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US spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $107.8 million in net inflows on Wednesday, while their Ethereum counterparts pulled in $53.8 million.

The numbers in context Earlier in July, Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $181.1 million on a single day, July 14. So Wednesday’s figure represents a moderation from that pace, though still firmly positive.

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Cumulative net inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs have now surpassed $51 billion since their January 2024 launch.

At $53.8 million, Wednesday’s ether ETF inflows represented roughly half the Bitcoin figure. Ether ETFs launched several months after their Bitcoin predecessors.

Recovery from a rocky start to the year Earlier in 2026, both Bitcoin and ether ETFs experienced multi-week outflow streaks. The summer months have brought a clear reversal, with funds flowing back into both product categories.

BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale have continued to attract the lion’s share of flows.

What this means for investors When the SEC approved spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024, the optimistic projections called for maybe $10 billion in the first year. The actual numbers have blown past even the most bullish forecasts, with cumulative net inflows now exceeding $51 billion.

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

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HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aramco awarded Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) a multi-year contract to deliver integrated stimulation and completion services for unconventional gas development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This award is part of a broader multi-billion contract, supporting one of the largest unconventional gas development programs globally.

This award builds on Halliburton’s established portfolio supporting Aramco’s unconventional program. Across many of the Kingdom’s unconventional plays, Halliburton delivers a comprehensive suite of drilling and completion solutions. Its integrated service model is designed to support high-intensity development programs and improve operational efficiency, workflow predictability, and execution reliability. This collaboration supports broader regional efforts toward integrated unconventional development programs.

“This award highlights our long-standing collaboration with Aramco and builds on more than 80 years in the Kingdom, while advancing unconventional gas development in the Kingdom,” said Rami Yassine, president, Eastern Hemisphere, Halliburton. “Beginning in the third quarter of 2026, Halliburton will deploy the Kingdom’s first fully integrated intelligent fracturing platform through OCTIV® Auto Frac and Sensori™ fracturing monitoring services to contribute to asset value for one of the world’s largest unconventional fields."

Under the program, Halliburton will deploy intelligent automation solutions for fracturing to optimize performance in real time and support disciplined implementation across multi-well campaigns. These technologies support digital integration across operations while advancing efficiency and operational reliability.

Development activities in the Jafurah Basin are underway. To support this effort, Halliburton plans to increase its investment in local manufacturing, improve its supply chain, and expand workforce development programs within the Kingdom, aiming to scale operations and sustain high performance as unconventional activity accelerates.

ABOUT HALLIBURTON

Halliburton is one of the world’s leading providers of products and services to the energy industry. Founded in 1919, we create innovative technologies, products, and services that help our customers maximize their value throughout the life cycle of an asset and advance a sustainable energy future. Visit us at www.halliburton.com; connect with us on LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.

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Hedera has had a genuinely split week. On one side, an oracle exploit drained $9.05 million from the network’s largest DeFi lending protocol and wiped out nearly 40% of Hedera’s total value locked in a single day. On the other, Lloyds Banking Group, Aberdeen Investments, and Archax completed the UK’s first foreign exchange transaction using tokenized real-world assets as collateral on Hedera — a genuine institutional milestone that landed in an HM Treasury-backed report the same week. Here’s what’s actually happening with HBAR right now, and why the network’s enterprise-heavy governance model makes this kind of split story more common than it is for most Layer 1 networks.

Key Takeaways Bonzo Lend, Hedera’s largest DeFi lending protocol, lost approximately $9.05 million on July 11 after an attacker exploited a verification flaw in a third-party Supra oracle, manipulating the price of SAUCE tokens to borrow far more than their collateral supported Hedera’s total value locked fell nearly 40% within 24 hours of the exploit, with Bonzo’s own TVL plummeting 77%; Hedera’s network-wide TVL now sits around $25.7 million HBAR fell to around $0.067-0.069 following the exploit, down roughly 71% over the past year and about 88% below its September 2021 all-time high of $0.5692 Days later, Lloyds Banking Group, Aberdeen Investments, and Archax completed the UK’s first FX transaction using tokenized real-world assets as collateral on the Hedera network, featured in an HM Treasury-backed Wholesale Digital Markets Champion report The Hedera Council — the network’s enterprise governing body — has grown to roughly 31-32 members including Google, IBM, Boeing, FedEx, Deutsche Telekom, and McLaren Racing, each operating a network validator node The Canary Capital HBAR spot ETF (HBR) has attracted cumulative inflows of roughly $93 million since launch, with net assets around $49 million, following the SEC and CFTC’s March 2026 classification of HBAR as a digital commodity What Happened in the Bonzo Lend Exploit How the Attack Worked According to Bonzo’s official incident report, the exploit began around 00:51 UTC on July 11, 2026, when an attacker deposited just 250 SAUCE tokens — worth only a few dollars — and submitted a manipulated price update to an on-demand oracle contract. The false update inflated SAUCE’s value by roughly 12 orders of magnitude, and critically, the oracle verifier accepted the update even though it carried a zeroed signature rather than a valid signature from the authorized oracle committee. Eight seconds later, the attacker used that inflated collateral to borrow approximately 6.6 million USDC and 34.5 million Wrapped HBAR (WHBAR), together worth about $9.05 million. A second wallet borrowed roughly $1 million during the same window before identifying itself to the Bonzo team as a white-hat responder and pledging to return the funds — bringing total abnormal borrowing during the incident to about $10.06 million, though Bonzo’s headline loss figure of $9.05 million excludes the funds the white-hat wallet said it would return.

Blockchain security researchers Specter and PeckShield tracked over $5.25 million of the stolen funds being bridged from Hedera to Ethereum via LayerZero and swapped from Wrapped Bitcoin into ETH. Bonzo Lend and Bonzo Points remain paused while the team evaluates recovery options; Bonzo Vaults, Bonzo Bridge, and single-sided staking were unaffected and continue operating normally. Bonzo attributed the failure specifically to a flaw in Supra’s third-party oracle verification infrastructure, stating the incident was not caused by vulnerabilities in Bonzo’s own smart contracts or in Hedera’s underlying network — a distinction that matters, since it means the exploit reflects a weakness in one DeFi protocol’s chosen oracle provider rather than a flaw in Hedera’s core consensus mechanism. Supra has since acknowledged the issue and deployed a fix to the affected verifier contract.

Why It Matters Beyond the Dollar Figure The exploit’s real damage may be to confidence rather than just the balance sheet. Hedera’s network-wide total value locked fell by nearly 40% in the 24 hours following the incident as users withdrew funds, and South Korean exchanges including Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone issued investor caution notices regarding Hedera. The timing is also notable: the incident is one of three major DeFi exploits in a single week — alongside a $6 million Summer.fi exploit and a $20 million BonkDAO governance attack — that together account for more than $35 million in losses, part of a broader pattern CertiK’s H1 2026 report flagged as a security environment that “has not improved and has, in several respects, deteriorated” despite total dollar losses trending down. For more on how total value locked is tracked across DeFi, see our explainer on what DeFiLlama measures.

The Institutional Side of the Story: Lloyds, Aberdeen, and Archax While the exploit was still working through headlines, Hedera posted a genuinely significant institutional development. Lloyds Banking Group, Aberdeen Investments, and digital asset platform Archax completed the UK’s first foreign exchange transaction using tokenized real-world assets as collateral, executed on the Hedera network. The transaction involved tokenized units of an Aberdeen Investments money market fund alongside tokenized UK government debt, and was highlighted in an HM Treasury-backed Wholesale Digital Markets Champion report as an example of practical institutional blockchain adoption. The juxtaposition — a DeFi protocol exploit and a landmark traditional-finance pilot landing on Hedera in the same week — captures the split character of Hedera’s current position: a network with genuine enterprise credibility whose permissionless DeFi layer carries the same third-party smart contract risks as any other chain.

Who Governs Hedera: The Hedera Council An Enterprise Governance Model Unlike Most Blockchains Unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum, Hedera isn’t governed by anonymous validators or a founding team — it’s run by the Hedera Council (renamed from “Hedera Governing Council” in May 2025), a rotating body of up to 39 global organizations, currently numbering roughly 31-32 members. Each member holds one equal vote on protocol decisions regardless of company size, serves a three-year term with a maximum of two consecutive terms, and is required to operate a consensus node that validates transactions on the network. The structure is explicitly modeled on Visa’s original 1968 governance framework, in which a council of member banks ran a shared payment network without any single institution controlling it.

Who’s On the Council Council members span technology, finance, telecommunications, energy, and academia, and include Google, IBM, Boeing, FedEx, Dell, Deutsche Telekom, LG Electronics, Standard Bank, Chainlink Labs, Nomura Holdings, Ubisoft, McLaren Racing, and Accenture (which joined in April 2026 to build enterprise AI governance infrastructure on the network), alongside academic institutions including the London School of Economics and University College London. Modifications to Hedera’s total HBAR supply — capped at 50 billion tokens — require unanimous agreement from every council member, the highest governance threshold in the network’s structure.

HBAR Regulatory and Institutional Backdrop HBAR was one of 16 tokens the SEC and CFTC included on a formal digital commodity classification list published March 17, 2026, alongside Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP — a notable inclusion that expanded regulated institutional access to the token. That classification helped pave the way for products like the Canary Capital HBAR spot ETF (ticker: HBR), which has drawn cumulative inflows of roughly $93 million since launch, with net assets around $49 million, alongside a Hashdex index product that also includes HBAR exposure.

For more on the platforms tracking crypto market data, see our explainers on what Coinglass tracks in derivatives markets and what RWA.xyz measures in tokenized assets. For the broader crypto market picture, see today’s Crypto Market Today and Crypto News Today roundup.

AUTHOR

Max delves deep into the cryptocurrency realm, with a passion for altcoins and NFTs. Convinced of crypto's transformative potential, he envisions a decentralized financial future. Max's background in the financial sector grants him unique insights into global monetary systems. In his leisure, Max embraces the thrill of adventures and is an avid sports enthusiast, finding balance and rejuvenation away from work.

Crypto Briefing approved image library

$250 million in new liquidity has been added to the Solana blockchain, according to a recent report by @martypartymusic on social media. This development is attributed to Circle, the issuer of USDC, minting the stablecoin directly onto the network. The injection of capital is expected to bolster the infrastructure supporting decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and exchanges operating within the Solana ecosystem. Market observers are noting this move as a potential indicator of increasing institutional interest in Solana as a robust platform for dollar-backed assets.

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The additional liquidity has been detected by on-chain monitoring services such as SolanaFloor and Whale Alert, which track significant blockchain transactions. This injection aligns with Solana’s strategy as a leading stablecoin hub, comparable to Ethereum and Base. As a result, market participants appear to be considering the implications of this liquidity boost on Solana’s price trajectory, particularly in the context of its ability to reach $90 in July.

Key Takeaways The addition of $250 million liquidity on Solana suggests potential support for increased market activity and institutional interest. Pricing in prediction markets appears consistent with scenarios where Solana’s price reaches $90 in July, reflecting moderate optimism. The transaction may indicate Solana’s growing appeal as a settlement layer for stablecoins, reinforcing its competitive position. What to Watch Market participants will be closely monitoring Solana’s price movements in the coming weeks, particularly any approach towards the $90 mark by the end of July. Key developments that could further influence market sentiment include potential upgrades to the Solana network, significant ETF inflows, or new financial products approved by regulatory bodies. Additionally, any macroeconomic shifts or regulatory changes affecting the crypto market could impact Solana’s ability to maintain or exceed current price expectations.

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Term Structure

Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h August 1 2026 18.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 1.3% — — View market → August 1 2026 1.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.9% — — View market → August 1 2026 4.3% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 6% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 1.6% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 36% — — View market →

Celo just topped every Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchain in 30-day tokenholder growth, according to Token Terminal’s on-chain analytics. The network also sits at number 10 overall by total tokenholder count.

The catalyst is straightforward: Opera browser users who meet eligibility criteria can now earn CELO token rewards. That’s a distribution channel of meaningful scale, and it’s translating directly into new wallet holders at a pace no other chain is matching right now.

The numbers behind the surge Celo reports over 700,000 daily active users and transactions, which makes it the most active Ethereum Layer 2 by that metric.

The network’s MiniPay wallet, its flagship mobile product, has crossed 11 million users. That user base isn’t hypothetical DeFi degens rotating between yield farms. It’s largely composed of people in emerging markets using the wallet for actual payments.

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Monthly stablecoin volume on Celo surpassed $3 billion entering 2026. The chain has also passed one billion lifetime transactions, a milestone that places it in a relatively exclusive club of networks with demonstrated, sustained usage.

The Opera play and what it actually means Opera has hundreds of millions of users globally, with particular strength in Africa and Southeast Asia, regions where Celo has already concentrated its efforts. Celo isn’t trying to poach users from Arbitrum or Optimism. It’s going after people who may never have held a crypto token before, reaching them through a browser they already use daily.

The CELO rewards act as an onboarding mechanism, turning Opera users into tokenholders without requiring them to navigate exchanges or bridge assets.

Community proposals suggest that grants are tied to the Opera partnership, which means governance discussions are actively weighing the cost of user acquisition against the potential for token dilution.

From L1 to L2, and the tokenomics question Celo’s transition from an independent Layer 1 to an Ethereum Layer 2 has been one of the more interesting architectural pivots in crypto. Rather than competing with Ethereum, the network opted to build on top of it, gaining access to Ethereum’s security and liquidity while maintaining its mobile-first identity.

The chain recently implemented its Jello hard fork, which introduced zero-knowledge fault proofs.

Celo’s community is running a tokenomics redesign initiative that explores buyback-and-burn mechanisms for the CELO token. If implemented, this would create deflationary pressure on token supply, funded presumably by network revenue. A mechanism that systematically removes tokens from circulation could offset the new supply being distributed through programs like the Opera rewards.

What this means for investors The competitive landscape for Ethereum L2s is crowded and getting more so every quarter. Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, and others are all fighting for developer attention and user adoption. Celo’s differentiation is geographic and demographic: it’s not trying to be the fastest chain for DeFi traders. It’s trying to be the default payment rail for mobile users in markets where traditional banking infrastructure is thin.

Investors should watch two things closely. First, whether the tokenholder growth sustains after the initial Opera reward impulse fades. Second, whether the buyback-and-burn tokenomics proposal actually passes governance and at what parameters, since that will determine whether CELO’s supply dynamics shift from inflationary to deflationary.

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

Shares of Apple (AAPL +3.95%) jumped to a record high on Wednesday, following some positive developments for the tech titan.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

More AI models could be coming to the iPhone On Tuesday, CNBC reported that Apple was evaluating innovative technology that could shrink large artificial intelligence (AI) models to run directly on an iPhone.

PrismML, a tiny Silicon Valley start-up, licenses the technology from the California Institute of Technology. PrismML CEO Babak Hassibi said Apple is testing the tech's performance on its devices.

If those tests prove successful, Apple could bring the power of advanced AI models to iPhone users. It could also help Apple reduce its cloud computing costs if AI applications can run directly on its devices.

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And on Wednesday, news broke that the Cyberspace Administration of China would allow Apple to provide AI services in the populous country.

Chinese e-commerce and cloud giant Alibaba will integrate its Qwen AI model into Apple Intelligence. Baidu, China's internet search leader, will also work with Apple to develop AI features for its devices.

Apple's AI strategy is emerging Apple has largely stayed out of the AI model race, much to the benefit of its shareholders.

Rather than spending tens and even hundreds of billions of dollars to compete with model makers like OpenAI and Anthropic or hyperscalers like Google and Meta Platforms, Apple has sought to partner with AI leaders to bring their innovations to its users.

It's a smart, cost-effective strategy. And these recent developments are beginning to show that Apple can still benefit from AI without incurring massive costs.

Joe Tenebruso has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, Baidu, and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool recommends Alibaba Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Shares of Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Baidu rose Thursday on their partnership with Apple for deploying their AI tools.

Hong-Kong listed shares of Alibaba rose 5% after the company confirmed that its Qwen AI model would be integrated into Apple services in China.

U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba had closed slightly higher overnight after an Alibaba spokesperson told CNBC that "Qwen will be integrated into Apple Intelligence experiences within iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and vision OS for users in China."

Alibaba HK shares

Baidu's Hong Kong-listed shares gained 4% as the company confirmed that it was working with Apple on Apple Intelligence features for iPhones in China.

This comes amid reports in late June that its artificial intelligence chip unit Kunlunxin is targeting an initial public offering in the city, which could value its affiliate at $50 billion.

The Cyberspace Administration of China in a notice on Wednesday included Apple Intelligence, along with six other smartphone-based AI services including Huawei Technologies, in a list of approved service providers.

The Apple-Qwen combination will allow users to access the model's capabilities, "like text and image understanding and generation, without needing to jump between tools," the Alibaba spokesperson added.

Apple did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comments.

Baidu hk shares

The technological rivalry between China and the U.S. has intensified, as they race for AI dominance. The U.S. has sought to curb China's ability to access high-end chips, while Beijing has tried to wall off U.S. investments into Chinese tech companies.

"AI leadership is becoming central to economic competitiveness, global standard-setting, and the maintenance of democratic governance," according to a report by  research organization RAND.

— CNBC's Evelyn Cheng, Joseph Wilkins and Kai Nicol-Schwarz contributed to this report.

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AI-enabled facility leverages automation, connected systems, and real-time insights to strengthen supply chain resilience

PENANG, Malaysia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jabil Inc. (NYSE: JBL), a global leader in engineering, supply chain, and manufacturing solutions, has opened its next-generation logistics hub in Penang.

Jabil’s new Intelligent Logistics Hub (or the Hub) spans around 417,000 square feet and is located in the Valdor Industrial Park in Sungai Jawi, Penang. The digitalised facility is set to boost the company’s back-end operations and support customers’ rapidly growing product complexity and capacity demands using AI-enabled capabilities to streamline inventory management, enhance traceability and tracking, deploy autonomous robots, and more.

“Supply chain volatility, rising logistics and operating costs, and the need for greater visibility into inventory are a few challenges faced in today’s advanced manufacturing and electronics supply chains. Coupled with the growth we see in the region, the new facility is a timely investment to enhance our automation capability and help Jabil grow to meet our customers’ future needs,” said HH Yeo, Jabil’s Senior Vice President of Operations.

"The Jabil Intelligent Logistics Hub demonstrates how Malaysian innovation and engineering capabilities can deliver world-class industrial infrastructure that meets the evolving needs of global supply chains. This project reflects our commitment to enabling smarter, more resilient, and future-ready industrial ecosystems that support Malaysia's economic growth and competitiveness," said Dato' Hj Abd Rahim bin Hj Jaafar, Executive Chairman of PTT Synergy Group Berhad, which delivered the facility through its subsidiary PROTT Sdn. Bhd. (PROTT).

Leveraging Penang’s strategic location, the new logistics hub will support end-to-end material flow, with capabilities including kitting, inventory management, automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS), sequencing, packing, cross-docking, traceability, and just-in-time (JIT) delivery to production lines.

Jabil opened its first Penang location in 1995. Across its eight Malaysian facilities, the company today employs more than 14,000 people and serves a wide range of industries, from automotive and transportation; cloud and data centre infrastructure; defence and aerospace; healthcare; and semiconductor capital equipment.

Jabil has been recognised as Best Employer and Employer of Choice in the Malaysia- International HR (MIHRM) Award in 2024; Responsible Business Alliance Validated Assessment Program (RBA VAP) Gold Certificate (Penang); received the CSR Malaysia Award 2025; Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Award; ESG Commitment Award by the Association of Malaysian Medical Industries (AMMI); and is a longstanding recipient of MY AmCham Cares Excellence Awards.

To learn about and apply for open positions at Jabil’s facilities in Malaysia, visit jabil.com/careers.

About Jabil

At Jabil (NYSE: JBL), we are proud to be a trusted partner for the world's top brands, offering comprehensive engineering, supply chain, and manufacturing solutions. With 60 years of experience across industries and a vast network of over 100 sites worldwide, Jabil combines global reach with local expertise to deliver both scalable and customised solutions. Our commitment extends beyond business success as we strive to build sustainable processes that minimise environmental impact and foster vibrant and diverse communities around the globe. Discover more at www.jabil.com.

Additional Information:

The Jabil Intelligent Logistics Hub Facility Highlights

Scale: The facility accommodates approximately 52,300 pallet positions and incorporates a fully Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS), climate-controlled environments, and intelligent warehouse technologies to ensure the secure handling of high-value and sensitive materials, including semiconductors and advanced electronic components. The facility also features high-bay stacker cranes, autonomous robotics and digital twin capabilities.

Security: Designed and constructed in accordance with FM Global standards, the facility provides a highly resilient and secure operating environment.

Real-time visibility and traceability: At the core of the operation is an integrated Digital Twin platform powered by Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) and Internet of Things (“IoT”) technologies. The data-driven system delivers real-time operational visibility, preventive maintenance capabilities, energy optimisation, and end-to-end inventory traceability, enhancing operational efficiency while supporting long-term reliability and sustainability objectives.

Safety: Supported by an integrated fleet of approximately 160 autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), forklift mobile robots (FMRs), sky transfer units (STUs), robotic arms, and automated scanning systems, the facility enables seamless material movement and inventory management from inbound receipt to outbound fulfilment.

Sustainability considerations have been embedded throughout the facility's design and operations. A rooftop solar photovoltaic system is scheduled for installation in September 2026, supporting the facility's target to achieve GreenRE Bronze certification and contributing to lower-carbon industrial operations.

The facility was delivered by PTT Synergy Group Berhad (Bursa: PTT) through its wholly owned subsidiary, PROTT Sdn. Bhd., (PROTT) which served as the total complete intelligent intralogistics solutions provider, integrating smart warehouse technologies, automation, and digital twin capabilities.

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Power is a major constraint in the artificial intelligence (AI) build-out, and CoreWeave (CRWV 3.58%) is positioned at the center of it. The company has more than 1 gigawatt of active power and is aiming for more than 8 gigawatts by 2030.

Gigawatts have become highly lucrative, with tech giants eager to sign long-term deals for this type of AI infrastructure. Just as AI chips and memory chips produced trillion-dollar stocks in the blink of an eye, power constraints can do the same, and CoreWeave is well-positioned for that scenario.

However, a $1 trillion valuation would require CoreWeave to more than 20x from current levels. How realistic is that, actually? Here's what investors should know when assessing whether CoreWeave can become a $1 trillion company.

Image source: Getty Images.

Dissecting the 8-gigawatt target If CoreWeave can reach its 8-gigawatt target by 2030, it has a real shot at becoming a $1 trillion company. However, that's a major "if," and it also assumes CoreWeave increasingly shifts away from renting data center space and owns a higher percentage of its gigawatts.

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Here's the good part about the math: Since it costs $60 billion to build a 1-gigawatt data center, having 8 gigawatts of data center capacity translates into $480 billion in value. That doesn't include property appreciation or hyperscaler deals.

CoreWeave already has a 3.5-gigawatt pipeline, so it's feasible for the company to expand this pipeline to 8 gigawatts by 2030. CoreWeave has had no issue with signing new deals with hyperscalers. The company signed new long-term deals with Meta Platforms, including a $21 billion expanded AI infrastructure agreement that stretches through December 2032. The total number of megawatts involved in the deal was not disclosed.

The financial realities of building a multi-gigawatt portfolio There is enough demand for an 8-gigawatt portfolio to build a $1 trillion company if all those gigawatts had multiyear contracts and were ready to go. However, CoreWeave may be strained significantly by financial realities on the path to its 8-gigawatt target.

The first financial reality is that it costs $60 billion to build a 1-gigawatt AI data center. How will CoreWeave raise enough money to build the necessary data centers to close its 4.5-gigawatt gap? Financing, tax incentives, and energy deals can help. CoreWeave also needs to fully power its remaining pipeline and reach a deal with hyperscalers for it.

The second financial reality is that CoreWeave will face higher costs from its landlords, which could further hurt margins. The company is already burning through cash, and while competitors like Nebius and Iren can substantially improve margins in the future by owning the land, power, and other resources, CoreWeave's business model does not provide that flexibility.

Landlords will raise prices on CoreWeave, especially as it locks in lucrative long-term deals with tech giants. CoreWeave more than doubled its revenue year over year in Q1 2026, but its net losses also more than doubled in that time frame. That type of business is not sustainable, especially as costs are set to increase significantly.

Look for the pivot to owned power CoreWeave is in the right industry at the right time, but there are better trades for investors who want to multiply their money. Nebius and Iren have much better chances of reaching $1 trillion valuations because they own the power, data centers, and other resources.

CoreWeave's business model is very similar to WeWork, a company that filed for bankruptcy a few years after reaching a $47 billion valuation. WeWork aggressively committed to long-term leases for office space and rented it to various companies, hoping to profit under an arbitrage model. CoreWeave has the same business model, except its business revolves around AI data center capacity rather than office space.

CoreWeave isn't likely to suffer the same fate. Demand for commercial office space collapsed during the pandemic and never truly recovered, which crushed WeWork's business model. CoreWeave is at the center of an industry with insatiable demand.

While a collapse is unlikely, CoreWeave is guaranteed to face margin pressure if it relies heavily on renting AI data center capacity and selling it to customers. CoreWeave owns its AI chips, which helps a little.

Investors should monitor any developments around CoreWeave shifting to own its AI data centers in the future instead of signing leases. If the company can get debt financing on good terms and continue to sign good deals, it could reach a $1 trillion valuation. However, you might get more from your money with other neocloud stocks.

Microsoft appears to be prepping its sales team to get more competitive with the other major players in the AI industry.

At an internal meeting on Tuesday, the company’s executives outlined a plan for salespeople to negatively compare AI products from companies like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic to its own, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The meeting, billed as a strategy session for the new fiscal year, reportedly leaned heavily on pitching the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of Microsoft’s in-house models against those of its rivals.

“Everyone else is selling parts — we’re selling the full end-to-end system. That’s the story that we all need to get out there and tell in FY27,” Executive Vice President Jay Parikh reportedly told the room.

Executive Vice President Jacob Andreou reportedly went further, delivering a presentation comparing Copilot directly to Anthropic’s chatbot Claude. According to Bloomberg, Andreou noted that, when it came to performance within Microsoft’s office apps, Anthropic’s model was “slower and less accurate, and lacked the proper security integrations,” Bloomberg writes.

TechCrunch has reached out to Microsoft and Anthropic for comment and will update this story if we hear from either outfit.

A company coaching its sales team on how to trash-talk competitors isn’t particularly surprising. What’s more notable is who Microsoft is now targeting — the same companies it has long depended on for the AI models powering its own products.

It’s just the latest move in that direction. A report earlier this month found that Microsoft has been swapping OpenAI and Anthropic’s models out of flagship apps like Word and Excel in favor of its own — a cost-cutting move, according to that report.

There was a time when Microsoft and OpenAI were attached at the hip. The two companies entered into a very unique agreement years ago that saw Microsoft provide capital and compute to OpenAI while allowing Microsoft to enjoy exclusive access to OpenAI’s API and models. The companies amended the partnership in April, dropping the exclusivity clause and clearing OpenAI to sell to Microsoft’s competitors.

That revised relationship may help explain the sales team’s new pitch. Microsoft has been battling a less-than-optimal stock outlook over the past year, as investors question the company’s massive spending on the buildout of its AI business. Talking up how competitive those products actually are is likely an attempt to calm those waters and build confidence in Microsoft’s long-term AI plan.

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

Lucas is a senior writer at TechCrunch, where he covers artificial intelligence, consumer tech, and startups. He previously covered AI and cybersecurity at Gizmodo. You can contact Lucas by emailing [email protected].

By PYMNTS  |  July 15, 2026

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Mastercard has introduced a set of software tools and services designed to make it easier for companies to create digital wallet capabilities on both iOS and Android and add contactless payments to their apps.

The new Mastercard Wallet Services is designed for banks, FinTechs, merchants and digital platforms. It is already being used by several Mastercard partner banks to develop new digital wallet features that could reach consumers by the end of the year, the company said in a Wednesday (July 15) blog post.

“New digital wallets could provide more choice for consumers, as companies all over the world will be able to offer new benefits, rewards, discounts, points or features to encourage users to start using their wallets,” Mastercard Chief Digital Officer Pablo Fourez said in the post. “Those players could also benefit by building stronger connections and engagement with their user bases.”

Apple’s decision in 2024 to begin opening access to the near-field communication (NFC) capabilities that power its mobile payments has created new possibilities for banks to add digital wallet features to their mobile banking apps across iOS and Android, according to the post.

Those possibilities led Mastercard to develop Mastercard Wallet Services, per the post.

“While consumer adoption of alternative wallets will take time, expanded platform access gives banks and FinTechs new opportunities to innovate,” Fourez said. “Ultimately, consumers could be the biggest winners of these changes, gaining access to a broader range of digital wallet experiences, rewards, value-added services and payment options offered through the apps they already use every day.”

PYMNTS reported in August 2024 that in the wake of an agreement between Apple and the European Commission to allow access to NFC technology on iPhones, Apple announced that it was giving developers access to the technology and that starting with iOS 18.1, they would be able to offer NFC contactless transactions using the Secure Element from within their own apps on iPhone.

PYMNTS reported at the time that this move could turbocharge the momentum of digital wallets and allow the in-app contactless features to be deployed across a variety of uses cases, from transit to merchant loyalty and rewards programs.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Digital Wallets Beyond Transactions: Global In-Depth Report“ found that digital wallets are used for payments, identification and other purposes.

D.R. Horton (DHI - Free Report) closed at $151.55 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.04% move from the prior day. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.38%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.29%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.62%.

Heading into today, shares of the homebuilder had lost 4.06% over the past month, lagging the Construction sector's loss of 2.55% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.61%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of D.R. Horton in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to be unveiled on July 21, 2026. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $2.99, showcasing a 11.01% downward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $9.18 billion, showing a 0.44% drop compared to the year-ago quarter.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $10.6 per share and a revenue of $33.85 billion, representing changes of -8.38% and -1.16%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for D.R Horton. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.31% higher within the past month. D.R. Horton currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, D.R. Horton is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 14.15. This represents a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 14.45.

Investors should also note that DHI has a PEG ratio of 2.1 right now. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. The Building Products - Home Builders industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.45 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Building Products - Home Builders industry is part of the Construction sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 176, finds itself in the bottom 29% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow DHI in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

In the latest close session, Archrock Inc. (AROC - Free Report) was down 2.7% at $37.49. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.38%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.29%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.62%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the natural gas compression services business had gained 7.78% outpaced the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 1.03% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.61%.

The upcoming earnings release of Archrock Inc. will be of great interest to investors. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $0.46, indicating a 17.95% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $390.4 million, reflecting a 1.89% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.

AROC's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $1.9 per share and revenue of $1.55 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of 0% and +4.19%, respectively.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Archrock Inc. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the business outlook.

Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 2.39% fall in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. As of now, Archrock Inc. holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In the context of valuation, Archrock Inc. is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 20.24. This signifies a discount in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 22.9 for its industry.

We can also see that AROC currently has a PEG ratio of 1.69. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The average PEG ratio for the Oil and Gas - Field Services industry stood at 1.98 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Oil and Gas - Field Services industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 89, positioning it in the top 37% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

In the latest close session, ATI (ATI - Free Report) was up +2.19% at $193.59. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.38%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.29%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.62%.

The stock of maker of steel and specialty metals has fallen by 3.5% in the past month, lagging the Aerospace sector's loss of 2.35% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.61%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of ATI in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is scheduled to release its earnings on August 6, 2026. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.03, up 39.19% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $1.22 billion, indicating a 7.3% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.49 per share and a revenue of $5 billion, representing changes of +38.58% and +9.04%, respectively, from the prior year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for ATI. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the business performance and profit potential.

Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 1.27% upward. At present, ATI boasts a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Looking at valuation, ATI is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 42.22. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 36.9 of its industry.

Also, we should mention that ATI has a PEG ratio of 1.51. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. ATI's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.24 as of yesterday's close.

The Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry is part of the Aerospace sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 94, which puts it in the top 39% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.

Home BancShares (HOMB - Free Report) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.64 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.62 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.58 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.

This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +3.23%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this bank holding company would post earnings of $0.6 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.6, delivering no surprise.

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

Home BancShares, which belongs to the Zacks Banks - Southeast industry, posted revenues of $295.1 million for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.60%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $271.03 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates three times over the last four quarters.

The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.

Home BancShares shares have added about 4.4% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 10.2%.

What's Next for Home BancShares?While Home BancShares has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?

There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.

Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.

Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Home BancShares was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.63 on $292.17 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $2.48 on $1.14 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year.

Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Banks - Southeast is currently in the top 33% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.

Another stock from the same industry, Simmons First National (SFNC - Free Report) , has yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on July 16.

This bank holding company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.53 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +20.5%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.6% higher over the last 30 days to the current level.

Simmons First National's revenues are expected to be $252.05 million, up 17.7% from the year-ago quarter.

News Summary:

Institution of Science Tokyo, SoftBank Corp.’s SB Intuitions and Stockmark are adopting NVIDIA Nemotron to build locally developed AI models designed to serve Japanese users, businesses and institutions amid the country’s demographic and workforce transition.Japanese enterprises avatarin, ENEOS Holdings, Hitachi and NTT DATA are building Japanese-language AI applications with NVIDIA Nemotron, from remote-presence robotics to enterprise agents and specialized medical and contact centers.Sakana AI is integrating NVIDIA Nemotron into its Fugu model-routing platform, expanding the set of AI models Fugu can intelligently orchestrate to dynamically select the best model for each task. TOKYO, July 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NVIDIA today announced that leading Japanese enterprises, startups and research institutions are building industry-specialized AI models and applications with NVIDIA Nemotron™ open models, data and libraries, accelerating the development of AI tailored to Japan’s language, industries and workforce.

Open models are the foundation of national AI ecosystems, giving organizations the ability to customize, deploy and govern AI they control.

In Japan, these capabilities are increasingly important as the country addresses an aging population and workforce transition, driving demand for AI tailored to local industries that helps strengthen the workforce, sustain productivity and accelerate innovation.

“Every nation and every company should own and control its intelligence infrastructure. Open models make that possible,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “They give countries, enterprises and researchers the freedom to inspect, improve, adapt, secure and deploy AI for their own needs. Together with Japan’s AI leaders, we are advancing an open AI ecosystem that accelerates discovery, strengthens national capability and ensures every society can participate in — and benefit from — the AI revolution.”

Building Specialized AI for Japan With NVIDIA Nemotron
Across Japan, developers are building specialized AI with NVIDIA Nemotron open models and datasets, tailoring them to the country’s industries and public-sector needs.

Institute of Science Tokyo developed its Swallow family of open foundation models using NVIDIA Nemotron datasets and the NVIDIA NeMo™ software stack for continual pretraining and post-training. Swallow models enhance Japanese language and reasoning performance while preserving the underlying models’ core English, math and coding capabilities. Enterprises are customizing and deploying Swallow for specialized use cases, including financial-document translation and asset-management report generation.

SB Intuitions Corp., SoftBank Corp.’s generative AI research subsidiary, trained its Sarashina series of homegrown generative AI models using NVIDIA Nemotron, including the NVIDIA NeMo RL and Megatron-LM libraries. Sarashina3 mini has been selected by Japan’s Digital Agency for use in specialized AI use cases. SoftBank Corp. has also developed and deployed a large telco model, using NVIDIA Nemotron, to enable autonomous telecom network operations.

Stockmark’s specialized Japanese-language document-understanding model, released today, is based on the NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano Omni model. The company is also developing enterprise knowledge applications using NVIDIA NeMo Retriever™ and the Nemotron-Personas-Japan dataset, serving customers across Japan’s manufacturing, energy and chemical industries through Japan’s Generative AI Accelerator Challenge national project.

Transforming Japan’s Industries With NVIDIA Nemotron
Japanese enterprises are using NVIDIA Nemotron to modernize essential services, improve productivity and support the country’s workforce.

AI and robotics startup avatarin is using NVIDIA Nemotron open models and NVIDIA NeMo to develop Japanese-language speech and reasoning capabilities for enterprise AI agents. NVIDIA HGX™ B300 systems provide the private AI infrastructure that enables those agents to securely analyze customer conversations and access enterprise knowledge for more accurate responses, while NVIDIA Jetson™ powers edge AI capabilities, including digital avatar systems being deployed at airports and other locations across Japan.

ENEOS Holdings is using NVIDIA Nemotron open models with the NVIDIA AI-Q Blueprint and NVIDIA ALCHEMI NIM microservices to advance agentic AI workflows for energy and materials R&D. Researchers are using these technologies to integrate technical document search, vision and language understanding, and simulation-backed molecular screening, helping accelerate materials exploration for applications such as immersion-cooling fluids and advanced catalysts.

NTT DATA, an operating subsidiary of NTT, used NVIDIA Nemotron-Personas-Japan to augment training data for its proprietary tsuzumi 2 model, improving question-answering accuracy and enhancing responses to questions requiring additional knowledge. The company is also looking to deploy a scalable multi-agent framework harnessing NVIDIA Agent Toolkit, including NVIDIA Nemotron, to route tasks to the best models and drive accurate, efficient and autonomous enterprise workflows.

Hitachi is developing physical AI technologies to address real-world operational challenges by using NVIDIA Nemotron and NVIDIA Cosmos™ open models, along with its proprietary information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) domain knowledge. As part of a multi-agent orchestration platform, these technologies are designed to connect and coordinate IT and OT operations, helping transform enterprise-scale business processes across complex workflows.

Sakana AI is collaborating with NVIDIA to integrate NVIDIA Nemotron into its Fugu model-orchestration platform, expanding the range of AI models Fugu can intelligently orchestrate to dynamically select the best model for each task in agentic AI workflows. By routing each request to the model best suited for the job, Fugu helps developers balance accuracy, performance and cost across multiple open and proprietary AI models. Fugu demonstrates how thoughtful orchestration can unlock capabilities beyond what an individual model achieves on its own. Early performance results on complex, real-world coding tasks reinforce the promise of coordination as a path to more capable AI.

Open and Customizable, Deployable Anywhere
Nemotron models are released with open weights, datasets and recipes, giving organizations the transparency and control to customize models for domain-specific workflows and deploy them where their applications and data reside.

Developers can use NVIDIA NeMo to customize, evaluate and optimize models for their use cases, and deploy them in environments that meet regulatory, sovereignty and data localization requirements.

Nemotron models are available on Hugging Face, ModelScope, OpenRouter and build.nvidia.com as NVIDIA NIM™ microservices, and through NVIDIA Cloud Partners, inference platforms and cloud service providers.

About NVIDIA
NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) is the world leader in AI and accelerated computing.

For further information, contact:
Natalie Hereth
Corporate Communications
NVIDIA Corporation
[email protected]

Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: Together with Japan’s AI leaders, NVIDIA advancing an open AI ecosystem that accelerates discovery, strengthens national capability and ensures every society can participate in — and benefit from — the AI revolution; expectations with respect to growth, performance, availability, and benefits of NVIDIA’s products, services and technologies, and related trends and drivers; expectations with respect to NVIDIA’s third party arrangements, including with its collaborators and partners; expectations with respect to technology developments, and related trends and drivers; projected market growth and trends; expectations with respect to AI and related industries; and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are subject to the “safe harbor” created by those sections based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: global economic and political conditions; NVIDIA’s reliance on third parties to manufacture, assemble, package and test NVIDIA’s products; the impact of technological development and competition; development of new products and technologies or enhancements to NVIDIA’s existing products and technologies; market acceptance of NVIDIA’s products or NVIDIA’s partners’ products; design, manufacturing or software defects; changes in consumer preferences or demands; changes in industry standards and interfaces; unexpected loss of performance of NVIDIA’s products or technologies when integrated into systems; NVIDIA’s ability to realize the potential benefits of business investments or acquisitions; and changes in applicable laws and regulations, as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the most recent reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, including, but not limited to, its Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on the company’s website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

© 2026 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, Nemotron, NVIDIA Cosmos, NVIDIA HGX, NVIDIA Jetson, NVIDIA NeMo and NVIDIA NeMo Retriever are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability and specifications are subject to change without notice.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/11dc96e1-0143-4627-8503-c33b1345d070

Japan’s Enterprises and Startups Build Industry-Specialized AI With NVIDIA Nemotron Open Models NVIDIA today announced that leading Japanese enterprises, startups and research institutions are bui...

First Solar (FSLR - Free Report) ended the recent trading session at $223.82, demonstrating a +1.47% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock exceeded the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.38% for the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.29%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.62%.

Coming into today, shares of the largest U.S. solar company had lost 16.56% in the past month. In that same time, the Oils-Energy sector lost 1.03%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.61%.

The upcoming earnings release of First Solar will be of great interest to investors. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $2.74, showcasing a 13.84% downward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $1.06 billion, down 3.31% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $17.61 per share and revenue of $5.1 billion, which would represent changes of +23.93% and -2.21%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for First Solar should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.05% lower. As of now, First Solar holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that First Solar has a Forward P/E ratio of 12.53 right now. This represents a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 21.44.

We can additionally observe that FSLR currently boasts a PEG ratio of 0.49. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Solar industry held an average PEG ratio of 0.93.

The Solar industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 59, putting it in the top 24% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.

, /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.17595 per share payable on August 14, 2026 to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 31, 2026. 

Additional information regarding dividends paid by AES, including tax treatment, can be found on www.aes.com by selecting "Investors" then "Stock Information" and then "Dividend History."

About AES

The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES) is a Fortune 500 global energy company accelerating the future of energy. Together with our many stakeholders, we're improving lives by delivering the greener, smarter energy solutions the world needs. Our diverse workforce is committed to continuous innovation and operational excellence, while partnering with our customers on their strategic energy transitions and continuing to meet their energy needs today. For more information, visit www.aes.com.

Safe Harbor Disclosure

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those related to future earnings, growth and financial and operating performance. Forward-looking statements are not intended to be a guarantee of future results but instead constitute AES' current expectations based on reasonable assumptions. Estimates and projections regarding, among other things, the expected date of closing of the transaction and the potential benefits thereof, its business and industry, management's beliefs and certain assumptions made by AES, all of which are subject to change. Forecasted financial information is based on certain material assumptions. These assumptions include, but are not limited to, our expectations regarding accurate projections of future interest rates, commodity price and foreign currency pricing, continued normal levels of operating performance and electricity volume at our distribution companies and operational performance at our generation businesses consistent with historical levels, as well as the execution of PPAs, conversion of our backlog and growth investments at normalized investment levels, and rates of return consistent with prior experience.

Actual results could differ materially from those projected in our forward-looking statements due to risks, uncertainties and other factors. Important factors that could affect actual results are discussed in AES' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including, but not limited to, the risks discussed under Item 1A: "Risk Factors" and Item 7: "Management's Discussion & Analysis" in AES' 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K and in subsequent reports filed with the SEC. Readers are encouraged to read AES' filings to learn more about the risk factors associated with AES' business. AES undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except where required by law.

Any Stockholder who desires a copy of the Company's 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed March 2, 2026 with the SEC may obtain a copy (excluding the exhibits thereto) without charge by addressing a request to the Office of the Corporate Secretary, The AES Corporation, 4300 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22203. Exhibits also may be requested, but a charge equal to the reproduction cost thereof will be made. A copy of the Annual Report on Form 10-K may be obtained by visiting the Company's website at www.aes.com.

Website Disclosure

AES uses its website, including its quarterly updates, as channels of distribution of Company information. The information AES posts through these channels may be deemed material. Accordingly, investors should monitor our website, in addition to following AES' press releases, quarterly SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. In addition, you may automatically receive e-mail alerts and other information about AES when you enroll your e-mail address by visiting the "Subscribe to Alerts" page of AES' Investors website. The contents of AES' website, including its quarterly updates, are not, however, incorporated by reference into this release.

Investor Contact: Max Trask 571-217-3249, [email protected]
Media Contact: Amy Ackerman 703-682-6399, [email protected]

SOURCE The AES Corporation

NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy file applications seeking regulatory approval of their proposed combination Customers in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina would receive $2.25 billion in shareholder-funded bill credits, and the companies have committed that merger-related costs will not be passed on to customers The combination brings together Dominion Energy's local leadership, experienced workforce and community knowledge with NextEra Energy's added financial strength, supply chain expertise and infrastructure development capabilities The combined company would bring an all-of-the-above energy platform, including renewables, battery storage, nuclear and natural gas, with industry-leading capabilities Dominion Energy's operating companies will remain locally led and separately regulated, with meaningful job protections; the combined company would maintain dual corporate headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, and Juno Beach, Florida, and an operational headquarters in Cayce, South Carolina The combination positions Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina to meet unprecedented power demand, support jobs and economic development, and keep customer bills affordable The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2027 , /PRNewswire/ -- NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) and Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE: D) today filed applications seeking regulatory approval of their proposed combination with the Virginia State Corporation Commission, the North Carolina Utilities Commission, the Public Service Commission of South Carolina, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

America is entering an era of rapidly growing electricity demand that will require substantial investment in generation, transmission, distribution and grid resilience. The proposed combination is designed to preserve Dominion Energy's local strengths with NextEra Energy's added resources, balance sheet strength, supply chain expertise, construction experience and operating capabilities to help meet that demand reliably and affordably over the long term. The combined company would serve approximately 10 million customer accounts across four of the nation's fastest-growing states and be better positioned to buy, build, finance and operate the energy infrastructure customers need more efficiently.

The larger platform is intended to complement, not replace, Dominion Energy's local operating model. Dominion Energy's operating companies would remain locally led, separately regulated and accountable to their state commissions, while their teams gain access to additional technology, capital and proven practices. That includes a proven track record at Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) with more than 20 years of reliably and affordably meeting growth in one of the fastest-growing states in America, with a reliability performance of more than 60% better than the national average and a typical residential bill approximately 30% below the national average.

A word from John Ketchum, chairman, president and CEO of NextEra Energy:
"This combination is about putting scale and a stronger, more comprehensive platform behind Dominion Energy's local teams so they can meet growing power demand while keeping bills affordable and service reliable. We're bringing together two industry-leading teams with complementary strengths and expertise. Dominion Energy brings deep local knowledge, experienced employees and a strong operating record. NextEra Energy brings additional scale, an industry-leading operating platform, financial strength, supply chain expertise and operating efficiencies we have built through FPL and NextEra Energy Resources. Together, we will be better positioned to partner with states and communities to attract new investment, support new jobs and invest in the all-of-the-above energy infrastructure customers need, including renewables, battery storage, nuclear and gas-fired generation. Customers would experience immediate value through $2.25 billion in shareholder-funded bill credits and long-term value through a stronger company that can buy, build, finance and operate energy infrastructure projects more efficiently, which will result in long-term customer benefits."

A word from Robert Blue, chair, president and CEO of Dominion Energy:
"This is a combination centered on customers, communities and employees. It preserves the Dominion Energy utilities our customers know — the same local leaders, employees, regulatory oversight and commitment to an all-of-the-above energy mix — while adding capabilities that can help us build needed infrastructure more efficiently and keep bills affordable. Our employees and communities can be confident that we will remain a strong local employer, a constructive economic development partner and a reliable provider of the energy that powers homes, businesses and new investments."

Delivering real value to customers, communities and employees

Immediate bill relief and customer protections: Dominion Energy customers in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina would receive $2.25 billion in bill credits over the first two years after closing, funded by shareholders and not recoverable from customers. Customers also would be held harmless from any and all transaction, transition, acquisition-premium, financing and restructuring costs associated with the combination. Long-term affordability and reliability: The benefits extend beyond the initial credits. The combined company's greater purchasing power, broader supply chain visibility, increased access to capital, project execution capabilities and larger operating platform are expected to help meet growing power demand affordably while maintaining service quality and reliability. An all-of-the-above energy platform: Through its regulated utilities and subsidiaries, the combined company would own or operate more than 110 gigawatts of electric generating resources across renewables, battery storage, nuclear and natural gas. The combination would pair Dominion Energy's local operating expertise and generation portfolio with NextEra Energy's industry-leading solar and battery storage capabilities, as well as deep experience in nuclear, natural gas, transmission and grid modernization. Customer service and storm response: The combination would provide access to a larger regulated utility platform, drawing on best practices across FPL and Dominion Energy's operating companies in customer service, storm restoration, grid modernization, workforce tools, data analytics, artificial intelligence and process improvement. Locally led, locally staffed and fully accountable: Dominion Energy's operating companies will remain separately regulated and locally led. The combined company will maintain dual corporate headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, and Juno Beach, Florida, and an operational headquarters in Cayce, South Carolina. State regulators would continue to oversee rates, service, resource planning and major investments. Dominion Energy employees would receive 18 months of job protection after closing; non-union employees would receive two years of current compensation and comparable benefits. Collective bargaining agreements would continue according to their terms. A partner in economic and community development: Reliable, affordable energy is foundational to economic development. The combined company intends to partner with state and local leaders to support existing employers, attract new businesses, and encourage additional investment from suppliers, contractors and service providers. It also would increase Dominion Energy's historical shareholder-funded charitable giving by $10 million annually for five years across Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Transaction review process
The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2027, subject to customary closing conditions and approvals by the shareholders of NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy, state regulatory review and approval from the Virginia State Corporation Commission, the North Carolina Utilities Commission and the Public Service Commission of South Carolina, the expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under Section 203 of the Federal Power Act and approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

More information about the proposed combination is available at www.DominionNextEraFuture.com. Applications will be posted as they are filed.   

About NextEra Energy, Inc.
NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) is the largest electric power and energy infrastructure company in North America, the world's leader in renewables and storage and a leading provider of electricity to American homes and businesses. Headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, NextEra Energy is a Fortune 200 company that owns Florida Power & Light Company, America's largest electric utility, which provides reliable electricity to approximately 12 million people across Florida. NextEra Energy also owns the largest energy infrastructure development company in the U.S., NextEra Energy Resources, LLC. NextEra Energy and its affiliated entities are meeting America's growing energy needs with a diverse mix of energy sources, including renewables, battery storage, nuclear and natural gas. For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.

About Dominion Energy
Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond, Va., provides regulated electricity service to 3.6 million homes and businesses in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, and regulated natural gas service to 500,000 customers in South Carolina. The company is one of the nation's leading developers and operators of regulated offshore wind and solar power and the largest producer of carbon-free electricity in New England. The company's mission is to provide the reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy that powers its customers every day. Please visit DominionEnergy.com to learn more.

Forward-Looking Statements
This communication includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact included or incorporated by reference in this communication, including, among other things, statements regarding the proposed business combination transaction between NextEra Energy, Inc., a Florida Corporation ("NextEra Energy"), and Dominion Energy, Inc., a Virginia Corporation ("Dominion Energy"), and future events, plans and anticipated results of operations, business strategies, the anticipated benefits of the proposed transactions, the anticipated impact of the proposed transactions on the combined company's business and future financial and operating results, the anticipated closing date for the proposed transactions and other aspects of NextEra Energy's or Dominion Energy's operations or operating results are forward-looking statements. Words and phrases such as "ambition," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "budget," "continue," "could," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "seek," "should," "will," "would," "expect," "objective," "projection," "forecast," "goal," "guidance," "outlook," "effort," "target," the negative of such terms or other variations thereof and words and terms of similar substance used in connection with any discussion of future plans, actions or events can be used to identify forward-looking statements. Where, in any forward-looking statement, NextEra Energy or Dominion Energy expresses an expectation or belief as to future results, such expectation or belief is expressed in good faith and believed to be reasonable at the time such forward-looking statement is made. Any forward-looking statement is not a guarantee of future performance, outcomes or results and is subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond NextEra Energy's or Dominion Energy's control, that could cause actual performance, outcomes or results to differ materially from what is expressed or implied in the forward-looking statement.

These factors include a failure by NextEra Energy to successfully integrate Dominion Energy's businesses and technologies, which may result in the combined company not operating as effectively and efficiently as expected; the risk that the expected benefits of the proposed transactions may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; each party's ability to obtain the approval of its shareholders required to consummate the proposed transactions and the timing of the closing of the proposed transactions, including the risk that the conditions to closing are not satisfied on a timely basis or at all or the failure of the transactions to close for any other reason or to close on the anticipated terms, including with the anticipated tax treatment; the risk that any governmental or regulatory approval, consent or authorization that may be required for the proposed transactions is not obtained, is delayed or is obtained subject to conditions that are not anticipated or that cause the termination of the merger agreement and abandonment of the transactions; the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement by either party; the risk that certain provisions in the merger agreement or the pendency of the transactions may impact either party's ability to pursue certain business opportunities or strategic transactions; unanticipated difficulties, liabilities or expenditures relating to the transactions, including the impact of potential litigation relating to the transactions; the effect of the announcement, pendency or completion of the proposed transactions on the parties' business relationships and business operations generally, including the parties' relationship with regulators, suppliers, vendors and customers; the effect of the announcement or pendency of the proposed transactions on the parties' common stock prices and uncertainty as to the long-term value of either party's common stock; risks that the proposed transactions disrupt either party's current plans and operations, including due to the diversion of the attention of management from ordinary course business operations, and potential difficulties in hiring or retaining employees as a result of the proposed transactions; any rating agency actions; and the impact of the announcement or pendency of the proposed transactions on either party's ability to access capital, including the short- and long-term debt markets, on a timely and affordable basis; general worldwide economic conditions and related uncertainties; the effect and timing of changes in laws or in governmental regulations (including environmental); fluctuations in trading prices of securities of NextEra Energy and in the financial results of NextEra Energy or Dominion Energy; and the timing and extent of changes in interest rates, commodity prices and demand and market prices for electricity or gas. The preliminary joint proxy statement/prospectus included in the registration statement on Form S-4 (Registration No. 333-297351) filed by NextEra Energy with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on July 9, 2026 (available at https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/753308/000110465926082301/tm2614888-13_s4.htm) ("Registration Statement"), describes additional risks relating to the proposed transactions and combined company. While the list of factors presented here and the list of factors presented in the Registration Statement are considered representative, no such list should be considered to be a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. For additional information about other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, please refer to NextEra Energy's and Dominion Energy's respective periodic reports and other filings with the SEC, including the risk factors contained in NextEra Energy's and Dominion Energy's most recently filed Annual Reports on Form 10-K and subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

Any forward-looking statements included in this communication represent current expectations and are inherently uncertain and are made only as of the date hereof (or, if applicable, the dates indicated in such statement). Except as required by law, neither NextEra Energy nor Dominion Energy undertakes or assumes any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or to reflect subsequent events or circumstances or otherwise.

No Offer or Solicitation
This communication is not intended to and shall not constitute an offer to buy or sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any securities, or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made, except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Additional Information about the Transactions and Where to Find It
In connection with the proposed transactions, NextEra Energy filed with the SEC the Registration Statement, which includes a preliminary joint proxy statement of NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy that also constitutes a preliminary prospectus of NextEra Energy. Each of NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy intends to file with the SEC a definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus. Each of NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy may also file other relevant documents with the SEC regarding the proposed transactions. This communication is not a substitute for the Registration Statement or the definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus or any other document that NextEra Energy or Dominion Energy may file with the SEC. The definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus (if and when available) will be mailed to shareholders of NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT, DEFINITIVE JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS, AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT MAY BE FILED WITH THE SEC, AS WELL AS ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THOSE DOCUMENTS, CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY IF AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN OR WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT NEXTERA ENERGY, DOMINION ENERGY, THE PROPOSED TRANSACTIONS AND RELATED MATTERS.

Investors and security holders are or will be able to obtain free copies of the Registration Statement, including the preliminary joint proxy statement/prospectus, and the definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus (if and when available) and other documents containing important information about NextEra Energy, Dominion Energy and the proposed transactions, once such documents are filed with the SEC through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by NextEra Energy are available free of charge on NextEra Energy's website at http://www.investor.nexteraenergy.com/ or by contacting NextEra Energy's Investor Relations Department by email at [email protected] or by phone at (800) 222-4511. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Dominion Energy are available free of charge on Dominion Energy's website at http://investors.dominionenergy.com or by contacting Dominion Energy's Investor Relations Department by email at [email protected] or by phone at (804) 819-2438.

Participants in the Solicitation
NextEra Energy, Dominion Energy and certain of their respective directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the proposed transactions. Information about the directors and executive officers of NextEra Energy, including a description of their direct or indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, is set forth in (i) NextEra Energy's proxy statement for its 2026 annual meeting of shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 1, 2026, including under the headings "Proposal 1: Election as directors of the nominees specified in this proxy statement," "Director Compensation," "Executive Compensation," and "Common Stock Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management" (ii) NextEra Energy's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, which was filed with the SEC on February 13, 2026, including under the heading "Item 1. Business—Information About Our Executive Officers" and (iii) to the extent certain holdings of NextEra Energy securities by its directors or executive officers have changed since the amounts set forth in NextEra Energy's proxy statement for its 2026 annual meeting of shareholders, such changes have been or will be reflected on Initial Statement of Beneficial Ownership of Securities on Form 3, Statement of Changes in Beneficial Ownership on Form 4, or Annual Statement of Changes in Beneficial Ownership of Securities on Form 5, filed with the SEC.

Information about the directors and executive officers of Dominion Energy, including a description of their direct or indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, is set forth in (i) Dominion Energy's proxy statement for its 2026 annual meeting of shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on March 19, 2026, including under the headings "Item 1: Election of Directors – Director Nominees," "Compensation of Non-Employee Directors," "Executive Compensation" and "Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management," (ii) Dominion Energy's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, which was filed with the SEC on February 23, 2026, including under the heading "Information about our Executive Officers," and (iii) to the extent certain holdings of Dominion Energy securities by its directors or executive officers have changed since the amounts set forth in Dominion Energy's proxy statement for its 2026 annual meeting of shareholders, such changes have been or will be reflected on Initial Statement of Beneficial Ownership of Securities on Form 3, Statement of Changes in Beneficial Ownership on Form 4 or Annual Statement of Changes in Beneficial Ownership of Securities on Form 5, filed with the SEC.

Other information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitations and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be contained in the definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC regarding the proposed transactions when such materials become available. Investors should read the definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus carefully when it becomes available before making any voting or investment decisions. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy are available free of charge through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. Additionally, copies of documents filed with the SEC by NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy are available free of charge through the sources indicated above.

SOURCE NextEra Energy, Inc.; Dominion Energy

SAN FRANCISCO, July 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Primoris Services Corporation (NYSE: PRIM) shares cratered again during intraday trading on June 23, 2026 (-$43.34, -40%), on the company’s disclosure of additional challenges to- and cost overruns within- its renewables business projects and the abrupt departure of its Chief Operating Officer.

The news follows Primoris’ May 5, 2026 disclosure that it suffered huge year-over-year and sequential declines in revenues and gross profits for its Energy segment and identified ongoing, expanded issues with its renewables business, news which sent the price of company shares tumbling $101.69 (-50%).

Hagens Berman is actively investigating whether Primoris’ pre-May 5 statements about trends in- and operational performance of- its renewables business misled investors and, if so, whether the company violated the federal securities laws.

The firm encourages Primoris investors who suffered substantial losses to submit your losses now. The firm also encourages persons with knowledge who may be able to assist the investigation to contact its attorneys.

Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/prim
Contact the Firm Now: [email protected]
844-916-0895

Primoris Services Corporation (PRIM) Investigation:

Primoris’ renewable business is part of the company’s core Energy segment and historically has contributed roughly 40% of Primoris’ entire annual revenue.

After the markets closed on June 22, 2026, Primoris shocked investors when it announced that “[a]dditional challenges and cost overruns were identified as a result of continued progress on projects in the Company’s Renewables business.” Importantly, as a result of ongoing problems in six projects and additional challenges, Primoris said its 2026 renewables business revenues would decline 30% ($900 million) from the $3 billion revenues reported for 2025.

This news follows two previous disclosures about Primoris’ renewables business problems, one downplaying and the next partially indicating problems in the business.

First, in February 2026, Primoris management attributed lower gross margins to “unexpectedly higher costs” at certain renewables projects, citing difficult soil and rock conditions that required additional labor and equipment. While management later downplayed the issue as being isolated to a single project—expressing confidence in their remedial measures—they simultaneously touted the company’s ability to “accelerate project timelines” for 2026.

Second, on May 5, 2026, the market’s confidence in Primoris’s remedial measures was shattered when the company released its Q1 2026 financial results and revealed a staggering decline in the core Energy segment, with year-over-year revenues falling by $152.9 million (13.8%) and gross profits plunging by nearly 40%.

CEO Koti Vadlamudi admitted the next day during the May 6 earnings call that Primoris’s financial results were battered by cost pressures across multiple solar projects. Moving beyond the “rock and soil” reason used just months prior, Vadlamudi cited a litany of execution-related factors as the cause of the margin collapse:

Project Redesigns: Costly changes to existing plans.Labor Issues: Inability to manage specific workforce demands.Sequencing Errors: Failures in project management and timing.Weather Disruptions: Further complicating already delayed timelines Together, the May 5 and June 22, 2026 disclosures wiped out over $7.8 billion of Primoris’ market capitalization.

“We’re focused on when Primoris’ management learned of the full scope of the company’s renewables problems, including the apparent inadequacy of remediation measures,” said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the firm’s investigation.

If you invested in Primoris and have substantial losses, or have knowledge that will assist the firm’s investigation, submit your losses now »

If you’d like more information and answers to other frequently asked questions about the firm’s Primoris investigation, read more »

Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Primoris should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email [email protected].

About Hagens Berman
Hagens Berman is a global plaintiffs’ rights complex litigation firm focusing on corporate accountability. The firm is home to a robust practice and represents investors as well as whistleblowers, workers, consumers and others in cases achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and other wrongdoings. Hagens Berman’s team has secured more than $2.9 billion in this area of law. More about the firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com. Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw. 

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome in any future case.

Contact:
Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895

, /PRNewswire/ -- The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc., (NYSE: THG), a leading property and casualty insurance company, announced today that John "Jack" C. Roche, president and chief executive officer, has informed the company's Board of Directors he plans to retire on December 31, 2026, following a distinguished 40-year career in the insurance industry. Richard "Dick" W. Lavey, chief operating officer and president of Hanover Agency Markets, has been appointed by the board as CEO-elect and will work closely with Roche to ensure a successful transition.

John C. Roche

Richard W. Lavey "The Board of Directors is deeply grateful to Jack for his outstanding leadership and the significant impact he's made to The Hanover," said Cynthia L. Egan, chair of the board at The Hanover. "He has driven progress in every dimension of the company, not the least of which is working closely with the board and with Dick to ensure that we have an exceptional CEO to elevate the company to its next level."

Roche, 62, joined The Hanover in 2006 and was appointed president and chief executive officer in 2017. Under his leadership, the company achieved record operating earnings, outstanding stock price appreciation and strengthened its position as a premier property and casualty company in the independent agency channel. In addition to his responsibilities at The Hanover, Roche serves the insurance industry as vice chair of the board of trustees for The Institutes, a member of the board of directors for the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, and as a member of the board of overseers of St. John's University Maurice R. Greenberg School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science. 

"I will retire at the end of the year with tremendous pride in all our organization has accomplished," Roche said. "The company is in a strong financial position and has the exceptional talent needed to drive our business forward. Having worked closely with Dick for more than two decades, I have complete confidence in his leadership and his ability to guide our company forward. Together, we will ensure a seamless and successful transition."

"Dick is an accomplished executive whose deep experience spans the insurance and technology industries," said Egan. "His impressive contributions have been central in the successful expansion of the company's strategy, shaping The Hanover into a leading partner for independent agents and a top-performing company. From repositioning the firm's personal and core commercial lines growth and profitability to his critical leadership in driving technology advancements, Dick has the insight, strategic vision and passion to lead the company through the next chapter of its remarkable journey."

Lavey, 59, joined The Hanover in 2004 and held a series of executive leadership positions over his 22-year tenure. Currently, Lavey serves as chief operating officer where he directs the strategic transformation of the company's operating model, augmenting the partnership between its business and technology functions. In his role as president of Hanover Agency Markets, Lavey leads the growth and performance of core commercial and personal lines, which combined represent 75% of The Hanover's $7 billion consolidated gross premiums written. Earlier in his tenure, Lavey served as chief marketing officer, chief growth innovation officer, president of personal lines and president of the organization's northeast region, among other key positions.

Prior to The Hanover, Lavey held leadership roles in sales, distribution, marketing and strategy at a number of insurance and technology companies, including The Hartford and The Travelers Insurance Company. He recently served as chairman of the board for the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI). Lavey is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of The College of Holy Cross and earned his Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School.

"I am honored to lead our organization at such a transformative time in our business. I am energized to continue our momentum to accelerate growth, drive performance and deliver lasting value for our stakeholders," said Lavey.

The company will be available to answer questions at its upcoming earnings call, scheduled for Wednesday, July 29, 2026. The Hanover also plans to share an update on the company's strategy and future outlook at its investor day on September 17, 2026. To learn more, visit The Hanover's investor relations page at investors.hanover.com.

About The Hanover

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. is the holding company for several property and casualty insurance companies, which together constitute one of the largest insurance businesses in the United States. The company provides exceptional insurance solutions through a select group of independent agents and brokers. Together with its agent partners, The Hanover offers standard and specialized insurance protection for small and mid-sized businesses, as well as for homes, automobiles, and other personal items. For more information, please visit hanover.com.

Contacts:

Oksana Lukasheva

Emily P. Trevallion

Investor Relations

Media Relations

[email protected]

[email protected]

508-525-6081

508-855-3263

SOURCE The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc.

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BROOKWOOD, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (“Warrior” or NYSE: HCC) today announced that it will hold its second quarter 2026 investor conference call at 4:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, August 5, 2026. Warrior will release its results following the close of market trading that afternoon.

Warrior Sets Date for Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Announcement and Investor Conference Call

Share To participate in the conference call, please call 1-844-340-9047 (domestic) or 1-412-858-5206 (international) 10 minutes prior to the start time and reference the Warrior Met Coal conference call. A webcast of the conference call will be available through the Investor section of the Company’s website, http://investors.warriormetcoal.com, where an archived replay will also be available.

Telephone playback will also be available beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET on August 5, 2026, until 6:30 p.m. ET on August 12, 2026. The replay will be available by calling: 1-855-669-9658 (domestic) or 1-412-317-0088 (international) and entering passcode 2020393.

About Warrior

Warrior is a U.S.-based, environmentally, and socially minded supplier to the global steel industry. It is dedicated entirely to mining non-thermal metallurgical (met) steelmaking coal used as a critical component of steel production by metal manufacturers in Europe, South America, and Asia. Warrior is a large-scale, low-cost producer and exporter of premium quality met coal, also known as hard-coking coal (HCC), operating highly efficient longwall operations in its underground mines based in Alabama. The HCC that Warrior produces from the Blue Creek coal seam contains very low sulfur and has strong coking properties. The premium nature of Warrior’s HCC makes it ideally suited as a base feed coal for steel makers. For more information, please visit www.warriormetcoal.com.

More News From Warrior Met Coal, Inc.

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Today we are proud to announce that Celestia Labs is acquiring Sovereign Labs.

This acquisition establishes Celestia Labs as a full-stack custom blockchain development partner for companies building onchain, marking a new chapter for Celestia’s go-to-market strategy and ambitions.

Why Sovereign LabsSovereign Labs has been a core pillar of the Celestia ecosystem since its founding in 2021 by Cem Ozer and Preston Evans. Now in 2026, the Sovereign SDK is the industry's leading framework for application-specific, high-performance blockchains. It powers applications like Relay, the #1 bridge by volume powering over $8.5B of transfers, and Bullet, a perpetuals exchange capable of clearing orders in 1.2 milliseconds and processing over 30,000 TPS.

The addition of the Sovereign Labs team and the Sovereign SDK expands our in-house expertise at Celestia Labs to the entire stack of blockchain engineering, from Layer 1 through to the execution and application layers, enabling end-to-end development for peak scale, performance and customisation.

As part of the acquisition, Preston Evans is now CTO of Celestia Labs. His hands-on experience with customers at Sovereign Labs and general mastery of blockchain infrastructure will be crucial in this next phase.

The need for high-performance custom chainsThe blockchain industry is at an inflection point. Key application categories like stablecoins, decentralised exchanges, and prediction markets are hitting product market fit. Meanwhile, regulatory clarity is clearing the way for enterprises to roll out blockchain solutions at scale. However, these successful apps and enterprises need greater scale, performance and control than general purpose infrastructure can provide, leading many to build their own custom blockchains as a result.

Hyperliquid, the leading decentralized exchange, built its own blockchain to optimize for low latency and custom order flow rules. Polymarket, the prediction market which processed $6B in volume in H1 2025, is migrating to a custom chain to resolve congestion issues and build a more performant exchange. Robinhood launched its own chain this month, purpose-built for tokenized stocks.

The trend towards custom chains is only just starting and will accelerate as more blockchain applications go mainstream. Therein lies our opportunity.

Celestia’s next chapterOur thesis from the beginning has been that for blockchain applications to be usable at a global scale, the underlying blockchain infrastructure needs to be scalable, performant and customizable. Until now, we have focused exclusively on building the underlying Layer 1 technology to enable this, like Fibre which is capable of supporting up to 625M TPS. While that is a critical component, it is not the full picture.

Major applications and enterprises don’t just need a scalable Layer 1, they need a full-stack blockchain infrastructure solution with a hands-on design and engineering partner. The acquisition of Sovereign Labs completes the picture, adding the missing technology and expertise to meet the market where it is going.

A more ambitious era of digital markets requires more ambitious infrastructure to match. With Sovereign Labs on board, we are ready to build it.

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Dividends on common stock to be payable Oct. 1, 2026; dividends on preferred stock to be payable in August and September.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE:RF) Board of Directors today declared the following cash dividends on its common shares, Series C preferred shares, Series E preferred shares and Series F preferred shares:

A cash dividend of $0.30 was declared on each share of outstanding common stock of the Company, payable on Oct. 1, 2026, to stockholders of record at the close of business on Sept. 1, 2026. The dividend of $0.30 represents a $0.035, or 13%, increase over the most recent quarterly common dividend declared in April of this year. In addition, a cash dividend of $14.25 was declared today for each share of Series C Preferred Stock outstanding (equivalent to approximately $0.35625 per depositary share), payable on Aug. 17, 2026, to stockholders of record at the close of business on Aug. 3, 2026. Also, a cash dividend of $11.125 was declared per share of Series E Preferred Stock (equivalent to approximately $0.278125 per depositary share), payable on Sept. 15, 2026, to stockholders of record at the close of business on Sept. 1, 2026. And a cash dividend of $17.375 was declared per share of Series F Preferred Stock (equivalent to approximately $0.434375 per depositary share), payable on Sept. 15, 2026, to stockholders of record at the close of business on Sept. 1, 2026. About Regions Financial Corporation

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF), with $161 billion in assets, is a member of the S&P 500 Index and is one of the nation’s largest full-service providers of consumer and commercial banking, wealth management, and mortgage products and services. Regions serves customers across the South, Midwest and Texas, and through its subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates more than 1,200 banking offices and more than 1,750 ATMs. Regions Bank is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC. Additional information about Regions and its full line of products and services can be found at https://www.regions.com/.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

President Trump signed an executive order on March 6, 2025, establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve capitalized with Bitcoin seized through federal criminal and civil asset forfeiture proceedings nationwide. The U.S. federal government holds approximately 328,372 BTC as of February 2026, making it the largest known state holder of Bitcoin in the world by a significant margin. Bitcoin deposited into the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve cannot be sold under current rules, effectively removing approximately 328,372 BTC from the circulating supply against Bitcoin’s 21 million coin hard cap. Interagency disputes between the Treasury Department and Commerce Department over custody and operational control have delayed full implementation of the reserve as of mid-2026 reporting. The BITCOIN Act (S.954) proposes acquiring up to one million BTC, while the American Reserve Modernization Act, introduced in May 2026, seeks a 20-year mandatory holding period. On March 6, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, the first federal program to treat Bitcoin as a sovereign reserve asset alongside gold and petroleum. 

The order directed that Bitcoin seized through law enforcement operations be consolidated into a permanent reserve that cannot be sold. A separate U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile was created for non-Bitcoin digital assets. As of mid-2026, the reserve faces implementation challenges, including interagency disputes over custody.

 This article explains how the reserve works, what legislation is pending, and what it means for Bitcoin markets.

How the Executive Order Created the Reserve The March 6, 2025, executive order directed the Treasury Department to establish custodial accounts collectively known as the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The reserve was capitalized with all BTC held by the Treasury through final criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings.

Other agencies were directed to evaluate their authority to transfer government-held Bitcoin to the reserve within 30 days, as specified in the Federal Register filing.

The key rule is unambiguous: Bitcoin deposited into the reserve cannot be sold. The executive order stated that holdings “shall not be sold and shall be maintained as reserve assets of the United States.” The Secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce were authorized to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin, provided those strategies impose no incremental costs on taxpayers.

The order also created the U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile for non-Bitcoin assets. The stockpile operates under a different framework, with the development of “stewardship strategies” encouraged rather than a blanket no-sale rule, as the Lathrop GPM legal analysis explained.

The distinction between the Bitcoin reserve and the digital asset stockpile is significant. Bitcoin received the elevated “strategic reserve” designation with a permanent no-sale mandate. All other digital assets were placed in a secondary category with more flexible disposition rules.

This two-tier structure reflects the administration’s view that Bitcoin’s fixed 21 million coin supply and 16-year security track record set it apart from other digital assets.

Current Holdings and Supply Impact The U.S. federal government is the largest known holder of Bitcoin in the world. Total holdings stood at approximately 328,372 BTC as of February 2026, according to Wikipedia’s tracking of government disclosures. The initial tranche was estimated at roughly 200,000 BTC drawn from assets confiscated in law enforcement operations over multiple years, as Crypto Briefing reported.

The no-sale designation has direct supply implications. Approximately 328,372 BTC are now effectively removed from circulation, locked in government wallets with no mechanism to return them to the market under current rules. For an asset with a hard cap of 21 million coins, that represents roughly 1.56% of the total possible supply permanently off the table.

Bo Hines, executive director of the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, stated in March 2025 that selling some U.S. gold holdings would be a budget-neutral way to acquire more Bitcoin, as reported by multiple outlets.

White House spokesperson Liz Huston stated the administration “continues to evaluate the best structure for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile.

Legislative Efforts to Codify the Reserve Multiple bills aim to convert the executive order into permanent law. The BITCOIN Act (S.954), introduced by Senator Cynthia Lummis with five co-sponsors in March 2025, proposes authorizing the acquisition of up to one million BTC over five years by diversifying existing federal funds.

Representative Byron Donalds introduced H.R.2112, which would give the executive order the force and effect of law, as recorded on Congress.gov.

The American Reserve Modernization Act (ARMA), introduced in May 2026, seeks to codify the reserve framework and impose a 20-year mandatory holding period on the assets. Neither the ARMA nor the BITCOIN Act has passed as of mid-2026. 

The CLARITY Act’s uncertain timeline in the Senate suggests that comprehensive crypto legislation faces a narrowing window before the November 2026 midterm elections. The gap between executive action and legislative codification is the reserve’s most significant vulnerability. An executive order can be reversed by a future president. 

Without congressional authorization, the reserve’s permanence depends entirely on political continuity. The multiple competing bills also suggest that lawmakers have not yet agreed on the reserve’s operational details, including acquisition authority, holding periods, and governance structure.

Interagency Disputes and Implementation Delays As of mid-2026, disputes between the Treasury and Commerce departments over custody and operational control have delayed full implementation.  The March 2025 executive order assigned Treasury a central role in establishing accounts and managing holdings, but also directed Commerce to participate in acquisition strategy development.

The delay affects practical decisions around custody, auditing, interagency transfers, and any future acquisition strategy.

In January 2026, Patrick Witt, then executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, stated that the administration remained committed to establishing the reserve. However, the operational details remain unresolved.

Regulatory Implications The reserve sits at the intersection of asset forfeiture, sovereign treasury management, and digital asset custody. Congressional passage of the BITCOIN Act or ARMA would create a durable legal framework. Without legislation, the reserve’s status depends on executive authority alone.

Federal banking regulators, including the OCC and FDIC, announced in March 2025 that banks no longer need advance permission for crypto activities, complementing the reserve’s broader policy direction.

What’s Next? The Treasury and Commerce departments are expected to resolve the custody dispute in 2026. The ARMA bill’s 20-year holding provision, if passed, would establish the reserve’s longest proposed lock-up period. 

The November 2026 midterm elections may determine whether crypto-friendly legislation advances or stalls. For markets, the reserve’s impact hinges on whether the government moves from holding forfeited Bitcoin to actively acquiring additional coins.

FAQs What is the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve?
The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is a federal program established by executive order in March 2025 to hold Bitcoin seized through law enforcement as a permanent sovereign reserve asset.

How much Bitcoin does the U.S. government hold?
The U.S. federal government held approximately 328,372 BTC as of February 2026, making it the largest known state holder of Bitcoin in the world by a significant margin.

Can the government sell Bitcoin from the Strategic Reserve?
No, the March 2025 executive order states that Bitcoin deposited into the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve shall not be sold and must be maintained as reserve assets of the United States.

What is the BITCOIN Act?
The BITCOIN Act (S.954) is a Senate bill proposing authorization to acquire up to one million BTC over five years through diversification of existing federal funds without additional taxpayer costs.

How does the Bitcoin reserve differ from the Digital Asset Stockpile?
Bitcoin receives a strategic reserve designation with a permanent no-sale mandate, while non-Bitcoin digital assets enter a separate stockpile with more flexible stewardship and disposition options.

Why is there a dispute between Treasury and Commerce over the reserve?
The executive order assigned overlapping roles to both departments, creating friction over which agency controls custody, auditing, acquisition strategy, and operational management of the reserve assets.

Could a future president reverse the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve?
Yes, executive orders can be reversed by future presidents, which is why congressional legislation like the BITCOIN Act and ARMA seeks to codify the reserve permanently into federal law.

References The White House (March 2025). “Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Establishes the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile.” White House. Federal Register (March 11, 2025). “Establishment of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and United States Digital Asset Stockpile.” Federal Register. Congress.gov (2025). “H.R.2112: Establishment of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.” Congress.gov. Crypto Briefing (July 2026). “US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Established as Long-Term National Asset.” Crypto Briefing.