% over the past six months compared with the industry’s 6.5% decline.
< Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
PATH trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53X, which is well below the industry’s average of 27.31X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The company continues to strengthen its fundamentals. Annualized recurring revenue (ARR) has maintained steady growth, operating margins have expanded, and UiPath recently reported its first-ever first-quarter GAAP profit. Management also raised its full-year outlook, reflecting confidence in customer demand and the company's ability to monetize its AI-powered automation offerings.
As enterprises increasingly adopt agentic AI, UiPath is positioning itself as an orchestration layer that combines robotic process automation (RPA), AI agents, and workflow management. This strategy could help customers automate complex business processes while optimizing AI token usage, creating a differentiated value proposition.
Although risks remain, including competitive pressure and slower enterprise IT spending, the current valuation appears to offer a favorable risk-reward balance. If UiPath continues to execute on its AI roadmap and sustain profitable growth, today's discounted valuation could provide meaningful upside potential for patient, long-term investors.
Peer Comparison
Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) and ServiceNow (NOW - Free Report) remain formidable rivals, but their financial strategies differ from UiPath’s. Microsoft, while a giant with unparalleled scale, must spread capital across diverse segments such as cloud, gaming and productivity software, somewhat diluting its focus on automation. ServiceNow continues to gain traction in enterprise workflow automation but remains heavily invested in sustaining growth momentum, balancing expansion with cost pressures.
Compared to these players, UiPath’s debt-free balance sheet allows it to dedicate resources squarely to automation. Microsoft has the advantage of size, and ServiceNow has enterprise reach, but UiPath’s singular financial flexibility gives it agility neither can fully replicate.
PATH stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Keysight Delivers New High-Performance 4x100GE Network Cybersecurity Test Platform Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS) today announced the APS-ONE-400, a modular network cybersecurity test platform. This new 4x100GE platform significantly boosts performance for Layer 4-7 traffic, encrypted traffic, and Elephant Flow traffic all within a 1 rack unit (RU) system. It enables network equipment manufacturers (NEMs), service providers, and data center operators to validate demanding scenarios while lowering overall infrastructure requirements.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260709611791/en/
The Keysight APS-ONE-400 4x100GE modular network cybersecurity test platform delivers hyperscale L4-7 traffic, encrypted TLS traffic, security strikes, and Elephant Flows via a 1RU footprint that minimizes rack space usage, power consumption, and cooling demands.
The growing complexity and volume of network loads — including legitimate and malicious traffic, post-quantum cryptography (PQC)-encrypted traffic, Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), and the Elephant Flow transmissions common in AI and large language model (LLM) workloads — require network equipment manufacturers (NEMs), service providers, and data center operators to validate that their solutions can withstand these demands prior to deployment. However, this often requires multiple specialized test tools that can drive up costs and consume limited lab resources.
To address this challenge, Keysight developed the APS-ONE-400 appliance, an addition to its APS-100/400GE hardware family. The new modular, scalable 4x100GE network application and cybersecurity test platform generates hyperscale Layer 4-7 traffic, PQC-encrypted Transport Layer Security (TLS) throughput, security strikes, and ZTNA test capabilities — all within a compact 1RU footprint that improves lab efficiency.
The APS-ONE-400 4x100GE test platform offers the following benefits:
Increased performance and efficiency: Delivers 400 gigabits per second (Gbps) Layer 4-7 throughput, 380 Gbps of hardware-accelerated encrypted TLS throughput, 95 Gbps Elephant Flow throughput, and the latest security strikes in a compact 1RU platform that minimizes rack space, cooling, and power consumption. Compatibility and flexibility: Deploy as a stand-alone appliance or seamlessly integrate with existing deployments of Keysight’s APS-100/400GE series, including APS-M8400, APS-M1010, and APS-ONE-100. With APS-ONE-400’s fanout support for 100/25/10GE, the platform accommodates a range of critical network speeds. Hyperscale performance: When paired with the APS-M8400 appliance or APS-M1010 management controller, the APS-ONE-400 enables hyperscale testbeds that emulate the rigorous demands of data center and service provider environments. The platform can generate up to 16 terabits per second (Tbps) of Layer 4-7 traffic, 20 billion concurrent connections, 15 Tbps of TLS traffic, and 25 million TLS connections per second. Modular, scalable solution: Designed as a “pay-as-you-grow” solution, the APS-ONE-400 lets users support current test needs while retaining the flexibility to scale up capacity as requirements evolve. Ram Periakaruppan, Vice President and General Manager, Keysight's Network Test and Security Solutions, said: “The exponential growth of data transfers and bandwidth demands generated by AI and machine learning workloads is putting unprecedented strain on data center, service provider, and enterprise network infrastructures. Continuously validating that networks can handle these challenges without compromising security requires realistic, hyperscale, traffic emulation capabilities. Keysight's modular APS-ONE-400 compute node delivers new heights in realism, emulating the traffic flows associated with generative AI models and agentic applications at hyperscale, including the huge Elephant Flow datasets common to LLM training use cases and PQC-encrypted traffic flows, all in a compact form factor that conserves critical lab resources.”
Resources
Product Page: APS-100/400 network security test platformData Sheet: APS-100/400 network security test platformAbout Keysight Technologies
At Keysight (NYSE: KEYS), we inspire and empower innovators to bring world-changing technologies to life. As an S&P 500 company, we’re delivering market-leading design, emulation, and test solutions to help engineers develop and deploy faster, with less risk, throughout the entire product lifecycle. We’re a global innovation partner enabling customers in communications, industrial automation, aerospace and defense, automotive, semiconductor, and general electronics markets to accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world. Learn more at Keysight Newsroom and www.keysight.com.
The Keysight APS-ONE-400 4x100GE modular network cybersecurity test platform delivers hyperscale L4-7 traffic, encrypted TLS traffic, security strikes, and Elephant Flows via a 1RU footprint that minimizes rack space usage, power consumption, and cooling demands.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260709611791/en/
Disclosures I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and have no plans to buy any new positions in the stocks mentioned within the next 72 hours.
Constellation Brands ve 1. čtvrtletí fiskálního roku 2027 zvýšila tržby na 2,43 mld. USD, ale upravený EPS na 3,43 USD zaostal za odhady. Firma zároveň zvýšila celoroční výhled EPS.
This is a fair market value price provided by Massive. Learn more.
52-Week Range$126.45▼
$178.13Dividend Yield3.14%
P/E Ratio12.54
Price Target$167.89
Constellation Brands NYSE: STZ delivered its fiscal year 2027 Q1 report on June 30 with mixed results. Revenue of $2.43 billion beat expectations for $2.39 billion. However, Constellation missed the bottom line, reporting adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $3.43, below expectations of $3.70.
However, the earnings figure was higher year over year (YOY). Plus, management raised its full-year reported EPS outlook to $11.50 to $12.20 and reaffirmed comparable guidance of $11.20 to $11.90. At the midpoint, the reported EPS would be 23% higher YOY.
Get Constellation Brands alerts:
That hasn’t done much to satisfy investors. As of the market close on July 8, STZ continues to trade near multi-year lows around $130, keeping shares below their 200-day moving average of roughly $146, and the stock's MACD remains in negative territory.
When it comes to earnings reports, investors often pay too much attention to what the company did and not enough to its future outlook. In the case of Constellation Brands, that’s a disconnect that’s worth examining. Particularly, as STZ is trading approximately 29% below the analysts’ consensus price target of $167.89.
Constellation's Beer Business Continues to Drive GrowthConstellation's beer segment, anchored by Modelo Especial and Corona Extra, grew net sales 2% on a 1.8% increase in shipment volumes. Operating margin held roughly flat at 39%. Depletions, a measure of what's actually moving off store shelves, dipped by a modest 0.3%. The company remained the top dollar-share gainer in the U.S. beer category during the quarter, with five of the 15 top share-gaining brands nationally.
Wine and Spirits told a more complicated story. Reported net sales fell 47%, but that decline is almost entirely a function of last year's divestiture of a large chunk of the mainstream wine portfolio. Strip that out, and organic net sales actually grew 8%, with depletions up 6.6%. The Kim Crawford brand’s depletions grew by roughly 4%, while Mi CAMPO Tequila surged 62%. The segment's operating loss narrowed sharply, improving 140 basis points to a margin of negative 0.7%.
Constellation Challenges the GLP-1 Bear CaseOverall MarketRank™98th Percentile
Analyst RatingHold
Upside/Downside29.2% Upside
Short Interest LevelHealthy
Dividend StrengthStrong
News Sentiment0.18 Insider TradingSelling Shares
Proj. Earnings Growth3.47%
See Full Analysis
A popular bear thesis for beer and wine stocks holds that GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are suppressing overall drinking. Constellation's numbers argue against that story, at least for now. If GLP-1 adoption were driving a broad pullback in alcohol consumption, beer volumes should be falling alongside wine and spirits. Instead, beer shipments grew, and organic sales and depletions for wine and spirits both increased.
This suggests that Constellation Brands is adjusting to the changing tastes of consumers. That's different from a company stuck in a doom loop of declining consumer demand.
What shows up in the numbers is lower pressure on the income ladder. Management described a "discerning and value-conscious consumer mindset," particularly among lower-income households, as gas prices rose more than 50% nationally during the quarter.
That's the K-shaped economy playing out in real time: a bifurcated consumer base, with higher-end brands with strong equity, like Modelo and Kim Crawford, continuing to find buyers even as lower-income households pull back elsewhere.
Constellation Rewards Shareholders With Buybacks and DividendsConstellation returned over $400 million to shareholders during the quarter. That was split between $324 million in year-to-date share repurchases and a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share. Management is targeting a comparable net leverage ratio of approximately 3x while continuing to fund the construction of a third brewery in Veracruz, Mexico. Operating cash flow rose 4% to $662 million, and free cash flow increased 9% to $485 million.
New CEO Nicholas Fink Outlines Constellation's Growth StrategyThis was the first earnings report with Nicholas Fink as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Fink used the earnings commentary to lay out an occasion-based growth strategy. The plan centers on understanding when, where, and why consumers choose specific brands, rather than treating growth purely as a distribution or pricing exercise.
Fink singled out Modelo Especial's continued distribution runway and relatively low brand awareness as a specific opportunity, alongside continued investment in fast-growing Pacifico and Mi CAMPO.
Constellation Stock Offers Value for Patient InvestorsAt roughly 11x, Constellation trades at a discount that looks reasonable for a defensive consumer name with a dominant beer franchise and an improving wine-and-spirits business. The stock's continued technical weakness suggests the market hasn't fully priced in the operating improvement yet.
To be fair, risks remain. Wine and Spirits still operates near breakeven, tariff exposure on agricultural inputs is an ongoing concern the company flags directly in its filings, and the broader beverage alcohol category faces real questions about long-term consumption trends.
But this quarter's results suggest the pressure so far is more about consumer selectivity than a structural retreat from alcohol altogether. For patient investors, Constellation's combination of earnings growth, aggressive capital returns, and a still-skeptical stock chart is worth watching closely.
Should You Invest $1,000 in Constellation Brands Right Now?Before you consider Constellation Brands, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Constellation Brands wasn't on the list.
While Constellation Brands currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
MarketBeat just released its list of the 7 hottest IPOs expected to hit Wall Street in 2026. See which companies are preparing to go public and why investors are watching closely.
USD/CAD zůstává před kanadskými daty o zaměstnanosti v neutrálním až mírně býčím nastavení. Trh čeká na červnový přírůstek kolem 11,2 tisíce míst, hluboko pod květnovými 87,8 tisíce.
Since the final days of June, the Canadian dollar has been unable to build relevant strength against the U.S. dollar. Now, average USD/CAD movements remain close to 0.2% in the short term, showing a neutral bias that has become evident again in the behavior of both currencies.
For now, CAD has not managed to regain confidence ahead of the employment data release. An additional slowdown in this indicator could keep the Bank of Canada on a neutral policy path, limiting the support from higher rates and making it harder for the Canadian dollar to regain appeal in the short term.
In addition, new updates around the conflict in the Middle East could be key for USD strength. Together, these events could continue to highlight a phase of indecision, or even relevant buying pressure, around USD/CAD over the next few sessions.
What to expect from employment in Canada? Tomorrow’s session is expected to bring the release of Canada’s employment change data. So far, expectations point to a significant decline from the previous reading, with the creation of around 11.2 thousand jobs in June. This figure would come in well below the May reading, which stood near 87.8 thousand jobs created.
Looking at the broader behavior of employment in Canada over the last few months, the data shows a mixed dynamic, with consistent signs of weakness. May was the only month that managed to post a solid figure, but overall, employment data has shown fragility. This trend could be confirmed with tomorrow’s release, especially if the result comes in below expectations, as it would reaffirm a relevant labor market problem in Canada compared to other countries where the slowdown is not as significant.
Source: TradingEconomics
This outlook could be relevant for the Bank of Canada, as weaker employment, or even a reading below expectations, could reduce the need to raise the interest rate, which currently remains around 2.25%. This could lead the central bank to maintain a wait-and-see stance before considering meaningful changes to monetary policy.
In fact, so far, the probability table shows an 88% chance that the interest rate will remain unchanged at the July 15 decision. For the September decision, a probability above 70% has also started to emerge that this dynamic will persist.
Source: Bankofcanadaodds
The employment data release is key. If the report confirms a sharper-than-expected slowdown, expectations for a neutral monetary policy stance from the Bank of Canada could be reinforced over the coming months.
This would limit the appeal of rates in Canada, especially compared to a Federal Reserve that is still approaching scenarios of potential rate hikes. In this context, the differential against the 3.75% rate in the United States could continue to favor USD-denominated investments over those denominated in CAD.
For this reason, a significant decline in employment change could maintain a phase of indecision or even relevant buying pressure in USD/CAD over the next few sessions.
Does the Middle East matter? Another important event to consider is the situation in the Middle East. The latest updates have shown that the United States would be willing to sit down for negotiations, while Trump’s comments continue to point toward maintaining a diplomatic path.
However, an environment of confusion has developed, as during the last 2 sessions a new escalation of the conflict seemed inevitable amid fresh attacks. This has increased doubts over whether a potential peace agreement can take place in the short term.
In this scenario, the behavior of the U.S. dollar is key. The DXY index, which measures the dollar’s strength, showed a relevant increase above the 101-point area in previous sessions as new attacks returned. During the latest session, however, it weakened again amid the relative calm generated by additional comments from the United States.
Source: TradingEconomics
This point is important because, for months, the dollar has been considered a liquidity safe-haven currency during repeated escalations of the conflict. This could become relevant again if no concrete negotiations are seen in the short term.
In that scenario, additional safe-haven demand for the U.S. dollar could appear, making it harder for the Canadian dollar to recover ground in the short term. This could also open the door to relevant buying pressure around USD/CAD over the next few sessions.
Technical outlook for USD/CAD
Source: StoneX, Tradingview
Bullish trend continues to dominate: Since the first days of May, USD/CAD has maintained a relevant bullish trend line. This structure has marked an important buying bias, also reinforced by the bullish crossover of the 50-period moving average above the 200-period moving average, signaling a shift from a bearish structure to a more relevant bullish structure. For now, there is no bearish correction strong enough to put this technical pattern at risk, which is why it remains the most important structure to watch and could continue to dominate movements over the next few sessions.
RSI: The RSI remains above the 50 level, suggesting that buying momentum has remained relevant over the last 14 sessions. If the indicator continues to hold above the neutral area, this could continue to reflect an important buying bias over the next few sessions.
TRIX: The TRIX line maintains a bullish slope above its neutral zone, reinforcing the presence of buying strength in long-term exponential moving averages and highlighting the importance of a broad buying bias. However, the curve has also started to flatten steadily, which may be signaling exhaustion in buying strength. This could reflect a relevant phase of indecision over the next few sessions or a possible pause in the buying bias seen in previous weeks.
Key levels:
1.42604 – Relevant resistance: This important high has not been seen consistently since April 2025 and represents the main short-term bullish barrier. Moves toward this zone would reinforce the current buying bias and could open room for an extension of the bullish trend line over the next few sessions.
1.41982 – Near-term barrier: This is the most relevant neutral and retracement zone from recent trading sessions. Price movements too close to this level could highlight consistent neutrality and even open room for a possible short-term sideways range.
1.40813 – Crucial support: This bearish barrier coincides with the area marked by the 23.6% Fibonacci level. Price movements that begin to approach this level could end the bullish trend line and open room for a more dominant selling bias over the coming trading weeks.
Written by Julian Pineda, CFA, CMT – Market Analyst
Leidos a Rune Technologies spolupracují na nástrojích AI pro prediktivní logistiku, které mají zlepšit připravenost a dostupnost zdrojů pro vojenské operace v Indo-Pacifiku.
, /PRNewswire/ -- Leidos (NYSE: LDOS) and Rune Technologies Inc. are partnering to help military organizations anticipate logistics requirements, improve resource availability, and strengthen mission readiness through AI-enabled predictive sustainment capabilities designed for contested and distributed operational environments.
The partnership combines Rune's AI-enabled predictive logistics and sustainment mission command software with Leidos' AI-enabled decision advantage and course-of-action generation capabilities to provide commanders with greater sustainment insight and decision support across contested environments, including the unique distance, time, scale and maritime challenges of the Indo-Pacific region.
"Sustaining forces across the vast distances of the Indo-Pacific requires the ability to understand logistics demand before it affects mission execution," said Jason McCarthy, Leidos senior vice president, Airborne & Mission Solutions. "Together with Rune, we're giving commanders the insight and decision support they need to improve logistics visibility and increase readiness in complex and dispersed operating areas, today, not years from now."
The partnership brings together complementary capabilities designed to help military organizations sustain operations where speed, distance and uncertainty can challenge readiness.
"Technology alone doesn't solve logistics challenges in the Indo-Pacific," said David Tuttle, Co-Founder & CEO of Rune Technologies. "Winning in this environment requires using technology to connect data across planning, decision-making, and execution in complex operational environments to enable sustainment at speed. By combining Rune's AI-enabled predictive logistics capabilities with Leidos' enterprise data integration expertise, we're helping commanders do exactly that."
The Leidos and Rune partnership reflects Leidos' NorthStar 2030 strategy and its focus on AI-enabled decision advantage, mission software and operational readiness, helping commanders anticipate sustainment requirements before they become mission challenges.
About Leidos
Leidos is an industry and technology leader serving government and commercial customers with smarter, more efficient digital and mission innovations. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with more than 50,000 global employees, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $17.2 billion for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com.
About Rune Technologies
Rune Technologies is revolutionizing military logistics through AI-enabled predictive software that operates in contested environments where communications are denied or degraded. Rune's TyrOS platform transforms manual logistics processes into intelligent supply webs that anticipate needs, optimize resources, and enable distributed operations at machine speed—even when supply lines are targeted by near-peer adversaries. Founded by veterans with deep operational experience and Silicon Valley engineering talent, Rune is ensuring military effectiveness through precise execution of critical logistics operations. For more information, visit runetech.co.
Certain statements in this announcement constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These statements are based on management's current beliefs and expectations and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. These statements are not guarantees of future results or occurrences. A number of factors could cause our actual results, performance, achievements, or industry results to be different from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, the "Risk Factors" set forth in Leidos' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026, and other such filings that Leidos makes with the SEC from time to time. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Leidos does not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect the impact of circumstances or events that arise after the date the forward-looking statements were made.
Media Contacts:
Leidos
Brandon Ver Velde
(571) 526-6257
[email protected]
RLI zvýšila čtvrtletní dividendu o 12,5 % na 18 centů na akcii a schválila nový zpětný odkup akcií za 250 milionů USD. Zároveň vyplatila mimořádnou dividendu 2,00 USD na akcii.
Key Takeaways RLI has raised its regular dividend for 51 straight years and hiked quarterly payout by 12.5% in May 2026. RLI declared a $2.00-per-share special dividend and approved a new $250 million share repurchase program. Strong underwriting, operating cash flow and disciplined capital management aid shareholder returns. RLI Corp. (RLI - Free Report) has a disciplined and shareholder-friendly capital deployment strategy that balances investments in business growth with consistent capital returns. The company generates strong underwriting profits and operating cash flow, enabling it to return excess capital while maintaining a conservatively capitalized balance sheet.
RLI has increased its regular dividend for 51 consecutive years, demonstrating a long-standing commitment to returning cash to shareholders. In May 2026, the board increased the quarterly dividend by 12.5% to 18 cents per share. When capital exceeds business needs, RLI distributes excess cash through special dividends. The company declared a $2.00-per-share special dividend in May 2026, totaling approximately $184 million, continuing its history of periodic special dividend payments.
RLI's board of directors authorized a new share repurchase program to return more value to investors. With the latest authorization, the board approved the issuance of up to $250 million of the company’s outstanding common stock in May 2026.
Management emphasizes maintaining financial flexibility and capital adequacy before distributing excess capital, ensuring the company can support underwriting growth and withstand catastrophe losses. Strong underwriting profitability, recurring operating cash flow, investment income, a conservatively capitalized balance sheet and disciplined risk management provide RLI with the financial strength and flexibility to deploy capital efficiently while creating long-term shareholder value.
RLI's capital allocation strategy is a key investment strength. The combination of regular dividend increases, periodic special dividends, opportunistic share repurchases and continued investment in the business reflects disciplined capital management that has consistently enhanced long-term shareholder value.
What About Its Peers?First American Financial Corporation (FAF - Free Report) follows a balanced capital-return strategy that combines a steadily growing dividend with opportunistic share repurchases. FAF generally uses a combination of regular dividend increases and selective share repurchases to distribute excess capital. FAF has increased its dividend for more than 15 consecutive years, reflecting management's commitment to returning capital through various housing market environments.
American Financial Group, Inc. (AFG - Free Report) has one of the most shareholder-friendly capital allocation policies in the U.S. insurance sector. AFG regularly generates capital that is needed to support underwriting operations. Returning excess capital to shareholders in the form of regular and special cash dividends and through opportunistic share repurchases is an important and effective component of American Financial’s capital management strategy. The combination of growing regular dividends, frequent special dividends, opportunistic buybacks and strong underwriting profitability has enabled the company to deliver substantial cash returns to investors over time.
RLI’s Price PerformanceShares of RLI have lost 14.2% in the past year against the industry.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
RLI’s Expensive ValuationThe stock is overvalued compared with its industry. It is currently trading at a price-to-book ratio of 3.11, above the industry average of 1.49.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Estimate Movement for RLIThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for RLI’s third-quarter 2026 has moved down 1.8% in the past 60 days. The same for the full-year 2026 and 2027 EPS has moved up 1.8% and 2.6%, respectively, in the past 60 days.
Eversource dokončila prodej Aquarion Water za téměř 1,7 mld. USD a peníze použije na snížení dluhu. Firma zároveň plánuje investice 26,5 mld. USD do roku 2030 a čeká růst EPS o 5–7 %.
Key Takeaways Eversource is simplifying its portfolio to focus on regulated electric and natural gas utility operations. The Aquarion Water sale brought nearly $1.7B in net proceeds to reduce debt and strengthen its balance sheet. Eversource plans $26.5B in investments through 2030 to modernize infrastructure and support EPS growth. Eversource Energy (ES - Free Report) is benefiting from its transition to a pure-play regulated electric and natural gas utility. This portfolio simplification reduces business risk, strengthens cash flow and supports consistent earnings growth through constructive regulatory outcomes and disciplined infrastructure investments.
On June 30, 2026, Eversource completed the sale of its Aquarion Water Company, receiving nearly $1.7 billion in net proceeds to reduce debt. The transaction improves the balance sheet and sharpens the company's focus on its core regulated electric and natural gas businesses, supporting long-term earnings growth.
The company plans to invest $5.07 billion in 2026 and $26.5 billion through 2030, with an additional $1 billion of potential investment opportunities. These investments are expected to improve grid reliability, modernize energy infrastructure and enhance service reliability, supporting long-term regulated earnings growth.
The company's regulated business model allows it to recover eligible infrastructure investments through rate hikes, providing steady cash flows and greater earnings visibility. Despite the sale of Aquarion Water Company, Eversource expects its long-term EPS growth of 5-7% through 2030, reflecting confidence in its regulated utility strategy.
Overall, Eversource's constructive regulatory environment, expanding regulated investment plan, stronger balance sheet and disciplined capital allocation provide a solid foundation for sustainable earnings growth and long-term shareholder value.
Streamlined Utility Portfolio Supports Earnings GrowthUtility companies are streamlining their portfolios by divesting non-core businesses and focusing on regulated operations, improving earnings visibility. This strategy enhances financial flexibility, supports efficient capital deployment and drives sustainable cash flow generation.
NextEra Energy (NEE - Free Report) is further strengthening its regulated utility focus through its planned acquisition of Dominion Energy, creating a business with more than 80% regulated operations and a streamlined growth platform.
Spire Inc. (SR - Free Report) is benefiting from strategic portfolio optimization, supported by the acquisition of Piedmont Natural Gas Tennessee and the divestiture of its non-core businesses, Spire Marketing and Spire Storage.
ES’ Earnings EstimatesThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 EPS indicates a year-over-year decrease of 1.68%, while the estimate for 2027 EPS suggests a 6.32% increase.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
ES’ Returns on Equity (ROE)Eversource's trailing-12-month ROE is 11.59%, higher than the industry average of 11.21%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
ES’ Stock Price PerformanceIn the past month, the company’s shares have risen 6.7% compared with the industry’s 3.4% growth.
Coherent těží z poptávky po AI infrastruktuře: segment Datacenter & Communications tvořil 75 % tržeb za 3. fiskální čtvrtletí 2026 a meziročně rostl o 41 %.
Backlog sahá do roku 2028 a dlouhodobé smlouvy až do roku 2030.
Key Takeaways Coherent stock has soared 247% in a year but pulled back 11% over the past month.AI demand drove Datacenter & Communications to 75% of third-quarter fiscal 2026 revenues.COHR's backlog extends into 2028, while long-term supply agreements stretch through 2030. Coherent Corp. (COHR - Free Report) has been one of the standout performers in the technology hardware space over the past year. The stock has surged an impressive 247%, significantly outperforming the industry's 8% growth and the Zacks S&P 500 Composite's 24% advance. More recently, however, COHR has pulled back 11% over the past month, suggesting the stock may be entering a healthy correction after its remarkable run.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The recent weakness raises an important question for investors: Is this a buying opportunity, a signal to hold existing positions, or a reason to stay on the sidelines? While the valuation remains elevated, Coherent's strengthening fundamentals indicate that the company's long-term growth story remains intact.
AI Infrastructure Demand Is Reshaping COHR’s BusinessCoherent's transformation has been fueled by booming demand for AI infrastructure. The company's Datacenter & Communications segment has become its primary growth engine, accounting for 75% of third-quarter fiscal 2026 revenues while delivering 41% year-over-year growth.
This shift is significant because it changes the company's revenue profile. Historically, hardware manufacturers have been exposed to short product cycles and volatile demand. Today, Coherent is increasingly tied to long-duration AI infrastructure spending, providing investors with greater confidence in future earnings.
Unlike traditional semiconductor hardware cycles, AI-related investments are supported by large-scale cloud deployments and multi-year capital spending plans, making demand considerably more predictable.
Long-Term Orders Improve COHR’s Revenue VisibilityOne of the biggest positives for Coherent is the dramatic improvement in order visibility.
Rather than experiencing the typical cyclical increase in hardware demand, the company is witnessing a step-change in customer commitments. Record backlog levels now extend into calendar 2028, while long-term supply agreements stretch through 2030.
This level of visibility substantially lowers the risk that new manufacturing investments become underutilized during an economic slowdown.
To support this unprecedented demand, Coherent invested approximately $290 million in capital expenditures during the third quarter of fiscal 2026, more than doubling spending from the prior-year period.
Importantly, this aggressive capacity expansion is backed by contractual customer commitments rather than speculative demand forecasts.
Operating Leverage is Beginning to Pay OffThe surge in AI-related demand is translating directly into stronger profitability.
Higher factory utilization and improved supply chain efficiencies contributed to a 163-basis-point expansion in the adjusted operating margin during the third quarter. Meanwhile, adjusted net income climbed nearly 56% year over year, highlighting the operating leverage created by rising production volumes.
As manufacturing assets become increasingly utilized, incremental revenues are flowing through to earnings at a faster pace, improving the overall quality of Coherent's financial performance.
This combination of expanding margins and stronger earnings suggests the company is benefiting not only from higher sales but also from greater operational efficiency.
Strategic Partnerships Strengthen Financial FlexibilityCoherent has also significantly strengthened its balance sheet.
A major catalyst came from NVIDIA's (NVDA - Free Report) $2 billion equity investment, which increased Coherent's cash balance to roughly $3 billion during the third quarter of fiscal 2026 from approximately $1.5 billion in the previous quarter.
Beyond the financial benefits, NVIDIA's investment serves as an important strategic validation of Coherent's technology and its role within the rapidly expanding AI infrastructure ecosystem.
Management has simultaneously accelerated debt reduction. During the quarter, Coherent repaid $162 million of debt, reducing its leverage ratio to 0.5X from 1.7X in the previous quarter.
Lower leverage, higher liquidity and declining interest costs collectively provide the company with considerably greater financial flexibility as it continues investing in future growth.
Premium Valuation Appears Supported by Improving FundamentalsCoherent currently trades at approximately 37.56 times forward earnings, nearly double the industry's 21.49 times forward earnings multiple.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
At first glance, that premium valuation may appear demanding. However, investors are paying for a business that is becoming fundamentally different from the cyclical hardware manufacturer it once was. Multi-year customer commitments, record backlog, expanding margins, stronger cash generation and a healthier balance sheet are all contributing to a more predictable earnings profile.
While short-term volatility is always possible following such a strong rally, Coherent's growing exposure to AI infrastructure spending and long-term customer agreements provides a solid foundation for sustained growth over the coming years.
Coherent's Top and Bottom Line Expectations Remain RobustCoherent's growth prospects remain compelling, supported by strong demand across AI-driven datacenter infrastructure and improving operating leverage. The Zacks Consensus Estimate projects fiscal 2026 revenues of $7.1 billion, indicating 21.5% year-over-year growth. Momentum is expected to accelerate further in fiscal 2027, with revenues forecast to increase 37.7% from the prior year.
The earnings outlook is equally impressive. The consensus estimate indicates fiscal 2026 EPS of $5.47, suggesting 55% year-over-year growth. Looking ahead, analysts expect EPS to climb another 52.5% in fiscal 2027, indicating confidence that Coherent's expanding AI-related business, improving margins and higher manufacturing utilization will continue to drive profitability.
Such robust top- and bottom-line projections reinforce the investment case that Coherent's transition toward AI infrastructure is creating a stronger, more predictable earnings profile despite the stock's premium valuation.
Peers to Watch: Lumentum and IPG PhotonicsAmong U.S.-listed peers, Lumentum Holdings (LITE - Free Report) and IPG Photonics (IPGP - Free Report) offer useful comparisons for investors evaluating Coherent. Like Coherent, both LITE and IPGP operate in optical components and photonics markets that benefit from increasing demand for high-speed data communications and advanced laser technologies. However, Coherent currently stands apart because of its unusually strong AI infrastructure exposure, record backlog extending into 2028, long-term supply agreements through 2030, and a significantly strengthened balance sheet following NVIDIA's strategic investment. These factors have helped improve earnings visibility and differentiate Coherent's growth profile within the photonics industry.
COHR Remains a Buy for Long-Term AI InvestorsCoherent’s remarkable rally reflects meaningful improvements in its business rather than market enthusiasm alone. The company has strengthened its revenue visibility through long-term customer commitments, expanded profitability as AI-driven demand boosts operating leverage, and reinforced its balance sheet with greater financial flexibility. Although the stock trades at a premium and could experience periodic volatility after its strong advance, its transformation into a critical supplier for AI infrastructure supports a more durable growth outlook. With robust revenue and earnings expectations, improving execution and favorable industry trends, Coherent remains an attractive buy for investors seeking long-term exposure to the expanding AI ecosystem.
COHR currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Jupiter, the largest decentralized exchange aggregator on Solana, has opened its Active Staking Rewards claim window for the second quarter of 2026. The 50 million JUP reward pool is now available to eligible stakers, with claims accepted through October 8.
The Q2 period covers April 1 through June 30, and the claim window opened on July 8 at 2:00 PM. Users who maintained a minimum average stake of 50 JUP during that period can collect their share through the Jupiter Rewards Hub or the platform’s dedicated voting site.
Any rewards left on the table after the October 8 deadline revert to the community treasury.
Advertisement
How Active Staking Rewards actually work Eligibility isn’t particularly demanding. Stake at least 50 JUP on average during the quarter, participate in DAO votes, and you’re in the running. The program has maintained a consistent 50 million JUP allocation per quarter since at least 2024.
One detail that separates this from a simple airdrop: claimed rewards get compounded directly into existing stakes, automatically boosting voting power within the Jupiter ecosystem. Rather than encouraging users to claim and dump, Jupiter has structured the system so that engaged participants become progressively more influential in governance.
Why Jupiter keeps betting on governance participation By tying rewards specifically to governance participation rather than raw liquidity provision or trading volume, Jupiter is filtering for users who actually care about the protocol’s direction. The 50 JUP minimum stake keeps the barrier low enough that casual users can participate, while the requirement to actually vote on DAO proposals ensures some baseline level of engagement. Community feedback has been largely positive, though some users have raised minor concerns about wallet requirements and the timing of claim windows.
Jupiter’s position as Solana’s leading DEX aggregator gives these governance decisions real weight. The platform routes trades across numerous decentralized exchanges on Solana, meaning the DAO’s choices about fee structures, integration partners, and protocol upgrades have tangible effects on one of the network’s most critical pieces of infrastructure.
What this means for JUP holders and the Solana ecosystem The steady cadence of 50 million JUP distributions every quarter creates a predictable emission schedule. For current JUP stakers, the math is straightforward: participate in governance, claim your rewards, and watch your voting power compound over time.
The reversion of unclaimed tokens to the community treasury means the protocol doesn’t waste emissions on disengaged holders. Tokens that would have gone to passive participants instead flow back into a pool that can fund future initiatives, development, or additional reward cycles.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Shares of Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL | MRVL Price Prediction) are up 7% to $247 and change in midday trading Thursday, riding a broad semiconductor rebound that’s lifted the entire AI chip complex. Marvell stock came into the session bruised after a sharp multi-week pullback, setting up an oversold bounce.
The move stems from broad sector catalysts. Traders are responding to blowout preliminary Q2 results from Samsung, continued strength at SK Hynix, and Fundstrat’s Tom Lee framing the recent selloff as a buying opportunity in AI infrastructure names.
Some of Marvell’s peers are participating in the rally while others are lagging behind. Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) stock is up 3%, but NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares are down 1% today.
A Broad Sector Rebound Powers the Move Marvell stock had faded after its June 22, 2026 S&P 500 inclusion, unwinding some of the technical buying that drove a strong run into the event. Insider selling and valuation concerns amplified the July drawdown.
The supportive fundamental backdrop hasn’t changed. Marvell has an expanded NVIDIA partnership via NVLink Fusion, a reported $2 billion strategic investment tie-up, a wave of analyst target hikes, and the recent Teralynx T100 switch launch with 102.4 Tbps of silicon aimed at AI clusters.
Marvell’s AI-Driven Growth Story Marvell’s Q1 FY2027 results reported May 27, 2026 showed revenue of $2.418 billion, up 27.6% year over year (YoY), with data center revenue of $1.833 billion (76% of total). Management guided Q2 FY2027 revenue to $2.7 billion, implying 35% YoY growth.
The company’s valuation is a pressure point, though. Marvell stock trades at a trailing P/E of 85x per Yahoo Finance, the richest of the three names. That reflects both depressed trailing earnings and a stock that has run 191% year to date (YTD).
CEO Matt Murphy told investors that the company sees “exceptional AI-related bookings” and significantly raised its FY2027 and FY2028 outlook. That growth is real, but the average analyst target price of $252.26 sits near MRVL stock’s current quote, which suggests that the implied upside is limited.
Broadcom Trades at a Growth-Justified Premium Broadcom stock trades at a trailing P/E ratio of 66x, above the sector average but below that of Marvell. AVGO stock is up 15% YTD, well behind Marvell’s move but still ahead of the market.
Don't wait: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just revealed his top 10 AI stocks. See the full list FREE now.
Broadcom’s Q2 FY2026 results, reported June 3, 2026, showed revenue of $22.19 billion, up 47.9% YoY, with AI semiconductor revenue of $10.8 billion, up 143% YoY. The company’s Q3 FY2026 guidance calls for AI semiconductor revenue of $16 billion, over 200% YoY growth. That scale gives Broadcom’s premium some cover.
NVIDIA Screens as the Cheapest of the Trio NVIDIA stock trades at a trailing P/E of 31x with a forward P/E of 22x. NVDA stock is up 8% YTD, lagging both peers despite $81.62 billion in Q1 FY2027 revenue (up 85.2% YoY) and Q2 guidance of $91 billion. On growth-adjusted multiples, NVIDIA stock screens as the most reasonably valued of the three AI chip leaders.
The apparent contradiction is that NVIDIA stock carries the largest market cap at $4.77 trillion but also the lowest multiple. Evidently, the earnings scale has finally caught up to the share price.
SOXX Confirms the Sector Move The iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) is up 5% today, confirming a sector-wide rally rather than a single-name story. The ETF holds Marvell, Broadcom, and NVIDIA and carries a 0.34% expense ratio.
The concentration risk is worth noting with the SOXX ETF. The fund’s top holdings dominate the returns, so this ETF behaves as an amplified play on the same AI-infrastructure trade lifting its largest components today.
What to Watch Now Investors can watch for whether Marvell stock holds today’s 7% gain into the close, given the stock’s beta of 2.2 and recent volatility. A close at session highs would suggest that the oversold bounce has legs.
Discipline is crucial here, and investors should consider keeping their position sizes modest in high-beta AI names. Marvell’s next fundamental catalyst is the company’s Q2 FY2027 earnings, which will test whether the AI-infrastructure thesis can grow into the multiple.
Don't wait: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just revealed his top 10 AI stocks. See the full list FREE now.
Key Takeaways Envista posted positive first-quarter 2026 growth across major businesses and expanded margins.NVST strengthened its dental portfolio with the Versah acquisition and continued product launches.Envista faces tariff costs, China uncertainty and foreign exchange risks despite developed market strength. Envista (NVST - Free Report) is well-poised for growth in the coming quarters, supported by the continued execution of its three strategic priorities. Targeted acquisitions further enhance the company’s product portfolio and market position. It also benefits from strong momentum in the international markets while deepening channel penetration. Meanwhile, adverse macroeconomic impacts and currency fluctuations raise concerns for Envista’s operations.
Over the past year, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock has risen 24.2% against the 28% decline of the industry and 23.2% rise of the S&P 500 composite.
The leading optical retailer has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion. The company’s earnings yield of 5.2% is well ahead of the industry’s 3.2% yield. In the trailing four quarters, Envista delivered an average earnings surprise of 15.43%.
Factors Supporting NVST's GrowthProgress With Strategic Priorities: Envista continues to execute on its strategy built around three areas: growth, operations and people. In the first quarter of 2026, all major businesses delivered positive growth, with 8.4% core growth in the Specialty Products & Technologies segment and 11.5% core growth in the Equipment and Consumables segment. The company has been reinvesting to support durable share gains, with sales and marketing and R&D both up double digits and new products central to results. Recent launches included Nobel S Series in implants, the Spark clear aligner launch in Japan and DEXIS software enhancements that add AI-driven workflow and diagnostics tools.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Envista Business System (“EBS”) helped drive gross margin expansion of 100 basis points and adjusted EBITDA margin growth of 120 basis points. Tariff costs increased $11 million from the prior year but were offset by supply-chain, G&A and pricing initiatives. Simultaneously, Envista is advancing its continuous improvement culture, supported by steady gains in employee engagement and talent development. The company also served 3,700 patients through the Envista Smile Project.
Value-Adding Acquisitions in Core Dental Categories: Envista continues to use M&A to broaden its clinical offering and strengthen go-to-market positions in attractive dental segments.
In first-quarter 2026, NVST acquired Versah for about $54.7 million, adding the Densah Burs system used for osseodensification, a technique intended to improve osteointegration in certain implant indications. Management expects the deal to be accretive across growth, margins and EPS, and it described synergy through Envista’s existing clinical education and commercial channels. This builds on prior acquisitions that expanded implants and imaging, including Osteogenics and the Carestream intraoral scanner business that now operates within the DEXIS portfolio and supports a more competitive implants platform over time.
International Reach and Channel Expansion: Developed markets were the key growth engine in first-quarter 2026, with North America and Europe both delivering double-digit gains. Developing markets are growing in the high single digits, excluding softness in China tied to policy uncertainty. The Spark launch in Japan adds a new growth vector in a sizable aligner market where the company already has strong orthodontic relationships, creating a cross-sell opportunity into clear aligners. Management also highlighted continued progress with DSOs and clinician education as levers to deepen penetration.
Factors Weighing on EnvistaMacro and Policy Headwinds: Management continues to flag global economic uncertainty alongside geopolitical volatility, which can weigh on dental utilization and purchasing cycles. China remains a source of uncertainty for the implants business as channel partners continue to adjust inventory levels ahead of the anticipated volume-based procurement (VBP) process, which management expects to begin between the second and third quarters. Tariffs also remain a cost headwind. First-quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA reflected a $11 million year-over-year increase in tariff costs, with similar quarterly levels anticipated through 2026.
Foreign Exchange and Global Exposure: In the first quarter of 2026, 52.7% of Envista’s revenues came from customers outside the United States, exposing sales, margins and cash flow to currency fluctuations and regional demand variability. While balance sheet hedging has reduced quarter-to-quarter volatility compared with the prior year, foreign exchange movements continue to affect performance and can influence reported results. Regional disruptions, including conflicts in the Middle East and evolving conditions in China, add complexity to planning and may at times offset strength in developed markets.
NVST Stock Estimate TrendThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for Envista’s 2026 earnings per share (EPS) has remained constant at $1.42 in the past 60 days.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2026 revenues is pegged at $2.86 billion. This suggests a 5.2% increase from the year-ago reported number.
Key PicksSome better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX - Free Report) , Align Technology (ALGN - Free Report) and Integra LifeSciences (IART - Free Report) .
IDEXX Laboratories has an earnings yield of 2.6% compared to the industry’s negative 3% yield. Its earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 26.3%. IDXX shares have rallied 2.7% against the industry’s 8.2% decline over the past year.
IDXX carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Align Technology, carrying a Zacks Rank #2, has an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 10.3% compared with the industry’s 5.5% growth. Shares of the company have dipped 14.5% against the industry’s 10.5% growth. ALGN’s earnings outpaced estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed on one occasion, the average surprise being 7.8%.
Integra LifeSciences, carrying a Zacks Rank #2, has an earnings yield of 13.7% against the industry’s negative 3% yield. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 16.7%. IART shares have rallied 31.4% against the industry’s 8.2% decline over the past year.
Zillow vykázal ve čtvrtletí čistý zisk 46 milionů USD a tržby 708 milionů USD, zatímco Opendoor vykázal ztrátu 173 milionů USD. Zillow těží z lehkého modelu, Opendoor dál pálí hotovost při nákupu a prodeji domů.
Zillow (NASDAQ: ZG | ZG Price Prediction) posted $46 million in net income last quarter while Opendoor Technologies (NASDAQ: OPEN) lost $173 million. Zillow runs a digital tollbooth on home search traffic. Opendoor buys houses with cash, holds them, and hopes to resell fast.
Ad Dollars Flow In. Inventory Sits on the Books. Zillow’s $708 million in Q1 revenue grew 18.4% year over year, powered by three engines that never touch a deed. Rentals climbed 42% as multifamily listings scaled to 76,000 properties. Mortgage revenue jumped 56%, with purchase loan originations up 96% to $1.5 billion. CEO Jeremy Wacksman told investors the platform is “embedding AI throughout the real estate experience in ways that make Zillow increasingly indispensable.” Believable, given 220 million monthly unique users keep showing up.
Opendoor’s story hinges on operations. Revenue fell 38% to $720 million as homes sold dropped to 1,921 units. Yet new CEO Kaz Nejatian argues the machine is finally tuned: aged inventory over 120 days collapsed from 51% to 10%, and acquisition contracts topped 5,000, the highest since 2022. Gross margin nudged up to 10.0%. Progress, but the operating cash burn hit negative $246 million.
A Tollbooth Versus a Warehouse Lens Zillow Opendoor Core Bet SaaS agent tools, rentals, mortgage leads Buying and reselling homes for cash Balance Sheet Exposure Minimal; ad marketplace Heavy inventory plus $193M current convertibles Q1 Profitability $182M adjusted EBITDA $49M adjusted net loss Zillow’s 73.3% gross margin lets management repurchase stock aggressively: 13.5 million shares bought for $626 million in the quarter. Opendoor, meanwhile, took a $105 million RSU charge tied to Nejatian’s arrival. Different worlds.
What Decides the Second Half Housing itself remains soft. Existing home sales sit at 4.17 million annualized, and housing starts just fell 15.4% month over month. I will be watching whether Zillow’s Enhanced Markets, now 49% of connections, keep pushing agent monetization higher. For Opendoor, the tell is whether Q2 hits adjusted EBITDA breakeven and whether the 5% to 7% contribution margin range holds when cohorts mature.
Why I Lean Toward Zillow, With Eyes Open Personally, I favor Zillow here. A capital-light platform compounding mid-teens revenue growth with real cash generation is easier to underwrite than a house-flipper still burning cash. The stock is down 54.2% over the past year, which stings, yet the FTC trial and legal headwinds feel priced in at a 14 forward P/E. Opendoor is a genuine turnaround story, and its 795.68% one-year rally shows what happens when a busted stock finds a pulse. But I want more quarters of proof before betting on the warehouse over the tollbooth. If you like variance and believe Nejatian’s cohort math, Opendoor fits. If you prefer durable margins, Zillow is the cleaner read.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Zillow didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Uranium Energy za poslední měsíc přidala asi 5,4 %, i když ve 3. čtvrtletí fiskálního roku 2026 vykázala upravenou ztrátu 7 centů na akcii a žádné tržby.
It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Uranium Energy (UEC - Free Report) . Shares have added about 5.4% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500.
Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Uranium Energy due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers.
Uranium Energy Earnings Miss Estimates in Q3 on Higher SpendingUranium Energy reported an adjusted loss of seven cents per share in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, excluding the impacts of non-recurring items, compared with the year-ago quarter’s loss of six cents. The figure was wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of five cents.
Including non-recurring items such as fair value loss on equity securities, the company posted a loss of 11 cents in the quarter.
Uranium Energy's earnings miss largely mirrored a heavier cost structure as the company advanced multiple initiatives at once, from mine development to the buildout of its broader U.S. fuel-cycle ambitions.
Uranium Energy reported no sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2026 as the company did not record any purchased-uranium inventory sales in the period.
During the quarter, the company produced 32,195 pounds of uranium concentrate produced at a total cost of $54.61 per pound, including a cash cost per pound of $46.69.
Uranium Energy stayed focused on building optionality around its uranium inventory and ISR ramp. As of April 30, 2026, the company held 1,456,000 pounds of purchased uranium concentrate inventory.
Operating Spend Pressures ResultsTotal operating costs rose 73.8% year over year to $40.8 million, driven primarily by mineral property expenditure of $29.5 million (up 88.4% from $15.7 million). General and administrative expenses were $9.43 million compared with $6.38 million, while depreciation, amortization and accretion totaled $1.82 million compared with $1.41 million.
As a result, Uranium Energy posted an operating loss of $40.8 million, wider than the $23.5-million operating loss incurred in the year-ago quarter.
Scales ISR Output With Burke Hollow OnlineOperationally, Uranium Energy reached a milestone by commencing production at its Burke Hollow IRS project, a greenfield ISR asset that is moving from development into early production activities.
At Burke Hollow, the company said that the uranium recovery process was initiated with oxygen and carbon dioxide injection, and it commissioned a satellite ion-exchange plant with 2,500 gallons per minute of capacity. It also completed and tested an additional 46 wells in phase 1A as it built out field infrastructure.
The company is also projecting higher production rates in the fiscal fourth quarter, with new header houses and Burke Hollow expected to operate for a full quarter.
Cash Position at Q3 EndUranium Energy exited the quarter with $794 million in liquid assets and no debt, underscoring a balance sheet positioned to fund development across multiple hubs.
Cash and cash equivalents totaled $488 million at April 30, 2026, compared with $149 million at the end of July 31, 2025.
In the first nine months of fiscal 2026, net cash used in operating activities was $90 million compared with an outflow of $41 million in the year-ago quarter.
Management Commentary and OutlookManagement expects production to increase in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 as Christensen Ranch header houses and Burke Hollow contribute for the full quarter. Unit costs are expected to decline as volumes.
How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?Analysts were quiet during the last two month period as none of them issued any earnings estimate revisions.
VGM ScoresCurrently, Uranium Energy has a poor Growth Score of F, a score with the same score on the momentum front. Following the exact same course, the stock has a score of F on the value side, putting it in the bottom 20% quintile for this investment strategy.
Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of F. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.
Outlook Uranium Energy has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). We expect a below average return from the stock in the next few months.
HII rozšiřuje přítomnost na trhu UUV díky rodině REMUS, která podporuje průzkum, sledování a protiminové mise. Nový REMUS 130 přidává větší flexibilitu, výdrž a možnost úpravy nákladu.
Key Takeaways HII is expanding its UUV presence through its REMUS family of autonomous underwater systems.REMUS vehicles support surveillance, reconnaissance and mine countermeasure missions.REMUS 130 adds flexibility, endurance and custom payload options powered by Odyssey software. Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII - Free Report) continues to strengthen its position in the unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) market through its advanced REMUS family of autonomous underwater systems. The company is expanding its presence in next-generation maritime autonomy by developing highly capable UUVs that support naval, commercial and scientific missions while enhancing underwater surveillance, reconnaissance and mine countermeasure capabilities.
A key example is HII's continued expansion of its REMUS portfolio. The company's REMUS family of UUVs is designed to collect critical underwater data across a wide range of missions. These autonomous systems are known for their durability, long service life and modular architecture, allowing customers to upgrade capabilities as mission requirements evolve. REMUS vehicles can operate independently or alongside crewed platforms, including submarines, helping extend operational reach while reducing risk to personnel.
The latest REMUS 130 further strengthens HII's underwater autonomy capabilities. Built on the proven REMUS 300 technology, the platform offers enhanced operational flexibility, improved endurance and a modular design that allows users to customize payloads for different missions. Powered by HII's Odyssey software suite, the vehicle supports advanced mission planning, autonomous navigation and multi-platform coordination, improving mission effectiveness across complex underwater environments.
Growing geopolitical tensions, rising maritime security concerns and increasing investments in naval modernization are driving demand for autonomous underwater systems worldwide. HII's broad REMUS portfolio, continued investment in autonomous technologies and strong relationships with defense customers position the company well to benefit from this expanding market.
Other UUV Stocks to Keep on the WatchlistOther aerospace and defense companies strengthening their presence in the UUV market are discussed below:
General Dynamics (GD - Free Report) : Through its Mission Systems business, General Dynamics develops advanced autonomous underwater vehicles, including the Knifefish and Bluefin Robotics platforms. The company's UUV portfolio supports mine countermeasure, underwater surveillance and maritime security missions for the U.S. Navy and allied defense customers.
BAE Systems plc (BAESY - Free Report) : BAE Systems continues to expand its underwater autonomy capabilities through its Riptide family of UUVs. These systems combine autonomous underwater platforms with advanced sensors, navigation and electronic payloads, supporting intelligence gathering, surveillance, reconnaissance and other complex maritime operations.
The Zacks Rundown for HIIShares of HII have surged 12.1% in the past year compared with the industry’s 4.5% growth.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The company shares are trading at a discount on a relative basis, with its forward 12-month Price/Sales being 0.85X compared with its industry’s average of 2.62X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HII’s 2026 earnings has moved south over the past 60 days.
