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Sony Bank has received conditional approval to launch a U.S.-based stablecoin bank.

The Japan-based financial institution this week announced it had a tentative green light from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank.

The new business, known as Connectia Trust, National Association, will be capitalized with $40 million, with Sony Bank owning 100% of the subsidiary, the announcement said.

Sony said the bank is being established “in preparation for the commercialization of businesses related to the issuance and management of U.S. dollar‑denominated stablecoins in the United States.”

“The establishment of this trust subsidiary is intended to contribute to the development of a medium to long‑term business foundation for the Sony Financial Group’s digital asset businesses,” the announcement added.

The news follows a report last year by Japan’s Nikkei that Sony had applied to the OCC for a U.S. banking license.

That report said the company expected its U.S. customers who play its video games and consume its other content will use stablecoins to pay for subscriptions, giving Sony a way to offset the fees paid to credit card companies.

In other news from the intersection of stablecoins and banking, PYMNTS wrote earlier this week about a pair of legal developments which “underscore that when it comes to crypto, stablecoins and blockchain finance, trust is being reinserted at the points where assets become bankable.”

First is New York’s UCC Revision Act, which went into effect last month and establishes a clearer commercial law framework for digital assets by introducing controllable electronic records and equating “control” and possession for certain digital collateral.

“Before the change, lenders taking crypto or other digital assets as collateral faced uncertainty over perfection, priority and enforceability,” the report said. “The new Article 12 introduces controllable electronic records, while amended Article 9 adds categories such as controllable accounts and controllable payment intangibles to reduce ambiguity for lenders.”

Also in June, FinCEN and federal banking regulators proposed customer identification program rules (KYC and KYB) for permitted payment stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act which would place formal CIP (Customer Identification Program) obligations on nonbank issuers.

“For banks, FinTechs, payment firms and stablecoin issuers, the new question is not whether crypto can operate outside the banking system,” PYMNTS wrote. “It is whether digital assets can become bankable enough to move through it.”

Costco is facing a class-action lawsuit accusing the wholesale retailer of selling protein powders containing high levels of toxic metals – and misleading consumers by marketing the products as “good clean fuel.”

The proposed class action, filed earlier this week in federal court for the Western District of Washington, alleged Costco failed to disclose that its Orgain Organic Plant-Based Protein Powder contained significant levels of arsenic, cadmium and lead, which can have adverse health effects.

Plaintiffs are seeking punitive damages and a court order forcing Costco to disclose the presence of heavy metals – accusing the retailer of unfair trade practices and violating numerous state laws and saying it “knew or, at a minimum, should have known” about the metals.

The lawsuit focuses on Costco’s marketing of Orgain Organic Plant-Based Protein Powder. Orgain “Many consumers who buy and use protein powder do so routinely as part of a continuing focus on their fitness and health,” Steve Berman, managing partner and co-founder of Hagens Berman, the Seattle-based law firm representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

“These same health-conscious consumers have unknowingly ingested alarming levels of toxic heavy metals – lead, cadmium and arsenic – again and again, trusting that Costco’s quality assurance would not allow something like this to happen.” 

Costco and Orgain did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday cited an investigation by the Clean Label Project and Consumer Reports, which found that Orgain’s Vanilla Bean protein powder exceeded its “level of concern” for lead.

Independent laboratory testing conducted by one of the plaintiffs and plaintiffs’ counsel confirmed the presence of heavy metals in Orgain’s Vanilla Bean and Chocolate Fudge powders, according to the suit.

Orgain has said its products are safe for daily use despite the Consumer Reports investigation, and their protein powders are not facing any recalls – currently being sold by Costco and other major retailers including Amazon, Target and Walmart.

There is no known safe level of exposure to heavy metals, and exposure can pose serious health risks, including cancers; liver, kidney and brain damage; reproductive disorders; skin disorders; and cardiovascular disease, according to the World Health Organization and US Food & Drug Administration.

The protein powder is not facing any recalls and is currently being sold by Costco and other major retailers. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect Yet Costco sold the product in stores and online without disclosing the presence of heavy metals, calling it “good clean fuel,” saying the powders have “quality ingredients and higher standards” and that Orgain is “relentless about quality,” according to the lawsuit.

The suit also alleged that consumers purchased the protein powders at a higher price – about $30 per container – because they believed they were purchasing a health supplement, and they would have opted for cheaper alternatives if they were made aware of the presence of toxic metals.

As the market for protein powders and other health supplements has exploded, so has the presence of toxic heavy metals in these products, according to the Consumer Reports investigation.

More than two-thirds of the 23 protein powders and ready-to-drink shakes tested by Consumer Reports contained more lead than food safety experts said would be safe to consume in a day – some by more than 10 times.

Airbnb is doubling down on New York City despite its years-long battle with local officials over short-term rental restrictions, buying its first office in the Big Apple.

The San Francisco-based home-sharing giant paid $81.5 million for the landmarked property at 281 Park Ave. South in Manhattan’s Gramercy neighborhood, the Wall Street Journal first reported.

An Airbnb spokesperson confirmed to The Post that the company purchased the building and said the transaction closed Wednesday.

Airbnb has purchased 281 Park Ave. South in Manhattan for $81.5 million, marking the short-term rental giant’s first New York City office building. Penske Media via Getty Images The six-story, 42,500-square-foot Beaux-Arts building will serve as a dedicated hub for Airbnb’s New York workforce, which numbers more than 600 employees in the region.

“This building reflects our long-term commitment to the city and will be home to one of our largest employee hubs outside of San Francisco,” Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky said in a statement.

“We’re excited to keep investing in the city and the people who make it extraordinary,” Chesky added.

The sale comes as Airbnb continues to push city and state officials to loosen New York’s stringent restrictions on short-term rentals.

Local Law 18, which took effect in 2023, dramatically tightened enforcement of the city’s long-standing limits on short-term rentals by requiring hosts to register with the city and forcing booking platforms to verify registrations before processing reservations.

Supporters of the law argued it was necessary to preserve New York’s housing stock and prevent residential buildings from functioning as unlicensed hotels.

Airbnb’s newly acquired office at 281 Park Ave. South sits just north of Manhattan’s Gramercy Park. NurPhoto via Getty Images Airbnb has countered that the restrictions deprive residents of supplemental income and have failed to address the city’s housing affordability crisis.

According to the Journal, Airbnb contributed $10 million last year to its Affordable New York political action committee, which spent more than $1.3 million opposing mayoral candidates Zohran Mamdani, Brad Lander and Scott Stringer, all of whom have been critical of the company.

Despite maintaining a “work anywhere” policy since 2022 that allows employees to work remotely or relocate within the US without a change in pay, Airbnb said it expects to maintain a significant presence in New York for years to come.

Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky said the company’s new Manhattan office reflects its “long-term commitment” to New York City. Bloomberg via Getty Images According to the company, many of its New York-based employees prefer to work from the office regularly, prompting the need for a dedicated employee hub.

The building was originally listed for sale in 2022 with an asking price of $135 million, according to Airbnb.

The seller, New York developer Aby Rosen’s RFR, bought the property in 2014. According to the Journal, Airbnb’s purchase price represented roughly a 63% gain over what RFR paid for the building more than a decade ago.

Built in 1894 and renovated in 2019, 281 Park Ave. South previously figured into one of New York’s most notorious recent fraud cases.

Anna Sorokin, who posed as wealthy German heiress Anna Delvey, allegedly used forged financial documents while attempting to lease the building for a private members’ club.

The project never materialized, and Sorokin was convicted in 2019 of defrauding banks, hotels and other businesses.

The Micron Technology logo is displayed on a smartphone screen with the company's website in the background, in Creteil, France, on May 27, 2026. The American semiconductor company officially crosses the symbolic threshold of $1 trillion in market capitalization on Wall Street the previous day. (Photo by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

NurPhoto via Getty Images

This article was written by Doug Nathman, with research by his team at Trefis.

Micron (MU) shares have soared by almost 8x in the last year, elevating its market valuation to over $1 trillion. This surge has been driven by high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which complements the AI accelerators from Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD), forming the backbone of AI infrastructure development.

In the past, memory has consistently been one of the most cyclical sectors within the semiconductor business, with DRAM navigating through boom-and-bust trends every three to four years. Explore a detailed account of previous memory cycles for Micron.

This time around, however, numerous factors within the market appear distinct. AI clientele are entering into multi-year supply contracts, a limited number of hyperscalers account for a significant portion of demand, and HBM is closely coupled with AI accelerators rather than offered as an independent commodity.

The pressing question is whether these structural transformations are sufficient to alter the industry’s well-established patterns. That’s what investors need to ascertain.

Tighter Coupling, Fewer CustomersHBM has transitioned away from being a commodity memory solution. Unlike standard DRAM, which fits into separate memory slots, HBM is packaged directly with the AI accelerator through sophisticated chip packaging techniques. It is collaboratively designed and certified for a particular GPU generation, involving significantly lengthier qualification processes compared to commodity DRAM. As HBM is integral to the GPU package, each new GPU generation generally introduces a corresponding new generation of HBM.

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This alters Micron's customer composition. Rather than distributing memory to numerous PC manufacturers, server OEMs, and cloud service providers, HBM demand is now heavily concentrated among Nvidia, AMD, and a select few hyperscalers creating their own AI chips. The lengthy qualification processes benefit Micron. Once a memory supplier is approved for a GPU platform, clients hesitate to change suppliers since validating a new one can take years rather than just quarters. This leads to increased switching costs and enhanced revenue predictability.

The downside is the concentration of customers. A decrease in AI infrastructure expenditures from just one significant GPU client or hyperscaler could disproportionately affect Micron's HBM revenue. During prior memory cycles, declines in one market segment were often balanced by demand from others. In the case of HBM, this buffer is considerably smaller.

What’s Truly New: Take-Or-Pay ContractsThe most compelling evidence that this cycle might differ is the long-term take-or-pay agreements, a rarity in the DRAM sector. Micron has secured 16 multi-year take-or-pay contracts. Once all intended agreements are finalized, the company anticipates that more than half of its revenue will be secured by these contracts, with approximately 40% subject to fixed or ceiling pricing. Check Micron's growth and margins compared to peers.

These contracts don’t erase risk, but they alter the distribution of it. They offer Micron enhanced revenue visibility and lessen vulnerability to abrupt price declines. In exchange, clients agree to procure capacity even if market conditions deteriorate.

Nevertheless, this protection is only partial. Approximately half of Micron's revenue still resides outside these contracts. Should AI infrastructure investment fall short, or if future AI models become more memory-efficient than anticipated, pricing pressures might still arise in the non-contracted segment of the business.

Signs of Customer Hesitation Are Already SurfaceMajor technology firms are expected to allocate over $600 billion for capital expenditures this year. A significant portion of this expenditure is directed towards AI data centers along with the GPUs and HBM that support them. However, the entities ultimately funding AI services may start to adopt a more cautious approach.

Tesla has placed a cap of $200 per week on employee spending for AI tools as of July 6. Uber, Meta and Walmart have implemented similar restrictions as usage-based pricing has made AI expenses more apparent. While these measures are relatively minor, they demonstrate that companies are starting to closely evaluate AI expenditures rather than viewing them as boundless.

Concurrently, the uptake of enterprise AI has proven slower than many anticipated. Incorporating AI into established workflows, redesigning business processes, and promoting employee acceptance continue to present significant obstacles. If businesses struggle to achieve favorable returns on their AI investments, the rate of future infrastructure spending may eventually slow, challenging the assumption that the current high demand for HBM will endure for years.

Opportunities such as those presented by Micron illustrate how individual semiconductor stocks can experience significant increases during technological transitions, but they also entail focused exposure to industry cycles, capacity expansions, and execution risks. A disciplined portfolio strategy can help mitigate these risks while still engaging in long-term growth trajectories. Trefis’s High Quality (HQ) Portfolio has consistently outperformed its market benchmark since inception, with cumulative returns exceeding 105%.

Lockheed Martin Today

LMT

Lockheed Martin

$519.40 -8.57 (-1.62%)

As of 12:16 PM Eastern

This is a fair market value price provided by Massive. Learn more.

52-Week Range$410.11▼

$692.00Dividend Yield2.66%

P/E Ratio25.15

Price Target$609.68

Global rearmament cycles are actively reshaping the physical economy. Investors are witnessing a rapid transition in which government defense budgets shift from discretionary spending debates to mandatory restocking mandates.

When sovereign nations realize their munitions and aircraft are depleted, capital flows into the defense sector with absolute certainty. Lockheed Martin NYSE: LMT currently operates more like a highly regulated, government-backed utility than a traditional aerospace manufacturer.

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Powering Up the Ultimate Defense Utility GridThink of a public utility. Consumers pay their water bill regardless of economic conditions because the service is essential. Defense spending has entered this paradigm. Governments are prioritizing national security above all other fiscal concerns, effectively guaranteeing revenue for prime contractors.

Lockheed Martin sits at the center of this structural shift, turning geopolitical tension into predictable, compounding cash flow. Lockheed Martin recently added $607 million in localized Department of Defense contracts to an already record-breaking $194 billion revenue backlog. Despite recent index exclusions and fixed-price margin compression, a strategic $3.45 billion sub-sea acquisition and an impending second-quarter earnings rebound position Lockheed Martin for potential multiple expansion. The underlying data reveals a business engineered for multi-decade revenue visibility. This provides a unique opportunity for those evaluating capital deployment in an increasingly fractured geopolitical landscape.

Building an Impenetrable Revenue FortressRevenue visibility is the lifeblood of institutional capital. Lockheed Martin effectively secured its near-term cash flow with a two-pronged DoD award totaling $607.4 million. The bulk of this capital is a $502.4 million Army contract focused on sustainment for the AH-64 Apache's targeting and night-vision systems. A secondary $105 million Air Force order secures upgrades to GPS ground control.

Sustainment contracts carry significant weight for fundamental investors. Selling an airframe generates revenue once. Sustaining its avionics and targeting systems generates recurring cash flow for decades. This $194 billion backlog serves as an impenetrable moat, insulating Lockheed Martin from the typical macroeconomic demand destruction.

International developments are providing secondary tailwinds. Following the July 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara, Lockheed Martin established a PAC-3 Missile Sustainment Facility in Europe. This localized footprint, paired with fresh joint ventures to scale missile production alongside industry peers, ensures Lockheed Martin remains entrenched in European rearmament logistics.

The broader market heavily discounts the value of these long-tail sustainment facilities. Yet, they consistently provide the baseline cash flow required to fund dividend growth and share repurchases. When evaluating Lockheed Martin's fundamental strength, investors should look beyond the initial point of sale and recognize the multi-decade service agreements that keep allied forces operational.

Ultra Maritime Drops Anchor on New GrowthA pragmatic evaluation of any equity requires acknowledging fundamental friction. The first quarter of 2026 delivered operational headwinds for Lockheed Martin. Earnings per share landed at $6.44 against a consensus estimate of $6.79, while segment operating margins compressed from 11.6% down to 10.1%.

This margin decay traces directly back to unfavorable adjustments on F-16 production and cost pressures within classified aeronautics programs. Inflationary environments are notoriously hostile to fixed-price government contracts. When supply chain costs rise, the defense contractor absorbs the difference, squeezing margins before the contract can be renegotiated.

Management is actively pivoting to offset these aeronautics losses through aggressive vertical integration. The recent $3.45 billion acquisition of Ultra Maritime brings highly specialized anti-submarine warfare technologies into Lockheed Martin's Rotary and Mission Systems portfolio.

Acquiring advanced sonobuoy and acoustic countermeasure manufacturing allows Lockheed Martin to capture high-margin naval defense market share. The global demand for anti-submarine capabilities is surging as naval theaters become more contested.

Integrating Ultra Maritime directly addresses this need, offering investors a clear pathway to margin expansion that circumvents the bottleneck of traditional aircraft assembly lines. This strategic maneuver moves the revenue mix slightly away from heavily scrutinized fixed-price aircraft programs and toward consumable, high-tech maritime defense systems that command stronger pricing power.

Lockheed Martin’s Low Beta and Strong Dividend Support Its Defensive AppealInvestors analyzing recent price action might notice localized weakness that seems disconnected from the broader defense sector rally. Understanding the mechanics of institutional rebalancing clarifies this discrepancy.

Overall MarketRank™97th Percentile

Analyst RatingHold

Upside/Downside17.2% Upside

Short Interest LevelHealthy

Dividend StrengthStrong

News Sentiment0.82 Insider TradingN/A

Proj. Earnings Growth7.99%

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Lockheed Martin was recently dropped from the Russell 1000 Value-Defensive Index. Index exclusions trigger forced liquidations in passive funds and exchange-traded funds that track that specific benchmark. This creates a temporary supply glut of shares on the open market, depressing the price independently of Lockheed Martin's actual financial health.

Surface-level insider trading data also shows a cluster of executive selling over the past six months, particularly within the Aeronautics division. Context changes the narrative entirely. Aeronautics President Greg Ulmer retired on June 1, 2026, handing leadership to Orlando Sanchez, Jr. Executive retirements frequently trigger the liquidation of vested stock options for tax and estate planning purposes. Framing this routine action as a bearish sign of internal confidence is a misreading of standard corporate succession mechanics.

While passive funds rebalance and executives transition, the underlying equity mechanics remain highly defensive. The stock carries a heavily muted Beta of 0.11. A Beta this low indicates the equity moves almost completely independently of broader market volatility. When paired with a robust $13.80 annualized dividend payout, recently reinforced by a $3.45 per share second-quarter payout on June 26, Lockheed Martin presents a structural floor. Investors often utilize this specific low-Beta, high-yield combination as a portfolio hedge to mitigate downside risk during periods of macroeconomic uncertainty.

Will Q2 Earnings Turn the Fundamental Tide?The true test of management's ability to halt margin decay arrives with the second-quarter earnings report on July 23, 2026. Analysts expect consensus earnings of $7.23 per share, demanding a sharp operational recovery from the first-quarter miss.

Hitting or exceeding this target will validate the thesis that fixed-price contract friction has peaked and that the Ultra Maritime acquisition is already providing margin relief. Conversely, a subsequent miss could signal that supply chain costs remain sticky, potentially testing the company's foundational support levels.

Investors evaluating defensive allocations might consider watching the upcoming earnings call closely to see if management can successfully translate a record-breaking $194 billion backlog into expanded operating margins and predictable cash flow. The data suggests the backlog is unshakeable, but the execution of converting that backlog into bottom-line profitability will dictate the next major move for Lockheed Martin.

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Key Takeaways Accenture won a seven-year NATO contract to support the Protected Business Network.Accenture and Leonardo will build a secure cloud platform for about 29,000 NATO users.The deal expands Accenture's role in defense tech and may support recurring revenue opportunities. Accenture (ACN - Free Report) has secured a multi-million-euro contract from the NATO Communications and Information Agency (“NCIA”) to support the Protected Business Network (“PBN”) program, a major initiative aimed at building NATO’s secure, cloud-enabled digital enterprise. The company will execute the seven-year contract in collaboration with Italy’s Leonardo. The agreement, valued at approximately €200 million over the contract period, marks a significant milestone in NATO’s digital transformation efforts.

The Protected Business Network will serve as the foundation for classified digital operations across the NATO Enterprise. It is designed to enable military personnel and decision-makers across multiple domains to communicate, collaborate and access critical information through a standardized, scalable and secure cloud environment that offers greater resilience against cyber threats and operational disruptions.

The program is intended to replace legacy systems with a modern digital infrastructure based on a common cloud operating model, standardized engineering practices and a secure platform for developing, deploying and maintaining digital services more efficiently. This framework is expected to improve the agility and security of NATO’s digital ecosystem while supporting future technological capabilities.

Under the contract, Accenture and Leonardo will design, implement and operate the core Protected Business Network platform across NCIA’s multi-cloud environment. The platform will facilitate the phased deployment and long-term adoption of secure cloud services for approximately 29,000 users across the NATO Alliance. Leonardo will also implement a Zero Trust Architecture secured by its proprietary Global Cybersec Platform, an AI-powered multi-agent cyber defense platform, to strengthen cyber resilience.

According to Accenture, the project represents one of the most significant digital transformation initiatives undertaken by the Alliance and emphasized that, together with Leonardo, it will provide the cloud and cybersecurity capabilities needed to build a resilient, interoperable and future-ready digital backbone for NATO.

The contract further strengthens Accenture’s position in the defense and public-sector technology market by expanding its role in delivering large-scale, mission-critical cloud transformation projects. The long-term, seven-year engagement provides recurring revenue opportunities while showcasing the company’s expertise in cloud computing, cybersecurity and digital modernization. Successfully executing a high-profile NATO program is also likely to enhance Accenture’s credentials for securing similar government and defense contracts globally.

Similar Contracts Won by ACN’s Fellow Sectoral PlayersIn 2024, CACI International (CACI - Free Report) , housed in the same sector as Accenture, won a five-year task order worth $1.3 billion to provide communications and information technology services. Under the contract, CACI will modernize and enhance critical software and hardware systems, improve network IT and communications, and provide end-user support to more than 11,000 personnel across 60 locations in Europe and Africa. This modernization effort will support global multi-domain digital operations, enterprise software deployment, and secure interoperability among mission partners across the European theater.

In 2024, Science Applications International (SAIC - Free Report) secured a $229 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to deliver critical IT solutions under the NORAD/USNORTHCOM Information Technology Enterprise Services (“NITES”) program. The contract enables Science Applications International to support the modernization, innovation, and operational efficiency of the NITES program. To achieve this, the company provides skilled professionals and expertise in IT service management, network modernization, automation of existing IT systems, cloud migration, and cybersecurity. Science Applications International also works across all branches of the U.S. military to deliver mission-ready solutions that help maintain a strategic advantage.

Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesAccenture has lost 51.2% in the past year compared with a 24.2% decline in its industry.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

1-Year Price ComparisonFrom a valuation standpoint, ACN trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 1.2, way below the industry’s 11.64.

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See how the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ACN’s earnings has been revised over the past 90 days.

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ACN’s Zacks RankACN currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

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

Coinbase is giving Filecoin traders a new way to take risk. By adding margin support for FIL, the exchange is not just listing another feature. It is expanding how one of crypto’s older infrastructure tokens can be traded on a major US-facing platform.

That matters because Filecoin has often sat in an awkward place. The project is tied to a real infrastructure thesis around decentralized storage, but the market frequently treats FIL as just another volatile altcoin. Margin access tends to sharpen that trading identity.

For more details, visit the official Coinbase platform.

TL;DR Coinbase is adding Filecoin margin trading support.The move gives traders more flexibility around FIL exposure.It also keeps decentralized storage assets in the conversation as exchanges expand margin markets. Why Margin Support Changes The Setup Margin trading can deepen liquidity and attract more active traders, but it also raises the stakes. When a token becomes available for leveraged positioning, price moves can become more sensitive to funding, liquidation risk, and short-term sentiment.

For Coinbase, the decision suggests there is enough demand around Filecoin to justify broader trading tools. For FIL, it offers more visibility at a time when infrastructure tokens are trying to reassert their relevance.

Filecoin’s Infrastructure Narrative The underlying Filecoin thesis is still about storage: decentralized data markets, long-term archival needs, and alternatives to centralized cloud infrastructure. That story has never been as simple or as viral as memecoins or AI tokens, but it remains one of the sector’s more concrete use cases.

The question is whether trading access can help pull attention back to that infrastructure angle or whether leverage simply turns FIL into a faster speculative instrument.

The Risk Traders Should Remember Margin support is not automatically bullish. It can attract long exposure, but it can also make shorting easier and increase liquidation-driven volatility. That means the listing is better read as a market-structure update than a directional guarantee.

Still, for an asset like Filecoin, broader access on Coinbase is meaningful. It keeps FIL in front of active traders while the decentralized storage story continues to develop in the background.

A Useful Way To Frame It The useful way to read this story is not as a standalone headline about Coinbase, but as part of the wider pressure building around Coinbase coverage this week. Markets have been jumping quickly from one catalyst to the next, so the cleaner value for readers is in separating the actual development from the instant reaction around it. In this case, the source material gives us a concrete event to work from, rather than a loose rumour or a recycled social-media talking point.

That distinction matters because crypto readers are being asked to process a lot at once: ETF flows, regulatory actions, exchange listings, protocol upgrades, wallet movements, and political signals. A story like this is most useful when it helps them understand where Filecoin fits into that broader map. It does not need to be inflated into a guaranteed price call to be worth covering. It simply needs to explain what changed, who is affected, and why the market is paying attention today.

The caveat is also important. Even clean source-backed developments can be overinterpreted when traders are hunting for a fast narrative. A listing does not automatically create lasting demand, a regulatory update does not immediately settle every legal question, and an on-chain movement does not always translate into a finished sale. The better read is to treat the development as a fresh data point and then watch whether follow-up activity confirms the direction of travel.

For NewsBTC readers, that means keeping the focus on what can actually be verified from the source and avoiding the temptation to turn every update into a sweeping market verdict. The story is strong enough on its own terms: it gives investors and traders another piece of context around Coinbase, while leaving room for the next filing, dashboard update, wallet movement, governance vote, or exchange notice to decide whether the angle grows into something bigger.

This article is based on information from Coinbase.

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

Latin America’s biggest stock exchange just made its boldest crypto move yet. B3, the São Paulo-based exchange that dominates trading across the region, launched options on Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana futures on July 6, completing a derivatives trifecta that took roughly two years to build.

The new contracts trade under the tickers BIT, ETR, and SOL. At expiration, they automatically exercise into the underlying futures positions, meaning traders never have to fumble with spot token custody. Settlement happens either in cash or through the futures contract itself.

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What B3 actually built The options trade independently from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. São Paulo time. B3 has enlisted designated market makers to keep bid-ask spreads tight and ensure adequate liquidity.

This launch didn’t happen overnight. B3 introduced Bitcoin futures back in April 2024 with a contract size of 0.1 BTC. Ether and Solana futures followed on June 16, 2025. The options layer is the natural next step, giving traders the ability to construct limited-risk strategies around positions they already understand.

Rafael Tsopanoglou Teodoro, B3’s Product Manager for Currencies, framed the expansion as a way to connect Brazilian investors with global market trends while maintaining robust risk management. The entire operation runs under the oversight of Brazil’s securities regulator, CVM.

What this means for investors For retail traders in Brazil, the immediate impact is access. Options allow for strategies like protective puts and covered calls that were previously only available through unregulated venues. The automatic exercise into futures removes a layer of complexity that often trips up less experienced traders.

For institutional investors, B3’s regulated framework is the main draw. Asset managers, hedge funds, and family offices that are mandated to trade on regulated venues now have a compliant way to gain crypto options exposure across three major assets. The CVM oversight means these products come with standardized clearing, counterparty risk mitigation, and the kind of audit trail that compliance departments demand.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Wall Street giant Wells Fargo revealed massive crypto holdings via exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and stocks. The banks revealed exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), Solana, Strategy (MSTR), Bitmine (BMNR) and other crypto stocks.

Wells Fargo Reveals Bitcoin, ETH, Solana ETFs Exposure In its latest SEC filing, $2.5 trillion AUM Wells Fargo disclosed 6.5 million shares in BlackRock Bitcoin ETF (IBIT). It also revealed a new call position and an increase in put position in IBIT amid growing uncertainty during the US-Iran war.

IBIT holdings dropped by 75,102 shares compared to the Q4 quarter. Moreover, the Wall Street giant cut its exposure to the Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BTCO), Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, and the Fidelity Bitcoin ETF (FBTC).

While Wells Fargo decreased holdings in IBIT, Bitcoin exposure increased in Grayscale Bitcoin Mini ETF, Bitwise’s BITB, and GBTC. Notably, BITB holdings climbed 24% quarter-on-quarter.

Meanwhile, Wells Fargo boosts Ethereum ETF holdings with a 65% rise in BlackRock Ethereum ETF (ETHA) shares. The bank now holds more than 1.10 million ETHA shares worth $17.56 million.

In addition, the banking firm holds 257,157 Bitwise Ethereum ETF, 4,637 Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF, and 623 VanEck’s ETHV shares.

Also, Wells Fargo disclosed new exposure to Solana ETFs. It scooped 13,280 in Grayscale’s GSOL and 1,638 in Fidelity Solana Fund (FSOL).

Holding in Strategy’s MSTR, Bitmine, and other Crypto Stocks On the crypto stocks side, Wells Fargo significantly ramped up its position in Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR). The bank boosted its MSTR shares by 125% to almost 726,000 shares, adding an estimated $41.5 million in exposure. Notably, Strategy plans sell Bitcoin, but Grayscale claims Strategy’s Bitcoin sales are good for markets.

It also revealed new holdings in the Trump family’s American Bitcoin Corp (ABTC) and Strive (ASST). This move highlights a preference for established Bitcoin treasury companies over direct mining or trading firms.

The bank significantly increased its holdings in Bitmine Immersion’s BMNR from 2,323 to 21,547 stocks. This makes an 828% rise in Ethereum treasury exposure to $426K.

Robinhood (HOOD) shareholdings jumped from 65% to 2.56 million shares. Wells Fargo also opened put option positions for almost $116K. As CoinGape reported earlier, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev sold HOOD shares earlier this week.

In contrast, the bank sharply reduced its stake in Galaxy Digital by about 97% and 25% in Coinbase (COIN). This signals a strategic shift away from certain crypto stocks.

Also Read: 11 Best Crypto Copy Trading Platforms in July 2026

Key Takeaways WST completed the sale and transfer of SmartDose 3.5mL manufacturing and supply rights to AbbVie.WST shares have lost 3.1% since July 1 but gained 28.5% year to date against the industry's decline.WST will continue developing other SmartDose platforms, including the 10mL system for larger volumes. West Pharmaceutical Services (WST - Free Report) recently completed the sale and transfer of the manufacturing and supply rights for its SmartDose 3.5mL On-Body Delivery System and associated facilities to AbbVie (ABBV - Free Report) . The transaction follows the $112.5 million sale agreement with AbbVie announced in January, subject to working capital and other adjustments.

Per management, West Pharmaceutical's pioneering work in on-body delivery technology has improved the lives of people worldwide. Following a portfolio review, the company decided to transfer the SmartDose 3.5mL product to AbbVie to focus on customer development pipeline and advance patient-centered, large-volume on-body delivery solutions that drive durable and profitable growth.

Likely Trend of WST Stock Following the NewsShares of WST have lost 3.1% since the announcement on July 1. Year to date, the stock has gained 28.5% against the industry’s 1.2% decline. The S&P 500 has risen 9.5% in the same timeframe.

The completion of the transaction is likely to support West Pharmaceutical's long-term growth strategy by allowing the company to concentrate resources on higher-growth drug delivery technologies. The divestiture streamlines WST’s product portfolio while reinforcing its commitment to developing innovative solutions for larger-volume injectable medicines.

WST currently has a market capitalization of $25.16 billion.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

More on the NewsAt the time of the announcement, the SmartDose 3.5mL platform was expected to contribute approximately 4% of West Pharmaceutical's fiscal 2025 revenues, making it a relatively small part of the company's overall business. The completion of the sale allows West Pharmaceutical to move forward with a more focused portfolio centered on its core drug delivery business.

Following the transaction, the company will continue developing and manufacturing its other SmartDose platforms, including the SmartDose 10mL On-Body Delivery System designed for larger-volume drug delivery.

Industry Prospects Favoring the MarketGoing by data provided by Fortune Business Insights, the on-body drug delivery devices market is anticipated to be valued at $486.43 million in 2026 and is expected to witness a CAGR of 6.9% through 2034.

Factors like the growing demand for on-body drug delivery devices, increasing use of biologic drugs and biosimilars, rising prevalence of chronic diseases, greater adoption of self-administered subcutaneous therapies and a shift toward home-based healthcare are driving the market’s growth.

Other NewsIn June, West Pharmaceutical appointed Michel Lagarde as president, CEO and a member of its board of directors, effective Aug. 31, 2026, succeeding retiring president, CEO and board chair Eric M. Green. As part of the leadership transition, lead independent director Robert F. Friel will assume the role of board chair.

In March, West Pharmaceutical expanded its Dublin facility with a new 165,000 square foot building, significantly boosting its contract manufacturing capacity. The move is aimed at supporting rising global demand for high-volume injectable therapies, particularly in fast-growing areas like diabetes and obesity.

WST’s Zacks Rank & Other Key PicksCurrently, WST carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader medical space are Intuitive Surgical (ISRG - Free Report) and Pacific Biosciences of California (PACB - Free Report) .

Intuitive Surgical, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, reported first-quarter 2026 core earnings per share 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%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Intuitive Surgical has a long-term estimated growth rate of 14.3%. ISRG’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 16.8%.

Pacific Biosciences of California, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, reported a first-quarter 2026 adjusted loss per share of 12 cents, which came narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 29.4%. Revenues of $37.2 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 9.3%.

Pacific Biosciences of California has an estimated earnings growth rate of 22.6% for 2026. PACB’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 29.8%.

Signage is seen outside of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 30, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

CompaniesJuly 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Thursday it would exercise its authority to ​stay the listing of a contract that ‌would have allowed CME Group (CME.O), opens new tab to initiate 24/7 trading on crude oil futures as soon as Friday.

The move ​comes after CME sought to self-certify the contract ​on July 8, despite an ongoing public ⁠comment period on the extension of standard futures ​contracts to round-the-clock trading, including crude oil.

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CME Group, ​the world's leading derivatives marketplace, had announced in June that it would offer 24/7 trading in some crude and gold futures ​contracts, pending regulatory review.

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig ​said the commission was still examining whether 24/7 trading of ‌futures ⁠contracts on various asset classes was consistent with its statutory Core Principles.

"We do not take a one-size-fits-all approach to 24/7 trading," Selig added in a ​statement.

The commission ​said its ⁠regulations offer exchanges two methods to list contracts — self certification and seeking a ​review and approval. "CME made simultaneous, but ​separate filings ⁠under both provisions."

CFTC said it would conduct a thorough review of the product filings and bar ⁠CME ​from listing such contracts before determining ​they comply with the Commodity Exchange Act and Commission regulations.

Reporting ​by Pooja Menon in Bengaluru; Editing by Joyjeet Das

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Helium is getting a fresh liquidity window after Binance added HNT to its spot trading lineup. For a DePIN token, that matters because exchange access can quickly change who can trade the asset, how deep the order book becomes, and how visible the project is to global retail markets.

The listing is also a reminder that DePIN remains one of the market’s stickier infrastructure themes. It does not always dominate the headlines, but the idea of blockchain-linked physical networks continues to attract attention from traders and builders.

For more details, visit the official Binance platform.

TL;DR Binance listed Helium on its spot desk.The move expands global liquidity for one of the better-known DePIN tokens.HNT now gets a fresh exchange catalyst at a time when decentralized infrastructure narratives remain active. Why Binance Listings Still Matter A Binance listing is not a guarantee of lasting demand, but it remains one of the clearest exchange-access catalysts in crypto. It can improve liquidity, widen participation, and put a token into the daily rotation of active traders.

For Helium, that added visibility comes at a useful time. The project’s story is more concrete than many speculative tokens because it is tied to decentralized wireless and connectivity infrastructure.

The DePIN Angle DePIN has become a catch-all term for projects trying to coordinate physical infrastructure through token incentives. Some of those projects are still very early, but Helium is one of the names most traders recognize in the category.

That recognition matters because narratives need anchors. When a major exchange lists a recognizable DePIN asset, it can pull attention back to the broader sector.

What Traders Should Watch The first test is whether HNT volume holds after the initial listing reaction. Many new listings see a quick burst of activity and then fade. A stronger signal would be sustained depth across the listed pairs.

For now, Binance has given Helium a new market venue and a fresh reason for traders to revisit the DePIN theme.

What The Market Can Learn The useful way to read this story is not as a standalone headline about Binance, but as part of the wider pressure building around Binance coverage this week. Markets have been jumping quickly from one catalyst to the next, so the cleaner value for readers is in separating the actual development from the instant reaction around it. In this case, the source material gives us a concrete event to work from, rather than a loose rumour or a recycled social-media talking point.

That distinction matters because crypto readers are being asked to process a lot at once: ETF flows, regulatory actions, exchange listings, protocol upgrades, wallet movements, and political signals. A story like this is most useful when it helps them understand where Helium fits into that broader map. It does not need to be inflated into a guaranteed price call to be worth covering. It simply needs to explain what changed, who is affected, and why the market is paying attention today.

The caveat is also important. Even clean source-backed developments can be overinterpreted when traders are hunting for a fast narrative. A listing does not automatically create lasting demand, a regulatory update does not immediately settle every legal question, and an on-chain movement does not always translate into a finished sale. The better read is to treat the development as a fresh data point and then watch whether follow-up activity confirms the direction of travel.

For NewsBTC readers, that means keeping the focus on what can actually be verified from the source and avoiding the temptation to turn every update into a sweeping market verdict. The story is strong enough on its own terms: it gives investors and traders another piece of context around Binance, while leaving room for the next filing, dashboard update, wallet movement, governance vote, or exchange notice to decide whether the angle grows into something bigger.

This article is based on information from Binance.

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

Investment reinforces Amcor's commitment to a key growth market

, /PRNewswire/ -- Amcor (NYSE: AMCR, ASX: AMC), a global leader in developing and producing responsible packaging solutions, has commenced an expansion project at its flexible packaging solutions facility in Dongguan, China.

The project includes the construction of a 7,000-square-meter manufacturing facility and automated warehouse, expanding Amcor's existing campus to over 38,000 square meters. The expansion will increase production capacity and strengthen supply chain resilience in a key industrial hub in South China. Construction is expected to be completed by July 2027.

Amcor leaders, partners and local government representatives mark the groundbreaking of the Dongguan expansion project. Designed around the principles of sustainability and intelligent manufacturing, the expansion will feature automated solvent-free laminators, high-speed bag-making machines and automated bag arranging systems. These technologies will increase production capacity, improve operational efficiency and support the development of recycle-ready packaging solutions for food, home and personal care applications.

Amcor has operated in China for more than 30 years and currently has 23 manufacturing sites and two research and development centers across the country. The Dongguan expansion will further strengthen the company's manufacturing network to better support its customers across the Asia Pacific region.

"China is an important growth market for Amcor, and the Dongguan expansion represents an investment in the technologies and capabilities that will help shape the future of packaging," said Xin She, Vice President and General Manager of Amcor Flexibles China. "We are creating a more efficient and intelligent manufacturing ecosystem that will help our customers grow and meet the needs of millions of consumers every day."

About Amcor

Amcor is the global leader in developing and producing responsible consumer packaging and dispensing solutions across a variety of materials for nutrition, health, beauty and wellness categories. Our global product innovation and sustainability expertise enables us to solve packaging challenges around the world every day, producing a range of flexible packaging, rigid packaging, cartons and closures that are more sustainable, functional and appealing for our customers and their consumers. We are guided by our purpose of elevating customers, shaping lives and protecting the future. Supported by a commitment to safety, over 75,000 people generate $23 billion in annualized sales from operations that span over 400 locations in more than 40 countries. NYSE: AMCR; ASX: AMC

www.amcor.com | LinkedIn | YouTube 

SOURCE Amcor

Key Takeaways BWX Technologies is expanding capabilities to support next-generation reactor deployment.BWXT leverages nuclear manufacturing and engineering expertise across advanced reactor programs.BWX Technologies is investing in facilities and technical capabilities to support future reactor projects. BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT - Free Report) continues strengthening its position in the advanced nuclear market by expanding capabilities that support next-generation reactor deployment. The company is leveraging its expertise in nuclear manufacturing, engineering and fuel technologies to support advanced reactor developers and government customers. BWXT is also investing in facilities, equipment and technical capabilities that enhance its ability to deliver specialized reactor components and related nuclear technologies.

Advanced reactors require highly specialized manufacturing processes, precision engineering and a secure domestic supply chain for critical nuclear components. BWXT's decades of experience in naval nuclear propulsion and commercial nuclear operations provide a strong foundation to support these emerging reactor programs. The company's integrated capabilities enable it to manufacture complex reactor components while meeting stringent quality and regulatory requirements.

BWXT also continues expanding its advanced reactor portfolio through collaborations with government agencies and commercial developers. Its expertise spans reactor design support, nuclear fuel development, component manufacturing and engineering services, positioning the company to participate across multiple stages of advanced reactor deployment.

As interest in advanced nuclear technologies continues growing, demand for experienced nuclear manufacturers is expected to increase. BWXT's continued investment in technical capabilities, specialized manufacturing and engineering expertise positions the company to support future advanced reactor projects while strengthening its long-term growth opportunities.

Companies Advancing Advanced Reactor CapabilitiesAs advanced nuclear technologies keep gaining momentum, companies are expanding capabilities to support the deployment of next-generation reactors. Companies like Oklo Inc. (OKLO - Free Report) and NuScale Power Corporation (SMR - Free Report) are also fortifying their positions across the advanced reactor market.

Oklo continues advancing the deployment of its Aurora advanced reactor through fuel qualification, site development and commercialization activities while expanding the capabilities needed to support future reactor operations.

NuScale Power continues advancing its small modular reactor technology through engineering, licensing and supply-chain readiness, strengthening its ability to support future reactor deployment.

Earnings Estimates for BWXT StockThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 and 2027 earnings per share suggests year-over-year growth of 14.71% and 13.90%, respectively.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

BWXT Stock Is Trading at a DiscountBWX Technologies is trading at a discount relative to the industry, with a forward 12-month price-to-sales of 4.25X compared with the industry average of 14.05X.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

BWXT Stock Price PerformanceOver the past year, BWXT shares have rallied 34.9% compared with the industry’s 20.2% growth.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

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

Key Takeaways Vicor is expanding IP licensing to generate recurring royalties beyond direct product sales.VICR expects licensing and hardware sales to create a dual revenue model for AI power solutions.Vicor is investing in patent protection and licensing to broaden technology adoption and diversify revenues. Vicor Corporation (VICR - Free Report) is strengthening its long-term growth strategy by expanding its intellectual property licensing business, creating an additional avenue to monetize its proprietary power conversion technologies beyond direct product sales. As AI infrastructure providers, hyperscalers and semiconductor companies adopt increasingly complex power architectures, demand for advanced power delivery solutions continues to build. This positions Vicor to generate recurring royalty income by licensing its patented technologies to a broader customer base while reinforcing its competitive standing in power electronics.

Licensing has the potential to become an increasingly meaningful contributor to Vicor's financial profile. Royalty income requires limited incremental manufacturing investment, allowing the company to leverage decades of research and development across a wider ecosystem. VICR continues to invest in expanding its licensing practice and protecting its intellectual property through patent enforcement, a discipline that should support broader adoption of its technologies over time. The approach also gives customers a path to access Vicor's innovations through licensing agreements, creating a scalable, high-margin revenue stream that complements the company's core hardware business.

The opportunity is reinforced by next-generation AI processors requiring increasingly sophisticated power delivery architectures. Vicor expects licensing to work alongside its product portfolio, benefiting whether customers purchase its power modules directly or license its proprietary technologies, a dual revenue model that could diversify revenue sources and improve long-term earnings quality as adoption expands across AI, hyperscale computing and other high-performance applications.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Vicor's 2026 revenues is pegged at $594.05 million, indicating 31.22% year-over-year growth, pointing to expectations that this licensing-driven expansion will increasingly factor into the company's broader growth trajectory ahead, supporting a more durable and diversified earnings base over the long term.

VICR Faces Stiff CompetitionVicor faces stiff competition from Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR - Free Report) and Analog Devices (ADI - Free Report) . Monolithic Power Systems continues to expand its power management portfolio for AI, cloud computing and industrial applications through highly integrated semiconductor solutions. Analog Devices leverages its broad analog and power management portfolio to address data center, communications and automotive demand.

Monolithic Power Systems continues investing in innovation to strengthen its competitive position, while Analog Devices is expanding advanced power solutions for next-generation computing platforms. Although Monolithic Power Systems and Analog Devices compete across similar end markets, Vicor's expanding intellectual property licensing strategy provides an additional avenue for long-term value creation.

VICR’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesVicor Corporation shares have surged 140.1% year to date, outperforming the Zacks Electronic Miscellaneous Components industry's decline of 15.1% and the broader Computer and Technology sector's appreciation of 14.7%.

VICR’s YTD Price Return Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

VICR shares are trading at a forward 12-month price/sales of 14.95X compared with the broader sector’s 6.86X.

VICR’s Forward 12 Months (P/S) Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for VICR’s 2026 EPS is pegged at $2.94 per share, up by 23 cents over the past 30 days, indicating year-over-year growth of 12.64%.

Vicor carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken June 11, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

CompaniesJuly 9 (Reuters) - A group of newspapers including the New York Times (NYT.N), opens new tab and New York Daily News asked a federal court in Manhattan on Thursday to ​sanction OpenAI in their high-stakes copyright dispute for allegedly lying to the ‌court about its ability to search its systems for proof that it misused millions of their articles in AI training.

The newspapers told the court, opens new tab in a filing that OpenAI falsely told the court ​it could not search its large language models for their copyrighted material ​while hiding that it had done so "even before the first News ⁠Plaintiff filed suit."

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The newspapers said that OpenAI had also deleted billions of relevant ​ChatGPT conversations or made them unsearchable. They asked the court for sanctions, including attorneys' ​fees, and a court finding that OpenAI's chat logs showed that the company misused their copyrighted works.

Spokespeople for OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the motion.

The lawsuit, first filed ​by the Times in 2023, accused OpenAI and its largest financial backer Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab of ​using millions of its articles without permission to train the large language model behind OpenAI's popular ‌chatbot ⁠ChatGPT.

The case is one of many brought by copyright owners including authors, visual artists and music labels against tech companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta Platforms for allegedly misusing their material to train AI systems.

“For over two years, OpenAI lied to ​The Times, The ​Daily News Plaintiffs, ⁠the public, and the court," the New York Times' lead attorney Ian Crosby said in a statement. "It claimed searching ChatGPT outputs ​for copies of The Times’ and the Daily News Plaintiffs’ content ​was infeasible, ⁠burdensome, and invasive of users' privacy – while at the same time concealing that it had already done such searches."

OpenAI previously told the court that it did not have ⁠tools to ​search its datasets and output logs for copyrighted ​material, but an OpenAI employee later testified that the company had "performed multiple searches for News Plaintiffs’ content," according ​to the newspapers' Thursday filing.

Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; edited by David Gaffen

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Blake Brittain reports on intellectual property law, including patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, for Reuters Legal. He has previously written for Bloomberg Law and Thomson Reuters Practical Law and practiced as an attorney.

Key Takeaways Illumina's 2026 stock rally reflects strong execution and first-quarter results above guidance.ILMN saw 20% clinical sequencing consumables demand growth outside China for a second straight quarter.Illumina's NovaSeq X placements topped 80 units as adoption and platform transition continued. Illumina (ILMN - Free Report) has delivered an impressive performance in 2026, with its shares rising 43.7% year to date. The stock has significantly outpaced the industry’s 7.5% gain and the S&P 500 composite’s 10% rise.  

Carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present, the renowned genomics company continues to execute on its strategy to drive durable growth and higher profitability. Growing sequencing intensity across the clinical end-markets continues to support Illumina’s growth. Balance sheet strength remains another key positive for the company.

San Diego, CA.-based Illumina Inc. provides sequencing and array-based solutions for genetic and genomic analysis. The products are used for applications in the life sciences, oncology, reproductive health, agriculture and other emerging segments. Its customers include leading genomic research centers, academic institutions, government laboratories, hospitals, as well as pharmaceutical, biotechnology, commercial molecular diagnostic and consumer genomics companies. The company’s sequencing technology, sequencing by synthesis (SBS), is widely adopted worldwide and supports both single-read and paired-end libraries.

Key Drivers Behind ILMN's Price RallySince spinning off GRAIL in June 2024, Illumina has continued to center its strategy on the core sequencing franchise while scaling into adjacent multiomics and data offerings. The company is targeting a return to durable growth and higher profitability, with goals of high-single-digit revenue growth by 2027 and annual earnings per share (EPS) growth in the double-digits to teens. The strategy appears to be gaining traction, with first-quarter 2026 revenues, margins and non-GAAP EPS all exceeding management’s guidance. 

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Broader adoption of NGS-based testing remains a key growth driver for Illumina. Clinical end-markets generated the majority of sequencing consumables revenues in first-quarter 2026, supported by the continued adoption of sequencing-based diagnostics and the growing use of sequencing-intensive tests, including comprehensive genomic profiling and whole genome sequencing, as drivers of higher sequencing intensity. Excluding China, clinical sequencing consumables demand increased 20% for the second straight quarter.

NovaSeq X placements in the quarter exceeded 80 units, around 20 more than a year ago and above the company’s targeted quarterly range. Transition progress also continued, with approximately 82% of volumes and 55% of revenues migrated to the platform, while roughly 90% of research and applied volume now runs on NovaSeq X. Management continues to plan for average quarterly NovaSeq X placements of 50 to 60 through 2026 while investing to scale supply given the current pipeline. Meanwhile, Illumina continues to expand its oncology menu as customers scale sequencing in clinical decision-making and in new trials that require larger information sets.

ILMN’s balance sheet also remains in solid shape. The company exited the first quarter of 2026 with cash and cash equivalents of $1.09 billion compared with $1.42 billion at the end of fourth-quarter 2025. Current debt was $499 million, unchanged sequentially, while long-term debt remained $1.49 billion.

Key Risks for IlluminaThe company continues to operate in a higher-cost environment shaped by tariffs and supply-chain inflation, which can affect both demand and margins. It also faces constrained demand in Greater China amid ongoing regulatory and geopolitical uncertainty, keeping the region out of step with the rest of the business. 

A Look at ILMN’s EstimatesThe Zacks Consensus Estimate projects Illumina's 2026 and 2027 earnings per share (EPS) at $5.19 and $5.86, reflecting year-over-year growth of 7.2% and 12.9%, respectively. The consensus estimate for 2026 EPS has moved 0.4% higher over the past 30 days.

Revenues are expected to increase 5.1% to $4.56 billion in 2026, followed by another 6.2% increase to $4.85 billion in 2027.

Key PicksSome other top-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 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.

The market expects Independent Bank Corp. (INDB - Free Report) to deliver a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended June 2026. This widely-known consensus outlook is important in assessing the company's earnings picture, but a powerful factor that might influence its near-term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates.

The stock might move higher if these key numbers top expectations in the upcoming earnings report, which is expected to be released on July 16. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.

While the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call, it's worth handicapping the probability of a positive EPS surprise.

Zacks Consensus EstimateThis holding company for Rockland Trust is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.77 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +41.6%.

Revenues are expected to be $257.73 million, up 41.8% from the year-ago quarter.

Estimate Revisions TrendThe consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.88% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.

Investors should keep in mind that the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts may not always get reflected in the aggregate change.

Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Earnings WhisperEstimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. This insight is at the core of our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction).

The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.

Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.

A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.

Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).

How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Independent Bank Corp.?For Independent Bank Corp., the Most Accurate Estimate is higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bullish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of +0.94%.

On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #3.

So, this combination indicates that Independent Bank Corp. will most likely beat the consensus EPS estimate.

Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?Analysts often consider to what extent a company has been able to match consensus estimates in the past while calculating their estimates for its future earnings. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.

For the last reported quarter, it was expected that Independent Bank Corp. would post earnings of $1.7 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.68, delivering a surprise of -1.18%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates three times.

Bottom LineAn earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.

That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.

Independent Bank Corp. appears a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

Artificial intelligence stocks often move on earnings reports, product launches, or analyst upgrades. Vertiv Holdings (NYSE: VRT | VRT Price Prediction) did none of those things on June 30, yet its shares climbed 9.1%, adding nearly $11 billion in market value in a single trading session. The catalyst originated more than 6,000 miles away in Seoul, where the South Korean government unveiled one of the world’s most ambitious semiconductor and AI infrastructure investment programs. That reaction illustrates how investors increasingly view AI infrastructure companies as global beneficiaries of AI investment, regardless of where those investments originate.

That’s an unusual way for an industrial company to gain nearly $11 billion in market value, but it says a great deal about how Wall Street now views AI infrastructure. Investors are increasingly reacting not just to company-specific news, but to any development that suggests the global AI buildout will continue accelerating.

That disconnect between where the news occurred and where investors directed their money explains much about how Wall Street is beginning to value the next phase of the AI infrastructure cycle. Increasingly, investors are reacting not simply to company-specific developments but to any indication that global AI spending will continue expanding. Vertiv has become one of the clearest beneficiaries of that trend because its products sit at the heart of virtually every modern AI data center.

The question investors now face is whether Vertiv has become the best way to invest in the global AI infrastructure buildout, or whether its shares have become a high-beta proxy for AI enthusiasm that could swing sharply whenever sentiment changes. That distinction may determine whether June 30 marks the start of another leg higher, or just another volatile day in one of the market’s fastest-growing infrastructure names.

The $576 Billion Catalyst: South Korea’s AI Ambition The news that ignited the rally came from South Korea, where President Lee Jae Myung announced a sweeping national initiative to strengthen the country’s leadership in semiconductors and artificial intelligence.

According to Table 1, South Korea’s announcement represents one of the largest government-supported AI infrastructure initiatives announced anywhere in the world. Although much of the investment will be directed toward semiconductor manufacturing, every new AI data center also requires extensive electrical distribution, power management, thermal management, and cooling infrastructure before computing hardware can be deployed. That is why investors immediately connected the announcement to companies such as Vertiv.

Vertiv was never mentioned during the announcement. It did not need to be. Every large AI data center requires electrical distribution equipment, power conversion systems, backup power, liquid cooling, thermal management, and monitoring software before a single AI accelerator is ever installed — regardless of whether the chips inside come from Nvidia, AMD, custom ASIC programs, or future architectures.

Markets make these connections long before company press releases do. Investors recognized immediately that a program of this magnitude would require far more than semiconductors—it would require the electrical and thermal infrastructure that allows AI data centers to operate.

Why Vertiv Wins Regardless of Which Chip Wins That reality increasingly explains why investors have begun viewing Vertiv as a direct beneficiary of global AI investment rather than merely another industrial equipment company. When governments or hyperscale cloud providers announce multi-billion-dollar AI infrastructure programs, investors immediately ask which companies will supply the essential systems that make those facilities operable — and Vertiv consistently appears near the top of that list.

The June 30 rally illustrates just how tightly Vertiv’s stock is now tied to AI infrastructure sentiment. The company issued no press release, offered no updated guidance, and announced no new customer wins. Investors simply interpreted Seoul’s announcement as fresh confirmation that global AI infrastructure spending remains in its early stages — a read that lines up with hyperscaler capex programs in the U.S., sovereign AI strategies across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and gradually rising enterprise adoption of generative AI workloads.

Unlike semiconductor manufacturers, whose growth depends partly on which AI accelerator wins market share, Vertiv benefits regardless of which computing platform customers choose. That broad exposure lets the company participate across the entire AI ecosystem rather than betting on a single chip architecture.

The Real Bottleneck: Power, Not Processors Management has been expanding Vertiv’s technological reach to address one of the industry’s fastest-growing challenges: delivering enough electrical power to increasingly dense AI computing environments. At Vertiv’s May 2026 Investor Conference, Chief Product and Technology Officer Scott Armul laid out just how quickly rack power requirements are escalating. According to Table 2, AI computing density is increasing at an extraordinary pace. Rack power requirements that only recently averaged approximately 140 kilowatts are already approaching 300 kilowatts, with 600-kilowatt systems under development and one-megawatt racks appearing on long-term technology roadmaps. This dramatic increase explains why electrical infrastructure and thermal management are becoming the primary constraints on future AI data center expansion.

That trajectory is reshaping data center design. Historically, attention centered on processors and networking gear. Today, electrical distribution, battery storage, cooling architecture, and grid integration increasingly determine whether an AI facility can be built and run efficiently at all — the bottleneck is shifting from compute hardware to the infrastructure needed to deliver that much reliable power.

Vertiv has responded with integrated products that combine medium-voltage switchgear, battery energy storage, and uninterruptible power systems into unified platforms built for multi-megawatt AI installations — designed not just as backup equipment, but to help AI campuses act as active participants within increasingly constrained electrical grids. Industry commentary increasingly backs this integration thesis: as rack densities rise, power management, liquid cooling, and thermal control stop being separate engineering disciplines and start being one interconnected system, favoring suppliers who can deliver the whole stack rather than individual components.

Vertiv’s Own Numbers: Growth With Visibility According to Table 3, Vertiv participates across nearly every major infrastructure layer required to operate a modern AI data center. Unlike semiconductor manufacturers, whose revenues depend partly on which AI accelerator customers adopt, Vertiv benefits regardless of the processor architecture because every AI installation requires reliable power delivery, thermal management, backup power, and increasingly sophisticated liquid-cooling systems.

Demand is supported by a substantial order backlog that gives Vertiv unusually strong revenue visibility for an industrial company. While many manufacturers rely on short-term orders that swing with economic conditions, Vertiv enters each quarter with a significant share of future revenue already committed by customers.

The confidence reflected in that backlog is also evident in Vertiv’s manufacturing expansion strategy. Earlier this year, the company opened a new manufacturing facility in Johor, Malaysia, its first in Southeast Asia. The facility will produce power systems, liquid-cooling equipment, and integrated infrastructure for customers across Southeast Asia, North Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. By adding manufacturing capacity well before AI infrastructure demand is expected to peak, management is signaling confidence that hyperscaler and sovereign AI investments will continue driving orders for years rather than quarters.

That confidence also shows up in capital allocation: earlier this year, Vertiv announced a new manufacturing facility in Johor, Malaysia, built to serve fast-growing demand across Southeast Asia, North Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Expanding production capacity years ahead of anticipated demand peaks suggests management expects AI infrastructure investment to stay strong well beyond the current product cycle.

The Valuation Question: Bull Case vs. Bear Case According to Table 4, the investment debate surrounding Vertiv is straightforward. Supporters believe the company’s exceptional growth rate, expanding margins, and broad exposure to AI infrastructure justify a premium valuation. Skeptics counter that much of that future success has already been reflected in the share price, leaving little room for execution missteps should AI capital spending moderate.

The valuation debate is straightforward. Investors aren’t questioning whether Vertiv is benefiting from AI infrastructure spending—they’re debating how much of that future growth is already reflected in today’s share price.

What to Watch: Q2 Earnings The South Korean announcement demonstrated that AI infrastructure investment is no longer driven exclusively by U.S. hyperscale cloud providers. Governments increasingly treat artificial intelligence as strategic national infrastructure, requiring domestic investment in computing capacity, semiconductor manufacturing, and the electrical systems underneath it all. Every new sovereign AI initiative expands the addressable market for companies supplying that infrastructure — arguably more consequential for Vertiv’s long-term story than any single quarter.

The next real test arrives when Vertiv reports second-quarter results later this month. Investors will be watching revenue growth, order trends, operating margins, backlog conversion, and management’s outlook for the rest of 2026 — the figures that will determine whether the business keeps validating the optimism already priced into the stock.

Bottom Line June 30 answered one question while leaving another open. It confirmed that Wall Street increasingly views Vertiv as one of the purest publicly traded beneficiaries of the global AI infrastructure buildout. What’s still uncertain is whether the growth investors are now pricing in can continue long enough to justify the expectations already baked into the share price. In today’s market, sentiment can move a stock 9% in a matter of hours — sustained earnings growth is what determines whether those gains hold.

One additional factor investors should keep in mind is that AI infrastructure spending is becoming increasingly global rather than concentrated in a handful of U.S. technology companies. South Korea’s announcement illustrates how governments now view artificial intelligence as a strategic national asset requiring long-term investment in computing capacity, electrical infrastructure, and advanced semiconductor manufacturing. If similar initiatives continue to emerge in Europe, the Middle East, and other parts of Asia, companies such as Vertiv could benefit from multiple independent sources of demand rather than relying solely on the capital spending plans of a few hyperscale cloud providers. That broader geographic diversification could become an important driver of long-term growth, even as investors continue debating the company’s premium valuation.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

AEC-Q102 Qualified Device Offers Industry-Best Minimum CMTI of 40 kV/µS and Maximum Repetitive Peak Isolation Voltage of 707 Vpeak

MALVERN, Pa., July 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. (NYSE: VSH) today introduced an automotive 1 MBd high speed optocoupler in a new SOP-5 package with a narrow width of 3.6 mm. Combining a comparative tracking index (CTI) of 400 with industry-leading minimum guaranteed common mode transient immunity (CMTI) of 40 kV/µS, the Vishay Semiconductors VOMHA43A is designed to deliver improved signal transmission quality and save space in applications requiring isolation voltages (VIORM) up to 707 Vpeak.

The AEC-Q102 qualified device released today is optimized for isolated data communication, fast signal switching, ground signal isolation, and logic voltage level shifting in automotive, industrial, home and building control, and telecom applications. In electric (EV), hybrid electric (HEV), and low speed electric (LSEV) vehicles, the optocoupler provides communication bus isolation for CAN, LIN, I²C, and SPI interfaces, as well as isolated drive circuit applications such as intelligent power module (IPM) drivers.

While previous SOP-5 packages offered a width of 4.4 mm, the narrower SOP-5 of the VOMHA43A requires less PCB space, while supporting stackable designs. The device’s minimum CMTI — which is more than double that of the closest competing device — provides enhanced robustness against electrical spikes and RF and EMI issues. And while competing devices offer maximum repetitive peak isolation voltages of 567 Vpeak, the optocoupler’s isolation voltage performance of 707 Vpeak meets the requirements of 400 V battery systems.

The VOMHA43A consists of a GaAlAs infrared emitting diode, optically coupled with an integrated photodetector and a high speed transistor. The photodetector is junction-isolated from the transistor to reduce miller capacitance effects. The optocoupler features an open collector output function that allows designers to adjust load conditions when interfacing with different logic systems, while a Faraday shield on the detector chip allows the device to reject and minimize high input to output common mode transient voltages.

The RoHS-compliant and halogen-free optocoupler operates over a temperature range of -40 °C to +125 °C and is pin to pin compatible with leading competing parts to provide a direct replacement and eliminate the need for electrical and mechanical redesigns.

Samples and production quantities of the VOMHA43A are available now, with lead times of six weeks.

Vishay manufactures one of the world’s largest portfolios of discrete semiconductors and passive electronic components that are essential to innovative designs in the automotive, industrial, computing, consumer, telecommunications, military, aerospace, and medical markets. Serving customers worldwide, Vishay is The DNA of tech.® Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. is a Fortune 1000 Company listed on the NYSE (VSH). More on Vishay at www.Vishay.com.

The DNA of tech® is a registered trademark of Vishay Intertechnology, Inc.

Vishay on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/VishayIntertechnology
Vishay Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/vishayindust

Links to product datasheets:
http://www.vishay.com/ppg?80341 (VOMHA43A)

Link to product photo:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/vishay/albums/72177720334474258

For more information please contact:
Vishay Intertechnology
Peter Henrici, +1 408 567-8400
[email protected]
or
Redpines
Bob Decker, +1 415 409-0233
[email protected]

Key Takeaways VSH has fallen 22.8% in a month amid AI spending worries, profit-taking and dilution concerns.Vishay 3.0 is lifting results, with Q1 revenues up 17.3% and backlog rising 21% to $1.6B.VSH sees growth from AI, industrial, auto, aerospace, defense and healthcare end markets. Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. (VSH - Free Report) stock has come under intense selling pressure, declining 22.8% over the past month and significantly underperforming the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector, which has gained 1.5% during the same period.

The weakness has not been limited to Vishay Intertechnology. Several leading semiconductor stocks, including Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM - Free Report) , FormFactor Inc. (FORM - Free Report) and Marvell Technology, Inc. (MRVL - Free Report) , have also lost ground. Over the past month, shares of Qualcomm, FormFactor and Marvell Technology have fallen 3%, 3.6% and 8.4%, respectively.

Vishay Intertechnology One-Month Price Return Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

VSH stock’s recent sell-off has been driven by three major reasons.

Firstly, investors have turned cautious on semiconductor stocks amid concerns that the massive artificial intelligence (AI) spending by hyperscalers may not generate returns quickly enough to justify current investment levels.

Secondly, many chip stocks surged sharply during early 2026, pushing valuations to elevated levels and encouraging institutional investors to lock in profits. Despite the recent sell-off, Vishay Intertechnology currently trades at a forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 36.35, a significant premium to the sector’s average of 24.56.

Vishay Intertechnology Forward 12-Month Price-To-Earnings Ratio
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Compared with other semiconductor peers, Vishay Intertechnology trades at a premium to QUALCOMM, while at a lower multiple than FormFactor and Marvell Technology. At present, Qualcomm, FormFactor and Marvell Technology trade at P/E multiples of 16.77, 42.23 and 46.42, respectively.

Thirdly, Vishay Intertechnology faced company-specific pressure after announcing on July 7, 2026 that its 2.25% convertible senior notes due 2030 had become convertible, raising concerns about potential future share dilution. Following the news, shares of the company fell 9.4% in a single day.

While these issues have weighed heavily on sentiment, they appear to overshadow a business that is showing improving fundamentals. With demand strengthening across several end markets and management executing its long-term strategy successfully, the recent decline could offer investors an attractive buying opportunity.

Vishay Intertechnology 3.0 Strategy Is Delivering ResultsThe company's multi-year Vishay 3.0 transformation is now translating into stronger operating performance. The strategy focuses on expanding manufacturing capacity, broadening the product portfolio, improving customer engagement and increasing technical support, enabling Vishay Intertechnology to capture more business across growing markets.

The benefits became visible in the first quarter of 2026. Revenues increased 17.3% year over year to $839.2 million, exceeding management's guidance. Growth was broad-based across every end market, every sales channel and all three major geographic regions. Volume increased 5.8%, supported by stronger customer demand, inventory replenishment and continued market-share gains.

Vishay Intertechnology also reported a healthy book-to-bill ratio of 1.34, including 1.47 for semiconductors, while the backlog expanded 21% to $1.6 billion, representing 5.7 months of sales visibility. These numbers indicate that demand continues to outpace shipments, providing a favorable setup for future revenue growth.

VSH’s Multiple Market Exposure Offers Several Growth DriversUnlike many semiconductor companies that rely heavily on a single end market, Vishay Intertechnology benefits from exposure to several fast-growing industries.

AI-related demand remains one of the strongest growth engines. The company continues receiving orders for high-voltage MOSFETs, polymer capacitors, current-sense resistors and magnetics used in AI servers, networking equipment and power management systems. Management expects AI-related revenues in 2026 to be well above last year's level, helped by expanding customer relationships and additional design wins.

Industrial demand is also improving rapidly. Customers are increasing spending on renewable energy, smart grids, factory automation, power transmission and AI infrastructure. Industrial revenues have now posted five consecutive quarters of sequential growth, supported by improving customer inventories and stronger capital spending. In the first quarter of 2026, revenues from the industrial segment increased 7% sequentially and 22% year over year.

Automotive remains another attractive opportunity. Rising electronic content in hybrid and electric vehicles continues to increase semiconductor demand. Vishay has become the leading resistor supplier for several next-generation EV platforms while also expanding design wins in battery management, ADAS, electronic power steering and powertrain systems. First-quarter revenues from the automotive segment increased 3% sequentially and 11% year over year.

The aerospace and defense segment is emerging as another meaningful growth driver as higher government defense spending supports increasing orders for resistors, capacitors and custom magnetics. In the first quarter, revenues from the aerospace and defense segment increased 14% sequentially and 17% year over year. Healthcare demand also remains healthy, supported by wearable devices, patient monitoring and implantable medical technologies. First-quarter revenues from the healthcare segment increased 5% sequentially and 11% year over year.

Capacity Investments Position VSH for the Next UpcycleVishay Intertechnology has spent heavily over the past several years to prepare for stronger industry demand. Capacity expansion projects include its new 12-inch semiconductor fabrication facility in Germany, additional production at Newport, RI, silicon carbide investments and expanded subcontractor partnerships.

Although these investments have temporarily pressured free cash flow, they position Vishay Intertechnology to respond faster than competitors as industry demand strengthens. Management expects the German fab to begin non-automotive production during mid-2027, while new silicon carbide products continue entering production to address fast-growing power semiconductor markets.

Importantly, management believes the current industry recovery is arriving just as these investments become operational, creating an opportunity for both higher revenues and expanding margins over the coming years.

Vishay Intertechnology’s Profitability to Continue ImprovingWhile VSH continues investing aggressively in capacity expansion, profitability is already improving. First-quarter 2026 gross margin expanded to 21% from 19% a year ago as higher shipment volumes offset ongoing material cost inflation. EBITDA margin improved to 9.3% from 7.6% in the year-ago quarter, while GAAP earnings returned to profitability at 5 cents per share from the year-ago quarter’s loss of 3 cents.

Management expects further improvement during the second quarter, guiding for revenues between $875 million and $905 million and gross margin around 22%. Pricing actions implemented earlier this year should gradually offset higher metal costs, while increasing factory utilization is expected to provide additional operating leverage.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 and 2027 revenues indicates year-over-year growth of 16.7% and 10.4%, respectively. The consensus mark for 2026 earnings per share is currently pegged at 75 cents, calling for a robust improvement from a loss of 5 cents in 2025. Earnings estimates of $1.54 per share for 2027 indicate a 104.9% year-over-year increase.

Buy-the-Dip Strategy Looks Good for VSH StockThe recent sell-off appears to reflect short-term market fears rather than weakening business fundamentals. Concerns surrounding AI spending, profit-taking across semiconductor stocks and temporary dilution worries have overshadowed a business that is showing stronger demand, rising backlog, expanding margins and improving market share.

While near-term volatility may continue, Vishay Intertechnology appears well-positioned to benefit from the next semiconductor upcycle due to its expanded manufacturing capacity, diversified end-market exposure and improving execution under the Vishay 3.0 strategy.

Although the stock still trades at a premium valuation, that premium appears justified, given its consistent earnings growth and long-term prospects. For investors willing to look beyond current market sentiment, the recent pullback appears to present an attractive opportunity to buy a fundamentally strengthening semiconductor company.

Vishay Intertechnology sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Highly anticipated North Orange County opening expands company's presence in strategic retail and mixed-use developments, including its seventh within the Simon® portfolio

Key Highlights:

Grand opening: Life Time Brea opens July 9, 2026, at Brea Mall, located at 1600 Brea Mall Road, Brea, CA 92821. Milestones: The club is Life Time's 10th location in California and 4th in Orange County. Mall Connection: This is the seventh Life Time located at a Simon center. Scale: The destination spans nearly 123,000 square feet, combining an 85,000-square-foot building with 38,000 square feet of outdoor amenities set on three acres. Resort-style Beach Club: A leisure pool with waterslides, a six-lane lap pool, cabanas, lounge chairs and an outdoor dining area and bar. Something for everyone – 90 days to 90 years: Five pickleball courts, rejuvenation suites including cold plunge, whirlpool, steam and sauna, a full-service LifeSpa, signature training including Alpha, GTX and the new CTR reformer class, LifeCafe and a Kids Academy. , /PRNewswire/ -- Life Time (NYSE: LTH), the nation's premier healthy lifestyle brand, has opened its highly anticipated Life Time Brea Athletic Country Club, in North Orange County, marking the 10th destination in California. Located at Brea Mall®, the new club expands Life Time's Orange County presence while reinforcing the company's role as a leading anchor within leading retail and lifestyle environments.

Life Time Brea opened its tenth California location and Fourth in Orange County at Brea Mall on July 9. The highly anticipated North Orange County opening expands company’s presence in strategic retail and mixed-use developments, including its seventh within the Simon® portfolio. Spanning nearly 123,000 square feet, including the 85,000-square foot club building and an additional 38,000-square-feet of outdoor spaces set on three acres, Life Time Brea is designed as a comprehensive healthy way of life destination featuring a resort-style beach club, exceptional programs and services, dynamic personal training, pickleball, recovery, luxury wellness amenities, dedicated spaces for work and social connection, and programming for every age from 90 days to 90 years.

"As our latest athletic country club development, Life Time Brea reflects the continued demand for Life Time's unique blend of wellness, social experiences and luxury amenities at premier retail destinations alongside exceptional partners like Simon," said Parham Javaheri, Executive Vice President, Chief Property Development Officer and President of Club Operations at Life Time. "Through the daily engagement we drive and the vibrant, health-conscious communities we cultivate, Life Time has become a powerful complement to today's most sought-after experience-driven destinations. We're excited to bring that same energy to Brea while helping people of all ages live healthy, happy lives."

Life Time's continued expansion within premier retail destinations reflects a broader shift toward experience-driven environments that encourage repeat visitation, foster community and support how people live, work and connect today.

Key highlights include:

Expansive workout floor and hybrid training spaces with hundreds of pieces of best-in-class strength and cardio equipment, free weights, functional training zones and access to highly certified personal trainers and assessments Dedicated boutique studios and group fitness spaces offering small- and large-group classes across barre, circuit-style, cardio, cycle, Pilates, strength and yoga formats, all led by certified, expert instructors. Also includes CTR (Core. Tone. Reform), Life Time's newest athletic-based training reformer class Integrated recovery and wellness spaces featuring LifeClinic Chiropractic care, stretching areas, water massage and cold therapy chairs, whole-body compression technology, percussion devices, metabolic testing and nutrition coaching Resort-style beach club experience with leisure and lap pools, waterslides, outdoor bar and dining area, and expansive lounge space with cabanas and lounge chairs Five pickleball courts – three climate-controlled indoor and two outdoor – for open play, lessons, clinics, leagues and social events Luxury men's and women's dressing rooms with wet suites featuring sauna, steam, warm spa and cold plunge, plus family changing rooms LifeSpa full-service salon and spa for hair, massage, skin and nails and rejuvenating services LifeCafe serving made-to-order drinks, smoothies, healthy meals and a full-service bar Kids Academy for children ages three months to 11 years, offering daily programming across movement, sports, arts, STEM and enrichment activities Complimentary work lounge providing flexible space to work before and after workouts "We're thrilled to welcome Life Time as an important milestone in the continued evolution of Brea Mall as a more dynamic, mixed-use destination," said Sundesh Shah, Simon's Senior Vice President, Specialty Development. "Life Time brings a best-in-class athletic country club experience that complements the way today's guests live, work, play and shop. This opening also reflects our strong, long-standing relationship with Life Time."

Brea joins other South California Life Time locations, including Laguna Niguel, Lakeshore-Irvine and Rancho San Clemente. It marks an exciting addition to the community with the Brea Mall's greater redevelopment efforts, bringing new jobs, supporting local economic growth, and providing residents with a premier destination that reflects the growing demand for health, wellness, and connected living.

Life Time Brea also connects members to the company's broader healthy way of life ecosystem, including unparalleled in-club experiences, expert coaching, the complimentary Life Time app featuring L•AI•CTM, digital wellness content, and access to national athletic events. Together, these offerings provide personalized, connected pathways to support long-term health and longevity.

Life Time Brea is located at 1600 Brea Mall Road, Brea, CA 92821. For more information, visit the club website, call 714-988-1950 or follow along on the club's Instagram.

For more information about Life Time, visit www.lifetime.life, follow on social media at Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, or download the complimentary Life Time App.

Asset: Life Time Brea Flythrough Video

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is Life Time Brea?
Life Time Brea is an athletic country club from Life Time located at Brea Mall. Spanning nearly 123,000 square feet across three acres, it offers a resort-style Beach Club, an expansive workout floor, boutique studios, pickleball, recovery and spa amenities, LifeCafe dining, a complimentary work lounge and kids programming.

When does Life Time Brea open?
Life Time Brea opens on July 9, 2026.

Where is Life Time Brea located? What's the contact info?
Life Time Brea is located at 1600 Brea Mall Road, Brea, CA 92821, as an anchor at Brea Mall. The club can be reached at 714-988-1950. Website. lifetime.life/brea

What amenities and classes does Life Time Brea offer?
Life Time Brea features a resort-style Beach Club with a leisure pool, waterslides, and a six-lane lap pool, five indoor and outdoor pickleball courts, and an LT Recovery Zone with HydroMassage, CryoLounge chairs, Normatec compression, and Hyperice therapy. Group fitness spans barre, cycle, Pilates, strength, and yoga, plus Life Time signature formats including Alpha, GTX, MB360, and the new CTR (Core, Tone, Reform) reformer class. The club also includes a full-service LifeSpa, LifeCafe dining and a Kids Academy for children ages three months to 11 years.

How do I become a member of Life Time Brea?
Membership information is available at the Life Time Brea club website or by calling 714-988-1950.

About Life Time
Life Time (NYSE: LTH) empowers people to live healthy, happy lives through its 195 athletic country clubs across the U.S. and Canada, the complimentary and comprehensive Life Time app featuring its L•AI•C™ AI-powered health companion, and more than 30 iconic athletic events. Serving people ages 90 days to 90+ years, the Life Time ecosystem uniquely delivers healthy living, healthy aging, and healthy entertainment experiences, a range of unique healthy way of life programs, highly trusted LTH nutritional supplements and more. Recognized as a Great Place to Work®, the company is committed to upholding an exceptional culture for its more than 50,000 team members.

SOURCE Life Time, Inc.

Key Takeaways H.B. Fuller is prioritizing higher-value markets after its portfolio realignment and Flooring business sale. FUL grew Q2 revenues 5.8% as pricing, restructuring savings and mix lifted margins despite softer volumes. H.B. Fuller projects fiscal 2026 revenue growth and higher EBITDA, with cash flow weighted to the second half. H.B. Fuller Company (FUL - Free Report) is no longer just a broad specialty chemicals story. The investment debate now centers on whether a cleaner portfolio, stronger pricing discipline and medical expansion can support steadier margins.

That setup looks constructive, but not one-sided. Softer consumer-linked demand, flexible packaging weakness and automotive pressure still limit the near-term volume story.

How FUL Is Reshaping Its BusinessFollowing its fiscal 2025 realignment and the sale of the North America Flooring business, H.B. Fuller reports through three segments: Hygiene, Health & Consumable Adhesives, Engineering Adhesives and Building Adhesive Solutions.

The mix spans packaging, converting, hygiene, healthcare, transportation, electronics, clean energy, aerospace, appliances, roofing, building envelope, HVAC insulation and infrastructure. The strategic direction is clear. FUL is shifting toward more resilient and higher-value niches instead of relying mainly on raw volume growth.

H.B. Fuller Pricing Still Drives ResultsPricing remains the clearest support for the current thesis. In the fiscal second quarter, net revenues rose 5.8% year over year to $950 million, while organic revenues increased 2.6%, helped by pricing that more than offset slightly lower volume.

Margin execution was also stronger. Adjusted gross margin expanded 200 basis points to 34.2%, driven mainly by pricing execution and restructuring savings. Adjusted EBITDA rose 9% to $181 million, while adjusted EBITDA margin improved 70 basis points to 19.1%.

Why FUL Still Faces Demand FrictionThe weaker side of the story is volume. The Hygiene, Health & Consumable Adhesives unit saw strength in medical, tape and label and end-of-line packaging, but flexible packaging remained weak.

Engineering Adhesives also had mixed trends. Aerospace, electronics and general industries were stronger, but automotive declined by mid-single digits. These pressures leave earnings more dependent on price, mix, sourcing and cost control than on a broad-based volume recovery.

Avery Dennison Corporation (AVY - Free Report) gives investors another way to look at materials tied to packaging and labeling demand. RPM International Inc. (RPM - Free Report) , with exposure to specialty coatings, sealants and building materials, is also relevant for investors tracking construction-linked materials trends.

What H.B. Fuller Expects NextFor fiscal 2026, H.B. Fuller still expects net revenues to increase in the mid-single digits and organic revenues to rise in the low single digits. Foreign currency translation is expected to add 1-2% to revenues.

Management now expects adjusted EBITDA of $650-$675 million and adjusted earnings of $4.60-$4.90 per share. Operating cash flow is projected at $300-$325 million, with cash generation weighted to the second half of the year.

FUL Signals for Momentum and ValueThe bottom line is that FUL has a credible margin story, but it still needs to prove that pricing, restructuring and mix can offset uneven end-market demand. The proposed Advanced Medical Solutions acquisition adds another potential higher-margin growth platform, but it also brings integration and leverage considerations.

Shares of FUL have lost 7.2% so far this year against the industry’s 15.7% rise.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

FUL currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The stock also has a VGM Score of A, with a Value Score of A, Momentum Score of A and Growth Score of C. That combination points to favorable value and momentum characteristics, while the Growth Score signals that growth questions have not fully disappeared.

Estimate revisions also remain supportive, with the current fiscal-year earnings estimate up 2.1% over the past four weeks. For investors, FUL looks best framed as a margin-and-mix execution story, not a simple volume recovery play.

Company announces transaction for a 200-megawatt data center campus in West Texas with potential to expand to more than 500-megawatts

Alex Spiro to continue as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Tyler Hassen appointed as Chief Executive Officer

, /PRNewswire/ -- CleanCore Solutions, Inc. (NYSE American: ZONE) ("CleanCore" or the "Company") today announced it has closed a transaction for its first data center project in partnership with HST Technologies, Inc. ZONE will own more than 95% of the project, providing capital and share promote economics with development platform provider, HST. The Company plans to further expand its portfolio of AI infrastructure developments to support the growing demand for compute capacity and is excited about partnering with a leading, experienced project developer.

"As AI adoption increases rapidly and the demand for AI infrastructure continues to accelerate, we are actively focused on expanding our footprint of strategically located data center campuses," said Tyler Hassen, Chief Executive Officer of ZONE. "Closing our first data center project within weeks of signing our initial LOI reinforces the pace at which we're executing our strategy. We look forward to announcing upcoming projects in the coming weeks."

The transaction commits the company to funding the initial 200-megawatts of the West Texas data center campus between now and 2029 with $100 million expected to be funded by the first quarter of 2027. The project has the potential to expand to more than 500-megawatts by 2030, and the Company expects the financial performance of the project to be in line with market comparables.

About CleanCore Solutions, Inc. 
CleanCore Solutions, Inc. (NYSE American: ZONE) is building the critical infrastructure that powers the AI economy. Through a growing pipeline of projects, ZONE aims to help meet the increasing demand for compute capacity, power, and digital infrastructure required by the world's leading AI companies.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the anticipated benefits, timing, development, financing, construction, operation, capacity, expansion and financial performance of the Company's data center project and any future data center projects; the Company's ability to fund capital contributions and commitments; the availability and cost of financing; the Company's plans to expand its portfolio of AI infrastructure developments; expectations regarding demand for AI infrastructure and compute capacity; anticipated future project announcements; the Company's strategic transition to AI infrastructure; and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by words such as "anticipates," "believes," "expects," "intends," "plans," "may," "will," "could," "should," "estimates," "projects," "potential," "focused on," "aims," "expand," "expected," "look forward," and similar expressions.

These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release and are subject to significant risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the highly speculative and uncertain nature of the Company's anticipated AI critical infrastructure business; the Company's lack of operating history in the data center or computing infrastructure industry; the Company's limited experience in the data center and AI infrastructure industries; the Company's ability to successfully transition its business model from cleaning services; the ability of the parties to satisfy closing conditions and implement the transaction documents; the Company's ability to fund required capital contributions and commitments on anticipated timelines or at all; the availability, cost and terms of project-level, corporate or replacement financing; the significant capital requirements associated with data center development and the Company's limited current financial resources; construction, development, engineering, procurement, supply chain, utility, interconnection, power availability, permitting, zoning, land acquisition, site-control, environmental, operational and commissioning risks; the Company's ability to develop, bring online and expand data center projects on anticipated timelines, budgets, capacity levels or performance expectations; tenant, customer, colocation, power, utility and vendor demand, credit and performance risks; risks that expected financial performance, market comparables, revenues, EBITDA, profitability, returns, preferred returns, carried participation, promote economics or other economic benefits may not be achieved; risks associated with equity consideration, dilution, valuation, stock price volatility, liquidity, listing standards and securities-law compliance; the Company's dependence on HST Technologies, Inc. and other development, technology, operating, financing and construction partners; risks related to proprietary technology, platform licensing, cybersecurity, data security and business continuity; competition from established data center operators, hyperscale cloud providers and other market participants; changes in demand for AI infrastructure and compute capacity; changes in laws, regulations, utility tariffs, interconnection rules, government policy or market conditions affecting AI infrastructure, data centers, energy, power procurement or capital markets; the Company's ability to consummate a sale or disposition of its cleaning products business on favorable terms or at all; risks associated with the Company's transition away from its Dogecoin treasury strategy, including potential volatility in cryptocurrency markets and risks related to the disposition of digital asset holdings; conditions that raise substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern; and general economic, financial, capital market and industry conditions.

For a more complete discussion of risks and uncertainties, please refer to the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K or Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

SOURCE CleanCore Solutions (NYSE AMERICAN: ZONE)

Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) is sitting out the broader tech rally today, down 4.1% to trade at $578.19. An internal memo reviewed by Reuters indicated the company may spend up to $145 billion on AI infrastructure this year. The aim is to double computing capacity by 2027, and plans to begin manufacturing its 'Iris' chip in September.

META is now down 12.6% in 2026 and back below $600, with recent rallies turned away at a confluence of moving averages. Longer term, the shares are down nearly 21% in the last 12 months, carving a channel of lower highs.

Options bulls are steadfast. META's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 2.21 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) ranks higher than 86% of readings from the past year. 

Echoing this, the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.51 sits in the 6th percentile of its annual range, which indicates a heavy preference for calls among short-term traders.