Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

IREN (NASDAQ:IREN) and Nebius Group (NASDAQ:NBIS | NBIS Price Prediction) just posted quarters that expose two very different neocloud playbooks. IREN is pivoting from Bitcoin mining into GPU hosting for NVIDIA and Microsoft. Nebius is scaling a born-cloud, full-stack AI platform with Meta as its anchor. Both are backed by NVIDIA equity, both are racing for gigawatts, and both want your capital for the same buildout wave.

GPU Hosting Carries IREN. Full Stack Carries Nebius. IREN’s Q3 FY26 revenue came in at $144.80M, with AI Cloud Services at $33.6M after nearly doubling sequentially, while Bitcoin mining contributed $111.2M. The $247.80M net loss includes $140.4M in non-cash impairments as mining rigs are decommissioned. The forward book tells the real story: a 5-year $3.4B NVIDIA AI Cloud contract, a prior $9.7B Microsoft deal, and $3.1B of contracted ARR. CEO Daniel Roberts said “There are no idle GPUs”, and the Childress and Sweetwater sites are being wired for GB300 NVL72 and Vera Rubin racks.

Nebius took the opposite path. Q2 FY26 revenue hit $399.00M, up 279.6% YoY, with AI Cloud alone at $389.7M (+841%). Adjusted EBITDA turned positive at $129.5M, cost of revenue dropped to 26% of sales, and remaining performance obligations sit at $33.59B. The Meta agreement ($12B committed plus up to $15B flexible) anchors the business.

Physical Staying Power Vs. Software Margin Expansion Lens IREN Nebius Core Bet Owned power and land, GPU hosting Full-stack Aether platform, inference Power Portfolio 5 GW globally secured >4 GW contracted target 2026 2026 ARR Target $3.7B $7B to $9B Cash $2.6B $9.3B Key Vulnerability Mining impairments, execution $10.04B convertible debt, Meta concentration IREN owns the dirt: long-term physical staying power from Childress, Sweetwater, the Spanish Nostrum acquisition, and Australian assets. Nebius owns the stack: Aether 3.5, Token Factory, and the Tavily and Eigen AI Labs acquisitions push it toward software margin expansion. Volozh called the platform “world-class from the infrastructure layer all the way up to our inference and agentic capabilities.”

What Decides This Through 2026 Watch whether IREN can absorb the Microsoft Horizon 1 handoff and light up 150,000 GPUs without another impairment surprise. Watch Nebius for adjusted EBITDA margin drift toward the ~40% 2026 target, because the operating loss of $128M shows the model still burns cash at scale. Reddit chatter reflects the split: IREN sits in very_bearish territory as traders debate the pivot, while NBIS threads have leaned Very Bullish.

Nebius Screens Defensible Today, IREN for the Patient On the data, Nebius screens more defensible near-term. The 163.99% YTD move prices in a lot, but positive EBITDA and a $33.59B RPO backlog anchor the underwriting case. IREN screens as a longer-duration turnaround setup with messier quarters. The 113.69% one-year gain reflects real hyperscaler validation, and the owned power base is hard to replicate. The key research variable for both: whether 2027 capex outpaces contracted revenue.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Nebius Group didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

For the quarter ended June 2026, Flagstar Bank (FLG - Free Report) reported revenue of $516 million, up 4% over the same period last year. EPS came in at $0.05, compared to -$0.14 in the year-ago quarter.

The reported revenue compares to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $544.89 million, representing a surprise of -5.3%. The company delivered an EPS surprise of -16.67%, with the consensus EPS estimate being $0.06.

While investors closely watch year-over-year changes in headline numbers -- revenue and earnings -- and how they compare to Wall Street expectations to determine their next course of action, some key metrics always provide a better insight into a company's underlying performance.

As these metrics influence top- and bottom-line performance, comparing them to the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated helps investors project a stock's price performance more accurately.

Here is how Flagstar Bank performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:

Book value per common share (GAAP): $18.31 versus $18.21 estimated by five analysts on average.Net Interest Margin: 2.1% versus 2.3% estimated by five analysts on average.Efficiency Ratio: 87.1% versus the four-analyst average estimate of 81.1%.Net charge-offs to average loans: 0.7% versus the four-analyst average estimate of 0.3%.Average Balances - Interest earning assets: $83.05 billion versus the four-analyst average estimate of $83.26 billion.Total Non-performing loans: $2.8 billion versus the two-analyst average estimate of $2.44 billion.Total risk-based capital ratio: 16.6% versus the two-analyst average estimate of 16.5%.Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio: 14% versus the two-analyst average estimate of 13.9%.Total Nonperforming Assets: $2.81 billion versus $2.45 billion estimated by two analysts on average.Leverage Capital Ratio: 9.7% compared to the 9.6% average estimate based on two analysts.Net Interest Income: $440 million compared to the $471.21 million average estimate based on five analysts.Total non-interest income (loss): $76 million compared to the $75.17 million average estimate based on five analysts.View all Key Company Metrics for Flagstar Bank here>>>

Shares of Flagstar Bank have returned -2.9% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +0.6% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), indicating that it could underperform the broader market in the near term.

New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - July 24, 2026) - Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Futu Holdings Limited ("Futu" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: FUTU) on behalf of investors that purchased or otherwise acquired Futu shares between May 24, 2023 and May 27, 2026 (the "Class Period").

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE CASE

If you are an investor in Futu and have suffered losses, you may CLICK HERE to contact us. You may also contact Kaplan Fox by emailing [email protected] or by calling (646) 315-9003.

DEADLINE REMINDER: If you are a member of the proposed Class, you may move the court no later than August 25, 2026 to serve as a lead plaintiff for the purported class. If you have losses we encourage you to contact us to learn more about the lead plaintiff process. You need not seek to become a lead plaintiff in order to share in any possible recovery.

According to the complaint, on May 22, 2026, before the market opened, Reuters published an article reporting that the China Securities Regulatory Commission ("CSRC"), along with seven other government agencies including the central bank, had launched a crackdown aimed at "brokers it accused of illegally moving money to foreign markets" including "overseas firms and their local partners operating without approval." The article allegedly reported that online brokers including Futu "would be penalised for soliciting business in China without an onshore licence, the securities regulator said."

Also on May 22, 2026, Futu disclosed in a press release that it had received a Notification Letter from the CSRC. The Company reported the letter states "certain Futu entities in mainland China and Hong Kong (the "Related Companies") without obtaining the requisite licenses or approval, conducted securities business, public fund sales business and futures business in mainland China." The press release further states that the CSRC "proposes to order the Related Companies to rectify or cease such activities, confiscate illegal gains, and impose fines, with the total proposed penalty amounting to approximately RMB1.85 billion (approximately USD271 million)."

On May 22, 2026, the price of Futu shares fell $34.10 per share, or 27.5%, to close at $89.76 per share.

Then, on May 28, 2026, before the market opened, Futu announced in a press releasee financial results for the first quarter of 2026. According to the complaint, the Company reported net income of HK$831.0 million (US$106.0 million) after giving effect to the proposed penalties comprised of: "(i) confiscation of illegal gains of approximately RMB470 million [approximately $69.21 million USD], and (ii) imposition of fines of approximately RMB1.38 billion, [approximately $20 billion USD] in an aggregate amount of approximately RMB1.85 billion."

On May 28, 2026, the price of Futu shares fell $5.31 per share, or 4.8%, to close at $104.91 per share.

The complaint alleges, among other things, that throughout the Class Period, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that (1) Futu was not in compliance with the requirements of the CSRC, including because the Company continued to conduct securities business, public fund sales business and futures business in mainland China without obtaining the requisite licenses or approval; (2) as a result, Futu was reasonably likely to face regulatory penalties, including the disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and other penalties; and (3) as a result of the foregoing, Futu's financial results were overstated.

WHY CONTACT KAPLAN FOX?

Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP is a nationally recognized law firm focused on complex litigation, with offices in New York, Oakland, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New Jersey. Founded in 1956, the firm has spent more than 50 years prosecuting securities, antitrust, and consumer protection actions in federal and state courts nationwide, recovering more than $10 billion for clients and the classes it has represented.

Kaplan Fox is widely regarded as one of the nation's premier plaintiffs' securities litigation firms and has received recognition from Chambers and Partners, Benchmark Litigation, Super Lawyers, and Lawdragon. Serving as lead or co-lead counsel in many landmark cases, the firm has secured some of the largest recoveries in the history of securities litigation, including a $2.425 billion recovery on behalf of Bank of America shareholders in In re Bank of America—the largest recovery ever obtained for claims under Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act—$800 million recovered for the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System and other pension funds in ATRS v. Allianz Global Investors, and a $475 million settlement in In re Merrill Lynch.

For decades, Kaplan Fox has represented public pension funds, institutional investors, businesses, and individuals in high-stakes litigation. Through its successful advocacy and precedent-setting victories, the firm has helped shape important areas of securities and corporate law while advancing accountability and protecting investor interests.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

If you have any questions about this Notice, your rights, or your interests, please contact:

Contacting or submitting information to Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP does not create an attorney-client relationship, nor an obligation on the part of Kaplan Fox to retain you as a client.

https://www.kaplanfox.com/case/futu-holdings-limited-class-action-alert-learn-more-now/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/306381

Source: Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP

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Key Takeaways Seagate expects Q4 revenue of about $3.45B and non-GAAP EPS of about $5.00 per share.STX is benefiting from AI, cloud and data center demand, with HAMR and Mozaic driving growth.Seagate sees strong momentum from pricing, margins and free cash flow despite competitive and cyclical risks. Seagate Technology Holdings plc (STX - Free Report) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings on July 28, after the closing bell.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $5.10 per share, indicating a 96.9% year-over-year increase. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is $3.5 billion, suggesting a 43% uptick from the year-ago actual.

For the fiscal fourth quarter, STX expects revenues of $3.45 billion (+/- $100 million). At the midpoint, this indicates a 41% year-over-year improvement. Non-GAAP earnings are expected to be $5.00 per share (+/- 20 cents). 

STX’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 10.7%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

What the Zacks Model Predicts for STXOur proven model predicts an earnings beat for Seagate this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. This is exactly the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Seagate has an Earnings ESP of +1.75% and a Zacks Rank #1 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Key Factors Shaping STX Upcoming Q4 EarningsSeagate’s fiscal fourth-quarter performance is likely to have been cushioned by the explosive growth of AI, cloud computing and enterprise data centers, all of which continue to fuel demand for HDDs. Hyperscalers and cloud providers increasingly rely on Seagate's advanced HDD solutions because they offer the lowest cost per terabyte for massive-scale storage. STX is capitalizing on this opportunity through its HAMR roadmap and areal density strategy, improving cost and power efficiency while targeting mid-20% exabyte growth.

Its 44TB Mozaic 4+ platform is expected to lead HAMR shipments by the end of 2026, while the 50TB Mozaic 5 remains on track for late-2027 qualification. As production scales, Seagate plans to expand HAMR beyond hyperscale customers into enterprise and edge markets, enhancing long-term efficiency and growth. Nearline drives remain Seagate's most profitable business. Enterprise customers continue prioritizing larger-capacity drives that reduce operating costs while maximizing storage density. Demand has consistently exceeded supply over recent quarters, allowing Seagate to maintain healthy pricing.

An encouraging trend over recent quarters has been Seagate's improving profitability. Non-GAAP gross margin hit a record 47%, increasing about 1,080 basis points year over year, driven by favorable product mix and ongoing pricing initiatives in the fiscal third quarter. If revenue again surpasses expectations in the fiscal fourth quarter, margins could surprise positively, leading to stronger earnings growth than revenue alone might suggest. For the fiscal fourth quarter, non-GAAP operating expenses are expected to be around $295 million. At the midpoint of revenue guidance, non-GAAP operating margin is projected to rise into the low 40% range.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

STX's optimistic fiscal fourth-quarter outlook highlights increasing business momentum and future opportunities. Management emphasized that the company is entering a “new era of structural growth” fueled by strong AI-driven demand, increased adoption of Mozaic products and disciplined execution focused on expanding margins, cash flow and long-term value. It generates robust free cash flow, which it uses to fund dividends, share buybacks, technology investments and strengthen its balance sheet. Its above-average dividend yield, combined with earnings growth, makes the stock attractive for both income and long-term capital appreciation.

Amid geopolitical tensions, including the Middle East conflict, Seagate does not expect any material impact on its business, supported by proactive supply chain and logistics management. Per management, AI-driven demand for large-scale storage remains strong, with rising exabyte demand, continued Mozaic product qualification and disciplined pricing supporting its growth outlook. Despite the favorable outlook, Seagate is not without risks. It faces risks from a potential slowdown in enterprise IT spending, which could delay storage upgrades despite healthy hyperscale demand. The HDD industry also remains cyclical, with periods of oversupply capable of pressuring pricing and margins.

Additionally, intense competition from Western Digital Corporation (WDC - Free Report) and other storage technology providers could have challenged Seagate's quarterly performance.

STX Stock vs. IndustrySTX stock has gained traction, climbing 505.3% in the past year, exceeding the Zacks Computer-Integrated Systems industry’s, the Zacks Computer & Technology sector and the S&P 500’s growth of 216.4%, 25.6% and 18%, respectively.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The company has also surpassed its industry peers like Agilysys, Inc. (AGYS - Free Report) , which has crashed 18.7% in the past year. Seagate’s shares have, however, trailed past storage rivals Micron Technology (MU - Free Report) and WDC, which soared 790% and 711.2%, respectively.

STX Trades at a PremiumIn terms of forward price/earnings, STX’s shares are trading at 30.56X, higher than the industry’s 13.03X. If earnings continue expanding over the next several quarters, today's valuation could still remain justified.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

WDC, MU and AGYS are trading at multiples of 28.42X, 6.64X and 47.92X, respectively.

Is STX Stock a Portfolio Must-Have?Seagate appears well-positioned to deliver another strong quarterly performance. Robust AI-driven storage demand, expanding HAMR adoption, improving margins and disciplined capital allocation all support the possibility of a fiscal fourth-quarter earnings beat. While cyclical risks and enterprise spending fluctuations should not be overlooked, the company's improving competitive position and favorable industry trends suggest that Seagate can continue creating shareholder value over the coming years.

If it delivers another earnings beat while maintaining a strong outlook for fiscal 2027, the stock may remain an attractive long-term investment. For investors seeking diversified exposure to the AI infrastructure trend along with reliable cash flow and dividend income, Seagate deserves serious consideration as a core technology stock.

The Zacks Wireless Non-US industry is navigating a challenging environment marked by elevated infrastructure investments, margin pressure, supply chain disruptions due to geopolitical instability, ongoing global conflicts and elevated customer inventory levels. Nevertheless, secular demand for high-speed wireless and fiber services remains intact, fueled by increasing digitalization, expanding IoT adoption and continued 5G rollouts.

In this backdrop, America Movil, S.A.B. de C.V. (AMX - Free Report) , SK Telecom Co., Ltd. (SKM - Free Report) and SoftBank Group Corp. (SFTBY - Free Report) are likely to gain from significant long-term growth opportunities and are well positioned to capitalize on robust demand for advanced connectivity solutions and next-generation network services.

Industry Description The Zacks Wireless Non-US industry comprises overseas providers of mobile telecommunications and broadband services. These companies primarily offer voice services, including local, domestic and international calls, roaming services and prepaid and postpaid. The firms provide value-added services, such as IoT, comprising logistics and fleet management and automotive and health solutions. They also offer content streaming, interactive applications, wireless security services and mobile payment solutions. Some industry players sell mobile handsets and accessories through dealer networks and offer co-billing services to other telecommunications service providers. The firms provide IT solutions, cable and satellite pay television subscriptions, as well as data services and hosting services to residential and corporate clients.

What's Shaping the Future of Wireless Non-US Industry? Waning Legacy Services: Increased infrastructure spending for network upgrades has largely compromised short-term margins. Aggressive promotional expenses, lucrative discounts and the adoption of several low-priced service plans to attract and retain customers are eroding profits. A steady decline in linear TV subscribers and legacy services due to a challenging macroeconomic environment and high inflation adds to the margin woes. Consequently, the firms within the industry are increasingly seeking diversification from legacy telecom services to more business, enterprise and wholesale opportunities. The companies are making significant investments to upgrade their network and product portfolio, including considerable advances in software-defined, wide-area network capabilities and a new Cloud Core architecture.

Network Optimization: The convergence of network technologies requires considerable investments from traditional carriers (telecom and cable) and cloud service providers. With the exponential growth of mobile broadband traffic and home Internet solutions, user demand for coverage speed and quality has increased manifold. This has resulted in a massive demand for advanced networking architecture, forcing service providers to upgrade their networks to support the surge in home data traffic. The industry participants continue to invest in networks to increase coverage and implement new technologies to optimize network capabilities. There is a continuous need for network tuning and optimization to maintain superior performance standards, creating demand for state-of-the-art wireless products and services. Telecom services show a weak correlation to macroeconomic factors, as these are considered necessities. This, in turn, has led the carriers to focus more on network upgrades to cater to the evolving customer needs.

Depleting Margins: High raw material prices due to the Iran war, on-again-off-again shipping restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz, soaring energy prices, the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war and the consequent economic sanctions against the Putin regime have affected the operation schedule of various firms. The demand-supply imbalance has crippled operations and largely affected profitability due to inflated equipment prices. Wireless operators have been facing challenges due to the disruptive rise of over-the-top service providers in this dynamic industry. Price-sensitive competition for customer retention in the core business is expected to intensify in the coming days. Aggressive competition is likely to limit the ability to attract and retain customers and affect operating and financial results.

Zacks Industry Rank Indicates Bearish Trends The Zacks Wireless Non-US industry is housed within the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector. It currently has a Zacks Industry Rank #184, which places it in the bottom 26% of more than 250 Zacks industries.

The group’s Zacks Industry Rank, which is the average of the Zacks Rank of all the member stocks, indicates bleak near-term prospects. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.

Before we present a few non-US wireless stocks that you may want to consider for your portfolio, let’s take a look at the industry’s recent stock market performance and valuation picture.

Industry Outperforms S&P 500, Sector The Zacks Wireless Non-US industry has outperformed the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector and the S&P 500 composite in the past year.

The industry has soared 37.2% over this period compared with the S&P 500’s and sector’s rise of 20% and 28.4%, respectively.

One-Year Price Performance

Industry's Current Valuation The Enterprise Value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio is commonly used for valuing wireless stocks. The industry currently has a trailing 12-month EV/EBITDA of 5.39X compared with the S&P 500’s 18.5X. It is also trading below the sector’s trailing 12-month EV/EBITDA of 20.43X.

Over the past five years, the industry has traded as high as 11.23X and as low as 3.1X, with a median of 5.31X, as the chart below shows.

Enterprise Value-to-EBITDA Ratio (Past Five Years)

3 Non-US Wireless Stocks to Buy América Móvil: Based in Mexico City, America Movil is the leading provider of integrated telecommunications services in Latin America. It offers enhanced communications solutions in 25 countries in Latin America, the United States and Central and Eastern Europe. America Movil’s principal markets are Mexico and Brazil, the two largest economies in Latin America. The company’s biggest subsidiary, Telcel, is the largest wireless service provider in Mexico. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year and next-year earnings has been revised 19.3% and 22.5% upward, respectively, over the past year. The stock has gained 41.5% in the past year. It has a VGM Score of B. America Movil carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Price and Consensus: AMX

SK Telecom: Headquartered in Seoul, the company provides wireless telecommunication services in South Korea and globally. Together with its affiliates, it operates diverse Information and Communications Technology (“ICT”) businesses. With capabilities in 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data analysis and quantum cryptography communications, SK Telecom is strengthening its position as a global ICT leader. It has embarked on the “AI Pyramid Strategy” to accelerate innovation centered around three key areas — AI Infrastructure, AI Transformation and AI Service. It has gained 57% in the past year. This Zacks Rank #2 company has long-term earnings growth expectations of 59.1% and has a VGM Score of B.

Price and Consensus: SKM

SoftBank: Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, SoftBank provides telecommunication services in Japan and internationally. The company is evolving from a traditional telecommunications carrier into an AI infrastructure provider, enabling intelligence across distributed edge and cloud environments so that devices, robots and connected systems can operate beyond their standalone capabilities. This Zacks Rank #2 company has gained 71.2% in the past year.

New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - July 24, 2026) - Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP is investigating potential securities violations against Cerebras Systems Inc. ("Cerebras" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: CBRS).

CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS INVESTIGATION

If you are a Cerebras investor and have suffered losses, or if you have information that could assist in the Cerebras investigation, you may CLICK HERE to contact us. You may also contact Kaplan Fox by emailing [email protected] or by calling (212) 329-8571.

Cerebras is an artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure company that designs and manufactures AI compute platforms including processors and data centers. On or around May 14, 2026, Cerebras conducted an initial public offering ("IPO"), selling 30 million shares of Class A common stock at an offer price of $185 per share.

On June 23, 2026, after market close, Cerebras announced in a press release financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 and outlook for the second quarter of fiscal year 2026. During the subsequent earnings call, the Chief Financial Officer stated that "[f]or the rest of 2026, in order to accelerate our ability to service the significant near-term demand in our contracted backlog, we've chosen to make more capacity available sooner by temporarily renting our own systems back from an existing customer while we aggressively build out and deploy our own data center capacity. The additional cost of renting third-party capacity will depress core cloud and other services margin temporarily from current levels. We expect the impact to be a decrease of 10 to 15 margin points based on the volumes we are now anticipating before beginning to [ramp back] towards our target margin of 60% plus as we transition away from our rented systems."

Following this news, the price of Cerebras stock declined from a closing price on June 23, 2026 of $226.72 to close at $182.26 per share on June 24, 2026, a decline of $44.26 per share, or by 19.61%.

WHY CONTACT KAPLAN FOX?

Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP is a nationally recognized law firm focused on complex litigation, with offices in New York, Oakland, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New Jersey. Founded in 1956, the firm has spent more than 50 years prosecuting securities, antitrust, and consumer protection actions in federal and state courts nationwide, recovering more than $10 billion for clients and the classes it has represented.

Kaplan Fox is widely regarded as one of the nation's premier plaintiffs' securities litigation firms and has received recognition from Chambers and Partners, Benchmark Litigation, Super Lawyers, and Lawdragon. Serving as lead or co-lead counsel in many landmark cases, the firm has secured some of the largest recoveries in the history of securities litigation, including a $2.425 billion recovery on behalf of Bank of America shareholders in In re Bank of America—he largest recovery ever obtained for claims under Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act—$800 million recovered for the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System and other pension funds in ATRS v. Allianz Global Investors, and a $475 million settlement in In re Merrill Lynch.

For decades, Kaplan Fox has represented public pension funds, institutional investors, businesses, and individuals in high-stakes litigation. Through its successful advocacy and precedent-setting victories, the firm has helped shape important areas of securities and corporate law while advancing accountability and protecting investor interests.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

If you have any questions about this investigation, please contact:

Contacting or submitting information to Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP does not create an attorney-client relationship, nor an obligation on the part of Kaplan Fox to retain you as a client.

https://www.kaplanfox.com/case/cerebras-systems-inc-investigation-learn-more-now/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/306387

Source: Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP

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On June 12, Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX -4.87%) completed the largest initial public offering (IPO) in history. SpaceX stock initially opened on the Nasdaq at $150, valuing the company at north of $2 trillion. Just weeks later -- on July 7 -- the company was fast-tracked into the Nasdaq-100 index.

Let's analyze how SpaceX stock has held up since joining the Nasdaq-100 and assess what a $5,000 investment made at that time is worth today.

Today's Change

(

-4.87

%) $

-5.76

Current Price

$

112.48

What is the Nasdaq-100 index? The Nasdaq-100 is an index that includes around 100 of the largest nonfinancial companies listed on the Nasdaq Exchange, using a modified market capitalization weighting system. Investors can track the index through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) such as Invesco QQQ, making inclusion an event that triggers automatic buying from passive funds.

How has SpaceX stock performed since joining the Nasdaq-100? SpaceX stock closed at $149.47 after its first trading day as a member of the Nasdaq-100. By the closing bell on July 22, shares had dropped to $115.26 -- a decline of 23%.

Several factors have put pressure on SpaceX stock recently. These include profit-taking after the initial IPO hype faded, questions about the company's lofty valuation, and scrutiny over its aggressive capital expenditures and their impact on its operating losses.

Image source: Getty Images.

Breaking down the implications of an investment in SpaceX A $5,000 investment in SpaceX stock made at its closing price on July 7 would now be worth about $3,856. This loss illustrates the types of sharp swings that volatile growth stocks can undergo, even after hitting positive milestones.

SPCX data by YCharts.

Some SpaceX shareholders might consider cutting their losses if the stock's decline exceeds their comfort level. However, investors with a long-term mindset may employ a buy-and-hold approach or selectively add to their SpaceX positions on further dips to lower their cost basis.

While no single strategy fits every situation, smart investors understand that disciplined risk management remains essential, particularly when it comes to companies with lofty valuations, high expectations, and the inherent uncertainties that come with those attributes.

Adam Spatacco has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of SPCX either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

Apple Inc. stock climbed 3% on Friday, outperforming much of the technology sector even as semiconductor stocks came under pressure.

The gains came after Baird raised its price target on the iPhone maker while maintaining an Outperform rating ahead of the company's upcoming quarterly earnings report.

The broader technology sector was weaker during the session. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.19%, while shares of Intel, Micron and Advanced Micro Devices declined between 1% and 5%.

Apple's relative strength comes as investors prepare for the company's fiscal third-quarter earnings report, scheduled for July 30, and assess several product and software initiatives expected over the coming months.

William Power, Senior Research Analyst at Baird, raised the price target on Apple to $330 from $310 on Thursday while reiterating its Outperform rating.

The brokerage expects Apple to deliver solid fiscal third-quarter results, supported by continued iPhone demand and stable growth in its services business.

While memory pricing remains a headwind, Baird expects recent price increases to help offset some of that pressure.

The brokerage acknowledged that Apple's valuation appears elevated compared with historical levels but believes several factors continue to support the stock.

Port in the storm (of software and mega-cap tech capex). We expect solid FQ3 results, driven by strong iPhone growth and steady services trends. Memory pricing remains a daunting headwind, though price increases should ease the pressure. Valuation looks rich relative to past trends, suggesting much may be priced in, but we expect the strong free cash flow, upcoming product cycle and early positive comments on Siri AI to support the stock. We also think Street estimates over the NTM are set up well, with potential for further upside.

According to Baird, Apple generated approximately $129 billion in free cash flow over the last twelve months, while an upcoming product cycle and encouraging early commentary surrounding Siri AI could provide additional support for shares.

The firm also believes Wall Street earnings estimates for the next twelve months leave room for further upside.

Apple is scheduled to report earnings on July 30, with options markets implying a potential 3.5% move in the stock following the results.

Beyond earnings, investors are closely watching Apple's upcoming hardware refresh.

The company is preparing to introduce its next-generation M6 processor across its Mac lineup beginning this fall and extending into next year.

The refresh is expected to include updated 14-inch MacBook Pro models and new iMac computers, marking the first refresh for the desktop line in two years.

Apple is also preparing to launch Apple Upgrade, a new device leasing program backed by Klarna. The service is scheduled to become available in the United States on July 28.

Separately, Evercore ISI reiterated its Outperform rating and maintained a $365 price target following news of the Apple Upgrade program.

The investment firm also maintained its bullish stance after reports that Apple is engaged in settlement discussions with the US Department of Justice over an antitrust lawsuit filed in March 2024.

Apple is also expanding its presence in the automotive software market.

The company announced that Ford will become the first automaker to adopt its new MapKit for Automotive software development kit.

The technology will be integrated into dashboards across Ford's forthcoming electric vehicle platform and will also provide road data for the automaker's BlueCruise hands-free driving system.

The announcement marks a deeper expansion into vehicle software following Apple's decision two years ago to end its own electric vehicle project.

Unlike CarPlay, which primarily provides infotainment services, the new automotive software integrates Apple's mapping technology more directly into vehicle systems.

With earnings approaching, new hardware launches on the horizon and continued expansion into automotive software, investors will be closely watching whether Apple can sustain its recent outperformance amid broader volatility across the technology sector.

For new and old investors, taking full advantage of the stock market and investing with confidence are common goals. Zacks Premium provides lots of different ways to do both.

Featuring daily updates of the Zacks Rank and Zacks Industry Rank, full access to the Zacks #1 Rank List, Equity Research reports, and Premium stock screens, the research service can help you become a smarter, more self-assured investor.

Zacks Premium includes access to the Zacks Style Scores as well.

What are the Zacks Style Scores? The Zacks Style Scores is a unique set of guidelines that rates stocks based on three popular investing types, and were developed as complementary indicators for the Zacks Rank. This combination helps investors choose securities with the highest chances of beating the market over the next 30 days.

Each stock is given an alphabetic rating of A, B, C, D or F based on their value, growth, and momentum qualities. With this system, an A is better than a B, a B is better than a C, and so on, meaning the better the score, the better chance the stock will outperform.

The Style Scores are broken down into four categories:

Value ScoreFinding good stocks at good prices, and discovering which companies are trading under their true value, are what value investors like to focus on. So, the Value Style Score takes into account ratios like P/E, PEG, Price/Sales, Price/Cash Flow, and a host of other multiples to highlight the most attractive and discounted stocks.

Growth ScoreWhile good value is important, growth investors are more focused on a company's financial strength and health, and its future outlook. The Growth Style Score takes projected and historic earnings, sales, and cash flow into account to uncover stocks that will see long-term, sustainable growth.

Momentum ScoreMomentum trading is all about taking advantage of upward or downward trends in a stock's price or earnings outlook, and these investors live by the saying "the trend is your friend." The Momentum Style Score can pinpoint good times to build a position in a stock, using factors like one-week price change and the monthly percentage change in earnings estimates.

VGM ScoreIf you want a combination of all three Style Scores, then the VGM Score will be your friend. It rates each stock on their combined weighted styles, helping you find the companies with the most attractive value, best growth forecast, and most promising momentum. It's also one of the best indicators to use with the Zacks Rank.

How Style Scores Work with the Zacks Rank A proprietary stock-rating model, the Zacks Rank utilizes the power of earnings estimate revisions, or changes to a company's earnings outlook, to help investors create a successful portfolio.

#1 (Strong Buy) stocks have produced an unmatched +23.94% average annual return since 1988, which is more than double the S&P 500's performance over the same time frame. However, the Zacks Rank examines a ton of stocks, and there can be more than 200 companies with a Strong Buy rank, and another 600 with a #2 (Buy) rank, on any given day.

With more than 800 top-rated stocks to choose from, it can certainly feel overwhelming to pick the ones that are right for you and your investing journey.

That's where the Style Scores come in.

To have the best chance of big returns, you'll want to always consider stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2 that also have Style Scores of A or B, which will give you the highest probability of success. If you're looking at stocks with a #3 (Hold) rank, it's important they have Scores of A or B as well to ensure as much upside potential as possible.

The direction of a stock's earnings estimate revisions should always be a key factor when choosing which stocks to buy, since the Scores were created to work together with the Zacks Rank.

A stock with a #4 (Sell) or #5 (Strong Sell) rating, for instance, even one with Scores of A and B, will still have a declining earnings forecast, and a greater chance its share price will fall too.

Thus, the more stocks you own with a #1 or #2 Rank and Scores of A or B, the better.

Stock to Watch: Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) Meta Platforms is the world’s largest social media platform. The company’s portfolio has evolved from the Facebook app to multiple apps, including photo and video sharing app Instagram and WhatsApp messaging app, largely through acquisitions. Along with in-house developed Messenger and newer services such as Threads, these products form Meta’s Family of Apps, which reached about 3.56 billion daily active people on average in March 2026.

META is a #3 (Hold) on the Zacks Rank, with a VGM Score of A.

Momentum investors should take note of this Computer and Technology stock. META has a Momentum Style Score of A, and shares are up 11.7% over the past four weeks.

Three analysts revised their earnings estimate upwards in the last 60 days for fiscal 2026. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased $0.04 to $33.04 per share. META boasts an average earnings surprise of +12.3%.

With a solid Zacks Rank and top-tier Momentum and VGM Style Scores, META should be on investors' short list.

The window for Flight 13 opens at 6:45 p.m. EDT at Starbase, Texas.

Neither stage will be recovered, with the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage targeting controlled splashdowns in the Gulf of Mexico and Indian Ocean.

• SpaceX stock is showing notable weakness. What’s behind SPCX decline?

Traders See Launch as Near Certainty, Splashdown Less SoOn Polymarket, traders assign an 81% chance of a successful launch today, and roughly a 91% chance that Starship flies by July 31.

Traders price a 72% chance of a controlled Starship splashdown, meaning the ship survives reentry and comes down where SpaceX aims it.

Starship will attempt to deploy 20 V3 Starlink satellites, next-generation broadband units that are reportedly too large to fly on Falcon 9.

Starlink already generates the bulk of SpaceX’s revenue, but the bigger V3 satellites that would expand the network’s capacity can only reach orbit on Starship.

Six of the satellites carry cameras that will scan Starship’s heat shield prior to reentry and beam imagery to operators. SpaceX has painted several tiles white to simulate missing ones, testing whether it can verify from orbit that a ship is safe to fly home, a prerequisite for catching and reusing Starship.

Why It Matters for SPCXFull reusability is what underpins Musk’s promise of dramatically cheaper launches, the assumption baked into much of the SpaceX bull case.

The launch comes at a delicate moment for SpaceX. The stock is trading near $117 this morning, roughly 13% below its $135 June listing price, and touched an all-time low this week.

Short interest reportedly grew to 32% as Musk warned short sellers they won’t survive, and the Aug. 4 earnings call is followed by an Aug. 6 lock-up expiration freeing roughly 900 million insider-held shares.

“Starship becoming operational is the critical path to the SpaceX investment thesis,” Raymond James analyst Brian Gesuale wrote recently.

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Tesla, Inc. (TSLA -3.01%) told investors on its Wednesday earnings call that it still plans to invest more than $25 billion on capital projects by the end of this year. The statement reaffirms guidance laid out in April, even as its Q2 profits came in well below what Wall Street expected.

Capital expenditures (capex) -- the money a company puts into factories, equipment, and other long-lived assets -- hit $5.8 billion in the quarter alone. That’s 142% more than the $2.4 billion the company spent in the same quarter a year ago.

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As of 10:20 a.m. ET on Friday, Tesla shares have fallen more than 16% since markets closed on Wednesday. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were down about 1.3% and 2.8%, respectively, over the same stretch.

Tesla wants to build fastChief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja confirmed the company is on track to spend $25 billion. More increases are expected over the next two to three years, with the funds earmarked for the company’s Robotaxi fleet, AI computing infrastructure, Optimus manufacturing, and semiconductor fabrication.

CEO Elon Musk framed the strategy as speed over thrift. "We should be spending on capex as fast as we can spend, as fast as we can without it being too wasteful," he said on the call, adding, "it's OK to be a little less capital efficient if we get things done sooner."

Optimus, the company’s humanoid robot, is one of Tesla’s top priorities, with Musk having called it a $10 trillion business in the past. The company pulled its Model S and Model X production lines out of the Fremont plant to clear space for first-generation Optimus robots.

Image Source: Company Image

The first units to roll off the line won’t be headed to customers, however. Rather, "the initial Optimus builds will be used in [its] Optimus Academy for training data collection and further functionality development."

Cybercab, the company’s robotaxi, has already begun production at Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas, and Semi production is expected to ramp this year at a new Nevada plant.

Tesla’s numbers missed the markThe quarter's top line was strong. Sales topped $28.2 billion, a 26% increase from a year earlier. That was substantially higher than Wall Street had expected, but it was mostly where the good news ended.

Gross margins fell considerably from 17.2% to 16.8%. Analysts expected an increase to 19.4%. Profits slid as well: non-GAAP earnings came in at $0.33 per share versus the expected $0.51.

The bottom lineTesla is going through a major period of transition, and there are some potentially exciting things happening. The company’s robotaxis are now live in seven cities, the first Optimus robots should be coming off the line by the end of the year, and after some major hits to its sales figures last year in Europe, registrations were up sharply in June across France, Sweden, Italy, and Portugal.

That being said, I’m still a skeptic. Tesla is spending record sums on businesses that don't generate revenue yet and, despite their exciting nature, may never become real businesses. Margins are taking a beating, and the company’s CEO is running two of the largest companies around at the same time.

And even after shares have fallen more than 35% since their highs at the end of last year, they are still trading at incredible multiples.

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

July has been a horrible month for the stock prices of Elon Musk’s two publicly traded companies: Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) and SpaceX (Nasdaq: SPCX).

As of the close of markets yesterday, the two companies have seen their stock prices decline by roughly 24% and 31%, respectively, since June 30. Here’s what you need to know.

Tesla stock got hammered yesterdayLet’s start with Tesla, Inc. While the electric vehicle company has seen its stock price decline for most of July, the drop had been subtle, and similar to what most major tech stocks had seen across the month.

However, then yesterday came, and TSLA stock crashed more than 14.5% in a single trading session, ending the day down $54.32 to $319.69.

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So what the heck happened? In short: Tesla’s earnings happened.

Yesterday, the company revealed its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2026. For the quarter, Tesla reported revenue of $28.24 billion, representing roughly 26% growth from the same quarter a year earlier.

That type of growth is nothing to sneeze at, and, as noted by CNBC, Tesla’s Q2 revenue came in well ahead of the $25.71 billion LSEG analysts were expecting.

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An exchange-traded fund holding the S&P 500 minus those seven names is outperforming the Magnificent Seven group by nearly 17 percentage points this year.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) missed on earnings, with free cash flow turning negative.

Tesla lost 14.52% on the day. Alphabet lost 7.13%.

Last year the trade ran the other way. MAGS returned 22.99% in 2025 against 15.63% for XMAG.

QUICK CONTEXT: Magnificent Seven Lose Their Market GripThe Magnificent Seven have stopped carrying the market in 2026. Through Thursday’s close, an equal-weight basket of Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta and Tesla was down about 3.6% for the year, while the broader S&P 500 had gained roughly 8.2% over the same period.

The weakness is uneven but severe. Tesla had fallen about 29%, Microsoft nearly 21% and Meta 8%. Alphabet and Amazon were barely positive. Apple, up roughly 18.5%, and Nvidia, up 12%, were the only clear winners by a wide margin, leaving the group increasingly dependent on two stocks.

The split widened on July 23, when all seven shares fell and the equal-weight basket dropped about 4.7%. Alphabet and Tesla led the decline, putting fresh attention on whether enormous commitments to artificial intelligence, data centers, robotaxis and robotics can generate adequate returns for future shareholders.

That matters because these companies remain among the largest weights in major U.S. indexes. Their earlier gains made benchmarks unusually dependent on a small technology cluster; their 2026 underperformance has broadened market leadership. Investors are no longer rewarding AI spending automatically. They want clearer evidence that escalating investment will produce durable cash flow and profits.

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I bought more Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL | GOOGL Price Prediction) on Thursday, watched the stock close down 7.13%, and I plan to buy more next week. The Q2 report the market called a boondoggle is exactly the receipt I needed to keep clicking buy.

Here is the setup in human terms. Alphabet just posted the strongest quarter in its history, then raised roughly $70 billion in combined equity and debt, doubled long-term debt to $98.2 billion, suspended the buyback, and printed negative free cash flow of -$5.855 billion. The market read that as balance sheet weakness. I read it as CFO Anat Ashkenazi doing textbook asset-liability matching, funding 15-to-30-year infrastructure with long-dated capital while preserving working capital for the operating business. That is a company front-loading capex to clear a Cloud backlog above $460 billion.

The Receipts Revenue landed at $119.796 billion, up 24.23% YoY, the 12th straight quarter of double-digit revenue growth. EPS of $9.11 beat the $3.0427 estimate, the 11th straight EPS beat. Operating income rose 30.38% YoY. Operating margin expanded to 34%. The company that supposedly cannot self-fund grew operating cash flow 40.8% YoY to $39.069 billion in a single quarter.

Cloud is the story I keep buying. Google Cloud revenue hit $24.768 billion, up 82% YoY. Nearly 90% of the Fortune 100 now runs Gemini Enterprise. Gemini processes 22 billion API tokens per minute. The Gemini App has 950 million monthly active users. Distribution at that scale does not show up on a competitor slide deck the following week.

Then the balance sheet everyone panicked over. Total assets are $921.983 billion. Shareholders’ equity is $640.480 billion. Cash and short-term investments sit at $242.474 billion. The $98.2 billion in long-term debt is a rounding item against that equity base.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Google didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Why Not the Obvious Alternative Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) are the names most readers reach for first, and I own some of both. The number that keeps my capital moving to Alphabet is cloud growth of 82% YoY on a $24.768 billion quarterly base, layered on a Search franchise that still delivered 17% YoY growth in Q2. I am paying roughly 26 times earnings for that combination, with a free cash flow yield near 3.93%. Azure and AWS are excellent businesses. Neither is showing me an 82 handle on cloud growth this quarter.

The Real Risk Capex could keep running ahead of revenue longer than I want. The $180-190B capex plan Reddit is asking about is real, and interest expense rose nearly 5x YoY. If enterprise AI demand stalls, that spending sits on the books as depreciation. What has not changed for me: the backlog is already contracted, operating margin is expanding while capex doubles, and the equity base absorbs the debt with room to spare.

Forward conviction is simple. I am buying a business that grew revenue 24% while the market marked it down for spending too much money to grow faster. That is the trade I keep taking with a straight face.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Google didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Key Takeaways Alphabet leads search with 91.27% share as AI Overviews and AI Mode deepen user engagement.Google Search & Other revenues rose 17% to $63.3B, helped by retail, finance and better query monetization.AI Mode connects Instacart, Canva and YouTube Music, letting users complete tasks without leaving Search. Alphabet’s (GOOGL - Free Report) Search-related endeavors have received a massive push through AI integrations. The company is leading the search domain with 91.27% market share, followed by Microsoft’s (MSFT - Free Report) Bing, with 4.68% share, Yahoo!’s 1.28%, Yandex’s 0.79%, DuckDuckGo’s 0.67% and Baidu’s (BIDU - Free Report) 0.46%, per the latest data from StatCounter.

Alphabet’s dominance is being reinforced by rapid AI innovation rather than disrupted by it. On the second-quarter 2026 earnings call, the company highlighted that AI Overviews and AI Mode have been integrated into a single seamless Search experience, helping drive higher user engagement and incremental search queries. AI Mode has already surpassed one billion monthly active users, while Google continues to send billions of clicks to websites every week through its AI-powered search features, addressing concerns that AI could reduce web traffic.

Search monetization also remains strong. Google Search & Other revenues climbed 17% year over year to $63.3 billion, driven primarily by retail and finance advertisers. Alphabet noted that Gemini-powered improvements in query understanding allow Google to better monetize longer, more complex searches by delivering more relevant advertisements. AI-powered advertising products such as AI Max are already being widely adopted, with advertisers using these tools seeing higher conversions at similar returns on ad spend.

Alphabet is also expanding Search beyond traditional web queries into an AI-powered productivity platform. The company recently introduced integrations that allow users to connect services such as Instacart, Canva and YouTube Music directly within AI Mode, enabling actions like creating shopping carts, generating design templates and building playlists without leaving Search. These capabilities deepen user engagement while making Google’s ecosystem more valuable and difficult for competitors to replicate.

GOOGL Faces Tough Competition in the Search DomainAlphabet faces competition from Microsoft and Baidu in the Search domain.

Microsoft is strengthening its search ecosystem through Bing and Edge by embedding advanced AI capabilities across its consumer products. Microsoft is also integrating proprietary AI models into Bing, improving image generation, speech recognition and search experiences while benefiting from broader investments in Copilot, Azure AI and its multi-model strategy. These enhancements are designed to increase user engagement, improve search relevance and capture a larger share of digital advertising, creating a stronger competitive challenge for Google in AI-powered search.

Baidu is also accelerating its AI-first search strategy, particularly in China. The company has highlighted continued improvements in AI Search through enhanced planning, content generation and content-quality evaluation, enabling more intelligent and higher-quality search results while reducing low-quality content. Baidu plans to further integrate AI Search with ERNIE Assistant to improve information discovery, content understanding and task completion. The company has also reiterated that AI Search remains one of its highest-priority applications and will continue to receive investments to strengthen search accuracy and user experience.

GOOGL’s Share Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesAlphabet shares have returned 1.5% year to date (YTD), outperforming the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s return of 10.8%.

GOOGL Stock’s Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

GOOGL stock is trading at a premium, with a forward 12-month price/sales of 8.07X compared with the broader sector’s 6.46X. Alphabet has a Value Score of D.

GOOGL Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings is pegged at $14.34 per share, up 0.3% over the past 30 days, suggesting 32.65% growth from 2025’s reported figure.
 

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

Wall Street analysts forecast that Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) will report quarterly earnings of $4.21 per share in its upcoming release, pointing to a year-over-year increase of 15.3%. It is anticipated that revenues will amount to $87.42 billion, exhibiting an increase of 14.4% compared to the year-ago quarter.

Over the past 30 days, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been adjusted upward by 0.1% to its current level. This demonstrates the covering analysts' collective reassessment of their initial projections during this period.

Prior to a company's earnings release, it is of utmost importance to factor in any revisions made to the earnings projections. These revisions serve as a critical gauge for predicting potential investor behaviors with respect to the stock. Empirical studies consistently reveal a strong link between trends in earnings estimate revisions and the short-term price performance of a stock.

While investors typically use consensus earnings and revenue estimates as indicators of quarterly business performance, exploring analysts' projections for specific key metrics can offer valuable insights.

With that in mind, let's delve into the average projections of some Microsoft metrics that are commonly tracked and projected by analysts on Wall Street.

According to the collective judgment of analysts, 'Revenue- More Personal Computing' should come in at $12.04 billion. The estimate points to a change of -10.5% from the year-ago quarter.

Analysts forecast 'Revenue- Intelligent Cloud' to reach $38.12 billion. The estimate indicates a change of +27.6% from the prior-year quarter.

Analysts predict that the 'Revenue- Productivity and Business Processes' will reach $37.16 billion. The estimate indicates a change of +12.2% from the prior-year quarter.

Analysts expect 'Revenue by product and service offerings- Microsoft 365 Commercial products and cloud services' to come in at $27.42 billion. The estimate suggests a change of +12.8% year over year.

The collective assessment of analysts points to an estimated 'Revenue by product and service offerings- Search and news advertising' of $3.78 billion. The estimate indicates a change of +5.4% from the prior-year quarter.

The combined assessment of analysts suggests that 'Revenue by product and service offerings- Enterprise and partner service' will likely reach $2.11 billion. The estimate points to a change of +6% from the year-ago quarter.

The consensus estimate for 'Revenue by product and service offerings- Windows and Devices' stands at $3.54 billion. The estimate indicates a year-over-year change of -18.2%.

The average prediction of analysts places 'Revenue by product and service offerings- Server products and cloud services' at $36.05 billion. The estimate suggests a change of +29.3% year over year.

The consensus among analysts is that 'Percentage Change Y/Y (GAAP)- Revenue' will reach 14.2%. Compared to the present estimate, the company reported 18.0% in the same quarter last year.

Based on the collective assessment of analysts, 'Percentage Change Y/Y (GAAP)- Intelligent Cloud' should arrive at 27.6%. The estimate compares to the year-ago value of 26.0%.

It is projected by analysts that the 'Percentage Change Y/Y (GAAP)- More Personal Computing' will reach -10.5%. The estimate is in contrast to the year-ago figure of 9.0%.

Analysts' assessment points toward 'Percentage Change Y/Y (GAAP)- Productivity and Business Processes' reaching 12.2%. Compared to the present estimate, the company reported 16.0% in the same quarter last year.

View all Key Company Metrics for Microsoft here>>>

Shares of Microsoft have experienced a change of +8.2% in the past month compared to the +0.6% move of the Zacks S&P 500 composite. With a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), MSFT is expected to mirror the overall market performance in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .

MSFT heads into Q4 fiscal 2026 earnings with Azure and AI growth in focus as rising AI infrastructure spending pressures margins.

Key Takeaways Cerebras is pairing AMD Helios with its WSE to create a unified, disaggregated AI inference workflow.The platform may deliver up to 5X more tokens per second per watt than a Cerebras-only setup.The joint offering is set to launch through Cerebras Cloud in the second half of 2026. Cerebras Systems (CBRS - Free Report) is expanding its AI footprint with a plethora of partnerships. The company is expanding its AI infrastructure strategy through a technical partnership with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD - Free Report) to deliver a disaggregated AI inference platform optimized for both ultra-low latency and high throughput. The solution combines AMD’s Helios rack-scale systems with Cerebras’ Wafer-Scale Engine (WSE), allowing the two architectures to operate as a single inference workflow.

AMD Helios will handle high-throughput prompt processing and large context windows, while the Cerebras WSE will accelerate token generation with ultra-low latency. The companies expect the combined platform to deliver up to five times higher tokens-per-second-per-watt than a Cerebras-only configuration. Cerebras plans to deploy AMD Helios systems across its data centers, with the joint offering becoming available through Cerebras Cloud in the second half of 2026.

The partnership reinforces Cerebras’ strategy of building workload-optimized AI infrastructure rather than relying on a single compute architecture. As AI applications such as coding assistants, real-time copilots, autonomous agents and robotics require both rapid response times and high throughput, the combination of AMD’s scalable GPU platform with Cerebras’ inference-focused wafer-scale processors broadens the latter’s addressable market.

The deal also complements Cerebras’ previously announced disaggregated inference partnerships with OpenAI and Amazon Web Services (AWS), strengthening CBRS’ position as a provider of next-generation AI inference infrastructure. The company’s OpenAI agreement is worth more than $20 billion, and its AWS partnership is already driving strong commercial momentum. In the first quarter of 2026, revenues increased 94% year over year to $193.4 million, including 178% growth in cloud and other services revenues, reflecting accelerating adoption of Cerebras’ inference platform. CBRS raised its 2026 core revenue guidance to $855-$865 million, indicating 69% year-over-year growth at the midpoint.

Cerebras Faces Tough CompetitionCerebras is facing stiff competition from the likes of CoreWeave (CRWV - Free Report) and Broadcom (AVGO - Free Report) in the AI infrastructure domain.

CoreWeave is pursuing one of the industry's largest AI infrastructure expansions. In partnership with NVIDIA, the company plans to build more than 5 gigawatts (GW) of AI factory capacity by 2030 while adopting multiple generations of NVIDIA AI platforms. It also recently expanded its European footprint through new AI cloud deployments in Stockholm, Sweden, powered by renewable energy, and signed a $21 billion long-term AI infrastructure agreement with Meta.

Broadcom has been benefiting from rising AI revenues, driven by strong demand for XPUs. AI semiconductor revenues reached a record $10.8 billion in the fiscal second quarter, suggesting a 143% year-over-year surge. Broadcom expects it to rise to $16 billion in the fiscal third quarter, indicating more than 200% year-over-year growth. AVGO’s management disclosed that AI semiconductor bookings exceeded $30 billion during the fiscal second quarter, nearly three times quarterly AI shipments. Remaining Performance Obligations reached $164.6 billion, including commitments under new custom AI accelerator contracts. These agreements provide exceptional long-term revenue visibility.

CBRS’ Share Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesCerebras shares have jumped 31.7% in the past month, outperforming the broader Zacks Business Services sector’s return of 2.6%.

CBRS Stock’s Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Cerebras stock is trading at a forward 12-month price/sales of 25.75X, higher than its median of 24.52X. CBRS has a Value Score of D.

CBRS’ Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 loss is pegged at 89 cents per share, narrower than the loss of $1.03 per share over the past 30 days.
 

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

Key Takeaways Alibaba narrowed AIDC's fiscal 2026 adjusted EBITA loss, moving the unit closer to break-even.Brand and AI tools are boosting monetization, merchant productivity and customer engagement.European compliance costs could slow profitability as fiscal 2027 earnings are projected to rise 15.28%. Alibaba’s (BABA - Free Report) international commerce business is narrowing losses, positioning the segment as a stronger long-term growth driver. Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group (AIDC) — which includes AliExpress, Alibaba.com, Lazada and Trendyol — significantly reduced its adjusted EBITA loss in fiscal 2026 as management improved logistics efficiency, optimized operations and enhanced unit economics, bringing the business closer to break-even.

The Brand+ initiative is attracting higher-quality brands and consumers, supporting stronger monetization, while AI-powered tools such as Accio and Accio Work are helping merchants automate sourcing, product listings and business operations, improving productivity and customer engagement. Alibaba.com’s global B2B marketplace, spanning buyers in more than 190 countries and generating revenues from memberships, value-added services, logistics and digital marketing, provides a diversified foundation for future international expansion. Alibaba has also continued strengthening its cross-border commerce ecosystem by expanding AI capabilities for merchants and broadening its Trade Assurance program into additional markets, reinforcing its strategy to accelerate profitable international growth.

However, investors should monitor regulatory risks, particularly in Europe, where increased compliance requirements and penalties for marketplace operators could raise operating costs and slow the path to sustained profitability for Alibaba's international commerce business.

According to the Zacks Consensus Estimate, earnings are projected to grow 15.28% in fiscal 2027, indicating that continued improvement in international commerce could become an increasingly important contributor to Alibaba's long-term profitability and sustainable growth.

How Rivals Stack Up Against BABAAmazon (AMZN - Free Report) challenges Alibaba through its vast international marketplace, fulfillment network and Prime ecosystem. Amazon benefits from seller-friendly policies, including lower fees in Europe and Brazil, while faster delivery and logistics strengthen global reach. The company also expands cross-border opportunities through growing international operations. Amazon's scale, fulfillment efficiency and trusted brand remain key competitive advantages.

Global-e Online (GLBE - Free Report) competes with Alibaba by enabling brands to sell globally through localized merchant-of-record services. Global-e Online differentiates itself with compliance, duties, taxes, payments and fulfillment capabilities, while Managed Markets and Borderfree expand merchant reach. Global-e Online also benefits from AI-driven automation and growing demand for seamless cross-border commerce, reinforcing its competitive position.

BABA’s Share Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesBABA shares have declined 33.5% over the past six months compared with the industry’s fall of 4.2%.

BABA’s Six-Month Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company's shares currently trade at 14.78 forward earnings, lower than 21.63 for the industry. BABA has a Value Score of C.

BABA’s Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2027 EPS has declined 6.78% to $6.88 over the past 60 days, and those for fiscal 2028 have decreased 9.06% to $9.53. However, the estimate still reflects robust year-over-year growth of 76.86%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

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

Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta, Palantir and more than 20 other companies released a letter on Friday urging policymakers to avoid "premature restrictions" on open-weight artificial intelligence models that would "stifle competition or drive innovation overseas."

Open-weight AI models are available for users to download, modify and run on their own infrastructure, and they have been the subject of fierce debate within the tech sector in recent weeks.

Chinese open-weight models are gaining steam against leading offerings from American companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, which primarily develop proprietary, closed models. Officials and executives have been weighing whether or not to restrict access to Chinese models in the U.S.

Moonshot AI, a Chinese startup, amplified concerns earlier this month after releasing a model called Kimi K3 that outperforms cutting-edge American offerings across some industry benchmarks. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Tuesday that the Trump administration would look into whether Chinese companies were stealing American intellectual property, and stated that the government has "the ability to sanction them because of this theft."

But in the letter on Friday, the group of U.S. tech companies cautioned against any rash actions. They wrote that open-weight models strengthen competition and ensure that the benefits of the technology are "broadly shared rather than concentrated in a few hands."

"Relying solely on closed models is not inherently safe: they can be breached, misused, or fail in ways that outsiders cannot detect," the letter said. "And concentrating advanced AI capabilities behind a small number of closed models compounds that risk."

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella both shared the letter on their personal social media accounts.

Elon Musk, who runs an AI business under his rocket company SpaceX, also applified the letter on social media, writing that it has his "full support" in a post on X. SpaceX did not officially sign the letter.

Read more CNBC tech newsMoonshot AI accessed Nvidia's chips despite Chinese export ban, White House official saysAlphabet and Tesla test Wall Street's patience as AI spending overshadows growthAlphabet earnings takeaways: Q2 revenue beats, GOOGL stock sinks on 2026 capex hikeTesla misses on earnings, as free cash flow turns negative and margins slideOpenAI and Anthropic did not sign the letter. Both companies, which are each valued at nearly $1 trillion, are gearing up for potentially massive IPOs that could land as soon as this year. Anthropic confidentially filed its prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June, and OpenAI followed suit days later.

Greg Brockman, OpenAI's president, said Thursday that the company believes in broad access, and that he has not been involved in any conversations with the Trump administration about potentially banning Chinese open-weight models in the U.S.

"I think that, that fundamentally, AI and AI usage is something that is actually very important to democratize," Brockman told reporters during a briefing in New York City. "And so, for me, at a sort of deep level, I think that having more models, more usage, that is a good thing."

White House advisor Michael Kratsios on Wednesday said that Moonshot AI developed its Kimi K3 model by distilling Anthropic's technology. Distillation is a term for an AI training method where a smaller, less capable model is built using outputs from an existing, stronger model.

Kratsios wrote in a post on X that legitimate AI distillation plays a vital role in the open innovation ecosystem, but warned that "large-scale, covert industrial distillation aimed at stealing proprietary U.S. technology" is "unacceptable."

In the letter on Friday, the U.S. tech companies said that concerns about unlawful distillation should be addressed through "targeted legal and commercial frameworks" instead of with "sweeping restrictions on techniques that play an important role in AI innovation."

"Our AI leadership will be judged not by one frontier AI model, but by whether the United States builds a strong, open ecosystem that diffuses into every sector," the letter said. "This is essential for creating opportunities for innovation and prosperity across the country."

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Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA, XETRA:NVD) CEO Jensen Huang posted on X for the first time on Friday, sharing a multi-company letter that defends open-weight AI models as essential to US technology leadership.

Huang, who joined the platform last month but had not posted until now, used his debut message to promote a letter signed by Nvidia and roughly 20 other organizations, including Meta, Microsoft and Palantir.

The letter argues that open models strengthen safety, accelerate innovation and support national AI sovereignty, and that US leadership should not rest on a single frontier model alone.

For my first post, I’m sharing a letter @NVIDIA signed on why open models matter.

AI will transform every industry, power every company, and be built by every country.

Open models strengthen safety and cybersecurity, accelerate innovation and diffusion, and enable sovereignty.… pic.twitter.com/t02bi51N4C

— Jensen Huang (@JensenHuang) July 24, 2026 The post follows a week of public comments from Huang on the AI policy debate in Washington. Earlier in the week, he told Axios that American companies should be free to use Chinese AI models, and he separately described Chinese models as strong performers that expand demand for Nvidia's chips and data center infrastructure rather than threaten US companies.

Those comments put Huang at odds with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who this week warned that Chinese AI firms could face sanctions over what he called industrial-scale distillation attacks on US intellectual property. The letter Huang shared addresses that concern directly, arguing that unlawful extraction of value from closed models is a legitimate issue but should be handled through targeted legal and commercial measures rather than broad restrictions on open-weight AI.

The letter also frames open-weight models as a way to widen access to AI development, allowing startups, established businesses, universities and public institutions to build on advanced models without training their own from scratch.

Huang had stayed off X while rival chipmaker executives built a presence on the platform for years. His account, registered in June, listed just a handful of followers before Friday's post.

A downtrend has been apparent in American Airlines (AAL - Free Report) lately with too much selling pressure. The stock has declined 22.9% over the past four weeks. However, given the fact that it is now in oversold territory and Wall Street analysts are majorly in agreement about the company's ability to report better earnings than they predicted earlier, the stock could be due for a turnaround.

We use Relative Strength Index (RSI), one of the most commonly used technical indicators, for spotting whether a stock is oversold. This is a momentum oscillator that measures the speed and change of price movements.

RSI oscillates between zero and 100. Usually, a stock is considered oversold when its RSI reading falls below 30.

Technically, every stock oscillates between being overbought and oversold irrespective of the quality of their fundamentals. And the beauty of RSI is that it helps you quickly and easily check if a stock's price is reaching a point of reversal.

So, by this measure, if a stock has gotten too far below its fair value just because of unwarranted selling pressure, investors may start looking for entry opportunities in the stock for benefiting from the inevitable rebound.

However, like every investing tool, RSI has its limitations, and should not be used alone for making an investment decision.

Why a Trend Reversal is Due for AALThe heavy selling of AAL shares appears to be in the process of exhausting itself, as indicated by its RSI reading of 28.69. So, the trend for the stock could reverse soon for reaching the old equilibrium of supply and demand.

The RSI value is not the only factor that indicates a potential turnaround for the stock in the near term. On the fundamental side, there has been strong agreement among the sell-side analysts covering the stock in raising earnings estimates for the current year. Over the last 30 days, the consensus EPS estimate for AAL has increased 54.4%. And an upward trend in earnings estimate revisions usually translates into price appreciation in the near term.

Moreover, AAL currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), which means it is in the top 5% of more than 4,000 stocks that we rank based on trends in earnings estimate revisions and EPS surprises. This is a more conclusive indication of the stock's potential turnaround in the near term. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .

Speaking at the earnings call after reporting second-quarter results, CEO Robert Isom commented about inflation-adjusted airfares.

“Real airfares are still lower than in 2019,” he said, even as demand continues to strengthen across domestic and international markets. That apparent contradiction helps explain one of the biggest shifts taking place across the airline industry: airlines are increasingly earning more from who is flying rather than simply how much everyone pays for a ticket.

Premium Travelers are Helping American FlyAmerican’s earnings highlighted just how much its business has shifted toward premium travelers.

“So it’s nearly half of our ticketed revenue on roughly 30% of our seats. And the thing we’re really excited about is nearly 60% of our revenue comes from households making $150,000 or more,” Nathaniel Pieper, Chief Commercial Officer chimed in.

The customer mix tells a similar story. According to the company, nearly 60% of ticket revenue now comes from households earning more than $150,000 annually, a customer base management believes is likely to remain resilient even during periods of economic uncertainty.

To capitalize on that trend, American is expanding premium seating faster than economy seating through new aircraft deliveries and cabin retrofit programs while investing in lounges, upgraded onboard products and, beginning in 2027, Starlink high-speed Wi-Fi.

Strategy at WorkThe strategy appears to be working. Premium unit revenue increased more than 13% year over year, outpacing growth in the main cabin, while managed corporate revenue climbed 26%. The airline also reported a five-percentage-point increase in customers upgrading from Basic Economy to Main Cabin after making changes to its fare offerings.

The result is a business model that’s becoming less dependent on raising economy ticket prices. Instead, airlines are increasingly generating incremental revenue from premium cabins, loyalty programs, co-branded credit cards, paid upgrades and higher-spending travelers.

It’s also helping mitigate the brunt of rising fuel costs. “In the second quarter, fuel expense increased by over $2.2 billion, or 83% year over year,” CFO Devon May noted. Isom confirmed how well American is dealing with it. “The second quarter helped offset nearly 50% of the $2.2 billion year-over-year increase in fuel expense.”

This, coupled with the company being able to hold “non-fuel year-over-year unit cost growth to under 3%” have been helping American fly through fuel inflation.

For investors, American’s latest quarter offers a reminder that the industry’s earnings story isn’t simply about higher fares. It’s increasingly about extracting more value from each traveler—even while inflation-adjusted airfares remain below where they were before the pandemic.

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