Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Tuesday, 14 July 2026 04:06 PM

Topic: 

Earnings Record quarterly bookings and effective backlog provide substantial visibility into projected fiscal 2027 revenue of $130 million to $150 million, representing 2.6x to 3.0x fiscal 2026 revenue

FREMONT, CA / ACCESS Newswire / July 14, 2026 / Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR), a leading provider of test and burn-in solutions for semiconductor devices used in artificial intelligence (AI), silicon photonics, data center, automotive, and industrial applications, today announced financial results for its fiscal 2026 fourth quarter and full year ended May 29, 2026.

Fiscal Fourth Quarter Financial Results:

Net revenue was $18.8 million, compared to $14.1 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.

GAAP net income was $1.4 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net loss of $(2.9) million, or $(0.10) per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.

Non-GAAP net income, which excludes stock-based compensation and acquisition-related adjustments, was $3.6 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net loss of $(0.2) million, or $(0.01) per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.

Bookings were a record $60.7 million for the quarter.

Backlog as of May 29, 2026 was $80.6 million. Effective backlog, including bookings since May 29, 2026, is $100.6 million.

Total cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash as of May 29, 2026 was $116.5 million, compared to $37.1 million on February 27, 2026.

Fiscal Year Financial Results:

Net revenue was $50.0 million, compared to $59.0 million in fiscal 2025.

GAAP net loss was $(7.1) million, or $(0.23) per diluted share, compared to GAAP net loss of $(3.9) million, or $(0.13) per diluted share, in fiscal 2025.

Non-GAAP net income was $0.9 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, which excludes stock-based compensation, acquisition-related adjustments and restructuring charges, compared to non-GAAP net income of $4.6 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, in fiscal 2025.

Cash used in operating activities was $3.3 million for fiscal 2026.

An explanation of the use of non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of Aehr's non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures can be found in the accompanying tables.

Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented:

"We are very pleased with our fiscal fourth quarter performance, which exceeded expectations and capped a year of significant bookings and revenue diversification for Aehr. Record quarterly bookings, a very strong backlog, and growing demand across AI processors, silicon photonics, and power semiconductors for our wafer-level and package-level burn-in solutions position us well for significant growth moving forward.

"With strong momentum and a record backlog of over $100 million heading into fiscal year 2027, we have substantial visibility into projected fiscal 2027 revenue of $130 million to $150 million, representing expected year-over-year growth of approximately 160% to 200%. This outlook is based on the information available to us today, including our current backlog and anticipated customer demand. We continue to pursue additional orders from existing and prospective customers.

"In wafer-level burn-in (WLBI), demand from AI-related applications continued to accelerate. Our lead AI production customer is significantly ramping capacity, driving an increase in forecasted capacity needs for our FOX WLBI solutions this year and beyond. They are shifting their burn-in from system-level to all wafer-level for their AI accelerators used for training and inference applications. We are also engaged with additional AI processor suppliers that are evaluating WLBI to improve product reliability and reduce yield loss from production burn-in of their devices later in the manufacturing process.

"We are excited to report that we successfully completed benchmark testing of our WLBI solution with a major supplier of AI accelerators, CPUs, and network processors. The testing was conducted on one of their processors and produced results that exceeded their expectations. This top-tier AI processor supplier has now expressed interest in moving to pilot production test validation for its current high-volume device, for which we completed the benchmark. They indicated that this device is expected to continue ramping and achieve significant volumes over the next year or more. In addition, they recently requested that we evaluate a second device in parallel. The potential revenue opportunity from any one of these devices is significant to Aehr in terms of near and long-term revenue streams related to the WLBI systems and proprietary Aehr WaferPak contactors.

"Our package-level burn-in business for AI processors also gained momentum in the year, highlighted by record follow-on production orders from our lead hyperscale customer for Sonoma systems supporting high-volume AI processor production burn-in. This customer is a premier large-scale data center provider and is forecasting a substantial expansion of Sonoma system purchases for a second device which has twice the power per package as the first device that they are using Sonoma systems for today. As their current and next-generation devices ramp, we believe Sonoma systems and consumables can become an increasingly important contributor to Aehr's revenue. We are also engaged with multiple current and potential new customers for package-level reliability qualification and production burn-in of AI accelerators, Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), network processors, and also for edge AI processors for automotive and robotics, which represent significant opportunities for Aehr over the next few years.

"As we have anticipated for the last year, silicon photonics devices and the need for production burn-in is now seeing strong momentum as AI data center architectures increasingly rely on optical I/O and high-speed interconnects. Our lead silicon photonics customer is ramping, with follow-on orders this past year and more already in this fiscal year for fully automated WLBI systems powering AI optical I/O and data center interconnects. In addition, our newest major silicon photonics customer that is a global leader in networking products and solutions has provided us a forecast for additional systems this calendar year as it ramps capacity to support next-generation hyperscale data center deployments. We believe the silicon photonics and optical test and burn-in market has the potential to grow substantially and could be another long-term growth driver for Aehr.

"We are seeing encouraging signs of recovery in silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductors. We are actively engaged to meet the WLBI needs of several of the world's largest automotive manufacturers and several of their SiC suppliers for their new electric vehicles. We also announced today that we received approximately $8 million in new orders in just the last month for silicon carbide WLBI WaferPaks as global electric vehicle programs accelerate. These include expanded production orders from our lead silicon carbide customer for WaferPak full wafer contactors, and a key order directly from one of the largest automotive companies in the world for multiple WaferPaks to be used in qualification of silicon carbide devices from suppliers for their new generation of electric vehicles using Aehr's FOX WLBI systems.This year, we expect renewed demand for both SiC and GaN power semiconductor test and burn-in, driven by automotive electrification and AI data center power infrastructure.

"We also continue to pursue opportunities in memory, including NAND flash and potential high bandwidth memory (HBM) applications with our WLBI solutions roadmap. The growth of these two memory markets may have never been stronger, with massive capacity increases planned this decade. We continue to work with multiple memory suppliers to align our solutions to meet the production needs of these companies' new capacity coming online.

"Looking ahead, we are very excited about our position entering fiscal 2027. With multiple customers entering or expanding production, a record backlog, and additional opportunities under discussion for both wafer-level and package-level burn-in, we believe Aehr is well positioned for multiple years of strong revenue growth."

Financial Guidance:

For the fiscal year ending June 25, 2027, Aehr expects total company revenue to be between $130 million and $150 million, representing approximately 160%-200% year-over-year growth. Aehr also expects non-GAAP net income to be 18% to 22% of total revenue. This outlook reflects the company's current effective backlog of approximately $100 million and expected customer demand from existing production programs. Aehr continues to pursue additional orders from current and prospective customers.

Management Conference Call and Webcast:

Aehr Test Systems will host a conference call and webcast today at 5:00 p.m. Eastern (2:00 p.m. Pacific) to discuss its fiscal 2026 fourth quarter and full year operating results. To access the live call, dial +1 888-506-0062 (US and Canada) or +1 973-528-0011 (International) and give the participant passcode 222496. In addition, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available over the Internet at www.aehr.com in the Investor Relations section and may also be accessed by clicking here. A phone replay of the call will be available approximately two hours following the end of the live call and will remain available for one week. To access the call replay, dial +1 877-481-4010 (US and Canada) or +1 919-882-2331 (International) and enter replay passcode 54119.

About Aehr Test Systems

Headquartered in Fremont, California, Aehr Test Systems is a leading provider of test solutions for testing, burning-in, and stabilizing semiconductor devices in wafer-level, singulated die, and package-level form, and has installed thousands of systems worldwide. Increasing quality, reliability, safety, and security needs of semiconductors used across multiple applications, including advanced artificial intelligence (AI) processors, silicon photonics, data and telecommunications infrastructure, electric vehicles, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, solar and wind power, computing, and solid-state memory and storage are driving additional test requirements, incremental capacity needs, and new opportunities for Aehr's products and solutions. Aehr has developed and introduced several innovative products including the FOX-PTM families of test and burn-in systems and FOX WaferPakTM Aligner, FOX WaferPak Contactor, FOX DiePak® Carrier and FOX DiePak Loader. The FOX-XP and FOX-NP systems are full-wafer contact and singulated die/module test and burn-in systems that can test, burn-in, and stabilize a wide range of devices such as leading-edge silicon carbide-based and other power semiconductors, 2D and 3D sensors used in mobile phones, tablets, and other computing devices, memory semiconductors, processors, microcontrollers, systems-on-a-chip, and photonics and integrated optical devices. The FOX-CP system is a low-cost single-wafer compact test solution for logic, memory and photonic devices and the newest addition to the FOX-P product family. The FOX WaferPak Contactor contains a unique full-wafer contactor capable of testing wafers up to 300mm that enables IC manufacturers to perform test, burn-in, and stabilization of full wafers on the FOX-P systems. The FOX DiePak Carrier allows testing, burning in, and stabilization of singulated bare die and modules up to 1024 devices in parallel per DiePak on the FOX-NP and FOX-XP systems up to nine DiePaks at a time. Acquired through its acquisition of Incal Technology, Inc., Aehr's new line of high-power package-level reliability/burn-in test solutions for AI semiconductor manufacturers, including its ultra-high-power Sonoma family of test solutions for AI accelerators, GPUs, and high-performance computing (HPC) processors, position Aehr within the rapidly growing AI market as a turnkey provider of reliability and testing that span from engineering to high volume production. For more information, please visit Aehr Test Systems' website at www.aehr.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or Aehr's future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "going to," "could," "intends," "target," "projects," "contemplates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," or "continue," or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern Aehr's expectations, strategy, priorities, plans, or intentions. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, future bookings, benchmark evaluations and product development from Aehr's new and existing customers; future applications and orders for the AI processors, test solutions for AI semiconductor manufacturers and the Sonoma system; revenue and revenue growth forecasted; financial performance and bookings forecasted; financial guidance for the full fiscal year 2027; expectations regarding current and future partnerships; expectations regarding industry demand and emerging technologies as a whole and smaller segments within it; and the ability for Aehr to successfully enter new markets. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in Aehr's recent Form 10-K, 10-Q and other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Aehr disclaims any obligation to update information contained in any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release.

Contacts:

Aehr Test Systems
Chris Siu
Chief Financial Officer
[email protected]

PondelWilkinson, Inc.
Todd Kehrli or Jim Byers
Investor Contact
[email protected]
[email protected]

Financial Tables to Follow

AEHR TEST SYSTEMS

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(Unaudited)

Three Months Ended

Year Ended

May 29,

February 27,

May 30,

May 29,

May 30,

(In thousands, except per share data)

2026

2026

2025

2026

2025

Revenue

$

18,835

$

10,313

$

14,089

$

50,001

$

58,968

Cost of revenue

10,816

6,945

9,817

32,350

35,035

Gross profit

8,019

3,368

4,272

17,651

23,933

Operating expenses:

Research and development

3,645

3,167

2,686

12,633

10,463

Selling, general and administrative

5,580

4,430

3,926

19,161

18,283

Restructuring charges

-

-

864

6

864

Total operating expenses

9,225

7,597

7,476

31,800

29,610

Loss from operations

(1,206

)

(4,229

)

(3,204

)

(14,149

)

(5,677

)

Interest income, net

748

240

222

1,361

1,401

Other income (expense), net

3

(12

)

(4

)

1,052

(15

)

Loss before income tax benefit

(455

)

(4,001

)

(2,986

)

(11,736

)

(4,291

)

Income tax benefit

(1,846

)

(798

)

(87

)

(4,610

)

(381

)

Net income (loss)

$

1,391

$

(3,203

)

$

(2,899

)

$

(7,126

)

$

(3,910

)

Net income (loss) per share:

Basic

$

0.04

$

(0.10

)

$

(0.10

)

$

(0.23

)

$

(0.13

)

Diluted

$

0.04

$

(0.10

)

$

(0.10

)

$

(0.23

)

$

(0.13

)

Shares used in per share calculations:

Basic

31,881

30,695

29,823

30,669

29,581

Diluted

33,170

30,695

29,823

30,669

29,581

AEHR TEST SYSTEMS

RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP RESULTS

(Unaudited)

Three Months Ended

Year Ended

May 29,

February 27,

May 30,

May 29,

May 30,

(In thousands, except per share data)

2026

2026

2025

2026

2025

Reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP gross profit

GAAP gross profit

$

8,019

$

3,368

$

4,272

$

17,651

$

23,933

Special items:

a) Stock-based compensation expense

216

202

357

792

737

b) Acquisition-related adjustments

191

190

260

808

1,305

Non-GAAP gross profit

$

8,426

$

3,760

$

4,889

$

19,251

$

25,975

Reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP operating expenses

GAAP operating expenses

$

9,225

$

7,597

$

7,476

$

31,800

$

29,610

Special items:

a) Stock-based compensation expense

(1,649

)

(1,182

)

(1,064

)

(5,969

)

(4,027

)

b) Acquisition-related adjustments

(105

)

(106

)

(106

)

(422

)

(353

)

c) Restructuring charges

-

-

(864

)

(6

)

(864

)

d) Officer severance benefits

-

-

-

-

(653

)

e) Acquisition-related costs

-

-

-

-

(548

)

Non-GAAP operating expenses

$

7,471

$

6,309

$

5,442

$

25,403

$

23,165

Reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP income (loss) from operations

GAAP loss from operations

$

(1,206

)

$

(4,229

)

$

(3,204

)

$

(14,149

)

$

(5,677

)

Special items:

a) Stock-based compensation expense

1,865

1,384

1,421

6,761

4,764

b) Acquisition-related adjustments

296

296

366

1,230

1,658

c) Restructuring charges

-

-

864

6

864

d) Officer severance benefits

-

-

-

-

653

e) Acquisition-related costs

-

-

-

-

548

Non-GAAP income (loss) from operations

$

955

$

(2,549

)

$

(553

)

$

(6,152

)

$

2,810

Reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP income (loss) before income tax benefit

GAAP loss before income tax benefit

$

(455

)

$

(4,001

)

$

(2,986

)

$

(11,736

)

$

(4,291

)

Special items:

a) Stock-based compensation expense

1,865

1,384

1,421

6,761

4,764

b) Acquisition-related adjustments

296

296

366

1,269

1,658

c) Restructuring charges

-

-

864

6

864

d) Officer severance benefits

-

-

-

-

653

e) Acquisition-related costs

-

-

-

-

548

Non-GAAP income (loss) before income tax benefit

$

1,706

$

(2,321

)

$

(335

)

$

(3,700

)

$

4,196

Reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP net income (loss)

GAAP net income (loss)

$

1,391

$

(3,203

)

$

(2,899

)

$

(7,126

)

$

(3,910

)

Special items:

a) Stock-based compensation expense

1,865

1,384

1,421

6,761

4,764

b) Acquisition-related adjustments

296

296

366

1,269

1,658

c) Restructuring charges

-

-

864

6

864

d) Officer severance benefits

-

-

-

-

653

e) Acquisition-related costs

-

-

-

-

548

Non-GAAP net income (loss)

$

3,552

$

(1,523

)

$

(248

)

$

910

$

4,577

Reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP income (loss) per diluted share

GAAP income (loss) per diluted share

$

0.04

$

(0.10

)

$

(0.10

)

$

(0.23

)

$

(0.13

)

Special items:

a) Stock-based compensation expense

0.06

0.04

0.05

0.22

0.16

b) Acquisition-related adjustments

0.01

0.01

0.01

0.04

0.05

c) Restructuring charges

-

-

0.03

0.00

0.03

d) Officer severance benefits

-

-

-

-

0.02

e) Acquisition-related costs

-

-

-

-

0.02

Non-GAAP income (loss) per diluted share

$

0.11

$

(0.05

)

$

(0.01

)

$

0.03

$

0.15

a) Represents compensation expense for equity awards granted to employees and directors.
b) Represents amortization of acquired intangible assets and accretion expense of escrow payable.
c) Represents restructuring charges, primarily related to a lease early termination, along with employee termination benefits from a separate restructuring initiative.
d) Represents severance benefits, including compensation expense, provided due to the passing of an officer as per the terms of his change in control and severance agreement
e) Represents acquisition activity costs.

Non-GAAP measures should not be considered a replacement for GAAP results. The non-GAAP measures indicated above are financial measures the Company uses to evaluate the underlying results and operating performance of the business. The limitation of these measures are that they exclude items that impact the Company's current period GAAP measures. This limitation is best addressed by using these measures in combination with the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. These measures are not in accordance with GAAP and may differ from non-GAAP methods of accounting and reporting used by other companies.

We believe these measures enhance investors' ability to review the Company's business from the same perspective as the Company's management and facilitate comparisons of this period's results with prior periods.

AEHR TEST SYSTEMS

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(Unaudited)

May 29,

May 30,

(In thousands, except par value)

2026

2025

ASSETS

Current assets:

Cash and cash equivalents

$

116,358

$

24,529

Accounts receivable

17,473

14,191

Inventories

41,354

41,997

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

9,263

8,061

Total current assets

184,448

88,778

Property and equipment, net

8,940

8,969

Goodwill

10,719

10,719

Intangible assets, net

9,552

10,781

Deferred tax assets, net

23,829

19,114

Operating lease right-of-use assets, net

8,901

9,601

Other non-current assets

305

546

Total assets

$

246,694

$

148,508

LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

Current liabilities:

Accounts payable

$

6,754

$

6,728

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

5,283

6,020

Operating lease liabilities, short-term

626

909

Deferred revenue, short-term

5,192

1,981

Total current liabilities

17,855

15,638

Operating lease liabilities, long-term

9,256

9,921

Deferred revenue, long-term

34

36

Other long-term liabilities

38

42

Total liabilities

27,183

25,637

Shareholders' equity:

Preferred stock, $0.01 par value: Authorized: 10,000 shares;

Issued and outstanding: none

-

-

Common stock, $0.01 par value: Authorized: 75,000 shares;

Issued and outstanding: 32,480 shares and 29,877 shares at May 29, 2026 and May 30, 2025, respectively

325

299

Additional paid-in capital

249,477

145,758

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

(105

)

(126

)

Accumulated deficit

(30,186

)

(23,060

)

Total shareholders' equity

219,511

122,871

Total liabilities and shareholders' equity

$

246,694

$

148,508

AEHR TEST SYSTEMS

CONSOLIDATED SATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Unaudited)

Year Ended

May 29,

May 30,

(In thousands)

2026

2025

Cash flows from operating activities:

Net loss

$

(7,126

)

$

(3,910

)

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:

Stock-based compensation expense

6,761

5,162

Depreciation and amortization

2,799

2,312

Deferred income taxes

(4,715

)

(421

)

Amortization of operating lease right-of-use assets

731

1,076

Impairment of assets

-

584

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

Accounts receivable

(3,307

)

(3,037

)

Inventories

11

(2,441

)

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

(2,763

)

(5,012

)

Accounts payable

991

(714

)

Accrued expenses

1,020

(378

)

Deferred revenue

3,209

143

Operating lease liabilities

(979

)

(699

)

Income taxes payable

58

(65

)

Net cash used in operating activities

(3,310

)

(7,400

)

Cash flows from investing activities:

Purchases of property and equipment

(2,066

)

(4,992

)

Payments for business acquisition, net of cash and cash equivalent acquired

(1,801

)

(11,075

)

Net cash used in investing activities

(3,867

)

(16,067

)

Cash flows from financing activities:

Proceeds from issuance of common stock from public offerings, net of issuance costs

97,395

-

Proceeds from issuance of common stock under employee plans

2,200

1,409

Shares repurchased for tax withholdings on vesting of restricted stock units

(2,384

)

(784

)

Net cash provided by financing activities

97,211

625

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

(6

)

13

Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

90,028

(22,829

)

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of year(1)

26,480

49,309

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of year (1)

$

116,508

$

26,480

Supplemental cash flow information:

Income taxes paid

$

60

$

100

Interest paid

$

-

$

-

Supplemental disclosure of non-cash flow information:

Net transfer of equipment between inventory and property and equipment

$

702

$

458

Purchases of property and equipment included in accounts payable and accrued liabilities

$

-

$

1,259

Common stock issuance costs included in accounts payable

$

296

$

-

(1) Includes restricted cash within prepaid expenses and other current assets and other non-current assets.

SOURCE: Aehr Test Systems

By Reuters

July 14, 20266:28 PM UTCUpdated 1 hour ago

File Photo: The Bombay Stock Exchange logo is seen under a bull statue at the entrance of their building in Mumbai, India January 30, 2018. Picture taken January 30, 2018. REUTERS/Shailesh... Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab Read more

CompaniesJuly 14 (Reuters) - Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) has filed for an initial ​public offering, draft papers showed on ‌Tuesday, as parent Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) (IIAN.NS), opens new tab looks to pare its stake in the gas trading exchange ​to comply with regulatory rules.

IEX, which ​currently owns 47.3% of IGX, will ⁠sell up to 16.7 million shares in ​the offering, reducing its stake to 25% -the ​regulatory ceiling on ownership of a gas exchange by any shareholder that isn't itself a member of ​the exchange.

IGX shares are expected to ​list on the BSE, according to its draft prospectus. ‌The ⁠company is not selling new shares in the IPO and will not receive any proceeds.

IGX counts GAIL (GAIL.NS), opens new tab, ONGC (ONGC.NS), opens new tab, Indian Oil (IOC.NS), opens new tab, Adani ​Total Gas (ADAG.NS), opens new tab, ​Torrent Gas (TORR.BO), opens new tab ⁠and NSE Investments among its other shareholders.

The Noida-based company posted a ​36.5% rise in annual profit ​to ⁠420.2 million rupees ($4.37 million) in fiscal 2026, while revenue grew 25% to 610.1 million rupees.

Axis ⁠Capital ​and Motilal Oswal Investment ​Advisors are managing the offering.

($1 = 96.2000 Indian rupees)

The Reuters Power Up newsletter provides everything you need to know about the global energy industry. Sign up here.

Reporting by ​Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber

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

, /PRNewswire/ -- International Paper (NYSE: IP; LSE: IPC), today declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4625 per share for the period from July 1, 2026, to September 30, 2026, inclusive, on the common stock, par value $1.00, of the Company, payable on September 15, 2026, to holders of record at the close of business on August 14, 2026.

Today, the Company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share for the period from July 1, 2026, to September 30, 2026, inclusive, on the cumulative $4.00 preferred stock of the Company, payable on September 15, 2026, to holders of record at the close of business on August 14, 2026.

About International Paper (NYSE: IP; LSE: IPC)
International Paper creates sustainable packaging solutions that enable our customers, teammates and shareowners to thrive in an ever-changing world. We are a leader in corrugated packaging, partnering with customers across industries to protect what matters most, strengthen supply chains and create lasting value. Learn more at internationalpaper.com.

SOURCE International Paper

Key Takeaways IonQ shares fell 36.4% in a month despite strong industry support and solid business fundamentals.IONQ posted 755% Q1 2026 revenue growth, raised 2026 guidance and expanded backlog to $470 million.IonQ's pullback is tied to macro pressures, with Q2 results seen as key to confirming execution. IonQ (IONQ - Free Report) shares have tumbled 36.4% over the past month, underperforming other pure-play quantum computing stocks, including Rigetti Computing (RGTI - Free Report) , down 32.3%, D-Wave Quantum (QBTS - Free Report) , down 28.9%, and Quantum Computing Inc. (QUBT - Free Report) , down 27.9%, despite the sector's favorable long-term outlook. The decline comes even as Washington intensified support for quantum technologies through executive orders, increased funding initiatives and a renewed focus on post-quantum cybersecurity. This shows a clear disconnection between industry fundamentals and investor sentiment.

IonQ: One-Month Price Comparison
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The sharp decline in IonQ's share price also raises an important question for investors does the recent correction present an attractive buying opportunity? Given IonQ's leadership among pure-play quantum companies in terms of revenue growth, commercial traction and financial strength, its lower share price warrants a closer look. Let's check whether the recent weakness reflects temporary market sentiment or signals a more fundamental concern.

Is IonQ's Recent Weakness a Buying Opportunity?IonQ's recent selloff appears to be driven more by market dynamics than by deteriorating fundamentals. In the first quarter of 2026, the company reported revenue growth of 755% year over year, exceeding the midpoint of its guidance by 30%. It has also raised its 2026 revenue outlook to $260-$270 million and expanded its remaining performance obligations to $470 million.

Despite this, the stock price dipped largely because a resilient U.S. labor market has led to the Federal Reserve's cautious approach toward interest-rate cuts, keeping bond yields elevated. This environment has prompted investors to trim exposure to high-multiple, long-duration growth stocks, with speculative technology names, including quantum computing companies, bearing the brunt of the rotation. The company also did not announce any major business developments over the past 30 days that could have supported the stock.  This has limited buying interest ahead of the next earnings report.

That said, while near-term volatility may persist, the current pullback does not yet point to a weakening investment thesis. The key question is whether IonQ can sustain its commercial momentum through additional customer wins, successful integration of recent acquisitions and continued execution against its technology roadmap. If management delivers on these fronts in the coming quarters, the recent decline could ultimately prove to be a sentiment-driven correction rather than a reflection of weakening business fundamentals.

From a technical standpoint, IonQ's shares are now trading below both their 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages (SMA), reflecting weak near-term momentum even as the company's fundamentals remain intact.

50-and-200-Day SMAs
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

IONQ Stock is Weak but the Fundamentals Remain StrongThe Zacks Consensus Estimate calls for sales to surge 105.7% in 2026 and another 50.3% in 2027, while losses are expected to narrow meaningfully over the next two years, as shown below.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Our TakeGiven the company's solid execution and favorable long-term industry outlook, the recent pullback does not appear to justify aggressive profit booking at current levels. While near-term volatility may persist amid macroeconomic uncertainty and the absence of fresh business updates, IonQ's strong revenue trajectory, expanding backlog and improving commercial traction continue to support its long-term growth story. With the stock carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), existing investors may consider holding their positions and closely monitoring the upcoming second-quarter 2026 earnings release for further confirmation of execution before making any portfolio changes. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Key Takeaways Chewy sees pet healthcare as a major growth opportunity, supported by its Vet Care clinic network.CHWY's Vet Care clinics attract new customers and increase spending from existing customers.CHWY expects Modern Animal to accelerate clinic expansion to about 60 locations by fiscal 2026. Chewy, Inc. (CHWY - Free Report) believes pet healthcare remains one of its largest long-term growth opportunities, supported by an estimated total addressable market of around $54 billion. Chewy Vet Care clinics continue to generate strong stand-alone economics while serving as effective customer acquisition and retention channels for the broader ecosystem. The shortage of veterinarians also provides Chewy with a structural advantage as it expands its veterinary clinic network.

To support this strategy, the company completed the acquisition of Modern Animal. Management noted that Modern Animal adds a complementary clinic footprint, strong clinical expertise and a technology-enabled operating model aligned with Chewy Vet Care. The acquisition is expected to accelerate clinic expansion by combining Chewy Vet Care’s organic growth with Modern Animal’s existing footprint and development pipeline, with the combined business projected to operate approximately 60 clinics by the end of fiscal 2026 and generate an embedded steady-state revenue contribution of about $290 million.

The company noted that Chewy Vet Care continues to strengthen the broader Chewy ecosystem by attracting new customers to the platform while encouraging existing customers to increase their spending following their initial clinic visit. This demonstrates the strategic value of its integrated pet healthcare offering by supporting customer acquisition, retention and a greater share of wallet, while reinforcing the company's long-term growth strategy.

Additionally, technology-enabled workflows and AI-assisted tools are driving strong veterinary productivity, retention and employee satisfaction. Combined with Chewy’s recurring revenue model, scaled fulfillment network and expanding healthcare platform, these capabilities support its long-term 10% adjusted EBITDA margin target. Overall, Chewy's expanding healthcare ecosystem strengthens its competitive moat by enhancing customer acquisition, retention and share of wallet while supporting long-term profitability.

Zacks Rundown for CHWYCHWY shares have lost 25.3% in the past three months compared with the industry’s 2.6% decline. The company carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) at present.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, CHWY trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 21.74, lower than the industry’s average of 21.84.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings for the current and next fiscal year indicates year-over-year growth of 20.5% and 21.7%, respectively.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Stocks to ConsiderSome better-ranked stocks have been discussed below:

Phibro Animal Health Corporation (PAHC - Free Report) operates as an animal health and mineral nutrition company in the United States, Latin America and Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. PAHC currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PAHC's current fiscal-year sales and earnings implies growth of 14.8% and 47.4%, respectively, from the year-ago actuals. PAHC delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 16.3%, on average.

Carvana Co. (CVNA - Free Report) , currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2, operates an e-commerce platform for buying and selling used cars.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CVNA’s current financial-year sales implies growth of 38.5%, and the same for earnings implies a decline of 6.5% from the year-ago reported numbers. CVNA delivered a negative trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 71.6%, on average.

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN - Free Report) engages in the retail sale of consumer products, advertising, and subscription services through online and physical stores in North America and internationally. At present, Amazon carries a Zacks Rank of 2.

The consensus estimate for Amazon’s current fiscal-year sales and earnings implies growth of 15.2% and 29.6%, respectively, from the year-ago figures. AMZN delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 11.4%, on average.

By PYMNTS  |  July 14, 2026

 | 

Klarna is working on a significant risk transfer (SRT) that will enable it to offload credit risk tied to buy now, pay later (BNPL) loans and free up capital, Bloomberg reported Tuesday (July 14), citing unnamed sources.

The SRT is tied to about 5 billion kroner (about $516 million) of loans originated by Klarna’s Swedish unit, and the transaction may be completed by the end of the quarter, according to the report.

Reached by PYMNTS, Klarna declined to comment on the report.

SRTs, which are also known as synthetic risk transfers, allow investors to earn regular payments in return for taking on credit risk from a lender’s portfolio.

Klarna is working on its SRT while looking to roll out new products and grow its business in several countries, especially the United States, at a time when its shares are trading at about half the price they achieved in the company’s September initial public offering, according to the Bloomberg report.

An SRT would enable Klarna to undertake new lending, acquisitions or shareholder payouts, per the report.

Klarna announced in April that it entered into a new SRT that covers $1.7 billion in euro-denominated loans and frees up capital to support continued growth. The company said the deal was its sixth SRT transaction.

“This is our largest and most efficient SRT transaction to date,” Klarna Chief Financial Officer Niclas Neglén said in an April 1 press release. “These transactions allow us to maximize every unit of capital to support our continued momentum.”

Klarna said during a May earnings report that in the first quarter, its revenue increased 44% year over year to reach $1 billion and its gross merchandise volume rose 33% to $33.7 billion.

PYMNTS reported at the time that Klarna pushed deeper into everyday spending during the quarter as consumers used BNPL for everything from groceries to larger-ticket purchases and as deposits, debit usage and point-of-sale financing accounted for a greater part of the company’s growth story.

Klarna announced July 6 that it applied to establish Klarna Bank USA, its proposed Utah-chartered industrial bank. The company has been licensed as a bank in Europe since 2017 and offers banking services in the U.S. through a network of partners.

SpaceX SPCX shares rose about 1.5% on Tuesday, recovering modestly after a recent selloff that brought the stock close to its initial public offering price, as a broader market rally and a fresh bullish analyst initiation supported sentiment.

The stock traded around $141 after falling about 4% on Monday. Despite the rebound, shares remained only slightly above the company's $135 IPO price.

The broader market also advanced after June inflation data came in weaker than expected.

The S&P 500 gained 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded around the flatline.

The consumer price index fell 0.4% in June from the previous month, bringing the annual inflation rate to 3.5%.

Economists polled by Dow Jones had expected a monthly decline of 0.1% and an annual inflation rate of 3.8%.

Elon Musk's rocket and artificial intelligence company priced its IPO at $135 per share on June 11, with shares opening at $150 the following day.

The stock climbed as high as $225.64 on June 16 before retreating nearly 40% from that peak. On Monday, shares fell as low as $136.78, narrowly remaining above the IPO price.

The decline has come despite broadly positive sentiment from Wall Street analysts.

Approximately 80% of analysts covering SpaceX rate the stock a Buy, compared with a typical Buy-rating ratio of 55% to 60% for S&P 500 companies.

The average analyst price target stands at about $240 per share, implying a valuation of roughly $3 trillion.

Several Wall Street firms have also outlined long-term growth scenarios for the company based on expectations for Starlink, reusable launch systems, and future artificial intelligence infrastructure businesses.

On Tuesday, Evercore ISI initiated coverage of SpaceX with an Outperform rating and a $230 price target.

Analyst Kutgun Maral described SpaceX as "an extraordinary company on a real path to reshaping the future of humanity."

According to Evercore, the company has built a vertically integrated business that has established a near-monopoly on orbital access through reusable, low-cost launch technology.

The firm projects revenue and EBITDA to compound at 106% and 157%, respectively, through 2028, while forecasting margin expansion from 35% to 69%.

SpaceX generated $19.3 billion in revenue and $3.95 billion in EBITDA in 2025.

Evercore said several milestones will be important in validating its long-term investment thesis.

The firm pointed to expected progress in Starship payload delivery during the second half of 2026, continued Starlink broadband expansion through 2026 and 2027, and the development of the company's mobile strategy between 2027 and 2029.

Evercore also cited terrestrial compute growth through 2028, orbital compute viability beyond 2029, and enterprise adoption of Grok and Cursor between 2026 and 2028 as additional milestones investors should monitor.

Earlier this week, Bernstein analyst Douglas Harned reiterated a Buy rating on SpaceX with a price target of $239.

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Uber (NYSE:UBER | UBER Price Prediction) now carries a market capitalization of roughly $151.5 billion, backed by a platform that pushed $53.72 billion in Gross Bookings through its apps in a single quarter. Uber has scaled into a $150 billion consumer platform reporting real operating income, and the most recent quarter shows why the market is starting to price it that way.

What It Means The scale behind the market cap is what makes the profitability turn credible. In Q1 fiscal 2026, reported May 6, 2026, Uber ran 3.6 billion trips across 199 million Monthly Active Platform Consumers, with trips up 20% year over year and audience up 17%. Gross Bookings climbed 25%. Revenue reached $13.203 billion, just missing the $13.263 billion estimate by 0.45%, a gap the company attributes to a roughly 9 percentage-point headwind from business model changes.

The margin story is what pushes this into a new phase. The company’s operating income hit $1.923 billion, up 56.6% year over year. Additionally, adjusted EBITDA margin on Gross Bookings widened to 4.6% from 4.4%, and non-GAAP operating income margin expanded to 3.5% from 3.1%.

Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.72, beating the $0.7133 estimate and growing 44% year over year, more than double the pace of bookings growth. While GAAP net income of $263 million fell 85.19%, that swing came from a $1.50 billion pre-tax mark on equity investments, with the operating business unaffected.

Market Reaction Shares closed at $74.43 on July 2, 2026, up 2.44% on the day and 3.92% over the past month. The year-to-date picture is weaker, with the stock down 8.91% from $81.71 at year-end 2025, and off 19.14% over the trailing year from $92.05. Post-earnings, the stock traded at $77.14 one hour after the filing before settling to $70.71 thirty days later.

Bull Case I think the bull case around Uber rests on operating leverage that is showing up in every line the market cares about. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told investors on the call: “Importantly, we’re scaling this growth profitably. Non-GAAP EPS increased 44% year-over-year, more than twice as fast as our bookings growth, driven by disciplined cost management and operating leverage.”

July 16 is the Final Day to Tap Into the Lithium Boom (sponsor)
General Motors, POSCO, and 50,000+ everyday investors have already backed lithium producer EnergyX.

Here's why you should do the same before their July 16 investment deadline: lithium prices are up 75% this year, with demand projected to grow a staggering 5X by 2040.

With tech that can recover up to 3X more lithium than traditional methods, EnergyX is preparing to unlock up to 15M+ tons. Become a private-stage EnergyX investor before the July 16 deadline.

That leverage is being reinforced by a subscription flywheel. Uber One now has 50 million members, up from 30 million at the end of the prior year, growing 50% year on year and driving over 50% of bookings. Members spend 3x more than non-members.

Capital return is now part of the equation. Uber repurchased $3.011 billion of stock in Q1 alone, on top of $6.523 billion in buybacks during full-year 2025. Free cash flow reached $2.286 billion in the quarter, and $9.763 billion for full-year 2025, up 41.6%. The balance sheet backs it up, with debt-to-equity at 0.45, net debt to EBITDA at 0.79, and interest coverage of 12.65. Return on equity sits at 41.37%.

Insiders have been buying into the pullback. CFO Balaji Krishnamurthy and executives Tony West, Jill Hazelbaker, Andrew MacDonald, and Glen Ceremony all acquired shares in June 2026 at a reference price of $73.25, below the April level of $76.48. Analyst sentiment lines up behind Uber, with analyst posting 10 strong buys, 36 buys, 5 holds, and 1 sell, and a target price of $104.53.

Bottom Line For long-term holders, the $150 billion valuation now sits on top of a business generating margin expansion, buybacks, and a subscription base that is compounding. Uber’s Q2 guidance calls for Gross Bookings of $56.25 billion to $57.75 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $0.78 to $0.82 (growth of 31% to 38%), and adjusted EBITDA of $2.70 billion to $2.80 billion.

Thus, I think the company’s Q2 2026 report is the next reveal. If EPS growth continues to run at more than twice the pace of bookings, the $150 billion platform stops being a ceiling and starts looking like a floor.

Meet America's Newest $1b Unicorn (Sponsor) A US startup just passed a $1 billion private valuation, joining billion-dollar private companies like OpenAI and ByteDance. Unlike those other unicorns, you can invest in EnergyX right now; but only until July 16.

Over 50,000 people already have, along with global giants like General Motors and POSCO.

Here's why there's so much interest: EnergyX's patented tech can recover up to 3X more lithium than traditional methods. That's a big deal, as demand for lithium is expected to 5X current production levels by 2040. Become an early-stage EnergyX shareholder before the 7/16 investment deadline.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

A group of publishers and authors have filed a class action lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech giant of using their copyrighted works to train its AI platform, Gemini.

The group of plaintiffs, which includes Hachette, Cengage, Elsevier, author Scott Turow, and S.C.R.I.B.E., also alleges that Google intentionally removed or changed copyright information on these works to “conceal… that its Gemini Models were trained on stolen materials,” according to the lawsuit.

This lawsuit is just one of many complaints that publishers, authors, and other copyright holders have filed against AI companies such as Google, Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic.

While many of these lawsuits are still pending, two early court decisions in California have favored the AI companies, ruling that the use of copyrighted works for AI training is considered “fair use” under U.S. copyright law that has not been updated since before the existence of the internet.

Anthropic was, however, fined $1.5 billion for pirating the works it trained on, marking the largest payout in the history of U.S. copyright law. Around half a million writers were eligible for payments of at least $3,000. However, many authors opted out of receiving the settlement so that they could pursue further legal action over AI training.

The California judges’ decisions don’t bode well for how other courts may view the tech companies’ fair use defense, but the conflict is too nuanced for these rulings to establish an inarguable precedent. The lawsuit against Google was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, giving a different judge the opportunity to weigh in.

In the Google case, the publishers have a more nuanced, long-term relationship with the company. The lawsuit explains that publishers and authors have a long history of providing Google with copyrighted works for the specific purpose of making books searchable through Google Books. These search results do not allow users to view entire books. Instead, they provide access to short snippets of the book along with bibliographic information. The plaintiffs claim that Google trained Gemini on copies of these books, as well as books uploaded to the Google Play store, even though it never received permission to do so.

“Google illegally copied works from all these scope-limited programs for AI training, knowing it lacked authorization to do so,” the lawsuit reads.

The plaintiffs also cite an internal document from Google that allegedly states that using copyrighted books for AI training could be “highly problematic for Google” and might result in “$10Bs-$100Bs in potential fines.”

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

Amanda Silberling is a senior writer at TechCrunch covering the intersection of technology and culture. She has also written for publications like Polygon, MTV, the Kenyon Review, NPR, and Business Insider. She is the co-host of Wow If True, a podcast about internet culture, with science fiction author Isabel J. Kim. Prior to joining TechCrunch, she worked as a grassroots organizer, museum educator, and film festival coordinator. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania and served as a Princeton in Asia Fellow in Laos.

You can contact or verify outreach from Amanda by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at @amanda.100 on Signal.

Nvidia remains well-positioned for AI data center growth, according to KeyBanc analyst John Vinh, who raised his price forecast despite some near-term ramp delays.

KeyBanc Raises Nvidia ForecastVinh maintained an Overweight rating on Nvidia and raised his price forecast to $330 from $310. He said his takeaways were mixed but mostly positive, with a slight delay in the Vera Rubin ramp tied to thermal lid issues and SK Hynix qualification delays on HBM4.

The analyst said he sees limited risk to estimates because Nvidia can ship more B300 GPUs in place of R200. He expects Nvidia to ship 5.5 million to 6 million Blackwell GPUs this year, along with 1 million Hopper GPUs.

CoWoS Supply Supports AI DemandVinh said Nvidia’s 2026 CoWoS supply outlook remains unchanged at 650,000 interposers, while 2027 supply has been revised significantly higher to 1.1 million interposers. He said that the increase reflects strong demand and a full-year Rubin ramp.

The analyst expects Nvidia to ship 70,000 to 80,000 total racks this year, including 5,000 to 6,000 Vera Rubin racks. He also expects fewer than 1,000 LPU racks this year due to a delayed ramp, though demand remains strong.

Vinh said Nvidia remains uniquely positioned to benefit from secular growth in data center AI and machine learning. He also pointed to Nvidia’s CUDA software stack as a major barrier to entry and said competitive risks remain limited.

Hedge funds rushed back into U.S. semiconductor stocks last week, buying the sector at the fastest pace in at least three-and-a-half years after two straight weeks of heavy selling.

Hedge Funds Buy The DipGoldman Sachs data shared by The Kobeissi Letter showed semiconductor stocks now make up about 10% of total hedge fund exposure, roughly double last year’s level but below the nearly 14% peak in May.

The renewed buying suggests hedge funds see the recent chip-stock pullback as largely over, while ETF inflows show broader investor demand for AI-related semiconductor names.

Technical AnalysisNvidia is trading above its 20-day SMA ($202.05), 100-day SMA ($198.10), and 200-day SMA ($191.95), which keeps the intermediate-to-long trend constructive even after recent chop. The catch is the stock is still trading slightly below its 50-day SMA ($209.27), and the 20-day SMA remains below the 50-day SMA—an early "cooling" signal that can cap rallies until price reclaims that zone cleanly.

Earnings OutlookLooking further out, the next major catalyst for the stock arrives with the August 26, 2026 (estimated) earnings report.

EPS Estimate: $2.07 (Up from $1.04 YoY) Revenue Estimate: $91.70 Billion (Up from $46.74 Billion YoY) Valuation: P/E of 31.2x (Indicates premium valuation relative to peers) Top ETF ExposureSignificance: Because NVDA carries such a heavy weight in these funds, any significant inflows or outflows will likely trigger automatic buying or selling of the stock.

Price ActionNVDA Stock Price Activity: Nvidia shares were up 2.65% at $208.93 at the time of publication on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Image via Shutterstock

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Bank of America’s second-quarter earnings call Tuesday (July 14) was dominated by a simple message: Consumers in the United States are spending, companies are borrowing, capital markets are open, and the economy is proving stronger than expected.

That backdrop helped the bank cruise past its earnings targets. Beneath the victory lap, however, CEO Brian Moynihan and Chief Financial Officer Alastair Borthwick also offered signals on artificial intelligence, private credit, consumer risk and the bank’s increasingly digital operating model.

For Bank of America, AI is becoming both a revenue engine and a productivity tool. Borthwick said the bank is benefiting from financing the “massive capital investment and infrastructure build” around AI, particularly through investment banking and Global Markets. Internally, Bank of America employees are generating more than 400,000 AI prompts a day. The bank has approved more than 300 AI use cases, including 114 live generative AI applications and 34 that are fully implemented.

The payoff should extend beyond cutting costs, management said.

“Here’s what’s going to come out of that, we believe: growth, efficiency, risk management and resiliency,” Borthwick said.

Moynihan added that AI is already making software development more productive, so the same technology budget should produce more code over time. Still, the technology needs controls.

“It has great utility,” Moynihan said. “It has to be carefully managed. You have to have your data perfect. You have to have your rules base, so it doesn’t make mistakes.”

Private credit also came up, although management used the broader phrase “private capital lending.” Moynihan said some highly leveraged activity had moved outside the banking system, but parts of it are returning on terms banks can accept. More broadly, he said feared credit problems have not materialized.

“The issues of the moment, whether it’s real estate four or five years ago or whether it was private capital lending and all this stuff, just aren’t surfacing the way people thought they would,” Moynihan said.

The consumer picture was similarly steady. Card charge-offs and delinquencies improved from both the prior quarter and a year earlier, Borthwick said. Bank of America’s credit card charge-off rate fell to 3.55%, from 3.82% a year ago, while early- and late-stage delinquencies improved for a fifth consecutive quarter. At the same time, combined credit and debit card spending rose 9% to $266 billion, and management said broader consumer spending was running more than 6% above last year during the second quarter.

Digital Banking Stars in Q2 Digital banking is increasingly tied to the bank’s funding advantage. Bank of America reported roughly 50 million active digital banking users, 24.6 million active Erica (AI assistant) users and 4.4 billion digital logins during the quarter. Seventy percent of consumer sales were digitally enabled.

Digital tools, security and rewards help the bank win operating accounts and maintain a favorable deposit mix, Borthwick said. It’s a reminder that digital engagement is not just a service channel, but a core part of deposit economics.

On the economy, the bank’s research team raised its 2026 U.S. growth forecast to 2.2%, Moynihan said, calling the economy “more durable than expected,” supported by consumer spending, AI-driven investment and lower energy costs. He also identified inflation and tight monetary policy as the main risks.

Commercial loan growth was broader than the AI buildout, with business banking, commercial banking and corporate banking all contributing, Borthwick said.

Cryptocurrency and stablecoins were not discussed in either the prepared remarks or the analyst Q&A. On the call, Bank of America’s digital story remained centered on Erica, Zelle, CashPro and AI-enabled banking rather than crypto or stablecoins.

As for the headline numbers, Bank of America reported net income of $9.1 billion, up 27% year over year, on revenue of $31.6 billion, up 15%. Diluted earnings per share rose 34% to $1.21. Net interest income increased 9% to $16 billion, investment banking fees jumped 50% to $2.1 billion, and the bank delivered 6.6% operating leverage with a 17% return on tangible common equity.

Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA, XETRA:0QF) is expected to report second quarter results on July 31, with investors focused on the impact of seasonal COVID-19 vaccine demand and updates on the company’s late-stage pipeline, including anticipated Phase III melanoma data.

Jefferies analysts expect a largely uneventful earnings report after Moderna previously guided for second-quarter revenue of $50 million to $100 million, down from $389 million in the first quarter, reflecting the seasonal nature of COVID vaccine sales.

The analysts forecast a loss of $1.99 per share on revenue of about $100 million, compared with consensus expectations for a loss of $1.97 per share.

“COVID sales are mostly weighted to H2 2026,” Jefferies wrote, noting that lower vaccination rates year-over-year are also expected to weigh on near-term revenue.

The firm expects management could reiterate its 2026 revenue outlook for growth of up to 10% year over year, which would imply revenue of more than $2.1 billion.

Jefferies said potential upside to Moderna’s 2026 sales outlook could come from stabilization in US COVID revenue, which declined from approximately $1.2 billion in 2025. The firm expects international partnerships, including those in Canada, Australia and the UK, to contribute to growth and help create a more balanced revenue mix between US and ex-US markets.

Investors are also watching Moderna’s pipeline progress, particularly Phase III data for mRNA-4157, the company’s personalized cancer vaccine candidate being evaluated in combination with Merck & Co.’s Keytruda in melanoma. Jefferies highlighted the upcoming Phase III INTerpath-001 trial data as a major potential catalyst for the stock, with results expected in the second half of 2026.

The analysts pointed to recent five-year Phase IIb data as supportive of the ongoing Phase III study in high-risk adjuvant melanoma, which enrolled 1,089 patients. Jefferies wrote that management appears confident in the timing of the readout based on event accrual and said a statistically significant result could have a meaningful impact on investor sentiment.

Beyond oncology, Moderna has several additional potential catalysts in 2026, including regulatory action for its mFluSiva flu vaccine candidate, which Jefferies expects could receive US approval by August 5 following a positive advisory committee review. However, the analysts expect commercial sales to begin in 2027.

The firm also highlighted potential Phase III updates for Moderna’s norovirus vaccine candidate mRNA-1403 and pivotal data for mRNA-3927, an investigational treatment for propionic acidemia, as additional events to watch later this year.

Jefferies noted that Moderna’s shares have outperformed the broader biotechnology sector year to date, gaining 124% compared with a 30% rise in the XBI biotechnology ETF, with much of the recent momentum tied to expectations around the company’s oncology pipeline and the potential of its mRNA technology platform.

Shares of Moderna traded hands at $67 on Tuesday afternoon.

By You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.

CEO Arvind Krishna wrote a letter to shareholders eight days before the company was supposed to release its quarterly earnings. Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images IBM is on pace to have its worst day ever on the stock market after saying it misread the AI spending boom.

On Tuesday, eight days before the company's scheduled earnings call, CEO Arvind Krishna released a letter to shareholders that detailed a quarterly "performance shortfall," including slimmer-than-expected revenue.

"While we anticipated some supply chain related impact in our expectations, we did not anticipate the magnitude of the capex reprioritization," he wrote. "In addition, clients were distracted with rapidly-evolving, industry-wide cybersecurity concerns in the quarter."

The warning quickly revived talk of a SaaSpocalypse — the fear that AI will erode the value of some traditional software companies. For months, investors have worried that businesses will need fewer software subscriptions as AI agents automate and build custom tools.

IBM is not a pure software-as-a-service company, and Krishna did not say AI had made its products obsolete. Instead, he said customers redirected spending toward increasingly expensive servers, storage, and memory — leaving less money available for some of IBM's software and consulting services.

The shortfall is still touching a nerve among industry bigwigs. Companies are pouring money into the infrastructure needed to power AI, while investors increasingly question how much of that spending will ultimately flow to established software providers.

Here is what smart voices in business and tech are saying about the early announcement's impact on the economy:

Chamath Palihapitiya — CEO at 8090 and Social Capital

8090 CEO Chamath Palihapitiya.  Jesse Grant/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images Chamath Palihapitiya said IBM's stumble reflects a much bigger problem facing the AI industry: Companies selling intelligence are making enormous sums, but it's unclear whether their customers can turn those costs into profits of their own.

"The downstream ecosystem has to make money as well," Palihapitiya said Tuesday when asked about Krishna's letter on CNBC. "And then, the ultimate buyer of these tokens also has to make money."

He stopped short of blaming IBM's problems on its pivot to AI and cloud computing, and praised Krishna for repositioning the company.

Palihapitiya was less forgiving of IBM's suggestion that rapidly evolving cybersecurity concerns distracted some customers during the quarter.

He said AI companies and their investors have repeatedly swung between extremes: describing the technology as an all-powerful breakthrough when raising money, then warning that it poses an existential threat when seeking regulation.

Jacob Bourne — Analyst at EMARKETERBourne told Business Insider in an email that IBM was hit with a "triple whammy."

He said the AI buildout is directing corporate spending toward hardware rather than software and services. At the same time, investors are punishing legacy companies that appear to be falling behind. Finally, AI-native challengers such as Anthropic are putting additional pressure on traditional software business models.

"We can expect more quarters like this one, but I think it's a disruption story, not necessarily an extinction one for legacy software companies," he wrote. "Spending patterns will shift from the present focus, and the vendors that adapt their products to the changing market will stay competitive."

Nicholas Mugalli — CEO and Principal at World Trade Securities

An IBM logo on a screen.  NYSE Mugalli wrote on X that he believes IBM is the first major casualty of a broader shift in enterprise spending.

He argued that IBM's miss shows the limits of corporate budgets. As hardware became scarcer and more expensive, executives prioritized servers, storage, and memory over software deals that could be delayed.

"This is the SaaS reckoning arriving exactly the way it would," Mugalli wrote, "not with cancellations, but with deprioritization. "

Mugalli predicted IBM would not be the last enterprise software company to feel that pressure, pointing specifically to Palantir and ServiceNow.

Dan Niles — founder of Niles Investment ManagementNiles wrote on X that IBM's warning was an example of the AI "speed bump" he has been expecting.

He also said that customers redirected spending toward AI late in the quarter, cutting into IBM's mainframe and related software business. He said that much of that revenue is supposed to be recurring, making the shortfall more concerning.

"Given software is a back-end loaded business, I doubt this is the last casualty," he wrote.

Read next

Ben Shimkus You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.

Ben Shimkus is a reporter for the Business News desk. He writes about cars, transportation, retail, and jobs. Ben's reporting has appeared in Rolling Stone, The Verge, Automotive News, USA Today, AutoBody News, LGBTQ Nation, TopSpeed, and Out Magazine. He's also held staff writing positions at The U.S. Sun and the Daily Mail. He graduated from NYU with a Master's in journalism in 2024. Email Ben at [email protected] or message him privately on Signal at bshimkus.41. 

IBM AI

, /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) today declared a quarterly cash dividend on its common stock of $1.085 per share, an increase of $0.02. This dividend is payable on September 16, 2026, to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 14, 2026.

The company also declared a quarterly cash dividend on its Series A preferred stock of $359.375 per share payable on September 16, 2026, to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 14, 2026. This is equivalent to $0.359375 per depositary share.

Duke Energy has paid a cash dividend on its common stock for 100 consecutive years.

Duke Energy

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. The company's electric utilities serve 8.7 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 55,700 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas utilities serve 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio and Kentucky.

Duke Energy is executing an energy modernization strategy, keeping customer value at the forefront as it invests in electric grid upgrades and efficient generation resources to strengthen the system and serve growing energy needs.

More information is available at duke-energy.com. Follow Duke Energy on X, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook for stories about the people and innovations powering its communities.

Media Contact: Gillian Moore
24-hour: 800.559.3853

Analyst Contact: Mike Switzer
Office: 704.382.6473

SOURCE Duke Energy

Micron Technology stock rose more than 4% in early trading on Tuesday, recovering from the previous session's decline.

The stock surged after KeyBanc raised its price target on the memory-chip maker, citing persistent supply shortages and expectations of continued price increases across memory markets.

MU stock gained about 4.6% to $980.34 after falling 4.3% on Monday during a broader semiconductor sector selloff.

KeyBanc analyst John Vinh increased his price target on Micron to $1,750 from $1,600 following a supply chain visit to Asia.

The new target implies approximately 87% upside from Monday's closing price of $937.

KeyBanc expects memory pricing to remain strongVinh said supply chain checks continue to indicate that memory markets will remain tight well into 2027.

He wrote, "Memory shortages remain persistent…Supply chain commentary continues to point to a tight memory environment through 2027."

The analyst expects dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) prices to rise between 15% and 20% in the third quarter compared with the previous quarter, followed by another 15% increase in the fourth quarter.

For NAND flash memory, KeyBanc forecasts prices to increase 30% to 40% in the third quarter and another 15% in the fourth quarter.

Vinh also expects high-bandwidth memory (HBM), the specialized memory used in advanced artificial intelligence processors, to more than double in price next year.

His valuation is based on a price-to-earnings multiple of nine times his projected fiscal 2027 earnings for Micron.

Micron continues to benefit from rising demand for memory used in artificial intelligence infrastructure, particularly HBM, which is widely deployed alongside advanced AI graphics processing units.

During the company's latest earnings call, Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Mehrotra said demand continues to outpace supply.

He stated that demand for DRAM and NAND chips continues to exceed supply and the company "expects tight conditions to persist beyond calendar 2027."

The company has also secured 16 long-term supply agreements with major customers, providing greater revenue visibility while helping improve production planning.

In addition to HBM, Micron continues to see healthy demand for data-center DRAM products and enterprise solid-state drives.

Wall Street remains bullish despite recent volatilityMemory-chip stocks have experienced heightened volatility after posting substantial gains during the artificial intelligence investment boom.

Despite recent weakness, analysts remain largely positive on Micron's outlook.

89% of the 45 analysts who issued ratings in July recommend buying or strongly buying the stock, while none recommend selling.

FactSet data shows the average Wall Street price target stands at approximately $1,579.

Despite the rally over the past year, the stock remains about 21% below its 52-week high of $1,255.

It currently trades at a forward 12-month price-to-earnings multiple of 6.58, below its one-year high valuation of 17.01.

Fastenal Today

$45.56 -1.49 (-3.18%)

As of 02:34 PM Eastern

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

52-Week Range$38.97▼

$50.63Dividend Yield2.11%

P/E Ratio40.05

Price Target$48.31

Fastenal’s NASDAQ: FAST stock price declined following its Q2 earnings release, creating another solid entry point for investors. The worst that can be said about the report is that earnings were only in alignment with the consensus forecast, providing no immediate impetus for bullish behavior.

However, “tepid” as the results may have been, the company revealed strengths investors like to own, including double-digit growth and strength across all segments, categories, and end markets, driven by new clients, client penetration, and digitization. Fastenal, among industrial suppliers, is uniquely positioned to benefit from digitization and AI, as it is a leader in technology-backed inventory management, providing effective solutions for businesses.

Get Fastenal alerts:

Fastenal Fires on All Cylinders: Persistent Strength ExpectedFastenal had a solid Q2 with revenue growing by nearly 15% on broad-based strength. Revenue outpaced MarketBeat’s reported consensus by a slim margin, underpinned by a 14.7% increase in daily sales. Strength was driven by market share gains linked to large-client penetration, with double-digit demand across product lines and end markets. The single area of weakness was the comparison between national-level and localized business, which grew at a 7.2% pace compared to the stronger 17.9% posted by the national-level business.

Margin news was also good, despite the relative weakness in bottom-line results. A slight contraction in gross margin was offset by SG&A leverage, leaving operating and net margins flat to slightly up year over year. Net income grew by 14.9%, enabling balance sheet improvement while investing and returning capital to investors. The capital return is the operational factor, as quarterly strength and business trends allowed management to accelerate buyback activity.

Fastenal is a healthy capital-returning machine. The company’s dividend yields about 2% with shares near the middle of a long-term trading range and is expected to grow annually. Share buybacks have a smaller, but still significant, impact on capital returns, offsetting the impact of share-based compensation, with higher levels expected in upcoming quarters. Q2 capital returns came in at nearly 80% of the net income, well above the long-running 69% average.

Fastenal’s balance sheet highlights provided no red flags for investors, only incentives for ownership. The company's cash balance declined in Q2, but was offset by increases in assets, debt reduction, and equity improvements. Equity improved by more than 3% year-to-date, more than offsetting the incremental increase in the share count logged for the quarter. Looking ahead, investors can expect to see Fastenal’s balance sheet continue improving as it locks in market share and cash flow.

Sell-Side Data Reflects Strong Support for FastenalSell-siders may have wanted more from the Fastenal Q2 release, but it was not sufficient to alter their stance, which reflects strong support. MarketBeat tracks 15 analysts rating the stock as a consensus Hold; there is a 33% Buy-side bias within the data, coverage is increasing, and price targets are steady. Forecasting only modest upside as of mid-July, analyst trends are positive and likely to continue supporting market action. Institutions, meanwhile, are accumulating aggressively, limiting downside risk.

The stock price action also reflects strong, rising support, with the price trending higher over the past two years. The story in 2026 is that price action hit a ceiling in 2025 that will likely be retested before the year ends. The question is whether new highs will be set, and cash flow and capital returns suggest they will. Between then and now, the critical support is near a cluster of exponential moving averages (EMAs), including the 150-day EMA. It is a trigger likely to spur institutional investment when (if) reached.

Fastenal’s primary catalyst this year is the accelerating rollout of its digitized inventory management systems, FastBin and FastVend. They enable manufacturers, industries, and enterprises the ability to manage and control supply costs while providing Fastenal with visibility. Easing inflation is another catalyst, affecting the company’s margin and end-market demand. Assuming energy prices remain subdued, economic activity could pick up across the board.

What the market gets wrong about Fastenal is that its gross margin contractions are part of the overall strategy. The company is leaning hard into national contracted accounts that naturally have lower margins and expenses. Lower expenses are the critical factor, as reduced SG&A more than offsets the decline in gross margin. Meanwhile, the company is becoming entrenched in the end-market ecosystems, a fractured end-market at that, with its FastBin and FastVend systems, establishing a wide moat that competitors will not be able to cross. More importantly, localized vendors are unable to match Fastenal’s scale and digital capabilities, which enable it to gain share across the entire business cycle.

Should You Invest $1,000 in Fastenal Right Now?Before you consider Fastenal, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Fastenal wasn't on the list.

While Fastenal currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The Five Stocks Here

Looking to profit from the electric vehicle mega-trend? Click the link to see our list of which EV stocks show the most long-term potential.

Get This Free Report

FuelCell Energy, Siemens Partnership Targets Large-Scale ProjectsSiemens will provide electrical balance-of-plant (EBOP) systems for FuelCell Energy installations supporting commercial projects exceeding 100 megawatts.

The companies will jointly develop distributed energy solutions combining fuel cells, battery storage, microgrid controls and medium-voltage electrical equipment, with a focus on reducing deployment timelines and costs.

The agreement also includes pilot projects for technologies such as medium-voltage DC power delivery and modular electrical systems that could advance to full-scale commercial deployments.

Stock Rebounds From Discounted OfferingThe stock is also recovering from volatility tied to the company’s upsized $225 million equity offering.

The company priced 10.71 million shares at $21 each, about 19% below the prior closing price of $25.96.

The recovery suggests investors are shifting some attention from dilution concerns toward the company’s ability to execute large-scale deployments.

UBS Turns BullishUBS upgraded FCEL to Buy from Neutral and raised its price forecast to $27 from $22.

The upgrade adds to improving sentiment around the stock and provides a higher valuation benchmark following the equity offering.

Although the broader market remained modestly positive, the stock’s sharp advance appeared to be driven primarily by company-specific catalysts rather than sector-wide momentum.

FuelCell Energy Price ActionFCEL Price Action: FuelCell Energy shares were up 14.31% at $21.81 at the time of publication on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Photo by T. Schneider via Shutterstock

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Hot stock Robinhood Markets (HOOD +2.79%) hasn't been so hot for most of 2026. It's starting to recover, though, and it's roughly flat year to date.

The trading platform reports second-quarter earnings on July 29. Is now the time to buy?

What to expect in the second-quarter report Management doesn't provide a full quarterly outlook, but it does provide guidance around operating expenses, and it has planned expenses to "accelerate product velocity, drive net deposit growth, and grow revenues."

Robinhood has expanded into being much more than a stock trading platform. It also offers cryptocurrency and options trading, as well as several traditional banking products, such as a credit card. It also offers a premium membership program called Robinhood Gold, and it recently launched the prediction markets segment and the Robinhood Social social media app.

Image source: Getty Images.

It generates higher revenue when users trade on their accounts, and launching new products as well as attracting higher deposits should lead to increased revenue. What's been happening is that cryptocurrency, and specifically Bitcoin, is falling, and lower trading is negatively affecting Robinhood's growth.

Last year, cryptocurrency trading revenue increased 98% year over year in the second quarter, implying that this year, there will be either a major slowdown or a decline. In the 2026 first quarter, it declined 47%, which doesn't bode well for the second quarter. This might have already been factored into the stock, but now that the stock has recovered, it could drop again on bad news.

On the positive side, it has been setting up a new product to benefit from Trump accounts, which should be a positive impact on the business, and it was one of the platforms chosen for the Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) initial public offering, which could also add more revenue.

How will Robinhood stock react? Robinhood may have a long growth runway as it disrupts traditional finance, but its growth minus cryptocurrency is somewhat underwhelming. Revenue increased 15% year over year in the first quarter. It added 1.7 million funded customers in the first quarter, a 6% year-over-year increase, for a total of 27.4 million. Robinhood Gold members increased by 1.2 million, or a 36% increase, to 4.3 million.

Today's Change

(

2.79

%) $

3.07

Current Price

$

112.93

Since the stock is heading back up, it's becoming more expensive again. It trades at 37 times forward one-year earnings, which is rich, especially as revenue growth slows down.

Since there are reasons to suspect the pressure related to cryptocurrency has yet to abate, I wouldn't buy Robinhood stock before the report with the expectation that it will jump. I would only recommend buying it if you see the long-term vision and can hold through volatility.

With a forward dividend yield of 19.2%, UWM Holdings (UWMC +1.25%) may seem like a golden opportunity for yield-hungry investors. But while this may represent an extremely high yield, especially for a high-profile financial stock, I wouldn't count on buying it, collecting the double-digit yield, and generating above-average total returns.

UWM's newfound status as a high-yield dividend stock is largely due to its share price collapse. Put simply, the market thinks that the mortgage wholesaler's high payout won't last. Even though the stock's valuation may account for a possible dividend suspension, such an event, along with other potential negative developments, could lead to further significant losses.

Image source: Getty Images.

UWM missed out on a merger and has questionable payout sustainability UWM, America's largest home lender, has struggled since the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates in 2022. Although revenue has bounced back from a steep drop, the company remains far from its pandemic-era high-water mark for profitability.

Today's Change

(

1.25

%) $

0.03

Current Price

$

2.03

In 2021, UWM reported revenue of around $3 billion. Last year, UWM's total revenue came in slightly above $3 billion. However, diluted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $0.66 in 2021, but in 2025, it was just $0.12.

Reaching past profitability levels was clearly an objective with UWM Holdings' plans to acquire mortgage REIT and loan servicing company Two Harbors Investment Corp. (TWO +0.21%), which it announced back in December. At that time, UWM's management touted that its $1.3 billion all-stock bid would be highly accretive to shareholders, paving the way for "continued dividends."

Unfortunately, last May, CrossCountry Mortgage, seeking to take advantage of UWM's falling stock price, emerged with a $10.80-per-share all-cash offer for Two Harbors. UWM's would-be target accepted the bid, terminating its prior plans. Although UWM stepped up with an alternative all-cash offer, Two Harbors shareholders approved the CrossCountry deal earlier this month.

Tread carefully, as the dividend remains highly uncertain Based on sell-side consensus, EPS could hit $0.38 this year, nearly covering the stock's $0.40 in annual dividends. However, a reduction or full dividend suspension could still be in the cards.

As KBW analysts Bose George and Frankie Labetti argued earlier this month, UWM Holdings could reduce its debt-to-equity ratio from 3.1 to 2.2 by the end of 2027. If improvements in the housing market coincide with UWM conserving cash, it could set the company up for a much-anticipated recovery.

However, while the analysts may believe that a dividend suspension/cut won't lead to further downside, I'd lean toward caution. Shares could continue to pull back on a dividend cut, even as the market already anticipates one.

Also, keep in mind that the housing market continues to recalibrate. Couple that with the prospect of "higher for longer" interest rates persisting under Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, and it's even easier to see why caution remains key. Whether you like this stock as a dividend payer or as a turnaround play, you may want to take your time before entering a position.

Key Takeaways Reinsurance Treaty and Global Wholesale & Specialty driving underwriting growth and profitability. Higher investment income and global expansion support earnings and long-term growth opportunities.EG enhances shareholder returns through dividends, share buybacks and disciplined capital management. Shares of Everest Group, Ltd. (EG - Free Report) have risen 17.7% in the past year, outperforming the industry’s growth of 6.1%. The stock closed at $377.89 on Monday, near its 52-week high of $379.22, reflecting investor confidence.

EG shares have risen because of stronger-than-expected earnings, a much better combined ratio, lower catastrophe losses, solid investment income and confidence in management's specialty insurance and reinsurance strategy.

1-Year Price Performance: EG, AEG, AIZ, AIG & Industry

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Shares of other insurers like American International Group (AIG - Free Report) , Aegon NV (AEG - Free Report) and Assurant, Inc. (AIZ - Free Report) have gained 9.4%, 12.5% and 17.6% respectively in the past year.

EG’s Attractive ValuationEG’s shares are trading at a discount compared with the industry. Its price-to-book value of 0.98X is lower than the industry average of 2.98X. The insurer has a Value Score of A.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Shares of other insurers like American International, Aegon and Assurant are trading at a discount to the industry average.

EG’s Growth ProjectionThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for Everest Group’s 2026 earnings per share (EPS) is pinned at $53.05, indicating a year-over-year increase of 19.1%. The estimate for 2026 revenues is pegged at $15.94 billion, implying a year-over-year decline of 8.9%. The consensus estimate for 2027 EPS indicates an increase of 13.2%, while revenues indicate a decrease of 3.7% from the corresponding 2026 estimates.

EG’s earnings grew 18% in the last five years, better than the industry average of 10.7 %. The expected long-term earnings growth is pegged at 12.4%.

Optimistic Analyst Sentiment on EGThe company has witnessed four upward earnings estimate revisions for 2026 over the past 60 days, against two downward revisions. For 2027, it has witnessed three upward revisions and one downward revision. Thus, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 and 2027 earnings has moved north by 0.6% and north 0.2%, respectively, over the same period.

EG’s Return on Invested CapitalThe return on invested capital in the trailing 12 months was 9.7%, better than the industry average of 2.2%. This reflects the company’s efficiency in utilizing funds to generate income.

What Drives EG?Reinsurance Treaty remains Everest Group's key growth engine, supported by disciplined underwriting, favorable reserve development and strong underwriting profitability. The Global Wholesale & Specialty business continues to gain traction, benefiting from portfolio optimization, improved underwriting and growth in higher-margin specialty lines. Although property catastrophe pricing has moderated, management remains disciplined, deploying capital only where risk-adjusted returns meet its profitability thresholds, supporting sustainable long-term earnings growth.

Everest Group continues to enhance portfolio quality by reducing exposure to lower-return casualty and retail insurance businesses while expanding higher-margin specialty and short-tail lines. The company also maintains conservative reserve practices, with favorable property reserve development and no material adverse U.S. casualty reserve movements, reflecting disciplined risk management and supporting earnings quality.

Net investment income has been improving, supported by strong alternative investment returns and growth in the fixed-income portfolio. Higher limited partnership income and expanding assets under management are expected to support investment returns.

Everest Group is actively scaling operations in markets such as Mexico, Colombia, Australia, and Italy, targeting regions with strong insurance demand and underpenetrated segments. Mexico and Colombia offer growth opportunities, driven by rising insurance adoption and demand for customized solutions. Australia and Italy provide exposure to developed markets with an increasing need for specialty and non-life coverage.

Everest Group is improving capital efficiency through the sale of its Commercial Retail Insurance business and the runoff of legacy operations, while the expanding Mt. Logan platform supports additional underwriting capacity and returns. The company also maintains a strong cash position and continues to enhance shareholder returns through regular dividends and an aggressive share repurchase program. Management expects a minimum quarterly buyback pace of $300 million throughout 2026.

Risks for EG StockProperty catastrophe reinsurance pricing continues to soften, which may weigh on premium growth and margins despite favorable policy terms.

Everest Group faces foreign exchange risk as it operates in currencies such as the euro, pound, and Canadian dollar while reporting in U.S. dollars.

Everest Group remains vulnerable to large catastrophe losses and geopolitical events. Large natural disasters or geopolitical events could increase claims and adversely impact underwriting profitability.

ConclusionEverest Group is poised for growth in underwriting discipline, international insurance expansion, a rise in investment income and financial flexibility. However, foreign exchange volatility, geopolitical tensions and catastrophe losses continue to be concerns.

Coupled with attractive valuation, optimistic analyst sentiment and higher returns, it is wise to retain this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock presently. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Key Takeaways Uncrustables sales rose 8% in Q4 2026, its strongest growth rate of the year. The brand drives 40% of annual sales in J.M. Smucker's U.S. frozen handheld and spreads segment. Uncrustables added about 3 million households, while 27% penetration leaves room for further growth. The J.M. Smucker Co. (SJM - Free Report) has several established brands across coffee, frozen foods and pet food, but Uncrustables continues to stand out as one of the company's most important growth platforms. Rising household adoption, broader distribution and continued innovation have helped the brand strengthen its contribution across multiple businesses.

The momentum continued in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026. Uncrustables net sales increased 8%, marking the brand's strongest quarterly growth rate of the fiscal year. The performance helped the U.S. Retail Frozen Handheld and Spreads segment deliver 1% net sales growth despite declines in Jif peanut butter and Smucker's fruit spreads. The brand also supported the Away From Home segment, where higher Uncrustables demand contributed to 15% net sales growth during the quarter.

Uncrustables has now grown into an approximately $1 billion annual sales brand. Around 75% of sales come from U.S. Retail, with the remaining 25% generated through Away From Home channels. Within the U.S. Retail Frozen Handheld and Spreads segment, Uncrustables accounts for 40% of annual net sales, highlighting its increasing importance to the company's portfolio.

The growth opportunity remains substantial. Uncrustables added approximately 3 million new households over the past year, yet household penetration is still only 27%, leaving ample room for expansion. To build on that momentum, The J.M. Smucker is broadening distribution and introducing new offerings. Beginning this summer, all Uncrustables varieties will be fridge-friendly and remain fresh in the refrigerator for up to five days. It has also introduced varieties containing 12 grams of protein to expand into breakfast and morning snacking occasions.

Uncrustables has become more than a successful brand. Its expanding consumer reach, product innovation and presence across both retail and Away From Home channels make it one of SJM's most important organic growth platforms.

SJM Stock Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesShares of the Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have gained 5.6% over the past year against the industry’s decline of 21.9%.

SJM Price Performance Versus Industry
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, SJM trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 10.96, lower than the industry’s average of 14.55.

SJM Valuation Compared to Industry
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SJM’s current and next fiscal-year earnings per share implies year-over-year growth of 8.7% and 6.9%, respectively.

Better-Ranked Stocks to ConsiderUnited Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI - Free Report) , a major food wholesaler serving grocery retailers, currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for United Natural’s current and next fiscal-year earnings per share suggests a year-over-year increase of 254.9% and 21.4%, respectively. UNFI delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 29.9%, on average.

Mama's Creations, Inc. (MAMA - Free Report) , a maker of refrigerated prepared foods for retail and foodservice, carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Mama's Creations’ current and next fiscal-year EPS suggests growth of 73.3% and 46.2%, respectively, from the prior-year reported levels. MAMA delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 129.2%, on average.

Hormel Foods Corporation (HRL - Free Report) , a global branded food company offering meat, protein and packaged food products, carries a Zacks Rank #2.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Hormel Foods’ current and next fiscal-year EPS calls for a year-over-year jump of 9.5% and 3.5%, respectively. HRL delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 3.2%, on average.

Key Takeaways Howmet's commercial aerospace revenues rose 20% in Q1, surpassing $1.2 billion and making up 53% of sales.HWM's Engine Products revenues climbed 29% on strong engine spare demand and aircraft backlog.Howmet could benefit from Boeing production recovery and healthy Airbus build rates supporting demand. The strongest driver of Howmet Aerospace Inc.’s (HWM - Free Report) business at the moment is strength in the commercial aerospace market. Revenues from the commercial aerospace market increased 20% year over year (exceeding $1.2 billion) in the first quarter of 2026, constituting 53% of HWM’s business.

This uptick significantly benefited Howmet’s Engine Products segment, which reported a 29% year-over-year revenue increase in the first quarter. The sustained strength was attributed to increasing demand for engine spares and a record backlog for new, more fuel-efficient aircraft with reduced carbon emissions. Driven by strength across the commercial and defense aerospace markets, revenues from HWM’s Fastening Systems segment also increased 14% year over year.

Boeing is also anticipated to witness a gradual production recovery, particularly in the 737 MAX widebody aircraft, which is likely to boost demand for Howmet’s products in the market. Also, healthy build rates at Airbus for A320 (narrowbody) and A350 (widebody) aircraft hold promise for spare engine demand. With commercial aircraft programs expected to continue benefiting from the strength in air travel, the company is poised to maintain robust demand momentum in the quarters ahead.

HWM’s Peers in the Commercial Aerospace MarketGE Aerospace (GE - Free Report) is benefiting from the solid demand for LEAP, GEnx & GE9X engines and services within the Commercial Engines & Services business. Revenues from GE Aerospace’s Commercial Engines & Services business jumped 34% year over year to $8.92 billion in first-quarter 2026. GE Aerospace has also been making investments to expand and upgrade manufacturing facilities in the United States and overseas.

RBC Bearings Incorporated (RBC - Free Report) is gaining from the strong performance of the Aerospace/Defense segment. Strength in the commercial aerospace market, driven by strong growth in orders from the OEM and the aftermarket verticals, is driving the Aerospace/Defense segment. The segment’s revenues were up 41.2% year over year in fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 (ended March 2026).

HWM's Price Performance, Valuation and EstimatesShares of Howmet have gained 6.8% in the past three months against the industry’s decline of 4.5%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, HWM is trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 49.42X, above the industry’s average of 32.84X.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HWM’s earnings has been on the rise over the past 60 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

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

Wall Street expects a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when Equifax (EFX - Free Report) reports results for the quarter ended June 2026. While this widely-known consensus outlook is important in gauging the company's earnings picture, a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates.

The stock might move higher if these key numbers top expectations in the upcoming earnings report, which is expected to be released on July 21. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.

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

Zacks Consensus EstimateThis credit reporting company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $2.21 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +10.5%.

Revenues are expected to be $1.69 billion, up 10.3% from the year-ago quarter.

Estimate Revisions TrendThe consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.

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

Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

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

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

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

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

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

How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Equifax?For Equifax, the Most Accurate Estimate is lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bearish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of -0.33%.

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

So, this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that Equifax will beat the consensus EPS estimate.

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

For the last reported quarter, it was expected that Equifax would post earnings of $1.69 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.86, delivering a surprise of +10.06%.

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

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

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

Equifax doesn't appear a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.

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

Key Takeaways Quest Diagnostics is expected to post Q2 revenues of $2.98 billion, up 7.9% from the year-ago level. DGX may benefit from physician, hospital and consumer channel growth, including ESRD and Co-Lab expansion. Quest Diagnostics expects advanced diagnostics, Quest AI Companion and Invigorate synergies to aid results. Quest Diagnostics (DGX - Free Report) is set to release second-quarter 2026 results on July 23, before the market opens.

In the last reported quarter, the renowned diagnostics provider posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.50, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.49%. The company beat on earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 3.50%.

Q2 Estimates for DGXThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $2.98 billion, indicating an increase of 7.9% from the year-ago reported figure.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s EPS suggests a 7.3% rise to $2.81.

Estimate Revision Trend Ahead of DGX’s Q2 EarningsEstimates for Quest Diagnostics’ Q2 earnings have remained unchanged in the past 30 days.

Here’s a brief review of the company’s performance leading up to the announcement.

Factors Likely to Influence DGX’s Q2 ResultsAs in the previous quarter, second-quarter 2026 revenues are expected to have been supported by broad-based demand for its clinical innovations, expansion into new clinical areas, and partnerships with leading healthcare and consumer health organizations.

In the physician channel, a key driver has likely been geographic expansion from greater health plan access, expanding the reach of Quest Diagnostics’ lab services. Enterprise accounts might have contributed additional revenues from new customer wins and expanded business. The company's entry into end-stage renal disease (ESRD), a new clinical area, is expected to have boosted revenues in the to-be-reported quarter.

Growth in the hospital channel may have been driven by Co-Lab solutions, which leverages the company’s lab and process management expertise to optimize quality and drive cost efficiencies. Early in 2026, DGX began scaling its Co-Lab solutions across all 21 hospitals of Corewell Health, its largest implementation to date. This is expected to have had a positive impact on revenues.

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated Price and EPS SurpriseIn the consumer channel, as in recent quarters, the company is likely to have generated strong revenue growth from both questhealth.com and its portfolio of leading consumer health collaborations. This growth is expected to have been driven by notable demand for its new solutions such as the Elite health profile and autoimmune and hormone tests.

In the second quarter of 2026, the company is likely to have maintained momentum in Advanced Diagnostics, which includes non-routine and specialized tests across advanced cardiometabolic, autoimmune, brain health, oncology, and women's and reproductive health areas. Offerings such as the Quest AD-Detect blood test portfolio for Alzheimer's disease, the ANAlyzeR autoimmune solution and the new Flow Cytometry measurable residual disease (MRD) for Myeloma are expected to have supported growth.

The company is also leveraging artificial intelligence through the newly launched Quest AI Companion, which transforms complex biomarker data and reference ranges in test reports into clear, easy-to-understand language. Patients have engaged with Quest AI Companion approximately 350,000 times since its first-quarter launch, and we expect this momentum to have continued in the to-be-reported quarter. Additionally, operational efficiencies and cost synergies from the Invigorate initiative are likely to have supported Quest Diagnostics' operating performance.

What Our Model Unveils for DGXPer our proven model, a stock with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold), along with a positive Earnings ESP, has a higher chance of beating estimates, which is not the case here, as you can see below.

Earnings ESP: Quest Diagnostics has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Top MedTech PicksHere are some medical stocks worth considering, as these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this time around:

Hinge Health Inc. (HNGE - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +4.24% and a Zacks Rank #1. The company is expected to release second-quarter 2026 results soon.

In the trailing four quarters, HINGE delivered an average surprise of 179.54%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter EPS implies a decrease 11.9% from the year-ago quarter’s figure.

Neurocrine Biosciences (NBIX - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +40.60% and a Zacks Rank #1 at present. The company is expected to release second-quarter 2026 results soon.

NBIX’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed in one, the average surprise being 9.08%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s second-quarter EPS calls for an increase of 112.3% from the year-ago quarter’s figure.

West Pharmaceutical Services (WST - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.09% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present. The company is slated to release second-quarter 2026 results on July 23. 

WST’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 19.37%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WST’s second-quarter EPS implies a rise of 13% from the year-ago reported figure.

Key Takeaways Helen of Troy posted 8.2% sales growth in fiscal Q1 2027, with gains in both operating segments.HELE benefited from new products, wider distribution and stronger demand across key leadership brands.Tariffs, freight, currency pressure and cautious spending kept margins and earnings under strain. Helen of Troy Limited (HELE - Free Report) is showing early signs of stabilization as execution improves across its two operating segments.

The investment debate now centers on whether better sales momentum in leadership brands can build a durable recovery while margins remain under pressure from tariffs, costs and cautious consumer spending.

Helen of Troy Rebuilds Core BrandsHelen of Troy is focusing its strategy on leadership brands, including OXO, Hydro Flask, Osprey, Vicks, Braun, PUR, Hot Tools, Drybar, Curlsmith, Revlon and Olive & June.

This prioritization is designed to concentrate investment behind brands with clearer consumer relevance, stronger innovation pipelines and better channel potential. It also gives HELE a more disciplined base for restoring momentum after a difficult operating stretch.

The approach resembles the broader consumer-products playbook, where portfolio focus matters. The Clorox Company (CLX - Free Report) also operates through widely recognized household and wellness brands, while Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (CHD - Free Report) competes across fabric care, health and personal care categories.

HELE Gains From Innovation and ReachIn the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Helen of Troy’s consolidated net sales rose 8.2% to $402.1 million, with growth in both segments. Home & Outdoor sales increased 9.5%, while Beauty & Wellness sales rose 7%.

Home & Outdoor benefited from international demand for packs, new product launches and expanded distribution in home and insulated beverageware. Osprey gained from distribution and e-commerce momentum, while OXO and Hydro Flask benefited from wider retail placement and new products.

Beauty & Wellness was helped by nail care, fans and thermometers. The Wellness portfolio also benefited from growth across Braun, Vicks, Honeywell and PUR, supported by expanded distribution and solid point-of-sale trends.

Helen of Troy Expands Beyond the U.S.International growth adds another support to HELE’s recovery story, although the trend is uneven. International sales increased 1.1% in the fiscal first quarter, helped by Osprey distribution improvements and wellness growth.

Management is leaning into a hybrid market model that combines local partners with direct consumer engagement. That approach could help Helen of Troy widen its reach in selected global markets without overextending investment.

The company is still dealing with category-level softness outside the United States. Lower international sales in home and insulated beverageware offset some Home & Outdoor gains, while kitchenware and hair appliances remained weaker areas.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

HELE Still Faces Margin PressureSales improvement has not yet produced a clean earnings rebound. Consolidated gross margin declined 110 basis points to 46% in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, mainly due to tariffs, inventory obsolescence and a less favorable customer mix within Home & Outdoor.

Adjusted operating margin slipped 30 basis points to 4%. Adjusted earnings were 17 cents per share, down from 41 cents in the year-ago quarter, despite higher sales and lower interest expense.

The cost backdrop remains challenging. Management expects pressure from commodity inputs, unfavorable Chinese yuan movements, higher inbound and outbound freight and spending to secure supply. A promotional marketplace and cautious retailer purchasing also limit pricing flexibility.

How HELE’s Rank Fits This SetupThe bottom line is that HELE is rebuilding revenue momentum, but the earnings path remains uneven. Better execution, product launches and expanded distribution support the recovery case, while tariff and cost pressures keep profitability visibility limited.

Helen of Troy currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). That rank fits a wait-and-see setup, with improving sales trends balanced against margin compression and a cautious consumer backdrop. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

For now, HELE looks like a stabilization story rather than a clean acceleration story. Investors may want clearer evidence that leadership-brand momentum can translate into steadier earnings before treating the recovery as more durable.