Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 20th, 2026

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD – Free Report) by 6.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,142,516 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 291,165 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.32% of Advanced Micro Devices worth $1,045,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Advanced Micro Devices by 6,228.8% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 308,021 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $65,966,000 after buying an additional 303,154 shares during the period. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in Advanced Micro Devices in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,193,000. Williamson Legacy Group LLC acquired a new position in Advanced Micro Devices in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,118,000. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Advanced Micro Devices by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 32,827 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $7,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valtinson Bruner Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Advanced Micro Devices during the 4th quarter worth $1,523,000. 71.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets In other Advanced Micro Devices news, Director Nora Denzel sold 8,626 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $4,502,772.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 87,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,504,306. This trade represents a 9.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Mark D. Papermaster sold 31,320 shares of Advanced Micro Devices stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $10,962,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,236,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $432,612,950. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 341,630 shares of company stock worth $152,147,456 in the last three months. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Advanced Micro Devices Price Performance AMD opened at $495.76 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $808.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 162.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 2.47. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.22 and a 12 month high of $584.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $503.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $330.45.

Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.08. Advanced Micro Devices had a return on equity of 9.55% and a net margin of 13.37%.The firm had revenue of $10.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. will post 6.26 EPS for the current year.

Trending Headlines about Advanced Micro Devices Here are the key news stories impacting Advanced Micro Devices this week:

Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains constructive on AMD, with KeyCorp reiterating an Overweight rating and a $725 price target, while other firms like Erste Group also raised forward earnings estimates. This supports the view that AMD’s longer-term AI and data-center growth story remains intact. AMD analyst and earnings estimates Positive Sentiment: Investors are looking ahead to AMD’s Advancing AI 2026 event next week, where analysts expect new AI products, customer wins, and potentially major partnership news. Some reports say the event could include updates that improve sentiment around AMD’s AI opportunity and competitive position versus Nvidia. AMD Advancing AI event article Neutral Sentiment: AMD’s recent quarter showed strong fundamentals, with revenue up 37.8% year over year to about $10.3 billion. That provides a supportive backdrop, but it has not been enough to offset the market’s current risk-off mood toward chip stocks. AMD quarterly revenue background Negative Sentiment: Sentiment was also hurt by a report that Chief Technology Officer Mark Papermaster sold 6,000 shares, adding to an already heavy pattern of insider selling. Over the past six months, AMD insiders have made 100 open-market sales and no purchases, which can make some investors cautious. AMD insider sale article Negative Sentiment: Broader market coverage described AMD as part of a semiconductor rout, with traders taking profits after a strong run in AI stocks. That rotation is the main reason AMD shares are weaker today, even though the company’s long-term AI narrative remains intact. Chipmaker rout article Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMD. Citigroup downgraded Advanced Micro Devices from a “buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Wolfe Research set a $450.00 price objective on Advanced Micro Devices and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Advanced Micro Devices from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Bank of America increased their target price on Advanced Micro Devices from $550.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded Advanced Micro Devices to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $468.65.

Read Our Latest Analysis on AMD

About Advanced Micro Devices (Free Report)

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc (NASDAQ: AMD) is a global semiconductor company that designs and sells microprocessors, graphics processors, chipsets and adaptive computing solutions for a broad set of markets. The company’s product portfolio includes consumer and commercial CPUs under the Ryzen and Threadripper brands, data center processors under the EPYC brand, and Radeon graphics processing units for gaming and professional visualization. AMD also offers semi-custom system-on-chip (SoC) products for gaming consoles and other specialized applications, and provides supporting software and platform technologies for OEMs, cloud service providers and end users.

Founded in 1969, AMD has evolved from a supplier of logic chips into a diversified, fabless semiconductor designer.

Recommended Stories Five stocks we like better than Advanced Micro Devices Strait of Hormuz Tensions Spike Tanker Trade: These 2 Stocks Are Set to Benefit Shopify’s Quiet AI Strategy Could Be Its Biggest Advantage Yet Why These 3 Nuclear ETFs Are Getting a Fresh Look as AI Power Demand Rises 3 Aerospace Suppliers That Could Benefit as Aircraft Makers Face Bottlenecks Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AMD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD – Free Report).

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SummaryAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc. enters a pivotal catalyst week with its Advancing AI event, potentially redefining its multi-quarter growth trajectory.Surging demand for AMD’s server CPUs and Instinct GPUs, fueled by agentic AI, has accelerated data center revenues to ~$19B, now half of total revenues.Anticipation centers on potential TAM expansion, new product launches (MI450/455 GPUs, Venice EPYC CPUs), and high-profile customer wins, possibly including Anthropic.Despite a rich 66-67x forward P/E, I remain strongly bullish on AMD stock, expecting significant upside if growth and TAM updates materialize. BeeBright/iStock via Getty Images

Investment Thesis Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) enters a defining catalyst week, with potential category-leading outcomes poised to fundamentally rerate the company's multi-quarter growth trajectory.

AMD has been one of the semiconductor industry’s biggest AI

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

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

Marley Kayden talks about Alibaba's (BABA) new Qwen 3.8 AI model. The company claims it to be one of the most powerful models on the market.

SpaceX’s Massive Valuation DropInvestor Sentiment and Market Reactions SpaceX’s stock has dropped nearly 40% from its post-IPO high, raising questions about investor focus and timeline. Despite the selloff, some analysts argue that investors may be asking the wrong questions about SpaceX’s long-term potential and market positioning. SPCX Technical AnalysisSPCX is currently positioned well below its 20-day simple moving average, indicating a bearish trend. The stock’s price is 17.4% below this moving average, suggesting that traders should be cautious as the momentum remains weak.

The RSI sits at 31.98, which is considered neutral but has recently dipped into oversold territory on July 7, 2026. This oversold condition could imply a potential rebound, but traders should watch for confirmation before acting.

SPCX Stock Price Activity: SpaceX shares were down 2.37% at $121.05 at the time of publication on Monday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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Key Takeaways NIKE is expanding its innovation pipeline with new footwear and technologies across sports categories.NKE plans to extend NIKE Mind and Aero-FIT while launching products tied to running and athletes.NIKE expects stronger performance categories to support Sportswear and Jordan demand recovery. NIKE, Inc.’s (NKE - Free Report) innovation pipeline refers to its strategy of introducing new products, technologies and designs to reignite consumer interest and boost sales growth. As innovation has become a key pillar of NKE’s turnaround strategy, it can help it overcome challenges, including weaker demand, heightened competition and slower digital sales.

NIKE is expanding beyond its traditional franchises by introducing performance-focused footwear and apparel, such as the Pegasus Premium, Vomero 18 and other running and training products. Under its “Sport Offense” strategy, NIKE is increasing investments in key sports categories, including running, basketball, football and women’s sports. The company is emphasizing performance innovation to strengthen its connection with athletes.

The company views NIKE Mind as one of its most promising innovation platforms and plans to expand it beyond its current offerings beginning in spring 2027. Initially introduced in football kits, NKE’s Aero-FIT technology is set to expand into running apparel, where it is expected to enhance athletic performance and comfort. Its upcoming launches, including Caitlin Clark-branded products and the latest Free MetCon line, are expected to strengthen NIKE’s position in key performance categories.

The goal is to develop a steady stream of innovative footwear, apparel and accessories tailored to consumer preferences. Management believes that strong performance in categories such as running, basketball and football will create a “halo effect” for its Sportswear and Jordan brands, which together account for nearly half of the company’s revenues. To revive growth in these segments, NIKE is repositioning these businesses. NIKE Sportswear plans to launch more than a dozen new footwear styles in the second half of fiscal 2027, while leveraging its performance-focused innovations to drive demand.

Overall, NIKE’s strong innovation pipeline has the potential to reignite consumer demand, support higher full-price sales and restore long-term growth. However, the success of this strategy will ultimately depend on how consumers respond to the company’s new product launches in the coming quarters.

NKE’s Competitionlululemon athletica inc. (LULU - Free Report) continues to benefit from the progress with its Power of Three X2 growth strategy. LULU remains focused on its long-term growth strategy, which centers on continuous product innovation, enhancing the guest experience and expanding its international presence to drive sustainable growth. lululemon continues to introduce new fabrics and performance-focused products across its core women’s and men’s businesses while expanding into adjacent categories, such as footwear and accessories.

adidas AG (ADDYY - Free Report) is focused on strengthening its brand appeal through continuous product innovation, operational excellence and strategic growth initiatives. ADDYY remains committed to enhancing profitability and long-term competitiveness by maintaining inventory discipline, improving operational efficiency and advancing its sustainability efforts. In addition, adidas is expanding its global footprint through localized market strategies, increased digital investments and an ongoing expansion of its retail store network.

NKE’S Price Performance, Valuation and EstimatesShares of NIKE have lost 33.1% in the past six months compared with the industry’s decline of 28.1%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, NKE trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 23.79X compared with the industry’s average of 20.63X.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NKE’s fiscal 2027 and fiscal 2028 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 10.8% and 35.4%, respectively. The company’s EPS estimate for fiscal 2027 and fiscal 2028 has moved south in the past seven days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT +0.36%) provides exposure to global equities including the United States, while the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG +1.18%) targets exclusively developing economies.

Investors seeking a single-fund solution for global stock exposure often weigh these two instruments. While both cover international markets, the Vanguard fund includes a massive allocation to domestic U.S. giants. In contrast, IEMG specializes in the higher-growth, higher-volatility segment of emerging markets, providing a more targeted geographic bet for diversified portfolios that already have U.S. exposure.

Snapshot (cost & size)MetricIEMGVTIssueriSharesVanguardShare price$78.11 (as of 2026-07-16)$156.13 (as of 2026-07-16)Expense ratio0.09%0.06%1-yr return (as of July 16, 2026)31.7%22.8%Dividend yield2.3%1.6%Beta0.730.92AUM$151.5B$97.0BBeta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from monthly returns over the available fund history (up to five years). The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months. Dividend yield is the trailing-12-month distribution yield.

The Vanguard fund is more affordable for long-term holders with its 0.06% expense ratio. While both ETFs generate income for investors, the iShares fund offers a higher payout, currently yielding 2.3% compared to the 1.6% distribution provided by the Vanguard fund.

Performance & risk comparisonMetricIEMGVTMax drawdown (5 yr)-33.6%-26.4%Growth of $1,000 over 5 years (total return)$1,382$1,675What's insideVanguard Total World Stock ETF tracks thousands of companies across the globe, with its largest sector tilts toward technology at 31%, financial services at 16%, and industrials at 12%. Its largest positions include Nvidia Corp (NVDA +1.19%) at 4%, Apple Inc (AAPL 2.56%) at 3.6%, and Microsoft Corp (MSFT +1.96%) at 2.4%. It holds 10,048 securities in total and was launched in 2008. Vanguard Total World Stock ETF has paid $2.48 per share over the trailing 12 months, which on its recent ~$156.13 share price works out to a 1.6% yield.

iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF focuses on developing nations with heavy concentration in technology at 44%, financial services at 17%, and consumer cyclical at 8%. Its largest holdings include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing at 13.2%, Samsung Electronics Ltd at 7.2%, and Sk Hynix Inc at 6.7%. It manages 2,659 holdings and was launched in 2012. iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has paid $1.80 per share over the trailing 12 months, which on its recent ~$78.11 share price works out to a 2.3% yield.

These are both sizable funds with relatively low expenses.

If you’re looking for a one-stop-shop ETF for your portfolio, then VT, the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF, is the choice. This fund covers the world, as it names suggets, including exposure to the U.S. stock markets. Given that the U.S. is the world’s largest equity market, VT allocates 62% of its portfolio to U.S. stocks. Japan, at 6%, and Taiwan, at about 3.5%, are the next largest countries. Nearly 32% of its portfolio is in developed-world markets outside the U.S., with the balance in emerging markets.

IEMG, the iShares Emerging Markets ETF, by comparison, is 51% developed markets outside the U.S., 1% in the U.S., and 49% in emerging markets. Taiwan is the largest country represented, at 28% of the portfolio, followed by South Korea at 19%, and China at just under 19%. IEMG is actually more heavily invested in large-cap stocks despite its greater weighting in emerging markets, at 82% large caps compared to 75% for VT. That implies IEMG owns the dominant businesses in the emerging markets.

Performance-wise, each fund can claim to be better than the other, depending on what time frame you look at. IEMG has been excelling recently, up 24.4% (to 12% for VT) year-to-date and 42.2% in the past 52 weeks, compared to 24.3% for VT. IEMG is three percentage points better than VT over the 3-year time frame, with 22.6% annualized returns, while VT is better over the 5-year and 10-year look-backs, with 10.9% and 12.8% returns, respectively, compared to IEMG’s respective 7.5% and 10.1% gains.

That makes choosing between IEMG and VT a difficult one. Odds are a U.S. investor already has lots of exposure to domestic equities elsewhere in their portfolio, which means VT would be overweighting American stocks more than one may intend. Go with IEMG to get the rest of the world well represented in your portfolio.

For more guidance on ETF investing, check out the full guide at this link.

News Summary:

NVIDIA Agent Toolkit now includes NVIDIA Omniverse libraries, giving AI agents tools and skills to help software developers integrate physical AI capabilities into their existing applications.New Omniverse libraries for NVIDIA RTX sensor simulation, GPU-accelerated physics simulation and simulation-ready asset validation are openly available on GitHub.SideFX and PTC are integrating Omniverse libraries into 3D applications for physical AI, with support for cloud and local AI systems, from NVIDIA RTX Spark to NVIDIA DGX Station.New NVIDIA blueprint for integrating Omniverse libraries in Blender. LOS ANGELES, July 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SIGGRAPH -- NVIDIA today announced that NVIDIA Agent Toolkit now includes NVIDIA Omniverse™ libraries — a collection of software components that give AI agents tools and skills to add physical AI capabilities to existing applications and prepare 3D content for simulation.

Robots, factories and autonomous systems need to be designed, tested and trained in simulation before they operate in the real world. Preparing 3D content for simulation takes more than realistic visuals — assets need the right structure, materials, scale, labels, sensors and physical properties. With NVIDIA Omniverse libraries in NVIDIA Agent Toolkit, AI agents have the tools and skills to build workflows, inspect scenes, flag issues and prepare assets, helping developers move faster from 3D content to simulation-ready environments.

“The physical AI era will be built in simulation first,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “NVIDIA Agent Toolkit with Omniverse libraries brings AI agents into the 3D tools developers already use, helping build the simulation-ready worlds where robots, factories and autonomous systems are trained and tested long before they reach the real world.”

Software makers including SideFX and PTC are integrating Omniverse libraries for agent-ready sensor simulation, physics and asset validation, helping bring agentic AI into the applications and workflows developers and technical artists already use to prepare 3D content.

Omniverse Libraries Bring Physical AI Skills to NVIDIA Agent Toolkit
NVIDIA Agent Toolkit helps software makers build AI agents that connect tools, skills and data sources. Omniverse libraries extend those agents into 3D and physical AI workflows with callable tools for sensor simulation, GPU-accelerated physics and simulation-ready asset validation inside existing applications.

The new Omniverse libraries — including ovrtx, ovphysx and CAD-to-SimReady skills — are openly available on GitHub, giving AI agents tools to build workflows for inspecting scenes, testing changes and preparing 3D assets for simulation. A new blueprint for integrating Omniverse libraries in Blender is also now available on GitHub.

The libraries’ key capabilities include:

NVIDIA RTX sensor simulation: ovrtx helps applications generate camera, lidar, radar and other sensor outputs from 3D scenes, so developers and AI agents can test how physical AI systems may perceive virtual environments.Physical behavior: ovphysx uses GPU-accelerated physics to bring realistic behavior to 3D scenes using properties such as collisions, mass, friction and motion, so teams can first test how objects and systems interact in simulation.Simulation-ready 3D objects: CAD-to-SimReady skills help convert computer-aided design (CAD) data to SimReady assets built on OpenUSD, giving 3D content the properties needed for physical AI simulation and virtual testing.
Software Makers Build With Omniverse Libraries
Software makers including SideFX and PTC, as well as startups ForgeCAD, Lightwheel, Moonlake AI and Palatial, are among the first to adopt and build with Omniverse libraries, now part of NVIDIA Agent Toolkit.

SideFX is using OpenUSD workflows, as well as ovrtx and ovphysx libraries, to explore how agents can help integrate Omniverse libraries into its Houdini procedural 3D content creation workflows, giving technical artists a path to generate, test physics and prepare content for simulation.

“Procedural 3D creation is essential to building the complex, controllable worlds needed for simulation, robotics and industrial AI,” said Kim Davidson, president and CEO of SideFX. “With NVIDIA Omniverse libraries and OpenUSD, SideFX is exploring how agent-ready tools can support Houdini workflows, helping technical artists review, test and prepare procedural content for simulation while staying in control of the creative process.”

The PTC Onshape CAD and product data management (PDM) platform is using OpenUSD and ovrtx to connect cloud-native design workflows with physical simulation, helping product design content stay connected with CAD, PDM, collaboration and simulation workflows.

“Engineering teams are seeking more connected ways to design, collaborate and simulate throughout the development process,” said Neil Barua, president and CEO of PTC. “PTC’s work with NVIDIA supports that broader vision, while NVIDIA Omniverse libraries help enable simulation-ready workflows that bring validation and testing closer to where products are designed.”

On display at SIGGRAPH, “SimReady” Blender is a sample workflow built in Blender with NVIDIA Omniverse libraries and NVIDIA NemoClaw™, showing how software makers can add agent-ready simulation capabilities — including NVIDIA RTX sensor simulation, physics and validation — into existing 3D applications while keeping creators in control. This is now openly available as a blueprint for integrating Omniverse libraries in Blender.

The demo also previews how these workflows, built with Omniverse libraries as part of NVIDIA Agent Toolkit, can run locally, from compact RTX-powered systems with NVIDIA RTX Spark™ to NVIDIA GB300-powered systems with NVIDIA DGX Station™. RTX Spark systems will be available this fall from ASUS, Dell Technologies, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft Surface and MSI, with models from Acer and GIGABYTE to follow. DGX Station systems are available to order from ASUS, Dell, GIGABYTE, HP, MSI, Supermicro and Exxact.

Startups, including those part of the NVIDIA Inception program, are also using Omniverse libraries and skills to add agent-assisted asset and scene preparation workflows. Palatial is using Omniverse CAD-to-SimReady skills to automate the creation and validation of SimReady assets at scale from CAD inputs. Lightwheel is using Omniverse Content Agents powered by OpenUSD in its SimReadyGen technology to generate physically accurate SimReady assets from text prompts.

ForgeCAD and Moonlake AI are exploring agent-driven 3D content workflows that use Omniverse capabilities to help generate, augment and prepare assets for physical AI simulation.

Watch the NVIDIA keynote at SIGGRAPH. Learn more about NVIDIA Omniverse libraries and explore available samples and documentation.

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

For further information, contact:
Paris Fox
Corporate Communications
NVIDIA Corporation
[email protected]

Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: 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, DGX Station, NemoClaw, Nemotron, NVIDIA Omniverse, NVIDIA RTX and NVIDIA RTX Spark 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/1db6fb48-31e7-4ea7-8281-2713208e224e

NVIDIA Launches Omniverse Libraries, Putting AI Agents to Work Building Simulation-Ready Worlds NVIDIA today announced NVIDIA Omniverse libraries — a collection of software components that give AI...

Analysts on Wall Street project that American Airlines (AAL - Free Report) will announce quarterly earnings of $0.03 per share in its forthcoming report, representing a decline of 96.8% year over year. Revenues are projected to reach $16.7 billion, increasing 16% from the same quarter last year.

Over the past 30 days, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been adjusted upward by 1022.7% to its current level. This demonstrates the covering analysts' collective reassessment of their initial projections during this period.

Ahead of a company's earnings disclosure, it is crucial to give due consideration to changes in earnings estimates. These revisions serve as a noteworthy factor in predicting potential investor reactions to the stock. Numerous empirical studies consistently demonstrate a strong relationship between trends in earnings estimate revision and the short-term price performance of a stock.

While investors typically use consensus earnings and revenue estimates as a yardstick to evaluate the company's quarterly performance, scrutinizing analysts' projections for some of the company's key metrics can offer a more comprehensive perspective.

Bearing this in mind, let's now explore the average estimates of specific American Airlines metrics that are commonly monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts.

Analysts predict that the 'Revenue- Passenger' will reach $15.25 billion. The estimate suggests a change of +16.2% year over year.

Analysts forecast 'Revenue- Other' to reach $1.20 billion. The estimate suggests a change of +13.6% year over year.

It is projected by analysts that the 'Revenue- Cargo' will reach $219.72 million. The estimate points to a change of +4.1% from the year-ago quarter.

Based on the collective assessment of analysts, 'Operating cost per ASM excluding net special items and fuel - Total' should arrive at N/A. The estimate compares to the year-ago value of N/A.

The average prediction of analysts places 'Operating cost per ASM excluding net special items - Total' at N/A. The estimate is in contrast to the year-ago figure of N/A.

The combined assessment of analysts suggests that 'Passenger load factor (percent) - Total' will likely reach 84.9%. The estimate compares to the year-ago value of 84.7%.

Analysts expect 'Passenger revenue per ASM - Total' to come in at N/A. Compared to the current estimate, the company reported N/A in the same quarter of the previous year.

Analysts' assessment points toward 'Total revenue per ASM - Total' reaching N/A. Compared to the current estimate, the company reported N/A in the same quarter of the previous year.

The consensus estimate for 'Available seat miles - Total' stands at 81.56 billion. Compared to the current estimate, the company reported 77.64 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.

The consensus among analysts is that 'Yield - Total' will reach N/A. The estimate is in contrast to the year-ago figure of N/A.

According to the collective judgment of analysts, 'Fuel consumption - Total' should come in at 1223 millions of gallons. Compared to the present estimate, the company reported 1163 millions of gallons in the same quarter last year.

The collective assessment of analysts points to an estimated 'Revenue passenger miles - Total' of 69.21 billion. The estimate is in contrast to the year-ago figure of 65.76 billion.

View all Key Company Metrics for American Airlines here>>>

Over the past month, shares of American Airlines have returned -6.3% versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +0.6% change. Currently, AAL carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), suggesting that it may outperform. the overall market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .

Have you evaluated the performance of Netflix's (NFLX - Free Report) international operations during the quarter that concluded in June 2026? Considering the extensive worldwide presence of this internet video service, analyzing the patterns in international revenues is crucial for understanding its financial resilience and potential for growth.

In the current global economy, which is more interconnected than ever, a company's success in penetrating international markets is crucial for its financial health and growth journey. Investors must understand a company's dependence on overseas markets, as this offers a window into the company's earnings stability, its ability to benefit from varied economic cycles and its potential for long-term growth.

International market involvement serves as insurance against economic downturns at home and enables engagement with economies that are growing more quickly. Still, this move toward diversification is not without its challenges, as it involves navigating through the fluctuations of currencies, geopolitical threats, and the distinctive nature of various markets.

While analyzing NFLX's performance for the last quarter, we found some intriguing trends in revenues from its overseas segments that Wall Street analysts commonly model and monitor.

The company's total revenue for the quarter amounted to $12.56 billion, showing rise of 13.4%. We will now explore the breakdown of NFLX's overseas revenue to assess the impact of its international operations.

Decoding NFLX's International Revenue TrendsAsia-Pacific generated $1.51 billion in revenues for the company in the last quarter, constituting 12% of the total. This represented a surprise of -0.54% compared to the $1.52 billion projected by Wall Street analysts. Comparatively, in the previous quarter, Asia-Pacific accounted for $1.51 billion (12.3%), and in the year-ago quarter, it contributed $1.31 billion (11.8%) to the total revenue.

Latin America accounted for 12.6% of the company's total revenue during the quarter, translating to $1.58 billion. Revenues from this region represented a surprise of +5.34%, with Wall Street analysts collectively expecting $1.5 billion. When compared to the preceding quarter and the same quarter in the previous year, Latin America contributed $1.5 billion (12.2%) and $1.31 billion (11.8%) to the total revenue, respectively.

During the quarter, Europe, Middle East and Africa contributed $4.03 billion in revenue, making up 32.1% of the total revenue. When compared to the consensus estimate of $4.04 billion, this meant a surprise of -0.18%. Looking back, Europe, Middle East and Africa contributed $4 billion, or 32.6%, in the previous quarter, and $3.54 billion, or 31.9%, in the same quarter of the previous year.

Anticipated Revenues in Overseas MarketsThe current fiscal quarter's total revenue for Netflix, as projected by Wall Street analysts, is expected to reach $12.92 billion, reflecting an increase of 12.2% from the same quarter last year. The breakdown of this revenue by foreign region is as follows: Asia-Pacific is anticipated to contribute 12.1% or $1.56 billion, Latin America 12.5% or $1.61 billion and Europe, Middle East and Africa 32.2% or $4.16 billion.

Analysts expect the company to report a total annual revenue of $51.42 billion for the full year, marking an increase of 13.8% compared to last year. The expected revenue contributions from Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Europe, Middle East and Africa are projected to be 12.1% ($6.23 billion), 12.3% ($6.34 billion) and 32.2% ($16.57 billion) of the total revenue, in that order.

Key TakeawaysRelying on global markets for revenues presents both prospects and challenges for Netflix. Therefore, scrutinizing its international revenue trends is key to effectively forecasting the company's future outlook.

In an environment where global interconnections and geopolitical skirmishes are intensifying, Wall Street analysts keep a keen eye on these trends, particularly for firms with overseas operations, to adjust their earnings predictions. Moreover, a range of other aspects, including how a company fares in its home country, significantly affects these projections.

At Zacks, we place significant importance on a company's evolving earnings outlook. This is based on empirical evidence demonstrating its strong influence on a stock's short-term price movements. Invariably, there exists a positive relationship -- an upward revision in earnings estimates is typically mirrored by a rise in the stock price.

Boasting a remarkable track record that's been externally verified, the Zacks Rank, our unique stock rating system, leverages changes in earnings projections to function as a reliable gauge for predicting short-term stock price movements.

At present, Netflix holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). This ranking implies that its near-term performance might mirror the overall market movement. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .

Assessing Netflix's Stock Price Movement in Recent TimesThe stock has witnessed a decline of 10.9% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's an increase of 0.6%. In the same interval, the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector, to which Netflix belongs, has registered an increase of 1%. Over the past three months, the company's shares saw a decrease of 25.4%, while the S&P 500 increased by 5%. In comparison, the sector experienced a decline of 6.2% during this timeframe.

With its stock already down 44% from last June's peak, shareholders clearly weren't optimistic heading into Thursday evening's release of its second-quarter numbers. Yet somehow, streaming giant Netflix (NFLX 1.41%) still managed to disappoint investors. Shares fell more than 8% in Thursday's after-hours trading, in fact, not so much in response to its second-quarter results, but in response to the company's Q3 2026 guidance. Further stoking the selling was the word that, going forward, Netflix will report its total viewing hours only once per year. The bears took that ball and ran with it, so to speak, deterring any would-be buyers waiting for a sign that it's time to dive in.

This post-earnings stumble may well be the last of the sell-off, though. Indeed, if you can stomach the risk and the inevitable volatility, the stock is finally a buy.

The quarter that was, and the one that won't be Netflix turned $12.56 billion worth of revenue into a per-share profit of $0.80 for the three months ending in June. That's up 13.4% and 11.1%, respectively, and essentially in line with analysts' expectations.

However, the quarter currently underway isn't apt to be quite as healthy as initially expected. The company's calling for a top line of $12.86 billion to turn into per-share earnings of $0.82. That's better than the year-earlier comparisons of $11.51 billion and $0.59. But, those projections are also shy of analyst estimates of $13 billion and $0.84 per share. Following the company's recent (and questionable) decision to reinstate free trials after a six-year hiatus, investors were quick to conclude that the streaming giant is really struggling.

And in some regards, it is struggling. For instance, growth is clearly slowing down, forcing investors to price in a factor they've never needed to before.

Image source: Getty Images.

What's not being priced in, however, is how the entire dynamic surrounding Netflix -- and for that matter, the entire streaming industry -- has changed. This company remains the name to beat in this business, as well as the business's best bet for investors even if it's not evident in the most closely watched numbers.

Plenty of strategic options for the unexpectedly profitable outfit The changes have been so slow that they've almost been forgotten. This includes the saturation of the once-uncontested market, the mainstreaming of advertisements before and even during programming, and the addition of select live events side-by-side with a library of on-demand content. These evolutions apply to most of the major names in the business, including Netflix, which expects its still-nascent advertising business to generate on the order of $3 billion in revenue this year.

That's not a huge number, but this is high-margin revenue that might otherwise be foregone if an ad-supported option weren't available.

Perhaps more than anything, though, Netflix's streaming business has evolved from being an unprofitable growth engine to being a cash cow. A little over 27% of last quarter's revenue was turned into net income despite industrywide challenges, while 12% of its sales turned into free cash flow, reaching profitability levels that, before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, investors weren't fully sure the company would ever achieve.

Notably, it's more profitable than most of its competition, giving Netflix more operational options than its rivals.

And there are plenty of examples of such initiatives. For instance, the company is easing its way into the video gaming market, offering over 120 different free-to-play mobile games. It's not a major profit center yet, but it could eventually become one, and is a retention tool in the meantime. Meanwhile, although management explicitly said it's not happening yet, co-CEO Greg Peters did concede during Thursday's earnings call that "free [free-to-watch ad-supported video] is something that we're going to continue to consider," perhaps providing it with another means of monetizing its home-grown entertainment content. Whispers also recently began circulating that the company is considering partnering with a traditional live/cable TV outlet to improve engagement. And, although the company ultimately dropped its bid to acquire rival Warner Bros. Discovery in February, it's not ruling out all future dealmaking. Last month, it announced plans to acquire Radford Studio Center in Los Angeles, providing another venue for creating more of its own TV shows and films.

The fact that Netflix is considering ideas outside of its wheelhouse to leverage its brand name is encouraging. The fact that it isn't blindly pouncing on all of them at any cost is equally encouraging.

Not yesteryear's Netflix, not yesteryear's stock These are admittedly uncharted waters for investors that spent the past 24 years pricing Netflix shares largely based on reported metrics like revenue and subscriber growth. Now those numbers aren't quite as impressive... if they're reported at all. The market needs to find a new lens through which to judge the company's (and the stock's) value, like profits. The shift's clearly been a tough one to digest.

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With shares now halved over the course of the past year thanks to the post-earnings stumble, however, there's a strong case to be made that the old paradigm and its supporters are now finally being flushed out. From here, profits could -- and should -- become the top focus, and Netflix hasn't had any problem producing plenty of those of late.

That's not apt to change in the foreseeable future, either. The company's been pretty smart about spending on new initiatives like the introduction of ad-supported subscriptions, being careful not to create too much costly disruption too quickly. Or, in the case of its abandoned effort to acquire Warner, it wisely walked away when the total price tag started getting too big. Smart.

Analysts are optimistic anyway, even if most investors haven't been. Before Thursday's earnings report, the majority of them rated NFLX stock as a strong buy, with a consensus price target of $112.77, which is 65% above the ticker's current price. Even if disappointing third-quarter guidance dials back some of that optimism, Wall Street still says Netflix shares are considerably undervalued.

Just remain braced for continued volatility and above-average risk if you dive in. People are still struggling to wrap their mind around how Netflix isn't the numbers-focused kind of stock it used to be. Now the big number to watch is the bottom line, with more subjective-based factors like partnerships and innovation likely to push and pull on its share price.

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© Golden Dayz / Shutterstock.com

The Pacer US Cash Cows 100 ETF (NASDAQ:COWZ) just got a real-time stress test of its free-cash-flow screen, and the energy sleeve did exactly what it was built to do. Brent crude jumped from about $72 on July 7 to nearly $82 by July 13, a nearly 14% five-day rip that pulled COWZ up alongside Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM | XOM Price Prediction) and the rest of the sector. COWZ now sits at $65, up roughly 8% year to date and about 18% over the past year, with the fund’s roughly 16% energy weighting doing much of the heavy lifting.

Why This ETF Deserves a Second Look Right Now COWZ screens the Russell 1000 for the 100 highest free-cash-flow-yielding names, which is why the portfolio looks nothing like a market-cap index. The top slots skew toward QUALCOMM at 2.67%, ConocoPhillips at 2.17%, and CVS Health at 2.16%, with energy dominating any cluster analysis. The fund holds $18.2 billion in net assets spread across roughly 100 positions, and the energy sleeve reaches from upstream producers into refiners and oilfield services names.

Exxon itself is the cleanest read-through on why cash-cow names are working. XOM generated $8.77 billion in underlying earnings in Q1 2026, funded $4.9 billion of buybacks in the quarter against a $20 billion full-year authorization, and rose about 6% in the week Brent spiked. That is the archetype COWZ tries to systematize.

The Macro Factor That Matters Most: Brent and the Strait of Hormuz The single macro variable to monitor over the next 12 months is Brent crude, and specifically the Middle East supply premium embedded in it. The EIA’s May Short-Term Energy Outlook noted that Brent averaged $117 per barrel in April after the Strait of Hormuz closure, with daily prices reaching $138 on April 7. Prices have since fallen back to the low-$80s, meaning any renewed disruption resets the entire energy sleeve higher in days, not months.

Watch Brent’s ability to hold above $75. Below that level, upstream free-cash-flow yields compress and the COWZ rebalance methodology can rotate energy names out. Above $90, refining margins tighten but upstream cash generation dominates. The best sources are the EIA’s weekly petroleum status report (Wednesdays) and its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook, which is where surplus OPEC capacity and unplanned outage data get updated. Check weekly, and add event-driven checks whenever Hormuz headlines flare. XOM already booked $706 million in Q1 losses tied to Middle East supply disruptions, a reminder that the same geopolitics that boost prices also break operations.

The Fund-Specific Factor: The Quarterly Rebalance The variable most investors underweight is COWZ’s rebalancing mechanic. The index reconstitutes quarterly using trailing free-cash-flow yield, which means a sustained energy rally lifts the sector’s FCF yields, then triggers larger energy weightings at the next rebalance. That is how COWZ ended up with double-digit energy exposure in the first place. The reverse is also true: if Brent slips back into the $60s and free cash flow at names like Diamondback (1.98%) or Marathon Petroleum (1.78%) compresses, those weights shrink at the next reset.

Monitor the rebalance disclosures on Pacer’s fact sheet. Sector weight shifts of more than 2 percentage points quarter over quarter are the meaningful signal. If energy weighting drops below 12%, the fund’s beta to oil falls materially, and holders relying on COWZ as a stealth energy proxy should know that before it happens.

What to Watch From Here If Brent stays above $75 through the fall, COWZ’s next rebalance likely reinforces the energy tilt that just paid off, and XOM’s $20 billion buyback keeps compounding the cash-return story. If Brent breaks the low-$70s and holds, expect the rebalance to rotate weight toward staples and healthcare, and expect the fund’s correlation to crude to drop with it.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

General Motors stock has retreated in recent days, falling from its year-to-date high of $87 in February to about $76 today. The pullback could continue in the near term after the stock formed a bearish double-top pattern ahead of its second-quarter earnings report.

GM stock will be in the spotlight this week as it releases its financial results. These numbers come after the company published a soft deliveries report. It sold 714,896 vehicles in the second quarter, down by 4% from the same period last year.

GM blamed the decline on its decision to deprioritize electric vehicles. It also discontinued some vehicles, including the Chevrolet Blazer and Cadillac XT4. 

Despite the decline, GM maintained the number one market share in the US. It was also the number 2 company in full-size pickup and large SUV sales. Key brands like GMC, Chevrolet, and Cadillac did relatively well.

READ MORE: General Motors posts earnings beat, issues upbeat guidance for 2026

Yahoo Finance data shows that analysts expect its Q2 revenue to come in at $47.09 billion, down modestly from the $47.12 billion it made in the same period last year. For the third quarter, analysts expect that revenue will drop by 0.44% to $48.38 billion. 

On the positive side, analysts are optimistic that GM will return to growth in the next financial year. Also, while its revenue will remain under pressure, analysts believe that its profitability will do well, helped by higher vehicle prices. A recent report by KBB noted that new car prices rose slightly, with the average new car selling for $49,758.

Another positive is that GM's valuation already reflects many of its growth challenges, including tariffs, rising input costs, and slowing earnings momentum. 

The stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of just 5.95, well below the S&P 500 Index's average multiple of about 20, suggesting much of the pessimism is already priced in. 

By comparison, Ford trades at a forward P/E of 8.68, while Stellantis has a multiple of 7.13, making GM one of the cheapest major automakers despite its strong profitability and cash generation.

Therefore, GM could choose to accelerate its share repurchase program. The company still has $5.5 billion remaining under its existing buyback authorization and may take advantage of its depressed valuation to retire additional shares, further boosting earnings per share and shareholder returns.

Analysts have mixed views about GM stock. RBC’s Tom Narayan lowered his target to $94 from $95, while maintaining an outperform rating. JPMorgan’s Ryan Brinkman hiked his target from $98 to $110, while Citigroup’s Michael Ward boosted from $108 to $131.

GM stock chart | Source: TradingView

The daily chart suggests that the GM stock may drop further in the coming weeks. It has already dropped below the 23.6% Fibonacci Retracement level of $77. Moving below that level may suggest that the stock has more downside to go. 

The stock has also formed a bearish flag pattern, which is made up of a vertical line and an ascending channel. It has also dropped below the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA), a sign that bears have largely prevailed for now.

Therefore, the stock will likely have a bearish breakout after releasing its earnings on Tuesday. If this happens, the next target to watch will be the 38.2% Fibonacci Retracement level of $70. 

GE Aerospace branding is seen at the Farnborough International Airshow, in Farnborough, Britain, July 22, 2024. REUTERS/Toby Melville Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

SummaryCompaniesGroup makes first high-altitude flight using hybrid-electric propulsionFlight above 30,000 feet made by Saab 340 aircraftResearch carried out with NASA, BETA TechnologiesFARNBOROUGH, England, July 20 (Reuters) - GE Aerospace (GE.N), opens new tab has ​carried out the world’s first high-altitude flight assisted by hybrid-electric propulsion, it said on Monday, ‌part of an arsenal of technologies for future jet engines being showcased at this year’s Farnborough Airshow.

The flight above 30,000 feet was made by a Saab 340 aircraft that has been discreetly carrying out similar trials since May, ​including a ground-breaking trip across the Atlantic with stopovers culminating in a debut at the ​aerospace event.

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The research is being carried out in cooperation with NASA and electric aerospace ⁠company BETA Technologies, and comes as engine makers are designing the building blocks for engines to ​power potential successors to the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320neo.

NEXT STEPS IN AVIATIONProponents say the combination of ​traditional and electric propulsion can be used when needed to help aircraft get higher faster, and contribute to ambitious targets for lower fuel consumption and emissions.

"It leads to the next step in aviation propulsion," BETA CEO Kyle Clark told ​a news conference.

Hybridisation is one of four key research areas for the RISE engine concept being tested ​by engine maker CFM, co-owned by GE and France’s Safran (SAF.PA), opens new tab.

That also includes a radical open-fan design, though the company ‌is ⁠also working on a traditional enclosed alternative called AD-L or ADNB, Reuters has reported.

After years of artist's impressions and computerised images at such events, engine makers are vying to demonstrate progress towards the fuel savings and durability required of the next generation of engines towards the end of next decade.

"Simulation has given way ​to real world innovation,” ​GE Aerospace Commercial Engines ⁠CEO Mohamed Ali said.

'ENABLING TECHNOLOGY'GE's rivals Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce are due to give updates on their own engine research later this week.

Ali declined to ​say in detail how the type of high-voltage hybrid system replacing one of ​the ordinary ⁠engines on the Saab 340 test plane would fit into a future product. "This certainly would become a significant enabling technology," he said.

Industry sources say Boeing, which has signalled less willingness than Airbus to embrace open-fan, has ⁠some ​concerns about the weight of such a hybrid system, which ​includes three extra inlets for cooling on the engine shown at the show.

Ali said trade-offs between weight and performance were part of ​the normal process of designing an engine for real use.

Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Jan Harvey

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

Shivansh reports on major aerospace, aviation, and industrial companies in the United States. A journalism graduate from Christ University in Bangalore, he specializes in breaking news and quarterly earnings reports for the country’s largest airlines and machinery manufacturers. His work is often featured in Reuters’ Aerospace & Defense and Autos & Transportation sections.

Taking full advantage of the stock market and investing with confidence are common goals for new and old investors, and Zacks Premium offers many different ways to do both.

The research service features daily updates of the Zacks Rank and Zacks Industry Rank, full access to the Zacks #1 Rank List, Equity Research reports, and Premium stock screens, all of which will help you become a smarter, more confident investor.

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

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

Each stock is assigned a rating of A, B, C, D, or F based on their value, growth, and momentum characteristics. Just like in school, an A is better than a B, a B is better than a C, and so on -- that means the better the score, the better chance the stock will outperform.

The Style Scores are broken down into four categories:

Value ScoreFor value investors, it's all about finding good stocks at good prices, and discovering which companies are trading under their true value before the broader market catches on. The Value Style Score utilizes ratios like P/E, PEG, Price/Sales, Price/Cash Flow, and a host of other multiples to help pick out the most attractive and discounted stocks.

Growth ScoreGrowth investors are more concerned with a stock's future prospects, and the overall financial health and strength of a company. Thus, the Growth Style Score analyzes characteristics like projected and historic earnings, sales, and cash flow to find stocks that will see sustainable growth over time.

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

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

How Style Scores Work with the Zacks Rank The Zacks Rank is a proprietary stock-rating model that harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions, or changes to a company's earnings expectations, to help investors build a successful portfolio.

Investors can count on the Zacks Rank's success, with #1 (Strong Buy) stocks producing an unmatched +23.94% average annual return since 1988, more than double the S&P 500's performance. But the model rates a large number of stocks, and there are over 200 companies with a Strong Buy rank, plus another 600 with a #2 (Buy) rank, on any given day.

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

That's where the Style Scores come in.

To maximize your returns, you want to buy stocks with the highest probability of success. This means picking stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2 that also have Style Scores of A or B. If you find yourself looking at stocks with a #3 (Hold) rank, make sure they have Scores of A or B as well to ensure as much upside potential as possible.

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

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

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

Stock to Watch: Verizon Communications (VZ - Free Report) Based in New York, Verizon Communications Inc. offers communication services in the form of local phone service, long-distance calls, wireless and data services. In January 2006, Verizon completed its merger with MCI Corporation, a leader in long-distance and data networking services. With the acquisition of Alltel Wireless Corp. in early 2009, Verizon has surpassed AT&T Inc. as the largest wireless carrier in North America, serving millions of customers nationwide.

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

It also boasts a Value Style Score of A thanks to attractive valuation metrics like a forward P/E ratio of 8.75; value investors should take notice.

Five analysts revised their earnings estimate higher in the last 60 days for fiscal 2026, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased $0.03 to $4.98 per share. VZ also boasts an average earnings surprise of +3.2%.

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

The asset manager's infrastructure and private-credit arms are leading the jumbo project.

© 2021 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images

Luckin Coffee, which is based in China, has 33,596 locations, most of which are in its home country. However, it has begun expanding into Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and the US. It has started to expand across New York City, and its locations are impressive for food, coffee, cleanliness, and service. As it expands across America’s largest city, Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX | SBUX Price Prediction) should start to be worried.

Food & Wine expects Luckin Coffee to expand quickly across the US. It compared the company to Starbucks. “Luckin, on the other hand, sells speed, novelty, and value, all in a cashless transaction.”

It would be wrong to give the impression that Luckin Coffee will severely dent Starbucks on its own. The competition is much larger and well-funded. Taken together, they represent a huge challenge to Starbucks’ sales and popularity.

Starbucks has about 17,000 locations in the US. Its two primary competitors are McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) and Dunkin’ Donuts. McDonald’s has about 14,000locations. It is extremely aggressive in its attempts to get breakfast customers with a large menu built for a wide range of customers, both in terms of price, speed of service, and menu items.

Dunkin’ Donuts is more oriented toward breakfast than McDonald’s. It has 10,000 locations. That means 24,000 locations from two huge and well-funded companies. It does not include smaller chains like Tim Hortons and Caribou Coffee, which together have over 1,000 stores, and the tens of thousands of local neighborhood stores.

Starbucks staged a rally after recent earnings, but now substantially trails the S&P over the last year. While the S&P is 18% higher, Starbucks is up 13%. Over the last five years, the figure has been much more brutal. The S&P is up 69%, and Starbucks is down 16% so much for what was supposed to be a major turnaround.

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

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One stock to keep an eye on is Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH - Free Report) . NCLH is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 10.27, while its industry has an average P/E of 16.63. Over the last 12 months, NCLH's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.63 and as low as 6.93, with a median of 10.77.

We also note that NCLH holds a PEG ratio of 0.84. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. NCLH's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.16. Over the last 12 months, NCLH's PEG has been as high as 0.93 and as low as 0.15, with a median of 0.24.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a preferred metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. NCLH has a P/S ratio of 0.89. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.17.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that NCLH has a P/CF ratio of 6.57. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 12.38. Within the past 12 months, NCLH's P/CF has been as high as 9.67 and as low as 3.73, with a median of 6.53.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Norwegian Cruise Line is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, NCLH sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.

Paypal (PYPL - Free Report) has been one of the most searched-for stocks on Zacks.com lately. So, you might want to look at some of the facts that could shape the stock's performance in the near term.

Shares of this technology platform and digital payments company have returned +33.1% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +0.6% change. The Zacks Financial Transaction Services industry, to which Paypal belongs, has gained 10.1% over this period. Now the key question is: Where could the stock be headed in the near term?

Although media reports or rumors about a significant change in a company's business prospects usually cause its stock to trend and lead to an immediate price change, there are always certain fundamental factors that ultimately drive the buy-and-hold decision.

Earnings Estimate RevisionsRather than focusing on anything else, we at Zacks prioritize evaluating the change in a company's earnings projection. This is because we believe the fair value for its stock is determined by the present value of its future stream of earnings.

We essentially look at how sell-side analysts covering the stock are revising their earnings estimates to reflect the impact of the latest business trends. And if earnings estimates go up for a company, the fair value for its stock goes up. A higher fair value than the current market price drives investors' interest in buying the stock, leading to its price moving higher. This is why empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

For the current quarter, Paypal is expected to post earnings of $1.28 per share, indicating a change of -8.6% from the year-ago quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has changed -0.2% over the last 30 days.

The consensus earnings estimate of $5.32 for the current fiscal year indicates a year-over-year change of +0.2%. This estimate has changed +0.3% over the last 30 days.

For the next fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $5.76 indicates a change of +8.4% from what Paypal is expected to report a year ago. Over the past month, the estimate has changed -0.4%.

With an impressive externally audited track record, our proprietary stock rating tool -- the Zacks Rank -- is a more conclusive indicator of a stock's near-term price performance, as it effectively harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions. The size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, has resulted in a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for Paypal.

The chart below shows the evolution of the company's forward 12-month consensus EPS estimate:

12 Month EPS

Revenue Growth ForecastWhile earnings growth is arguably the most superior indicator of a company's financial health, nothing happens as such if a business isn't able to grow its revenues. After all, it's nearly impossible for a company to increase its earnings for an extended period without increasing its revenues. So, it's important to know a company's potential revenue growth.

For Paypal, the consensus sales estimate for the current quarter of $8.52 billion indicates a year-over-year change of +2.8%. For the current and next fiscal years, $34.31 billion and $35.75 billion estimates indicate +3.4% and +4.2% changes, respectively.

Last Reported Results and Surprise HistoryPaypal reported revenues of $8.35 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +7.2%. EPS of $1.34 for the same period compares with $1.33 a year ago.

Compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8.11 billion, the reported revenues represent a surprise of +2.96%. The EPS surprise was +5.51%.

Over the last four quarters, Paypal surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times. The company topped consensus revenue estimates three times over this period.

ValuationWithout considering a stock's valuation, no investment decision can be efficient. In predicting a stock's future price performance, it's crucial to determine whether its current price correctly reflects the intrinsic value of the underlying business and the company's growth prospects.

Comparing the current value of a company's valuation multiples, such as its price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S), and price-to-cash flow (P/CF), to its own historical values helps ascertain whether its stock is fairly valued, overvalued, or undervalued, whereas comparing the company relative to its peers on these parameters gives a good sense of how reasonable its stock price is.

As part of the Zacks Style Scores system, the Zacks Value Style Score (which evaluates both traditional and unconventional valuation metrics) organizes stocks into five groups ranging from A to F (A is better than B; B is better than C; and so on), making it helpful in identifying whether a stock is overvalued, rightly valued, or temporarily undervalued.

Paypal is graded A on this front, indicating that it is trading at a discount to its peers. Click here to see the values of some of the valuation metrics that have driven this grade.

Bottom LineThe facts discussed here and much other information on Zacks.com might help determine whether or not it's worthwhile paying attention to the market buzz about Paypal. However, its Zacks Rank #3 does suggest that it may perform in line with the broader market in the near term.

In its upcoming report, Intel (INTC - Free Report) is predicted by Wall Street analysts to post quarterly earnings of $0.21 per share, reflecting an increase of 310% compared to the same period last year. Revenues are forecasted to be $14.42 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 12.1%.

Over the last 30 days, there has been an upward revision of 2.9% in the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter, leading to its current level. This signifies the covering analysts' collective reconsideration of their initial forecasts over the course of this timeframe.

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

While investors typically use consensus earnings and revenue estimates as a yardstick to evaluate the company's quarterly performance, scrutinizing analysts' projections for some of the company's key metrics can offer a more comprehensive perspective.

Given this perspective, it's time to examine the average forecasts of specific Intel metrics that are routinely monitored and predicted by Wall Street analysts.

The collective assessment of analysts points to an estimated 'Net Revenues- Total Intel Products Group' of $13.44 billion. The estimate points to a change of +13.8% from the year-ago quarter.

The combined assessment of analysts suggests that 'Net Revenues- Total Intel Products Group- Data Center and AI' will likely reach $5.47 billion. The estimate indicates a year-over-year change of +39%.

Analysts expect 'Net Revenues- Total Intel Products Group- Client Computing Group' to come in at $7.97 billion. The estimate indicates a change of +1.2% from the prior-year quarter.

The consensus estimate for 'Net Revenues- All other- Total' stands at $623.20 million. The estimate points to a change of -40.8% from the year-ago quarter.

It is projected by analysts that the 'Net Revenues- Intel Foundry Services' will reach $5.58 billion. The estimate indicates a year-over-year change of +26.4%.

View all Key Company Metrics for Intel here>>>

Over the past month, Intel shares have recorded returns of -29.1% versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +0.6% change. Based on its Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), INTC will likely outperform the overall market in the upcoming period. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .

Intel, one of the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 Index this year, has lost momentum in recent weeks.

The stock has fallen 32% from its year-to-date high and is hovering near its lowest level since May.

That weakness will face a crucial test later this week when the chipmaker reports its quarterly financial results.

INTC stock has enjoyed a remarkable rally this year. Despite its recent pullback, the shares remain up 138% year to date, making Intel one of the best-performing companies in the S&P 500 Index. 

The surge has lifted its market capitalization to more than $477 billion, marking a dramatic turnaround for a company that was struggling with declining market share and weak financial performance just a few years ago.

Intel’s surge has been driven by several factors, including its balance sheet improvements.

The Trump administration and Nvidia took a stake in the company, helping it to shore up its finances.

Intel has also benefited from the ongoing demand for CPUs as AI agents become more popular.

It also boosted investor confidence by reaching a deal with Apollo Global to repurchase the 49% equity interest in its Irish fab joint venture. The deal is valued at $14.2 billion and is funded by cash on hand and new debt. 

Most recently, Intel has inked major deals, including with SpaceX and Tesla. It has become a partner of Elon Musk’s Terafab project.

In it, the company will provide its 14A manufacturing technology to design, fabricate, and package chips. 

Intel is proud to join the Terafab project with @SpaceX, @xAI, and @Tesla to help refactor silicon fab technology.

Our ability to design, fabricate, and package ultra-high-performance chips at scale will help accelerate Terafab’s aim to produce 1 TW/year of compute to power… pic.twitter.com/2vUmXn0YhH

— Intel (@intel) April 7, 2026 Intel will also manufacture some of Apple’s chips in its Texas plant. While the real production is years away, the deal is a validation for Intel’s turnaround. 

In another important development, Google said that it would use Intel’s Xeon processors to power its cloud infrastructure.

While the size of the deal was not revealed, chances are that it will be worth billions of dollars.

Therefore, the upcoming earnings report will provide more information about its turnaround.

Analysts expect these results to show that Intel’s revenue jumped by 12% to $14.42 billion, helped by CPU demand. 

In his statement after the last earnings report, Lip-Bu Tan, the CEO, said: 

“The next wave of AI will bring intelligence closer to the end user, moving from foundational models to inference to agentic. This shift is significantly increasing the need for Intel’s CPUs and wafer and advanced packaging offerings.”

Analysts are largely bullish on Intel despite its hefty valuation. Yahoo Finance data shows that the average target among analysts is $106.70, up modestly from the current $95.

INTC stock chart | Source: TradingView

The daily chart shows that INTC stock has slumped from the year-to-date high of $142.6 to the current $95.

It has formed a double-top pattern at $132.47. This pattern had a false breakout that pushed it to the highest point this year.

It has now moved below the Major S/R pivot point of the Murrey Math Lines tool. Also, it has slipped below $98.93, its lowest level on June 5.

Therefore, the price will likely drop further in the near term, potentially to the strong pivot, reverse level of $75. 

Adobe is adding new AI-powered features to its experimental iOS camera app called Project Indigo, launched last year. The app previously offered pro controls, multi-frame super-resolution, and different capture modes, and is now adding features that will use LLMs (large language models) to critique photos and provide editing suggestions.

It’s also adding other AI features, like advanced object removal, depth of field generation, and the ability to add different styles to photos.

Marc Levoy, the person heading Adobe’s project, had previously developed Pixel’s camera chops. He said that most generative AI tools provide prompt-based editing and, often, finding the perfect prompt to tweak a photo or get the right result can be a tricky endeavour. That’s why most of the new experimental AI features are buttons that can generate more deterministic outputs.

For instance, Google’s camera coach feature for Pixel phones, launched last year, offered more generic framing suggestions. Project Indigo’s features, by comparison, are fairly descriptive and could help you learn some photography tricks, even if you don’t agree with the AI assessment.

There are two features in this category. First is the photo critique, which includes a “professional” opinion about framing, lighting, colors, and emotional impact.

Image Credits: Screenshot by TechCrunchImage Credits:Screenshot by TechCrunch The second is capture and edit suggestions, which give you tips about reshooting the photo on how you can change framing, exposure, and objects in the viewfinder. For instance, the app told me to remove the hexagonal white object in the frame from a photo I took.

A second section tells you how you can use an existing photo to make it better using Adobe Lightroom controls.

Image Credits: Screenshot by TechCrunchImage Credits:Screenshot by TechCrunch Photography apps, including Apple Photos, Google Photos, and Adobe Photoshop, have offered object removal for years. But the feature often depends on the user circling or selecting an object by drawing on the screen, which is not perfect every time.

Project Indigo’s new feature gives you toggles for things to remove from an image, like people in the background, trash and trash cans, wires and poles, fences, vehicles, and other clutter. You can also describe a custom object to remove. The results of this feature are pretty impressive.

The app removed my friend and the object he was holding from the background without creating any strange artifacts.

Image Credits: Ivan MehtaImage Credits:Ivan Mehta Image Credits: ivan Mehta (edited with Project Indigo)Image Credits:Ivan Mehta The app also allows you to use AI to create depth of field for a photo to simulate a blurred background.

With this new update, Adobe is also experimenting with the style transfer feature, which lets you turn your picture into tones like watercolor, pen and ink, ink line with color wash, monochromatic, and backlit subject. Some styles remind me of the early days of the Prisma app. With advanced models, the outputs look refined, but style transfer is not a new or useful feature.

Despite Levoy’s criticism of the prompt-based implementation, Project Indigo has its own feature that lets you describe your edit. Users can use it to perform edit flows that are not available in preset tools. But this is also a potential road to slopland.

The company is using Google’s Gemini-based Nano Banana for these features, but it’s open to swapping in other models, including its own Adobe Firefly model. These features, bundled under the AI playground tab, are still in a testing phase, and only select users will get access to them. These features might not ever make it to a wider audience, but it is good to see some features that can make people aware of nuances in photography, rather than just creating more slop.

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

Ivan covers global consumer tech developments at TechCrunch. He is based out of India and has previously worked at publications including Huffington Post and The Next Web.

You can contact or verify outreach from Ivan by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at ivan.42 on Signal.

Cisco Systems (CSCO - Free Report) is one of the stocks most watched by Zacks.com visitors lately. So, it might be a good idea to review some of the factors that might affect the near-term performance of the stock.

Over the past month, shares of this seller of routers, switches, software and services have returned -6.4%, compared to the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +0.6% change. During this period, the Zacks Computer - Networking industry, which Cisco falls in, has lost 4.6%. The key question now is: What could be the stock's future direction?

Although media reports or rumors about a significant change in a company's business prospects usually cause its stock to trend and lead to an immediate price change, there are always certain fundamental factors that ultimately drive the buy-and-hold decision.

Revisions to Earnings EstimatesRather than focusing on anything else, we at Zacks prioritize evaluating the change in a company's earnings projection. This is because we believe the fair value for its stock is determined by the present value of its future stream of earnings.

Our analysis is essentially based on how sell-side analysts covering the stock are revising their earnings estimates to take the latest business trends into account. When earnings estimates for a company go up, the fair value for its stock goes up as well. And when a stock's fair value is higher than its current market price, investors tend to buy the stock, resulting in its price moving upward. Because of this, empirical studies indicate a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and short-term stock price movements.

For the current quarter, Cisco is expected to post earnings of $1.17 per share, indicating a change of +18.2% from the year-ago quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged over the last 30 days.

For the current fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $4.28 points to a change of +12.3% from the prior year. Over the last 30 days, this estimate has remained unchanged.

For the next fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $4.78 indicates a change of +11.7% from what Cisco is expected to report a year ago. Over the past month, the estimate has changed +0.1%.

Having a strong externally audited track record, our proprietary stock rating tool, the Zacks Rank, offers a more conclusive picture of a stock's price direction in the near term, since it effectively harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions. Due to the size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, Cisco is rated Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

The chart below shows the evolution of the company's forward 12-month consensus EPS estimate:

12 Month EPS

Revenue Growth ForecastWhile earnings growth is arguably the most superior indicator of a company's financial health, nothing happens as such if a business isn't able to grow its revenues. After all, it's nearly impossible for a company to increase its earnings for an extended period without increasing its revenues. So, it's important to know a company's potential revenue growth.

For Cisco, the consensus sales estimate for the current quarter of $16.85 billion indicates a year-over-year change of +14.9%. For the current and next fiscal years, $62.95 billion and $67.75 billion estimates indicate +11.1% and +7.6% changes, respectively.

Last Reported Results and Surprise HistoryCisco reported revenues of $15.84 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +12%. EPS of $1.06 for the same period compares with $0.96 a year ago.

Compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15.58 billion, the reported revenues represent a surprise of +1.71%. The EPS surprise was +1.92%.

The company beat consensus EPS estimates in each of the trailing four quarters. The company topped consensus revenue estimates each time over this period.

ValuationNo investment decision can be efficient without considering a stock's valuation. Whether a stock's current price rightly reflects the intrinsic value of the underlying business and the company's growth prospects is an essential determinant of its future price performance.

While comparing the current values of a company's valuation multiples, such as price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S), and price-to-cash flow (P/CF), with its own historical values helps determine whether its stock is fairly valued, overvalued, or undervalued, comparing the company relative to its peers on these parameters gives a good sense of the reasonability of the stock's price.

As part of the Zacks Style Scores system, the Zacks Value Style Score (which evaluates both traditional and unconventional valuation metrics) organizes stocks into five groups ranging from A to F (A is better than B; B is better than C; and so on), making it helpful in identifying whether a stock is overvalued, rightly valued, or temporarily undervalued.

Cisco is graded F on this front, indicating that it is trading at a premium to its peers. Click here to see the values of some of the valuation metrics that have driven this grade.

Bottom LineThe facts discussed here and much other information on Zacks.com might help determine whether or not it's worthwhile paying attention to the market buzz about Cisco. However, its Zacks Rank #2 does suggest that it may outperform the broader market in the near term.

When deciding whether to buy, sell, or hold a stock, investors often rely on analyst recommendations. Media reports about rating changes by these brokerage-firm-employed (or sell-side) analysts often influence a stock's price, but are they really important?

Before we discuss the reliability of brokerage recommendations and how to use them to your advantage, let's see what these Wall Street heavyweights think about Cisco Systems (CSCO - Free Report) .

Cisco currently has an average brokerage recommendation (ABR) of 1.79, on a scale of 1 to 5 (Strong Buy to Strong Sell), calculated based on the actual recommendations (Buy, Hold, Sell, etc.) made by 26 brokerage firms. An ABR of 1.79 approximates between Strong Buy and Buy.

Of the 26 recommendations that derive the current ABR, 15 are Strong Buy and one is Buy. Strong Buy and Buy respectively account for 57.7% and 3.9% of all recommendations.

Brokerage Recommendation Trends for CSCO

Check price target & stock forecast for Cisco here>>>

While the ABR calls for buying Cisco, it may not be wise to make an investment decision solely based on this information. Several studies have shown limited to no success of brokerage recommendations in guiding investors to pick stocks with the best price increase potential.

Do you wonder why? As a result of the vested interest of brokerage firms in a stock they cover, their analysts tend to rate it with a strong positive bias. According to our research, brokerage firms assign five "Strong Buy" recommendations for every "Strong Sell" recommendation.

In other words, their interests aren't always aligned with retail investors, rarely indicating where the price of a stock could actually be heading. Therefore, the best use of this information could be validating your own research or an indicator that has proven to be highly successful in predicting a stock's price movement.

With an impressive externally audited track record, our proprietary stock rating tool, the Zacks Rank, which classifies stocks into five groups, ranging from Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) to Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), is a reliable indicator of a stock's near-term price performance. So, validating the Zacks Rank with ABR could go a long way in making a profitable investment decision.

ABR Should Not Be Confused With Zacks RankAlthough both Zacks Rank and ABR are displayed in a range of 1--5, they are different measures altogether.

The ABR is calculated solely based on brokerage recommendations and is typically displayed with decimals (example: 1.28). In contrast, the Zacks Rank is a quantitative model allowing investors to harness the power of earnings estimate revisions. It is displayed in whole numbers -- 1 to 5.

It has been and continues to be the case that analysts employed by brokerage firms are overly optimistic with their recommendations. Because of their employers' vested interests, these analysts issue more favorable ratings than their research would support, misguiding investors far more often than helping them.

On the other hand, earnings estimate revisions are at the core of the Zacks Rank. And empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

Furthermore, the different grades of the Zacks Rank are applied proportionately across all stocks for which brokerage analysts provide earnings estimates for the current year. In other words, at all times, this tool maintains a balance among the five ranks it assigns.

There is also a key difference between the ABR and Zacks Rank when it comes to freshness. When you look at the ABR, it may not be up-to-date. Nonetheless, since brokerage analysts constantly revise their earnings estimates to reflect changing business trends, and their actions get reflected in the Zacks Rank quickly enough, it is always timely in predicting future stock prices.

Is CSCO Worth Investing In?In terms of earnings estimate revisions for Cisco, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has increased 0% over the past month to $4.28.

Analysts' growing optimism over the company's earnings prospects, as indicated by strong agreement among them in revising EPS estimates higher, could be a legitimate reason for the stock to soar in the near term.

The size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, has resulted in a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) for Cisco. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

Therefore, the Buy-equivalent ABR for Cisco may serve as a useful guide for investors.

Wall Street analysts forecast that IBM (IBM - Free Report) will report quarterly earnings of $3.00 per share in its upcoming release, pointing to a year-over-year increase of 7.1%. It is anticipated that revenues will amount to $17.59 billion, exhibiting an increase of 3.6% compared to the year-ago quarter.

The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.5% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. This reflects how the analysts covering the stock have collectively reevaluated their initial estimates during this timeframe.

Before a company announces its earnings, it is essential to take into account any changes made to earnings estimates. This is a valuable factor in predicting the potential reactions of investors toward the stock. Empirical research has consistently shown a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and the short-term price performance of a stock.

While investors typically rely on consensus earnings and revenue estimates to gauge how the business may have fared during the quarter, examining analysts' projections for some of the company's key metrics often helps gain a deeper insight.

That said, let's delve into the average estimates of some IBM metrics that Wall Street analysts commonly model and monitor.

Based on the collective assessment of analysts, 'Revenue- Software' should arrive at $8.11 billion. The estimate indicates a year-over-year change of +9.8%.

The collective assessment of analysts points to an estimated 'Revenue- Consulting' of $5.42 billion. The estimate indicates a year-over-year change of +2%.

The average prediction of analysts places 'Revenue- Financing' at $172.79 million. The estimate indicates a change of +4.1% from the prior-year quarter.

Analysts' assessment points toward 'Revenue- Infrastructure' reaching $4.03 billion. The estimate indicates a change of -2.7% from the prior-year quarter.

The consensus estimate for 'Revenue- Intelligent Operations' stands at $2.42 billion. The estimate indicates a change of +1% from the prior-year quarter.

It is projected by analysts that the 'Revenue- Automation' will reach $2.03 billion. The estimate suggests a change of +7.1% year over year.

Analysts forecast 'Revenue- Strategy and Technology' to reach $2.97 billion. The estimate points to a change of +2.3% from the year-ago quarter.

Analysts predict that the 'Revenue- Hybrid Cloud' will reach $2.00 billion. The estimate points to a change of +11.2% from the year-ago quarter.

The consensus among analysts is that 'Revenue- Infrastructure Support' will reach $1.20 billion. The estimate indicates a change of -7.9% from the prior-year quarter.

The combined assessment of analysts suggests that 'Revenue- Data' will likely reach $1.88 billion. The estimate suggests a change of +25.4% year over year.

Analysts expect 'Revenue- Transaction Processing' to come in at $2.29 billion. The estimate indicates a change of +4.1% from the prior-year quarter.

According to the collective judgment of analysts, 'Revenue- Hybrid Infrastructure' should come in at $2.80 billion. The estimate points to a change of -3.6% from the year-ago quarter.

View all Key Company Metrics for IBM here>>>

Shares of IBM have experienced a change of -14.6% in the past month compared to the +0.6% move of the Zacks S&P 500 composite. With a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), IBM is expected to mirror the overall market performance in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .

Key Takeaways IBM's Consulting revenues are estimated at $5.4B, up from $5.31B in the year-ago quarter.IBM's Google Cloud partnership may support AI adoption, modernization and consulting revenues.IBM Autonomous Security uses AI agents to automate threat response and reduce operational friction. International Business Machines Corporation (IBM - Free Report) is scheduled to report second-quarter 2026 earnings after the closing bell on July 22. In the to-be-reported quarter, the company is likely to have recorded higher revenues from the Consulting segment, backed by rising demand for technology consulting and business transformation services.

Factors at PlayThe Consulting segment comprises Strategy and Technology (previously reported as Business Transformation and Technology Consulting) and Intelligent Operations (previously reported as Application Operations). It provides consulting and application management services that offer value and innovation to clients by leveraging industry, technology and business strategy and process know-how.

During the to-be-reported quarter, IBM partnered with Google Cloud to help businesses adopt AI faster and modernize their technology systems. The deal creates a new Google Cloud Practice within IBM Consulting, combining IBM’s industry expertise and AI-powered IBM Consulting Advantage platform with Google Cloud’s Gemini Enterprise AI platform. The collaboration strengthens the company’s expertise in cybersecurity, data management and cloud infrastructure. By integrating Google Cloud’s Gemini AI capabilities with its watsonx platform and using technologies such as Red Hat OpenShift, HashiCorp, Apptio, BigQuery and Confluent, IBM aims to help businesses improve automation, gain deeper data insights and enhance operational efficiency. These are likely to have generated additional revenues for the Consulting segment.

In the second quarter, the company launched IBM Autonomous Security, a multi-agent-powered service with interoperable, vendor-agnostic digital workers that operate across an organization's entire security operations for coordinated decision-making, response and intelligence at machine speed. This has helped business enterprises reduce operational friction and improve resiliency while strengthening compliance outcomes.

Leveraging coordinated AI agents, IBM Autonomous Security helps to analyze potential exploit paths to enforce security policies across the applicable security tools and contain threats with minimal human intervention. Offering deep visibility into security gaps, policy weaknesses and AI-specific exposures, it helps to reduce exposure windows and accelerate containment of high-velocity attacks. This will help to provide a holistic and integrative threat management approach to help security analysts better comprehend critical threats. In addition, it will reduce manual investigations and operational tasks with auto-recommend actions based on the historical patterns of analyzed activity and pre-set confidence levels. This, in turn, will help to effectively mitigate multi-dimensional cyber threats that have become rampant over time.

Overall ExpectationsThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for Consulting revenues is pegged at $5.4 billion, indicating an improvement from $5.31 billion in the year-ago quarter.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for total revenues for the company is pegged at $17.59 billion. It generated revenues of $16.98 billion in the prior-year quarter. The consensus mark for earnings is currently pegged at $3.00 per share, indicating growth from $2.8 in the year-earlier quarter.

Earnings WhispersOur proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for IBM for the second quarter. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. This is not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

IBM currently has an ESP of -0.76% with a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Stocks to ConsiderHere are some companies you may want to consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this season:

Pinterest, Inc. (PINS - Free Report) is set to release quarterly numbers on Aug. 4. It has an Earnings ESP of +1.65% and carries a Zacks Rank #3.

The Earnings ESP for Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET - Free Report) is +0.84% and it carries a Zacks Rank of 3. The company is scheduled to report quarterly numbers on Aug. 4.

The Earnings ESP for Silicon Motion Technology Corporation (SIMO - Free Report) is +7.68% and it sports a Zacks Rank of 1. The company is scheduled to report quarterly numbers on July 29.