Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Kieran Shanahan, chief operating officer for Walmart U.S., will leave this week.

Procter & Gamble (PG 0.12%) raised its quarterly dividend 3% in April to $1.0885 per share, marking its 70th consecutive year of dividend increases. Only five other publicly traded companies have raised their payouts for that many years in a row.

The streak is even more remarkable when you zoom out. P&G has paid a dividend every year since its incorporation in 1890 -- 136 straight years. And the payments are enormous in absolute terms, too. The company behind Tide, Pampers, and Gillette expects to pay around $10 billion in dividends in fiscal 2026, plus roughly $5 billion in share repurchases on top of it.

A streak like this is only possible because of what P&G sells. Detergent, diapers, razors, and paper towels get bought in good economies and bad ones, and the company's latest results show that durability at work. In its fiscal 2026 third quarter (the period ended March 31), P&G's organic sales, which exclude currency moves, acquisitions, and divestitures, grew 3% year over year, and core earnings per share rose 3% to $1.59. Management also maintained its full-year outlook even while absorbing tariff-related costs.

Image source: Procter & Gamble

Is the stock a buy for income? With shares trading near $148, P&G stock yields about 2.9% as of this writing. The payout consumes about 63% of the company's earnings over the past 12 months, a level that leaves room for the increases to continue. And the valuation looks arguably reasonable, too. Shares trade at about 21 times earnings -- not a bargain, but hardly a demanding price for a business this durable.

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Income investors should like that trade-off. This is a slow-growth business, with organic sales rising at a low single-digit rate, so nobody should expect the stock to keep up with the market's fastest growers. But the dividend is well covered by earnings, the raises keep coming, and 70 years of history suggest the payout can survive whatever the economy does next.

For investors looking for dependable income, P&G remains one of the simplest options in the market: a nearly 3% yield, backed by one of the longest dividend-growth streaks any company has ever put together.

Daniel Sparks and his clients do not have positions in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Shares of CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV) currently trade at $72.91, down 35% over the past month and well below the Wall Street consensus price target of $141.15, an implied gap of roughly 94%.

CoreWeave rents specialized NVIDIA GPU capacity to AI labs and hyperscalers. Its $99 billion contracted revenue backlog anchored by Meta and OpenAI made it one of the most-watched AI infrastructure names of the year. That backlog now collides with fear that its largest customer might build its own version of what CoreWeave sells.

The gap matters because the core bull thesis—that structural GPU scarcity gives CoreWeave durable pricing power—is exactly what the “Meta Compute” story is designed to undermine.

A Free Fall Sparked by One Word: Cannibalization CoreWeave shares collapsed 35% in the last month and 19% in the last week alone, triggered by Meta’s launch of a commercial cloud service built on its internal GPU fleet. Investors read it as the opening act of hyperscaler in-sourcing.

Other pressures amplified the pain. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META | META Price Prediction) raised 2026 capex guidance to $125 to $145 billion, reinforcing the “build, don’t rent” narrative. CoreWeave’s Q1 2026 print showed $740 million net loss, interest expense doubling, and capex vastly outrunning operating cash flow. CEO Michael Intrator sold tens of millions in stock under a 10b5-1 plan since early June, including $37.7 million on June 30, 2026, and a securities fraud class action remains outstanding. The result is a one-year decline of 49.03%, deeper than any AI cloud peer of comparable size.

Why Rosenblatt Is Still Standing on $250 The consensus upside to $141.15 is roughly 94%, well above the 40% threshold where analysts effectively bet the market has misread the story. Rosenblatt’s John McPeake reiterated the street-high $250 price target immediately after the Meta Compute announcement, implying about 243% upside from current levels.

McPeake’s defense rests on three structural points. First, a no-sublease firewall: the terms of Meta’s $35.2 billion contract reportedly prevent Meta from reselling or subleasing any of the GPU capacity it rents from CoreWeave, meaning Meta’s commercial cloud cannot cannibalize CoreWeave’s owned capacity. Second, persistent global GPU shortages mean demand continues to outpace the industry’s ability to build data centers, protecting CoreWeave’s pricing power despite a new entrant. Third, McPeake reads Meta Compute as a utility optimization play to monetize idle internal clusters and pacify shareholder concerns over return on capital, rather than predatory against specialized neoclouds.

The broader ratings breakdown reflects that conviction:

4 Strong Buy 20 Buy 11 Hold 1 Sell 1 Strong Sell Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated Buy with a $167 price target in June. Recent revisions skew toward reiterations rather than downgrades, with the bull camp focused on backlog conversion and CoreWeave’s ramp toward its 8+ GW long-term power target.

Every Neocloud Got Hit, But Not Equally The AI cloud group sold off together, so this is a sector event as much as a CoreWeave event.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and CoreWeave, Inc. Class A Common Stock didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Nebius Group (NASDAQ:NBIS) trades at $171.77 against an average target of $244.21, roughly 42% upside. Shares are down 35.21% in the last month yet still up 105% year to date. Coverage skews Buy with recent revisions largely reiterations.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) trades at $26.44 versus a $76.70 average target, roughly 190% upside, the largest in the group. Shares fell 42.86% in the last month, and all 11 covering analysts rate it Buy or Strong Buy.

IREN (NASDAQ:IREN) trades at $34.83 against an $80.93 target, roughly 132% upside. Shares dropped 41.15% over the past month, and coverage is majority Buy with one Strong Sell outlier.

Applied Digital commands the largest implied upside, with its bull case leaning heavily on CoreWeave as principal tenant. On absolute dollars, CoreWeave still commands the deepest customer roster and the sector’s largest dollar-value target gap.

What the Consensus Actually Says CoreWeave trades at $72.91 with a consensus target of $141.15 drawn from 37 covering analysts, implying about 94% upside. Rosenblatt’s $250 street-high implies roughly 243%.

The recent tape is ugly. CRWV is down 18.72% on the week and 49.03% over the past year, against an S&P 500 up roughly 10.05% year to date. CRWV sits at just 1.82% year to date, having erased essentially all its 2026 gains in the last month.

A Real Setup With Real Landmines Buy CoreWeave here if the no-sublease firewall in Meta’s contract holds, GPU scarcity persists into 2027, and management grows into its debt through backlog conversion. That path leads back to $141 and, in Rosenblatt’s view, well beyond.

Stay away if interest expense keeps outrunning operating cash flow, insider selling accelerates, or Meta and other hyperscalers stand up in-house capacity faster than CoreWeave can deliver contracted GPUs. Analyst targets are one data point, not a guarantee, and this balance sheet leaves little cushion if execution slips even one quarter.

The dislocation looks real, though position size should respect a stock that can move 15% in a week in either direction.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and CoreWeave, Inc. Class A Common Stock didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Key Takeaways GM to report Q2 2026 results on July 21, with the consensus mark for EPS of $3.13 and revenues of $45.96B.GM's China restructuring and rising digital revenues are expected to support second-quarter results. GMNA revenues are projected to fall, while GMI and GM Financial sales are expected to increase. General Motors Company (GM - Free Report) is slated to release second-quarter 2026 results on July 21, before market open. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the to-be-reported quarter’s earnings per share (EPS) and revenues is pegged at $3.13 and $45.96 billion, respectively.

For the second quarter, the consensus estimate for General Motors’ earnings has moved up 2 cents over the past seven days. Its bottom-line estimates imply growth of 2.37% from the year-ago reported numbers.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GM's quarterly revenues implies a year-over-year decline of 2.5%. The company's earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 20.25%. This is depicted in the graph below:

Q1 HighlightsIn the first quarter of 2026, General Motors reported adjusted earnings of $3.70 per share, which rose 33% from $2.78 a year ago. The figure topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.61 by 41.8%. Revenues of $43.62 billion slipped 0.9% year over year and missed the consensus mark of $43.94 billion by 0.7%.

Things to NoteGeneral Motors’ China restructuring continues to show traction, with first-quarter 2026 China equity income reported at $165 million (its sixth quarterly gain), reflecting restructuring benefits and disciplined production and inventory management. It expects China to remain profitable in 2026.

The automaker is building a larger recurring revenue base from OnStar and Super Cruise. In first-quarter 2026, recognized digital revenues exceeded $750 million, up more than 20% year over year, and deferred revenues reached $5.8 billion, up more than 50%. Management expects recognized digital revenues of about $3.1 billion in 2026 and deferred revenues approaching $7.5 billion by year-end as subscribers rise to roughly 13 million.

Restructuring benefits in China and strong revenues from the software and services business are likely to have enhanced the performance of GM in the second quarter.

In the second quarter of 2026, General Motors’ brands Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet and GMC recorded a year-over-year decline of 19.2%, 7.5%, 3.9% and 0.3%, respectively.

Let’s have a look at our estimates for GM’s segmental performance.

We expect GM North America (GMNA) revenues to be $37.8 billion, suggesting a year-over-year decline of 4.3%. For GM International (GMI), we expect sales of $3.75 billion, indicating a 12.8% year-over-year increase. We project GM Financial sales to be $4.35 billion, suggesting a rise of 2.3% year over year.

Our estimate for the GMNA segment’s operating income is $3.03 billion, which suggests a rise of 35.7% year over year. We expect GMI's operating income to be $140.3 million, suggesting a decline of 31.2% year over year. Our estimate for the GM Financial operating income is $731.7 million, suggesting a rise of 3.9% year over year.

Earnings WhispersOur proven model predicts an earnings beat for General Motors for the quarter to be reported, as it has the right combination of the two key ingredients. A positive Earnings ESP, combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold), increases the odds of an earnings beat. This is the case here.

Earnings ESP: GM has an Earnings ESP of +5.17%. This is because the Most Accurate Estimate is pegged higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: It currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Other Stocks With the Favorable CombinationHere are a few other players from the auto space that, per our model, have the correct ingredients to post an earnings beat this time.

Gentex Corporation (GNTX - Free Report) is slated to release second-quarter 2026 results on July 24. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.67% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GNTX’s to-be-reported quarter’s earnings and revenues is pegged at 50 cents per share and $669 million.

Cummins Inc. (CMI - Free Report) is slated to release second-quarter 2026 results on August 4. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.43% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CMI’s to-be-reported quarter’s earnings and revenues is pegged at $7.34 per share and $9.33 billion.

BorgWarner Inc. (BWA - Free Report) is slated to release second-quarter 2026 results on August 5. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.62% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BWA’s to-be-reported quarter’s earnings and revenues is pegged at $1.26 per share and $3.58 billion.

Key Takeaways GE Aerospace lifted 2026 targets after Q2 revenue and adjusted earnings topped consensus estimates.Commercial Engines & Services revenue rose 27% with services and equipment growth in the quarter.Defense & Propulsion Technologies reported higher orders, revenue and operating profit in Q2. General Electric Aerospace (GE - Free Report) used its second-quarter 2026 earnings call to reinforce a simple message: stronger commercial services demand and improving operating execution are giving management enough confidence to lift full-year targets again.

That mattered more than the headline beat alone. Adjusted earnings of $2.02 topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.86, while revenue of $12.63 billion exceeded the consensus view of $11.86 billion.

GE Raises the Bar for 2026

Chairman and CEO H. Lawrence Culp Jr. framed the quarter around commercial services strength, saying revenue and earnings both rose more than 20% as shop output and equipment deliveries improved. He also tied the performance to FLIGHT DECK, GE’s operating model, which management said is helping drive better throughput across services and equipment.

The bigger signal for investors was guidance. GE raised its 2026 outlook across the board, now expecting operating profit of $10.55 billion to $10.75 billion, adjusted EPS of $7.65 to $7.85 and free cash flow of $8.9 billion to $9.2 billion.

That upgrade came after a first half in which adjusted revenue rose 27% to $24.25 billion, adjusted EPS increased 24% to $3.88,and free cash flow climbed 31% to $4.69 billion. The call’s central takeaway was not just that the company beat the quarter, but that management now sees enough visibility to carry a higher base into the back half.

GE Aerospace Leans on Services Depth

Culp highlighted robust commercial services growth as the main engine of the quarter. In the first half, Commercial Engines & Services (CES) services revenue rose 32%, helped by a double-digit increase in material input from priority suppliers and record internal shop visit output in the second quarter.

That matters because the services mix remains GE Aerospace’s clearest earnings driver. In the quarter, CES revenue rose 27% to $9.73 billion, with services up 26%, internal shop visit revenue up 25%, and spare parts revenue up more than 25%.

Management also pointed to better equipment momentum. Total engine deliveries increased 31% in the first half, including LEAP deliveries up 41%, while CES equipment revenue rose 30% in the quarter on unit volume growth of 26%.

GE Sees Volume, But Margin Pressure Lingers

The quarter showed that faster growth is not translating into uniform margin expansion. Companywide operating profit margin slipped 130 basis points to 21.7%, while CES margin fell 160 basis points to 27.3%.

Management attributed the CES pressure to install engine growth, including GE9X, along with investments and inflation. That explanation is important because it suggests near-term mix and spending are still offsetting some of the benefits from stronger services demand.

Even so, profit growth stayed solid. CES operating profit rose 20% to $2.66 billion, and total company operating profit increased 18% to $2.75 billion, indicating that volume, pricing and services activity are still more than compensating for those headwinds.

GE Aerospace Finds Strength Beyond Commercial

Defense & Propulsion Technologies added another layer of support. Quarterly orders rose 12% to $4.14 billion, revenue increased 16% to $3.44 billion, and operating profit climbed 18% to $475 million.

Management said Defense & Systems revenue grew 12% on gains in both services and equipment, while Propulsion & Additive Technologies advanced 23%, driven by Avio Aero. DPT margin also improved 30 basis points to 13.8%, a contrast with the compression seen in commercial.

The strategic commentary extended beyond the quarter. GE Aerospace cited wins with Copa Airlines, Turkish Aerospace and Leonardo Helicopters, along with progress on the LEAP-1B durability kit, the XA102 engine program, the GE426 contract and NASA’s hybrid-electric demonstration work.

GE Sets a Higher Segment Outlook

The updated segment view sharpened the earnings call’s message. For CES, management now expects roughly 20% revenue growth in 2026, up from a prior outlook for mid-teens growth, with operating profit seen at $10.25 billion to $10.35 billion.

For DPT, GE raised its revenue outlook to low double-digit growth from a prior view of mid- to high-single-digit growth. Operating profit is now expected to be $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion.

The pattern across those targets is clear. Management is leaning on better services execution, stronger delivery trends and broader demand across commercial and defense rather than on a single one-quarter spike.

GE Aerospace Leaves a More Confident Tone

Coming out of the call, management’s posture was more assertive than merely satisfied. Culp emphasized delivery against a backlog above $210 billion while continuing to invest in current and next-generation technology aimed at time-on-wing and cost of ownership.

That leaves investors with a focused picture of the company’s priorities: lift shop capacity, improve equipment flow, support fleet durability and convert a large installed base into sustained services growth. The quarter did not remove margin and inflation pressures, but it did show that GE Aerospace is carrying more momentum into the rest of 2026.

Zacks Signals on GE Stock

GE carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), which points to favorable earnings estimate revision trends and, under the Zacks framework, stronger near-term performance potential than lower-ranked stocks. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Style Scores are less supportive. GE has a Value Score of D, Growth Score of C, Momentum Score of C and VGM Score of D, which indicates a mixed profile and weaker combined style characteristics than stocks with A or B scores. The Zacks framework also notes that ranks can change as analysts revise estimates after a company reports results.

PepsiCo (PEP - Free Report) has recently been on Zacks.com's list of the most searched stocks. Therefore, you might want to consider some of the key factors that could influence the stock's performance in the near future.

Over the past month, shares of this food and beverage company have returned -1.8%, compared to the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +0.5% change. During this period, the Zacks Beverages - Soft drinks industry, which PepsiCo falls in, has gained 0.9%. The key question now is: What could be the stock's future direction?

While media releases or rumors about a substantial change in a company's business prospects usually make its stock 'trending' and lead to an immediate price change, there are always some fundamental facts that eventually dominate the buy-and-hold decision-making.

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.

PepsiCo is expected to post earnings of $2.32 per share for the current quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +1.3%. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate has changed -4.4%.

For the current fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $8.58 points to a change of +5.4% from the prior year. Over the last 30 days, this estimate has changed -0.6%.

For the next fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $9.01 indicates a change of +5.1% from what PepsiCo is expected to report a year ago. Over the past month, the estimate has changed -1.3%.

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, PepsiCo is rated Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Projected Revenue GrowthEven though a company's earnings growth is arguably the best indicator of its financial health, nothing much happens if it cannot raise its revenues. It's almost impossible for a company to grow its earnings without growing its revenue for long periods. Therefore, knowing a company's potential revenue growth is crucial.

In the case of PepsiCo, the consensus sales estimate of $24.94 billion for the current quarter points to a year-over-year change of +4.2%. The $98.84 billion and $101.91 billion estimates for the current and next fiscal years indicate changes of +5.2% and +3.1%, respectively.

Last Reported Results and Surprise HistoryPepsiCo reported revenues of $24.18 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +6.4%. EPS of $2.2 for the same period compares with $2.12 a year ago.

Compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $23.87 billion, the reported revenues represent a surprise of +1.32%. The EPS surprise was +0.46%.

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

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.

PepsiCo is graded C on this front, indicating that it is trading at par with 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 PepsiCo. However, its Zacks Rank #4 does suggest that it may underperform the broader market in the near term.

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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.

Allstate’s Comeback Is Turning Into a Profit MachineTravelers Companies NYSE: TRV reported what executives described as an “excellent” second quarter of 2026, supported by strong underwriting results across all three business segments, higher investment income and favorable reserve development.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alan Schnitzer said the insurer earned core income of $2.2 billion, or $10.04 per diluted share, and generated a core return on equity of 24.9% for the quarter. Over the trailing four quarters, Travelers produced a core return on equity of 24.2%.

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3 Insurance Stocks That Can Act as a New Inflation Hedge “We’re pleased to report an excellent second quarter and another in a sustained run of successful quarters, with very strong underwriting performance across all three segments and a terrific result from our investment portfolio,” Schnitzer said.

Pre-tax underwriting income totaled $1.7 billion, while the combined ratio improved to 83.6%. The underlying combined ratio improved to 84.1%, which management attributed to a lower underlying loss ratio. Chief Financial Officer Dan Frey said underlying underwriting income reached $1.3 billion after tax, marking the company’s eighth consecutive quarter above $1 billion.

Investment Income and Capital Returns Strengthen Results 3 Insurance Stocks Hitting 52-Week Highs With More Room to RunAfter-tax net investment income rose 14% from the prior-year quarter to $883 million. Frey said fixed income investment income benefited from higher yields and a higher level of invested assets, while alternative investment income also increased. He noted that new money yields at the end of the second quarter were about 90 basis points above the yield embedded in the portfolio.

Travelers expects fixed income net investment income, including earnings from short-term securities, of approximately $840 million in the third quarter and roughly $870 million in the fourth quarter, consistent with prior guidance, Frey said.

Operating cash flow was $1.9 billion for the quarter and surpassed $11 billion over the trailing 12 months. Adjusted book value per share, which excludes unrealized investment gains and losses, was $168.20 at quarter-end, up 16% from a year earlier.

The company returned more than $1.5 billion of capital to shareholders during the quarter, including $266 million of dividends and $1.3 billion of share repurchases. Frey said Travelers had about $3.9 billion remaining under prior board authorizations for buybacks.

Schnitzer emphasized that the company’s capital management priorities remain reinvestment in the business, organic or inorganic, where attractive returns are available, followed by returning excess capital to shareholders.

Business Insurance Posts Record Segment Income Business Insurance generated segment income of $1.2 billion, a second-quarter record, according to Greg Toczydlowski, president of Business Insurance. The segment’s underlying combined ratio was 88.2%, also a second-quarter record.

Net written premiums in Business Insurance reached $6 billion. Excluding the impact of the sale of the company’s Canadian business in the first quarter, net written premiums increased 5% from the prior-year quarter. Toczydlowski said growth was led by a 7% increase in Middle Market and a 4% increase in Select.

National property premiums declined as Travelers maintained disciplined underwriting standards, passing on business where pricing and terms did not align with the company’s view of risk. However, Schnitzer said property premiums were higher in both small commercial and middle market businesses.

Renewal premium change in the segment was 4.8%. Excluding property, renewal premium change was 7.8% and roughly flat sequentially. Retention remained strong at 86%, while new business reached a quarterly record of $805 million, up 8% from the prior-year quarter.

In response to an analyst question about whether Travelers might relax underwriting standards or pricing to accelerate growth given its elevated return on equity, Schnitzer rejected the idea.

“Competing on pricing in this business is a fool’s errand,” Schnitzer said. He added that Travelers’ objective is to compete on franchise value rather than lower prices.

Bond & Specialty Insurance Benefits From Surety Growth Bond & Specialty Insurance reported segment income of $234 million and a combined ratio of 82.8%. Net written premiums rose 14% to a record $1.2 billion.

Jeff Klenk, president of Bond & Specialty Insurance, said domestic management liability retention improved to 88%, while renewal premium change remained consistent. New business in that area increased 8%.

The company’s surety business posted 40% growth in net written premiums, also reaching a record level. Klenk said production was broad across the portfolio and included a small number of large projects as well as increased bonding for data center development.

Asked about the durability of surety growth, Klenk said surety production can vary because most production comes from new bonds rather than renewals. Still, he said Travelers is positioned to benefit from future infrastructure investment, including public spending and data center-related projects.

Personal Insurance Delivers Strong Profitability Personal Insurance generated segment income of $827 million. Michael Klein, president of Personal Insurance, said the result reflected strong underlying underwriting income, modest catastrophe losses and favorable prior-year reserve development.

The segment’s combined ratio was 79.5%, while the underlying combined ratio was 77.3%. Net written premiums totaled $4.3 billion, with solid retention in both automobile and homeowners and higher new business in homeowners.

In automobile, the combined ratio was 82.8%, including a 4.5-point benefit from favorable prior-year reserve development. The underlying combined ratio improved slightly more than three points from the prior-year quarter to 85.8%. Klein said favorable loss experience across coverages contributed to the improvement, including about a two-point benefit from re-estimating the prior quarter in the current year.

In homeowners and other, the combined ratio was 76.7%, reflecting modest catastrophe losses and very strong underlying underwriting income. The underlying combined ratio was 70.1%, comparable with a strong prior-year quarter.

Klein said Travelers continues to pursue profitable growth by adjusting rates to reflect profitability, enhancing product and pricing segmentation, refining eligibility restrictions and seeking new agent appointments and book consolidation opportunities.

Technology, AI and Reinsurance Remain Focus Areas Executives repeatedly pointed to technology and artificial intelligence initiatives as contributors to underwriting performance and efficiency. Schnitzer said Travelers continues to invest more than $1.5 billion annually, including in focused technology initiatives such as AI, to strengthen competitive advantages.

Toczydlowski highlighted AI advancements in Travis, the company’s digital platform for small commercial business, including submission uploads, data extraction, pre-filled submission information and underwriting rules that can generate quotes in seconds.

Frey also discussed reinsurance actions. Travelers replaced an expiring catastrophe bond in May with a new bond, increasing the size from $575 million to $750 million and slightly decreasing the retention. On July 1, the company renewed its Northeast property catastrophe excess-of-loss treaty, which continues to provide $1 billion of occurrence coverage above a $2.75 billion attachment point.

Frey said Travelers chose not to renew the personal lines catastrophe excess-of-loss treaty it had purchased in 2024 and 2025, citing the efficiency of its all-perils enterprise-wide general corporate catastrophe treaty renewed at Jan. 1.

Looking ahead, management said it remains confident in the durability of the company’s underwriting income, investment income and balance sheet strength. Schnitzer said Travelers’ earnings engine is “tuned to continue delivering industry-leading returns at industry-low volatility.”

About Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV)The Travelers Companies, Inc NYSE: TRV is a leading provider of property and casualty insurance products and services. The company underwrites a broad range of commercial and personal insurance lines, offering coverage designed to protect individuals, small and midsize businesses, and large corporate clients against property loss, liability, and other operational risks. Travelers is known for combining underwriting, claims management and risk control services to help clients prevent losses and recover when incidents occur.

On the commercial side, Travelers writes primary and specialty coverages including property, general liability, commercial auto, workers' compensation, professional and management liability, surety and inland marine.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

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For the quarter ended June 2026, Travelers (TRV - Free Report) reported revenue of $12.09 billion, down 0.1% over the same period last year. EPS came in at $10.04, compared to $6.51 in the year-ago quarter.

The reported revenue represents a surprise of -1.46% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $12.27 billion. With the consensus EPS estimate being $5.31, the EPS surprise was +89.08%.

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

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

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

Combined Ratio - Consolidated: 83.6% versus the eight-analyst average estimate of 96.1%.Underwriting Expense Ratio - Consolidated: 29% versus 28.8% estimated by eight analysts on average.Loss and loss adjustment expense ratio - Consolidated: 54.6% versus 67.2% estimated by eight analysts on average.Combined Ratio - Bond & Specialty Insurance: 82.8% compared to the 86.1% average estimate based on six analysts.Total Revenues- Net investment income: $1.07 billion versus $1.03 billion estimated by eight analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +13.6% change.Total Revenues- Fee income: $126 million versus $124.57 million estimated by eight analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +1.6% change.Total Revenues- Premiums: $10.75 billion versus the eight-analyst average estimate of $10.96 billion. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of -1.5%.Total Revenues- Other Revenues: $144 million versus the eight-analyst average estimate of $130.41 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +17.1%.Revenues- Premiums- Business Insurance: $5.55 billion versus the six-analyst average estimate of $5.67 billion. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +0.1%.Revenues- Premiums- Personal Insurance: $4.15 billion compared to the $4.18 billion average estimate based on six analysts. The reported number represents a change of -4.8% year over year.Revenues- Premiums- Bond & Specialty Insurance: $1.06 billion versus the six-analyst average estimate of $1.08 billion. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +3.4%.Revenues- Other revenues- Personal Insurance: $25 million versus the five-analyst average estimate of $27.42 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +8.7%.View all Key Company Metrics for Travelers here>>>

Shares of Travelers have returned +9.8% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +0.3% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term.

IBM (IBM) was a big mover last session on higher-than-average trading volume. The latest trend in earnings estimate revisions might not help the stock continue moving higher in the near term.

Key Takeaways UNH raised 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $19.50-$20.00 after stronger first-half results.Medicare actions improved performance, with 2026 margins now expected to finish above 3%.Commercial margin recovery is delayed as elevated medical costs and provider billing pressure persist. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH - Free Report) used the second-quarter 2026 earnings call to argue that its operational reset is gaining traction, with stronger Medicare performance and improving execution at Optum offsetting continued pressure in commercial insurance.

Management’s message was less about the quarter’s beat and more about building a steadier earnings base for 2027 and beyond, even as elevated medical costs and commercial margin recovery remain live issues.

UNH Raises the Baseline for 2026Adjusted earnings came in at $6.38 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.94. Revenues of $112.03 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $110.12 billion. 

Chief financial officer Wayne DeVeydt said that the company now expects full-year 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $19.50 to $20.00, compared with the prior view of more than $17.75. UnitedHealth also lifted its full-year operating earnings outlook to more than $25.45 billion and now expects about $24 billion in operating cash flow.

DeVeydt framed the new outlook as a reflection of first-half performance and a more mature read on membership mix and utilization. He also said UnitedHealthcare operating earnings are now expected to exceed $12 billion, with OptumHealth more than $2.2 billion.

UnitedHealth Says Medicare Actions Are WorkingChief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare Tim Noel said that Medicare results were ahead of expectations because pricing, benefit design, care management and network curation helped offset still elevated medical costs. Noel added that the 2026 Medicare medical cost trend should finish below the company’s initial estimate of around 10%.

Management still did not describe Medicare as normalized. In Q&A, Noel and Bobby Hunter, head of Medicare insurance, said cost trends remain high compared with historical levels, but are running below planning assumptions thanks to company actions, lighter respiratory seasonality and the absence so far of some previously contemplated unknown risks.

UnitedHealth now expects full-year Medicare Advantage enrollment to decline about 1.1 million and Medicare margins to finish 2026 above 3%. That helps explain why management sounded more confident on earnings durability even while remaining cautious on utilization.

UNH Still Faces Commercial Cost FrictionThe clearest pressure point on the call remained commercial insurance. Noel said medical costs in commercial plans are running modestly above the already elevated 11% level the company had discussed earlier.

Daniel Kueter, CEO of UnitedHealthcare Employer and Individual, told analysts that the No Surprises Act independent dispute resolution process and more aggressive provider billing behavior are key drivers. Kueter said the IDR process alone is contributing roughly 50 basis points of incremental trend in 2026 and now represents at least 100 basis points of total cost.

In one of the call’s more important takeaways, Kueter said commercial margin recovery is delayed, not derailed. Management no longer expects a full return to historical commercial margins by 2027, though it still described a multiyear path back toward 7%-plus performance.

Optum Momentum Supports the NarrativeOptum gave management another point of credibility. The segment generated $65.7 billion in revenues and $4 billion in operating earnings, with OptumHealth, Optum Insight and Optum Rx all described as on or ahead of plan through the first half.

Chief executive officer Patrick Conway pointed to operational and clinical progress at OptumHealth, including a roughly 10% reduction in hospitalizations in certain regions, more than 20% improvement in timely home-care delivery in pilots and a 5% year-over-year increase in patient experience.

The Q&A added nuance here. Management said value-based care margins were performing in line to slightly better than expected, while Optum Insight’s quarterly outperformance partly reflected contract timing that pulled some volume into the first half, leaving full-year guidance unchanged.

UnitedHealth Pushes AI and SimplificationStephen Hemsley, who returned as CEO, repeatedly tied the turnaround to affordability, transparency, modernization and simplicity. Hemsley described AI as a way to improve service, reduce administrative burden and help redesign how the enterprise operates.

That theme showed up in both the call and the press release. UnitedHealth said it plans to eliminate 30% of prior authorization volume by the end of 2026, remove nearly two-thirds of pediatric prior authorization requirements and publicly report prior authorization metrics.

Management also tied AI more directly to future efficiency. Noel said the company aims to process 80% of prior authorizations in real time by the end of 2027, while Conway highlighted gains in administrative productivity and clinician support tools across Optum.

UNH Leaves the Call in Execution ModeThe overall tone coming out of the call was more disciplined than celebratory. Hemsley said the company is making solid early progress but still has much more work ahead to build a more dependable operating model.

That posture fits the mix of signals in the quarter. Medicare and Optum trends improved, guidance moved higher and cash deployment increased, but commercial costs, Medicaid margin pressure and elevated systemwide trend remain active watchpoints.

Zacks Signals Point to Balanced SetupUNH carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), along with a Value Score of B, Growth Score of A, Momentum Score of A and a VGM Score of A. Within the Zacks framework, the Style Scores indicate favorable value, growth and momentum characteristics, while the VGM score implies strong combined style appeal. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Still, the Zacks framework places the most weight on earnings estimate revisions. A Zacks Rank #3 signals a more balanced near-term setup than a top-ranked stock, even with strong Style Scores and that rank can change as analysts revise estimates after the just-reported results.

Key Takeaways Chevron's premium upstream assets and capital discipline support long-term cash flow growth.TTE offers lower valuation with diversified growth across LNG, renewables and global markets.CVX has shown more resilient earnings estimate revisions despite trading at a valuation premium. Chevron Corporation (CVX - Free Report) and TotalEnergies SE (TTE - Free Report) are among the world's largest integrated energy companies, but they offer investors different paths to long-term value creation. CVX has built its reputation on high-quality upstream assets, disciplined capital allocation and consistent shareholder returns. TotalEnergies, meanwhile, has transformed itself into a diversified energy company with one of the world's largest liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) businesses and a rapidly expanding renewable power portfolio.

With oil prices remaining volatile following the collapse of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, LNG demand continuing to rise and the global energy transition reshaping the industry, investors are weighing which company offers the better investment opportunity. Both generate strong cash flows and return capital through attractive dividends and share repurchases, but their growth strategies, valuations and earnings outlooks differ.

CVX Relies on Premium Assets and Financial StrengthChevron's investment case is built around owning some of the industry's lowest-cost and longest-life assets. The company continues to expand production in the Permian Basin while benefiting from major projects such as the Tengiz expansion in Kazakhstan, supporting production growth and free cash flow generation for years.

Chevron's integrated portfolio also includes refining, chemicals and marketing businesses, providing a hedge during weaker oil-price environments and supporting resilient earnings across commodity cycles.

The company maintains one of the strongest balance sheets among global oil majors. Its financial flexibility enables management to invest in growth while consistently returning excess cash through dividends and share repurchases. Chevron has increased dividend for decades, reinforcing its reputation as one of the energy sector's premier income stocks.

These strengths have supported a valuation premium. CVX currently trades at roughly 12.65X forward price-to-earnings (P/E), compared with TTE's 8.01X forward P/E, reflecting investor confidence in its asset quality and disciplined execution.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

TotalEnergies Offers a More Diversified Growth StoryCompared with Chevron, TotalEnergies has placed greater strategic emphasis on LNG and renewable power alongside its traditional oil and gas operations. The company has become one of the world's leading LNG suppliers, with operations spanning production, liquefaction, shipping and global marketing. Rising LNG demand, particularly in Europe and Asia, remains a compelling long-term growth driver.

Geographic diversification is another advantage. TTE operates across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, North America and Asia-Pacific, reducing dependence on any single producing region.

The company has expanded its solar, wind, battery storage and integrated power portfolio while continuing to grow the conventional oil and gas business, creating a balanced energy portfolio positioned for both current demand and the long-term transition toward cleaner fuels.

This strategy has translated into stronger recent stock performance. Over the past 12 months, TTE’s shares have gained approximately 27.5%, compared with CVX's 22.6% return.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Different Growth Drivers Set the Companies ApartAlthough both companies should benefit from resilient global energy demand, their primary growth drivers differ.

Chevron's growth is driven by its low-cost upstream assets, operational efficiency and disciplined capital allocation. If oil prices remain supportive, these strengths should continue driving free cash flow while supporting dividend growth and ongoing share repurchases.

TTE offers broader growth opportunities through its conventional oil business, expanding LNG operations and renewable power investments. This diversified model reduces dependence on crude oil prices and provides multiple long-term growth avenues. Investors seeking greater leverage to higher oil prices may prefer CVX, while those looking for broader exposure across multiple energy markets may find TTE more appealing.

Valuation and Analyst SentimentFrom a valuation standpoint, TTE appears considerably cheaper. The company trades at roughly 6.18X forward price-to-cash flow, compared with 11.54X for CVX. Combined with its lower forward earnings multiple, TTE offers investors exposure to a diversified global energy business at a noticeable discount.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

However, analyst sentiment has recently been relatively more favorable toward CVX despite its higher valuation. Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CVX's fiscal 2026 earnings has declined 4.41%, while the fiscal 2027 estimate has increased 1.45%. In contrast, the consensus estimates for TTE have declined 4.6% for fiscal 2026 and 2.45% for fiscal 2027.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Which Stock Is the Better Buy?TotalEnergies stands out for its lower valuation, stronger recent share price performance and diversified exposure to LNG, renewable power and international markets. Investors seeking a value-oriented energy stock with multiple long-term growth drivers may find its investment story compelling.

CVX, however, combines high-quality upstream assets, one of the industry's strongest balance sheets and disciplined capital allocation. Its integrated business generates resilient cash flows across commodity cycles, while the long history of dividend growth continues to appeal to income-focused investors. While earnings expectations have softened for both companies, Chevron's earnings estimate revisions have been more resilient, particularly with improving expectations for fiscal 2027. Both companies currently carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Chevron's relatively better earnings estimate outlook, superior asset quality and proven capital discipline make it a more attractive investment for long-term investors willing to pay a modest valuation premium. While TotalEnergies remains an excellent choice for investors prioritizing value and diversification, Chevron's combination of financial strength, comparatively better earnings outlook and high-quality assets gives it a slight edge for long-term investors.

U.S. stocks traded lower this morning, with the Dow Jones index falling more than 500 points on Friday.

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.98% to 52,037.01 while the NASDAQ dipped 1.77% to 25,422.98 The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 1.15% to 7,447.23.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares jumped by 1.6% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, communication services stocks fell by 2.9%.

Top Headline

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares dipped more than 10% on Friday after the company reported mixed second-quarter financial results and issued weak guidance for the third quarter.

Netflix reported second-quarter revenue of $12.56, up 13% year-over-year. The revenue total missed a Street estimate of $12.59 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro. Second-quarter earnings of 80 cents per share beat a Street consensus estimate of 79 cents per share.

Equities Trading UP
           

Equities Trading DOWN

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 3% to $81.35 while gold traded up 0.1% at $3,992.20.

Silver traded down 1.4% to $55.415 on Friday, while copper fell 2.2% to $6.2055.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.8%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.9% London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.4%, Germany’s DAX declined 0.7%, while France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.8%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipping 4.03%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index falling 1.78%, China’s Shanghai Composite dipping 3.05% and India’s BSE Sensex gaining 1.25%.

Economics

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Oracle (NYSE:ORCL | ORCL Price Prediction) trades at $124.21 against a consensus Wall Street price target of $251.85, a gap of roughly 103%.

Oracle sells database and enterprise software, but the cloud story dragged the stock up and then down. Over the last two years the company reinvented itself as a hyperscale landlord chasing AI training and inference workloads, embedding 72 multicloud datacenters inside Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. That pivot put Oracle on every generalist’s radar and is why the recent decline matters. Analysts built their bullish thesis on a $638 billion contracted backlog, and the market has spent the last month acting as if that backlog is not there.

Why a Cloud Darling Just Lost a Third of Its Value in a Month Oracle has fallen 33.43% over the past month and 35.29% year to date, closing within a rounding error of the $123.66 52-week low. S&P cut Oracle’s credit rating to BBB-, one notch above junk, citing debt implications of massive AI infrastructure spending and concentration risk tied to OpenAI. Two days later, IBM cratered on a software miss that Bloomberg tied to enterprise budgets shifting from software into AI servers, dragging every large-cap software name lower.

The underlying anxiety is cash. Free cash flow for FY2026 came in at negative $23.69 billion on $55.66 billion of trailing capex, and management expects another ~$70 billion capex outlay in FY2027 plus a ~$40 billion debt and equity raise. A New Mexico pipeline permit denial and nationwide protests around data-center energy use added execution risk.

The Case Guggenheim Is Still Making at Three Times the Current Price Guggenheim’s John DiFucci has kept a $400 price target on Oracle and named it his best software idea for 2026, implying upside that more than triples the current share price and sits well above the Street average. His core argument is that there is “no apparent good reason” for the pullback and anxiety over near-term margin compression is drowning out an unprecedented backlog signal.

Remaining performance obligations exploded to $638 billion, up 363% year over year. Cloud infrastructure revenue grew 93% in the June quarter, cloud is now 52% of total revenue, and management reconfirmed a $90 billion FY2027 revenue target with $8.05 in non-GAAP EPS. CFO Hilary Maxson told analysts the “unprecedented level of RPO provides exceptional visibility into our future revenue growth”, with steady-state ROIC in the high 20s at the project level.

DiFucci’s timeline is the piece the market seems least willing to underwrite. He expects free cash flow to rebound dramatically starting in fiscal 2029 as front-loaded infrastructure spend converts into recurring, high-margin revenue. Consensus already reflects broad agreement on direction if not magnitude:

Strong Buy: 8 Buy: 29 Hold: 5 Sell: 1 How the Cloud Software Peer Group Stacks Up Every large-cap enterprise software name has sold off this year, but Oracle has fallen furthest and carries the widest analyst-implied gap.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is down 16.69% year to date to $401.10, well behind Oracle’s slide. The consensus target of $558.66 implies roughly 39% upside, with ratings overwhelmingly bullish at 54 buy or strong-buy calls against 3 holds and no sells.

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

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) is down 34.47% year to date to $172.68. The consensus target of $245.16 implies about 42% upside, with a ratings mix that skews buy but includes two strong-sell calls.

IBM (NYSE:IBM) trades at $219.05 after a 25.82% one-week drop tied to its Q2 preannouncement. The $283.80 consensus target implies roughly 30% upside, with revisions skewed lower since the miss.

Oracle carries by far the largest analyst-implied upside across the group, signaling either that consensus is behind the curve on risks or that sector rotation has punished Oracle for something the fundamentals do not yet show.

What the Selloff Looks Like Next to the Market Oracle’s 35.29% year-to-date decline compares with a 10.09% gain for the S&P 500, underperforming the index by more than 45 points in seven months. The stock trades on a forward P/E of 16 against a trailing 23, with a PEG of 0.74. The average target of $251.85 implies roughly 103% upside, and analyst revisions and the trailing five-year total return of 52.77% both point to a market that has priced Oracle for a slower ramp than management is guiding to.

The Investment Case The bull case holds if the RPO conversion story arrives on management’s schedule and the FY2029 free-cash-flow inflection Guggenheim models shows up on time. The path back to consensus runs through steady quarterly proof that OCI margins hold at the 30% to 40% range, GPU utilization stays near 97.5%, and the balance sheet absorbs the $40 billion raise without another downgrade.

The bear case sharpens if the credit market keeps flashing yellow. A second S&P notch would take Oracle to junk, force selling from investment-grade mandates, and reprice the entire capital plan. Concentration risk in the OpenAI relationship, permit fights around data centers, and customer defections toward in-house AI tools are real risks that chip at the recurring-revenue premium the bull case demands.

On balance the dislocation looks larger than the underlying deterioration. The setup rewards investors with a tolerance for another leg down while the FY2029 cash-flow thesis proves itself.

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

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - July 17, 2026) - Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC, a nationally recognized investor-rights law firm, announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) and certain of its officers.

This lawsuit seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired First Solar securities between February 26, 2025 and February 24, 2026, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firm's site: bgandg.com/FSLR.

First Solar Case Details

The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, the Complaint alleges that:

Defendants had overstated First Solar's capacity to manage the impact of U.S. tariff policy on the Company's business Defendants understated the extent to which its responses to U.S. tariff policy, including the intentional underutilization of production facilities in Malaysia and Vietnam, and attempted relocation of production to the U.S., were likely to negatively impact First Solar's projected performance in the 2026 fiscal year; as a result, Defendants' public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.What's Next for First Solar Investors?

A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint, you can visit the firm's site: bgandg.com/FSLR, or you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Client Relations Manager, Nathan Miller, of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 917-590-0911. If you suffered a loss in First Solar you have until August 24, 2026, to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as lead plaintiff.

No Cost to First Solar Investors

We, Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC, represent investors in class actions on a contingency fee basis. That means we will ask the court to reimburse us for out-of-pocket expenses and attorneys' fees, usually a percentage of the total recovery, only if we are successful.

Why Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC for First Solar Securities Class Action?

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is a nationally recognized firm that represents investors in securities fraud class actions and shareholder derivative suits. Our firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors nationwide. More at www.bgandg.com

"Our practice centers on restoring investor capital and ensuring corporate accountability, which serves to uphold the essential integrity of the marketplace," said Peretz Bronstein, Founding Partner of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC.

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To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/302697

Source: Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC

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The Zacks Utility-Electric Power industry players generate, transmit and deliver electricity to millions of customers across the United States. Utilities are steadily transitioning toward cleaner energy sources while prioritizing carbon emission reductions, supported by government initiatives that encourage the adoption of cleaner power generation. At the same time, they continue to invest in grid modernization and upgrade transmission and distribution infrastructure to improve reliability. As hurricanes remain a recurring annual threat, ongoing infrastructure enhancements strengthen grid resilience, minimize outage durations and enable faster power restoration for customers impacted by severe storms.

NextEra Energy (NEE - Free Report) , with its expanding clean power generation portfolio and customer base, renewable operations and well-chalked-out capital investments to strengthen infrastructure, offers an excellent opportunity to stay invested in the utility space. Other utilities worth adding to your portfolio are Duke Energy Corporation (DUK - Free Report) , American Electric Power (AEP - Free Report) and Ameren Corporation (AEE - Free Report) .

About the Industry The Utility-Electric Power industry is responsible for the generation, transmission, distribution, storage and supply of electricity to consumers. Demand for utility services remains relatively stable across economic cycles, with variations largely influenced by weather, as extreme heat or cold typically drives demand higher. The sector is undergoing a major transformation, with a growing number of utilities pursuing zero-emission targets. Meanwhile, rising internet usage, accelerating electric vehicle adoption, industrial reshoring and the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence are expected to significantly increase electricity demand, as AI applications require substantially more power than conventional online activities such as music streaming or web browsing. A low-interest-rate environment is favorable for this capital-intensive industry.

3 Trends Shaping the Future of the Electric Power Industry Grid Congestion and Interconnection Delays: Demand for clean energy is rising across the United States due to the usage of new technology and the development of AI-based data centers. However, the existing transmission and distribution networks are yet to cope with the rapid increase in electricity demand. Per a report from Berkeley Lab, more than 2,000 gigawatts of power generation and storage capacity are currently in U.S. interconnection queues. Delays in interconnection and power delivery may hurt utilities' long-term prospects, prompting customers to seek reliable alternative energy sources to avoid project postponements.

Supply-Chain Constraints Slow Grid Modernization: Persistent supply-chain disruptions are slowing utility infrastructure expansion and driving up project costs. Extended lead times for critical equipment such as power transformers and switchgear, shortages of key raw materials like grain-oriented electrical steel and copper, and tariff-related cost pressures are limiting capacity additions. As a result, utilities face delays in grid modernization and clean energy projects, rising capital expenditures and pressure on long-term earnings growth, while prolonged delays may drive customers to seek alternative power sources.

Utilities Ramp Up Renewable Energy Expansion: U.S. electric power operators are steadily transitioning toward cleaner energy sources. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (“EIA”), the share of U.S. electricity generation from renewables is projected to increase from 24% in 2025 to 25% in 2026 and reach 27% in 2027, driven by continued growth in solar and wind capacity. The Inflation Reduction Act is expected to further accelerate this shift by eliminating uncertainties around federal renewable energy incentives. By providing long-term, predictable support for a broad range of low-cost clean energy solutions, the act enhances earnings visibility and strengthens the utilities’ pathway toward decarbonization. The ongoing development of large battery storage projects in the United States is supporting the renewable projects as it removes the intermittency of renewable energy.

Zacks Industry Rank Indicates Dull Prospects The group’s Zacks Industry Rank, which is basically the average of the Zacks Rank of all the member stocks, indicates weak near-term prospects. The 62-stock Utility-Electric Power industry is housed within the broader Zacks Utilities sector and currently carries a Zacks Industry Rank #158, which places it in the bottom 36% of more than 247 Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than two to one.

The industry’s positioning in the bottom 50% of the Zacks Rank industries is a result of a negative earnings outlook for the constituent companies in aggregate. The industry’s recent earnings estimate of $2.61 in June 2026 reflects a decline of 6.5% from June 2025, reflecting pessimism from the analysts.

Before we present a few Utility-Electric Power stocks that you may want to consider for your portfolio, let us take a look at the industry’s recent stock-market performance and current valuation.

Electric Power Industry Beats the Sector But Lags the S&P 500 The Utility Electric Power industry has surpassed its sector but lagged the Zacks S&P 500 over the past 12 months. The industry has gained 17.3% compared with its sector’s 13.5% rally. The Zacks S&P 500 composite has gained 23.7% in the same period.
 

Price Performance ( One Year)

Electric Power Industry's Current Valuation The P/E F12M (Price/Earnings Forward 12 months) ratio is particularly useful for valuing electric power utilities, as their regulated operations produce reliable and consistent earnings. It provides a simple way to determine whether a stock is fairly valued compared with the industry peers.

The Utility Electric Power industry is trading at 15.47X compared with the S&P 500’s 21.21X and the Utility sector’s 15.34X.

Over the past five years, the industry has traded as high as 17.28X, as low as 11.99X and at the median of 14.9X.

Industry P/E F12M vs S&P 500 (5yrs)

Industry P/E F12M vs Sector (5yrs) 4 Utility-Electric Power Stocks to Watch and Accumulate Utilities is a mature sector and all the stocks selected from the Zacks Utility-Electric Power industry have a market capitalization of more than $30 billion. The stocks currently have a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here.

NextEra Energy: Juno Beach, FL-based NextEra Energy is engaged in the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electric energy. The company has a well-chalked-out capital deployment plan, which will be directed toward modernizing and strengthening the existing infrastructure and generating more electricity from clean sources to lower carbon emissions. The company has plans to invest more than $94.1 billion through 2030 to strengthen its operations further.

NEE’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth is pegged at 9.12%. The current dividend yield for NEE is 2.8%, which is better than the Zacks S&P 500 composite’s 1.34%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NextEra Energy’s 2026 and 2027 earnings per share indicates growth of 8.09% and 8.70%, respectively.

Price and Consensus: NEE

Duke Energy: Charlotte, NC-based Duke Energy is a premier utility service provider offering efficient power and energy services. Duke Energy has been making strong progress in reducing carbon emissions from electricity generation. The company has plans to invest $103 billion in the 2026-2030 period. Investments in grid modernization, renewable energy and transmission infrastructure are expected to expand Duke Energy's operation and drive consistent earnings.

DUK’s current dividend yield is 3.43%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Duke Energy’s 2026 and 2027 earnings indicates year-over-year growth of 6.34% and 6.48%, respectively.

Price and Consensus: DUK

American Electric Power: Columbus, OH-based American Electric Power is a public utility holding company, which, through directly and indirectly owned subsidiaries, generates, transmits and distributes electricity, natural gas and other commodities. AEP is currently executing its investment plan of $78 billion over the 2026-2030 period in its electricity generation, transmission and distribution operations, including renewables.

AEP’s long-term earnings growth is pegged at 8.6%. The current dividend yield for AEP is 2.87%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for American Electric Power’s 2026 and 2027 earnings per share indicates year-over-year growth of 6.37% and 7.95%, respectively.

Price and Consensus: AEP

Ameren Corporation: St. Louis, MO-based Ameren, a utility that generates and distributes electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and wholesale end markets in Missouri and Illinois. It expects capital deployment in excess of $31.8 billion in different projects from 2026 to 2030. Ameren’s growth has been led by its systematic and consistent investments in growth projects and infrastructural upgrades.

AEE’s long-term earnings growth is pegged at 7.68%. The current dividend yield for AEE is 2.69%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AEE’s 2026 and 2027 earnings per share implies year-over-year growth of 6.96% and 7.43%, respectively.

Price and Consensus: AEE

Micron (Nasdaq: MU | MU Price Prediction) fell again yesterday, trading intraday between $873.63 and $982.40 and changing hands around $876, a decline that has taken the stock roughly 27-29% below the nearly $1,200 high it touched in June 2026. Although that sounds like a severe move, it looks almost trivial zoomed out to ten years: as shown in Chart 1, the stock’s entire prior trading range sits well below the spike that began late last year, and the current pullback barely registers against the scale of the move that preceded it.

MU data by YCharts

Reports that Chinese memory maker CXMT is preparing an $8.55 billion IPO are being cited as the proximate cause of today’s decline, along with reports that AI cloud provider CoreWeave is exploring financial hedges against a potential drop in memory costs. Overall, the decline is also consistent with broader profit-taking across a semiconductor sector that gained roughly 82% in the first half of 2026, as measured by the SOXX (NASDAQ: SOXX).

A Correlation I Documented in 2018 I first laid out the relationship between Micron’s stock and the DRAM spot price in a June 2, 2018, Seeking Alpha article entitled “Micron: First Price Fixing, Now Antitrust Allegations By The Chinese Government.” That piece was written around China’s National Development and Reform Commission opening a formal antitrust probe into Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix over suspected DRAM price collusion during the 2016-2018 supercycle. Although the article was about a regulatory threat and not a chart, the correlation shown in Chart 2, Micron’s share price against the DDR3/DDR4 spot price, held in near lockstep from 2015 through mid-2018.

Chart 2: Micron share price vs. DDR3/DDR4 spot price, 2015-2018, from the 2018 article

What has changed in the eight years since is the mechanism, not the actor. In 2018, Chinese regulators tried to cap DRAM pricing power directly, through an antitrust investigation. In 2026, a Chinese competitor is trying to compete that pricing power away instead. Importantly, both episodes put a Chinese government-linked actor at the center of the story; in the current one, it is showing up in Micron’s stock price before it is showing up in the ASP (Average Selling Price) data.

DRAM ASPs at a Ten-Year High According to The Information Network’s tracking of Micron’s DRAM average selling prices, shown in Chart 3, 2Q26 ASPs are running at approximately $1.17, above the prior cycle peak of roughly $0.87 in 3Q18-4Q18, and the highest point in the ten-year series.

Chart 3: Micron DRAM average selling prices, 1Q16-2Q26

That peak in 2018 was followed by one of the worst downcycles in the company’s history:

ASPs fell from roughly $0.87 to $0.35-0.39 through 2019-2020, a decline of more than 55%. ASPs recovered modestly to roughly $0.47 in 2021-2022, but fell again. ASPs bottomed around $0.19-0.20 by early 2024, low enough that Micron posted GAAP losses for several quarters. From that 2024 trough, ASPs have roughly tripled. The move is not specific to Micron. In fact, conventional DRAM contract prices rose an estimated 93-98% quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2026 alone. Samsung’s DRAM ASP rose more than 90% quarter-over-quarter over the same period, with Q2 growth estimated at 50-60%, and the company is reportedly seeking a further 20% increase for Q3, with LPDDR hikes potentially running higher still. SK Hynix disclosed Q1 ASP gains in the mid-60% range. The benchmark DDR4 8Gb spot chip hit an all-time high of roughly $20 in May, up 25% from April, according to DRAMeXchange data going back to 2016.

Micron’s own actions indicate management views the pricing as durable rather than transitory. On June 25, the company locked in what has been described as historically high memory prices in supply agreements running out five years, not the posture of a company hedging against a near-term reversal. On the fiscal Q3 2026 earnings call, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra stated that supply constraints are expected to “persist beyond calendar 2026,” with market tightness “locked in to persist beyond calendar 2027,” and that Micron expects to meet only “half to two-thirds” of demand from its key customers. Mehrotra further indicated that long-term agreement pricing for DRAM now ranges from the “low teens to mid-$20s a gigabyte,” and that gross margins at the floor of the current cycle would be “well beyond the peaks” the company has previously experienced. Micron’s DRAM revenue reportedly reached a record $31.3 billion in the most recent quarter, up 343% year over year.

What Happened After the Last Two Peaks Micron has been through comparable ASP peaks twice before in the past decade, and in both cases the stock eventually converged with the ASP chart rather than the reverse:

After the 2018 peak, ASPs fell more than 55%, and Micron’s stock declined with them through 2019, ahead of the broader market’s 2020 selloff. After the smaller 2022 peak, ASPs fell to roughly $0.19-0.20 by early 2024, and the stock spent nearly two years underwater before the current cycle began. In both instances, the ASP chart led and the stock chart followed it down. That history argues against dismissing the current stock decline as pure overreaction. Although Micron’s five-year pricing lock is a structurally different commitment than the company held heading into either prior downturn, and AI-driven server and HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) demand is, in my view, a more durable end market than the smartphone and PC replacement cycles that drove the 2018 and 2022 peaks, whether that difference is enough to break the pattern rather than merely delay it is the question the next two quarters will answer.

Why the Stock Is Falling Anyway Three factors are being cited for today’s decline specifically. CXMT, already the world’s fourth-largest DRAM producer, is reportedly preparing an $8.55 billion IPO, which investors are reading as a signal of accelerating Chinese domestic DRAM capacity, a longer-horizon threat to pricing power independent of current contract prices. Reports that CoreWeave, a large AI-cloud buyer of memory, is exploring financial hedges against a future decline in memory costs are arguably more informative than a sell-side downgrade, since they imply a sophisticated buyer views current pricing as closer to a peak than a floor. Overall, broad sector-wide profit-taking following the SOXX’s 82% first-half gain has hit KLA Corporation (KLAC), Western Digital Corporation (WDC), and Seagate Technology Holdings plc (STX) alongside Micron.

There is also a rate-of-change signal worth noting. The pace of DRAM price increases appears to be decelerating even as the absolute price continues to rise, with some reporting tying May’s all-time-high print to a slowing quarter-over-quarter rate of increase as PC OEM deals closed. A price still rising, but rising more slowly, is exactly the kind of second-derivative signal a sophisticated buyer such as CoreWeave would act on well before it shows up in the spot price itself.

The selloff has not been confined to Micron. Comparing recent moves across the memory and storage complex:

SK hynix fell approximately 15% in a single session after South Korean brokerage KIS published a Q2 profit estimate roughly 8% below consensus, citing a slower-than-expected HBM4 shipment ramp. Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) fell approximately 6% and Seagate (NASDAQ: STX) fell approximately 7% in sympathy sessions tied to broader memory supply-glut concerns. SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) fell approximately 11% in a separate session on the same concerns and is off roughly 30% from its 52-week high, although it remains up more than 600% year to date. KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) fell 12% intraday on broad semiconductor profit-taking, followed by declines of 6.56% and 4.93% in subsequent sessions, even though management has flagged surging DRAM prices as a gross-margin headwind, meaning falling memory prices should, on KLA’s own disclosed economics, improve rather than harm its margin outlook. The KLA case is worth isolating. A stock falling for a reason that contradicts its own disclosed cost structure indicates indiscriminate selling across a sector label, not a reassessment of that specific company’s earnings power.

Investor Takeaway The bull case rests on current, hard data: record ASPs, a five-year pricing lock Micron itself just signed, management’s own commentary that supply tightness persists beyond 2027, and 343% year-over-year DRAM revenue growth. The bear case rests on forward-looking behavior from a sophisticated buyer, CoreWeave’s hedging activity, plus a multi-year Chinese competitive overhang from CXMT that compresses forward multiples today regardless of when it fully materializes.

I expect the next two data points to resolve which side is right. First, whether Samsung’s reported push for a further 20% DRAM price increase in Q3 2026 actually holds. Second, whether Micron’s next earnings call indicates hyperscaler order books are being renegotiated in light of CoreWeave-style hedging. If the Q3 price increase holds and order books stay firm, I would expect the stock to close the gap with the ASP chart by moving higher, consistent with the correlation I documented in 2018. If the increase is delayed or discounted, that would be the first evidence that the stock, not the ASP chart, is the accurate leading indicator this time.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Diane King Hall discusses Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) earnings, explaining how GLP-1 trends have hit the company. She also talks about SpaceX (SPCX) shares coming back to Earth after scrubbing Starship's test flight, and HSBC's upgrade on Apple (AAPL) to buy from hold.

Over the past several months, generative AI (GenAI) has evolved from experimental to practical applications in the Medical Instruments industry. Companies are leveraging the technology to generate synthetic medical images, simulate disease progression, create potential drug molecules and predicttheir effects, helping accelerate the traditionally long and costly drug development process. McKinsey's fourth-quarter 2025 survey of U.S. healthcare leaders underscores this shift, with 50% reporting GenAI implementation at their organizations and more than 80% deploying their first use cases to end users.

At the same time, regulatory bodies worldwide are keeping pace. The European Union AI Act (EU AI Act) 2024, the world’s first comprehensive AI law, introduced strict requirements for high-risk AI systems, including AI-based medical software, risk-mitigation systems and clear user information. The AI Act’s transparency rules are set to take effect in August 2026. The FDA's cumulative total of AI/ML-enabled medical devices exceeded 1,400 from September 1995 through the end of 2025.

Grand View Research estimates the global AI in the healthcare market to expand at a CAGR of 38.9% from 2026 to 2033. Amid industry-wide challenges, companies like Intuitive Surgical (ISRG - Free Report) , Alcon (ALC - Free Report) and LivaNova (LIVN - Free Report) appear well-positioned to benefit from continued AI adoption.

Industry Description The Zacks Medical - Instruments industry is highly fragmented, with participants engaged in research and development (R&D) in therapeutic areas. This FDA-regulated sector encompasses a vast array of products, from transcatheter valves and orthopedic devices to advanced imaging equipment and robotics. Recent trends highlight the integration of AI in diagnostics, the expansion of telemedicine, the rise of robotic-assisted surgeries and developments in 3D printing, continuous glucose monitoring systems and gene editing. The rise of GenAI is also reshaping MedTech, from speeding up patient recruitment to optimizing trial designs and improving regulatory processes. The FDA’s Total Product Life Cycle approach supports faster development of safe and effective medical devices critical to public health.

3 Trends Shaping the Future of the Medical Instruments Industry GenAI Revolution: Over the past couple of years, there has been a significant increase in the adoption of GenAI within the medical instrument space, with hyper-personalization being the primary feature of GenAI-driven treatment options. GenAI, while analyzing vast and complex genetic and molecular data, is expected to help healthcare reach new heights in terms of predictive treatment options and smart hospital systems. According to Coherent Market Insights, global GenAI in the healthcare market is projected to expand at a CAGR of 26.2% between 2026 and 2033. The market is expected to benefit from widespread adoption of electronic health records (EHR), which provide the high-quality clinical datasets needed to train genAI models, along with increasing investment in AI-enabled drug discovery and precision medicine across the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. The application of AI in the diagnostics space is growing enormously, with the market expected to witness a CAGR of 32.2% by 2034.

M&A Trend:The medical instrument space has been benefiting from the ongoing merger and acquisition (M&A) trend. It is a known fact that smaller and mid-sized industry players attempt to compete with the big shots through consolidation. The big players attempt to enter new markets through a niche product. According to PWC’s June 2026 report, medtech M&A deal value reached $36.5 billion in the first half of 2026, marking continued M&A momentum following a decade-high 2025. Strategic acquirers continued targeting higher-growth categories, including cardiovascular, neurostimulation and ecosystem platforms spanning connected devices, patient monitoring and workflow capabilities. Among the top deals are Boston Scientific’s $15 billion agreement to acquire Penumbra, Danaher’s agreement to acquire Masimo for $10 billion and American Industrial Partners’ $1.27 billion agreement to purchase Avanos Medical. Meanwhile, Medtronic recently completed its acquisition of Salt Lake City, UT-based Scientia Vascular for $550 million.

Business Trend Disruption: The IMF’s July 2026 World Economic Outlook (WEO) notes that global growth is projected at 3% in 2026 and 3.4% in 2027, down from the average of 3.5% observed in 2024-25 and broadly unchanged on a cumulative basis compared with the forecasts in the April 2026 Report. The modest slowdown reflects the impact of the Middle East conflict being partly offset by accelerated demand in the global technology cycle, driven by advances in AI and its adoption. Global headline inflation is expected to rise from 4.1% in 2025 to 4.7% in 2026, before declining to 3.9% in 2027. Slightly revised upward from April, these projections indicate that the disinflation trend in place since the beginning of 2024 has stalled. The IMF also apprehends that the possibility of renewed Middle East conflict looms large and could extend commodity price volatility, threaten supply chains, raise prices and weigh on financial conditions.

Zacks Industry Rank Indicates Dull Prospects The Zacks Medical Instruments industry’s Zacks Industry Rank, which is basically the average of the Zacks Rank of all the member stocks, indicates gloomy near-term prospects. The industry, housed within the broader Zacks Medical sector, currently carries a Zacks Industry Rank #177, which places it in the bottom 28% of 247 Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.

We will present a few stocks that have the potential to outperform the market based on a strong earnings outlook. It is worth taking a look at the industry’s shareholder returns and current valuation first.

Industry Underperforms S&P 500 & Sector The industry has underperformed the Zacks S&P 500 composite and the sector over the past year.

The industry has declined 7.2% against the broader sector’s rise of 10.4%. The S&P 500 has returned 23.8% in a year.

1-Year Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Industry's Current Valuation On the basis of the forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E), which is commonly used for valuing medical stocks, the industry is currently trading at 25.28X compared with the broader industry’s 20.98X and the S&P 500’s 21.21X.

Over the past five years, the industry has traded as high as 41.01X, as low as 24.67X and at the median of 31.75X, as the charts show below.

Price-to-Earnings Forward 12 Months (F12M)
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Price-to-Earnings Forward 12 Months (F12M)
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

3 Stocks to Buy Right Now Intuitive Surgical: Based in Sunnyvale, CA, Intuitive Surgical is a global leader in minimally invasive care and the pioneer of robotic-assisted surgery. The company’s technologies include the da Vinci surgical systems and the Ion endoluminal system. In the second quarter of 2026, Intuitive Surgical delivered 19% year-over-year revenue growth, driven by higher procedure volume and da Vinci system leasing revenues, as well as an increase in the installed base of da Vinci and Ion systems.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company’s 2026 earnings per share (EPS) indicates a 16.6% rise over 2025. The consensus mark for 2026 revenues implies a 16.5% improvement. ISRG has an earnings yield of 2.7% against the industry’s negative 3% yield.

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

Price & Consensus: ISRG
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Alcon: Switzerland-based Alcon is a leading eye care company operating in the ophthalmic surgical and vision care markets. The company continues to gain market share in U.S. Advanced Technology Intraocular Lenses (AT-IOLs), surgical equipment and consumables, contact lenses and dry eye. Alcon’s innovation pipeline remains active, with upcoming launches of a new eye-whitening treatment, the Unity M microscope and the Unity DX whole-eye diagnostic device.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for this Zacks Rank #2 company’s 2026 EPS calls for 14% growth. The consensus mark for 2026 revenues indicates a 7.3% improvement. ALC has an earnings yield of 5.2% against the industry’s negative 3% yield.

Price & Consensus: ALC
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

LivaNova: London, UK-based LivaNova designs, develops and markets cardiopulmonary andneuromodulation products. In the first quarter of 2026, the company witnessed strength across all the regions, driven by durable performance in its cardiopulmonary and epilepsy businesses. LivaNova also achieved key regulatory and clinical milestones, serving as a strong foundation for its planned entry into the high-growth, high-margin obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) market next year. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for this Zacks Rank #2 company’s 2026 EPS implies year-over-year growth of 8.7%. The consensus mark for 2026 revenues indicates an improvement of 8.3%. LIVN has an earnings yield of 5.4% against the industry’s negative 3% yield. 

Price & Consensus: LIVN
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

CompaniesMOSCOW, July 17 (Reuters) - An oil tanker chartered for loading oil at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium ​terminal off Russia's Black Sea coast was attacked and ‌damaged by two drones on Friday, CPC said.

Sources told Reuters the vessel, the Suezmax-class Nordic Zenith, had been chartered by ExxonMobil.

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

CPC did ​not identify any party as responsible for the ​incident. The past week has seen a sharp escalation ⁠in attacks by both Russia and Ukraine on shipping in ​the Black and Azov seas, marking a new phase in ​a war that has until now mainly been fought on the ground and in the skies.

CPC said in a statement that a ​fire broke out on the Nordic Zenith but was ​later extinguished. It said nearby CPC vessels evacuated 13 crew members while nine others chose to remain ‌on ⁠board.

"The tanker has been removed from the loading schedule and is unfit for mooring or loading operations at the CPC terminal," CPC said on its Telegram channel.

The CPC is ​a 940-mile (1,510 km) ​oil pipeline ⁠connecting Kazakhstan's Caspian Sea oil deposits with Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. Oil ​loaded at Novorossiysk is then taken by tanker ​to ⁠world markets.

CPC accounts for about 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports. Its operations have been disrupted at various points in the ⁠war ​by Ukrainian attacks on pumping stations ​in Russia and by drone strikes on the CPC loading terminal near Novorossiysk.

Reporting ​by Reuters; writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Louise Heavens

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, /PRNewswire/ -- Robbins LLP reminds stockholders that a class action was filed on behalf of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Regeneron Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) from August 1, 2025 to May 15, 2026.  Regeneron is a pharmaceutical company that discovers, invents, develops, manufactures, tests, and commercializes medicines to treat various disorders worldwide.

For more information, submit a form, email attorney Aaron Dumas, Jr., or give us a call at (800) 350-6003.

The Allegations: Robbins LLP is Investigating Allegations that Regeneron Therapeutics, Inc. (REGN) Misled Investors Regarding the Viability of its Phase III Fianlimab-Libtayo Study

According to the complaint, during the relevant period, Regeneron was investigating Fianlimab, a human monoclonal antibody targeting the LAG-3 immune checkpoint receptor on T-cells. Fianlimab was pertinently being tested in combination with Libtayo in a phase 3 study to determine whether the drug combination could serve as a first-line treatment for advanced melanoma (the "Phase III Fianlimab-Libtayo Study"). The study had commenced enrollment in mid-2022.

Plaintiff alleges that defendants provided overwhelmingly positive statements to investors while, at the same time, concealing the true state of Regeneron's Phase III Fianlimab Libtayo Study; notably, that (i) its preliminary statistical assumptions were fundamentally flawed; (ii) the active treatment arm was failing to achieve meaningful clinical differentiation over standard therapies; and (iii) the trial would ultimately fail to reach statistical significance on its primary endpoint even without overperformance of the control arm.

Plaintiff alleges that April 29, 2026, during Regeneron's first quarter earnings call, defendants disclosed the Phase III Fianlimab-Libtayo Study had been altered, expanding the number of patients in the study eligible for "analysis of progression-free survival." On this news, the price of Regeneron's common stock declined from a closing market price of $731.77 per share on April 28, 2026, to $686.36 per share on April 29, 2026, a decline of about 6.2% in the span of just a single day. Then, after-market on May 15, 2026, Regeneron announced that the "Phase 3 Trial of Fianlimab . . . did not reach statistical significance for the primary endpoint of improvement in progression-free survival (PFS)."  On this news, the price of Regeneron's common stock declined from $698.25 per share on May 15, 2026, to $629.68 per share on May 18, 2026, a decline of about 9.8% in the span of one day.

What Now: You may be eligible to participate in the class action against Regeneron Therapeutics, Inc. Shareholders who wish to serve as lead plaintiff for the class should contact Robbins LLP. The lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.  You do not have to participate in the case to be eligible for a recovery. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member. For more information, click here.

All representation is on a contingency fee basis. Shareholders pay no fees or expenses. 

About Robbins LLP: A recognized leader in shareholder rights litigation, Robbins LLP has helped restore more than $1 billion in value to shareholders, secured some of the largest recoveries in shareholder derivative litigation history, and achieved governance reforms at over 400 Fortune 1000 companies. 

"Behind everything we do is the belief that companies should be governed responsibly, fiduciaries should be held accountable, and shareholders deserve transparency and fairness," said Brian J. Robbins, Founding Partner of Robbins LLP.

To be notified if a class action against Regeneron Therapeutics, Inc. settles or to receive free alerts when corporate executives engage in wrongdoing, sign up for Stock Watch today.

Attorney Advertising.  Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.  

SOURCE Robbins LLP

Key Takeaways TSM raised its 2026 capital budget to $60-$64 billion as AI and HPC demand remain strong.Taiwan Semiconductor's advanced technologies accounted for 77% of wafer revenues in the second quarter.TSM expects the 2-nanometer ramp to create near-term margin pressure. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSM - Free Report) highlighted accelerating artificial intelligence demand, expanded capacity investments and continued strength in advanced technologies on its second-quarter 2026 earnings call. Management raised its 2026 capital spending outlook as customers seek additional leading-edge capacity.

The company also pointed to Agentic AI, advanced packaging and next-generation process technology as key areas shaping its long-term strategy.

TSM Expands Capacity for AI DemandTSM’s chairman and CEO, C.C. Wei, said that demand for leading-edge technologies remains strong, driven by AI-related demand from customers and cloud service providers. The company raised its 2026 revenue growth outlook to slightly above 40% year over year in U.S. dollar terms.

Wei said that Agentic AI is increasing semiconductor demand by expanding the role of CPUs alongside AI accelerators. He also noted that TSM is supporting customers across different CPU architectures with advanced technologies and capacity planning.

Management emphasized that capacity expansion decisions are based on customer road maps and demand assessments. Wei said that Taiwan Semiconductor is monitoring AI data center development to align chip supply with deployment progress.

Taiwan Semiconductor Raises Investment PlansTSM reported second-quarter revenues of $40.20 billion and EPS of $4.31, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues and EPS of $39.63 billion and $3.87, respectively. The quarter included a 67.7% gross margin and 60.3% operating margin.

CFO Jen-Chau Huang said that TSM increased its 2026 capital budget to $60-$64 billion from the prior range as structural demand continues across AI and high-performance computing markets.

The company expects roughly 70% to 80% of 2026 capital spending to support advanced process technologies, with additional investments directed toward specialty technologies and advanced packaging.

TSM Advances Leading-Edge TechnologyThe company said advanced technologies accounted for 77% of wafer revenues in the second quarter. It also reported that 3-nanometer represented 30% of wafer revenues, while 5-nanometer contributed 33%.

Wei said that 2-nanometer technology contributed 3% of wafer revenues during the quarter and is entering a steep ramp phase. The company expects the ramp to pressure gross margin in the near term.

TSM also provided an update on A14 technology, saying development remains on track with pre-production planned for 2027 and volume production scheduled for 2028.

Taiwan Semiconductor Addresses Competitive QuestionsA Morgan Stanley analyst asked about competition from other foundry providers and whether government support or additional industry capacity could challenge the company’s leadership. Wei emphasized technology, manufacturing capability and customer trust as Taiwan Semiconductor’s core competitive advantages.

Wei said that semiconductor manufacturing leadership requires long development cycles and customer collaboration. He stated that selecting and ramping new technologies involves years of preparation rather than quick transitions.

Management also discussed advanced packaging competition, noting that additional industry capacity could provide flexibility as packaging demand remains constrained. Wei said that this could support front-end wafer growth.

TSM Discusses Margins and Supply ConstraintsTaiwan Semiconductor expects third-quarter revenues between $44.6 billion and $45.8 billion, with gross margin projected at 65-67% and operating margin between 56% and 58%.

Huang said that second-quarter gross margin improved due to cost improvements and higher utilization, while the upcoming 2-nanometer ramp is expected to create margin dilution.

Wei said that demand for leading-edge capacity remains above available supply and expects strong semiconductor demand trends through the end of the decade, while noting that intermediate market fluctuations can occur.

Taiwan Semiconductor Maintains Strategic FocusTSM announced an additional $100 billion investment in Arizona to build additional semiconductor fabs and advanced packaging facilities. The company said the expansion will support demand from U.S. customers.

Wei said that the timing of the Arizona investment will depend on market conditions and customer demand, while the company continues expanding facilities in Taiwan and other regions.

The company’s broader strategy remains centered on expanding advanced manufacturing capacity while supporting customer growth across AI, HPC and other semiconductor markets.

Zacks Rank and Style ScoreTaiwan Semiconductor sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present, indicating that the stock currently has one of the strongest Zacks Rank classifications based on earnings estimate revisions. The Zacks Rank can change as analysts update estimates following new company information. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The stock has a Growth Score of B, a Momentum Score of A and a VGM Score of B, while its Value Score is D. A Zacks Style Score of A or B indicates stronger characteristics within their respective styles, and combining a favorable Style Score with a higher Zacks Ranks can provide additional insight into potential stock performance.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Today

TSM

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

$404.19 -5.55 (-1.35%)

As of 12:13 PM Eastern

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

52-Week Range$223.70▼

$479.00Dividend Yield0.73%

P/E Ratio33.48

Price Target$490.00

Investors widely view the results of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company NYSE: TSM as one of the key barometers of the artificial intelligence (AI) chip trade. This comes as the firm controls a massive share of the advanced AI chipmaking market.

TSMC just provided investors with its latest financial update, releasing its Q2 2026 earnings report. Notably, TSMC put up its fifth quarter in a row of record revenue and profits. The company also greatly raised its full-year growth outlook and capacity investment plans.

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The results sent a clear message to the broader AI chip trade: demand is still running hot.

TSMC Displays Strong Growth, Boosts Full-Year OutlookIn its latest quarter, TSMC posted revenue of $40.2 billion, up about 34% year over year (YOY). The figure landed at the high end of TSMC’s guidance range of $39 billion to $40.2 billion. Additionally, earnings per American Depository Receipt came in at $4.31, up over 77% YOY, beating estimates.

TSMC expects growth to accelerate next quarter. It forecasts sales of between $44.6 billion and $45.8 billion, or $45.2 billion at the midpoint. Achieving this midpoint figure would result in growth of 37% YOY.

TSMC also said that advanced technologies accounted for 77% of its total wafer revenue. This is a considerable increase over 74% during Q1 2026, showing that customers are demanding more advanced chips.

One of TSMC's strongest signals was its full-year growth outlook. The company now expects that in U.S. dollar terms, revenue will grow by slightly more than 40% in 2026. Last quarter, TSMC reported this figure above 30%, a huge increase in the company’s full-year growth expectations in just one quarter, indicating strong demand momentum.

In the words of TSMC Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei, “AI-related demand continues to be extremely robust.” Wei went on to note that, “Our customers and customers' customers, who are mainly the cloud service providers, continue to provide us with their very strong signal and positive outlook. Thus, our conviction in the multi-year AI megatrend remains very high.”

TSMC Ups 2026 Spending Forecast, Adds $100 Billion to U.S. Investment PlanTSMC's long-term capital planning provided another key signal for the AI trade, with the company raising its 2026 capital budget guidance to $60 billion to $64 billion. That is up from its prior range of $52 billion to $56 billion and would represent a sharp increase from 2025 spending if TSMC lands near the midpoint of the new range.

Overall MarketRank™99th Percentile

Analyst RatingModerate Buy

Upside/Downside21.6% Upside

Short Interest LevelHealthy

Dividend StrengthWeak

News Sentiment0.81 Insider TradingSelling Shares

Proj. Earnings Growth27.53%

See Full Analysis

TSMC also said it would invest an additional $100 billion into the United States. This money will go toward building advanced chipmaking and advanced packaging facilities in Arizona. The company will make this investment over several years, with C.C. Wei noting that the $100 billion would “probably” result in four additional fabrication facilities.

Companies, especially those involved in manufacturing, do not make capital expenditure (CapEx) investment decisions lightly. If they overbuild, supply could outpace demand. This would cause facilities to go underutilized and create negative pricing pressure, significantly hurting their ability to achieve their desired return on investment.

To make these decisions confidently, TSMC's demand for its products must be extremely strong. C.C. Wei says that it is, and TSMC’s CapEx planning shows the firm is putting its money where its mouth is. This is the same confidence that allows the company to boost its growth guidance from “over 30%” to “over 40%” in just one quarter.

TSMC notes that it performs significant due diligence before expanding capacity. This includes ensuring that its chips do not enter customer inventory but are actually deployed to demonstrate that demand can persist.

TSMC Results Validate AI Chip DemandTSMC’s demand is downstream of the demand from top AI chip players like NVIDIA NASDAQ: NVDA and Broadcom NASDAQ: AVGO. The demand for these names ultimately comes from AI hyperscalers, who buy chips to build data centers and allow AI products to proliferate. When TSMC raises its growth outlook, it is because chip players are seeing very strong demand from hyperscalers.

In turn, TSMC’s results provide real validation of the demand expectations around top chip players, since companies like NVIDIA and Broadcom would not be increasing their orders unless hyperscalers were still committing to large AI infrastructure purchases. When it comes to supporting the broader AI semiconductor rally, TSMC’s results and forecasts provide a strong positive signal for the future.

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

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Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) reported upbeat second-quarter results and raised its full-year adjusted earnings outlook on Thursday.

Adjusted earnings came in at $1.31 per share, topping the analyst consensus estimate of $1.28. Revenue increased 13% year over year to $12.59 billion, ahead of analysts’ expectations of $12.50 billion. On a comparable basis, sales rose 4.8%.

"Our second-quarter results reflect the momentum we are building," Chairman and CEO Robert B. Ford said. "We expect this momentum to continue and drive accelerating sales and earnings growth in the second half of the year."

Abbott raised its full-year 2026 adjusted earnings guidance to a range of $5.45 to $5.60 per share from its prior forecast of $5.38 to $5.58. The updated range brackets the analyst consensus estimate of $5.49 per share. The company reaffirmed its expectation for comparable sales growth of 6.5% to 7.5% for the year.

For the third quarter, Abbott forecast adjusted earnings of $1.38 to $1.46 per share, compared with the Wall Street estimate of $1.42 per share.

Abbott shares gained 0.9% to $99.75 in pre-market trading.

These analysts made changes to their price targets on Abbott following earnings announcement.

BTIG analyst Marie Thibault maintained Abbott with a Buy and raised the price target from $131 to $134. Evercore ISI Group analyst Vijay Kumar maintained the stock with an Outperform rating and raised the price target from $112 to $120. RBC Capital analyst Shagun Singh reiterated the stock with an Outperform rating and maintained a $130 price target. Considering buying ABT stock? Here’s what analysts think:

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Key Takeaways TXN's Q2 revenue and EPS estimates imply year-over-year growth of 17.5% and 35.5%, respectively.Analog demand is rising on improving industrial sales, data center investment and stable automotive demand.Embedded growth may accelerate, though China exposure and U.S.-China trade tensions remain risks. Texas Instruments Incorporated (TXN - Free Report) is likely to beat earnings estimates when it releases its second-quarter 2026 results on July 22, after market close.

The company anticipates revenues between $5 billion and $5.4 billion for the second quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $5.23 billion, suggesting growth of 17.5% from the year-ago period's reported figure.

Texas Instruments expects earnings per share between $1.77 and $2.05. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter earnings is pinned at $1.91 per share, implying growth of 35.5% from the year-ago period's reported figure. The consensus mark for earnings has been revised upward over the past seven days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

TXN’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters while missing once, with an average surprise of 6.96%.

Q2 Earnings Whispers for Texas InstrumentsOur proven model predicts an earnings beat for Texas Instruments this earnings season. 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, which is exactly the case here.

Earnings ESP of TXN: Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate Estimate ($1.96) and the Zacks Consensus Estimate ($1.91), is +2.66%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Texas Instruments’ Zacks Rank: TXN presently carries a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Factors Likely to Influence TXN’s Q2 ResultsTexas Instruments’ second-quarter performance is likely to have benefited from strong demand for its analog and embedded chips. The company’s analog business remains the largest contributor, which is showing renewed strength supported by improving industrial demand, stronger data center investments and stable automotive sales.

Industrial revenues rose more than 30% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, with growth spreading across regions and customer groups. At the same time, Texas Instruments is benefiting from rising demand for power-management chips used in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven data center infrastructure. During the first-quarter earnings call, management stated that data center revenues surged roughly 90% year over year.

Overall, analog revenues increased 22% year over year to $3.92 billion, and the trend is likely to have continued in the second quarter. Our model estimates for the analog division’s second-quarter revenues are pegged at $4.08 billion, indicating 18.1% year-over-year growth.

Gradually improving end-market demand and easing customer inventory adjustments are likely to have aided growth in the embedded processing business during the second quarter. The segment is anticipated to have benefited from improving industrial demand and increasing semiconductor content across connected devices, vehicles and factory automation.

In the first quarter, embedded processing revenues increased 12% year over year to $723 million. The growth rate is likely to have accelerated in the second quarter. Our model estimates for the embedded processing division’s second-quarter revenues are pegged at $799 million, indicating 17.7% year-over-year growth.

However, Texas Instruments’ second-quarter performance is likely to have been affected by rising geopolitical tensions, and the ongoing U.S.-China trade and tariff wars. TXN is a major player in China, accounting for more than 20% of its annual revenues in 2025.

TXN’s Stock Price Performance & ValuationTexas Instruments shares have surged 68.3% year to date, outperforming the Zacks Semiconductor – General industry, which has risen 22.7%. Compared to other industry peers, the stock has outpaced NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) and Amtech Systems, Inc. (ASYS - Free Report) but has underperformed Intel Corporation (INTC - Free Report) . Shares of NVIDIA, Amtech Systems and Intel have soared 11%, 33.2% and 162.3%, respectively.

Texas Instruments YTD Price Return Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Let us look at the value Texas Instruments offers investors at current levels. Currently, TXN is trading at a premium, with a forward 12-month P/E of 35.26X compared with the industry’s 22.94X.

Texas Instruments Forward 12-Month P/E Ratio
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Compared with semiconductor giants, the stock trades at a higher multiple than NVIDIA and Amtech Systems, while at a lower multiple than Intel. At present, NVIDIA, Amtech Systems and Intel have forward 12-month P/E of 19.63X, 23.87X and 76.49X, respectively.

Investment Thesis on TXN StockUnlike NVIDIA or AMD, Texas Instruments does not build AI accelerators. Instead, it supplies the analog and embedded chips that keep AI infrastructure running. Its products manage power, convert signals, control motors, regulate cooling systems and enable connectivity across data centers, industrial equipment and automotive applications. These components may receive less attention than AI processors, but they are essential as AI servers become more power-hungry and increasingly complex.

Every new AI data center requires far more power management and sensing components than traditional computing infrastructure. This is creating a meaningful opportunity for Texas Instruments. Rather than competing in the crowded AI processor market, the company is benefiting from the broader AI infrastructure buildout — a trend that could prove more durable over time.

The company's data center business reached an annual revenue run rate of roughly $1.2 billion in 2025, growing more than 50% year over year. In the first quarter of 2026, data center revenues jumped 90% from the prior-year period and increased 25% sequentially. These growth rates highlight the company’s growing importance in AI infrastructure and suggest that this market could remain a major contributor for years.

Texas Instruments is also taking a different approach to manufacturing than many semiconductor companies. Instead of relying heavily on external foundries, management plans to manufacture more than 95% of its wafers internally by 2030.

This strategy requires significant investment today but offers several long-term advantages. Greater manufacturing control can improve supply-chain reliability, reduce production costs over time and protect margins during industry shortages.

Conclusion: Hold Texas Instruments Stock for NowTXN is benefiting from rising AI infrastructure spending, rapidly expanding data center demand and a manufacturing strategy that should continue aiding its financial results. With AI infrastructure spending still in the early stages of a multi-year expansion cycle, Texas Instruments looks well-positioned to deliver steady growth for years to come. Although the stock trades at a premium valuation, that premium appears justified, given its consistent earnings growth. All these make Texas Instruments stock worth holding.