Market Signal Briefing

NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC, a nationally recognized investor-rights law firm, announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Ardent Health, Inc. (NYSE: ARDT) 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 Ardent securities between July 18, 2024 and November 12, 2025, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firm’s site: bgandg.com/ARDT.

Ardent Case Details

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that:

(1) Ardent Health’s third quarter 2025 revenue was overstated due to inadequate determinations of accounts receivable collectability following the Company’s transition to a new revenue accounting system and “recently completed hindsight evaluations of historical collection trends”;
(2) the Company’s 2025 EBITDA guidance was overstated and would be reduced by $57.5 million at the midpoint, or approximately 9.6%, due to “persistent industry-wide cost pressures,” including “payer denials”; and
(3) as a result, Defendants’ statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.

What's Next for Ardent 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/ARDT. 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 Ardent you have until March 9, 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 Ardent 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 Ardent 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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Contact Info

Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or Nathan Miller
Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC
917-590-0911 | [email protected]

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Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP Securities Litigation Partner James (Josh) Wilson Encourages Investors Who Suffered Losses in Fermi to Contact Him Directly to Discuss Their Options

If you purchased or otherwise acquired securities in Fermi (a) common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the registration statement and prospectus (collectively, the "Registration Statement") issued in connection with the Company's October 2025 initial public offering ("IPO" or the "Offering"); and/or (b) securities between October 1, 2025 and December 11, 2025, inclusive (the "Class Period") and would like to discuss your legal rights, call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310).

[You may also click here for additional information]

New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2026) - Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a leading national securities law firm, is investigating potential claims against Fermi Inc. ("Fermi" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: FRMI) and reminds investors of the March 6, 2026 deadline to seek the role of lead plaintiff in a federal securities class action that has been filed against the Company.

Faruqi & Faruqi is a leading national securities law firm with offices in New York, Pennsylvania, California and Georgia. The firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors since its founding in 1995. See www.faruqilaw.com.

As detailed below, the complaint alleges that the Company and its executives violated federal securities laws by making false and/or misleading statements and/or failing to disclose that: (1) the Company overstated its tenant demand for its Project Matador campus; (2) the extent to which Project Matador would rely on a single tenant's funding commitment to finance the construction of Project Matador; (3) there was a significant risk that that tenant would terminate its funding commitment; and (4) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

On October 1, 2025, Fermi completed its initial public offering of approximately 32.5 million shares of common stock at $21.00 per share. The Company's registration statement emphasized its plans to develop a large electric generation campus for AI data centers and identified an investment-grade "First Tenant" for its Project Matador site. The registration statement stated that, on September 19, 2025, Fermi had entered into a letter of intent with the First Tenant to lease a portion of the site on a triple-net basis for an initial twenty-year term, with four five-year renewal options.

In November 2025, the Company further announced that the First Tenant had entered into an Advance in Aid of Construction Agreement agreeing, subject to conditions, to advance up to $150 million toward construction costs.

On December 12, 2025, Fermi disclosed that the First Tenant had terminated the AICA the prior day, eliminating a key funding arrangement for the Project. Although Fermi stated that lease negotiations continued under the letter of intent, the market reacted negatively, and Fermi's stock price fell more than 33%, closing at $10.09 per share, well below the IPO price.

The court-appointed lead plaintiff is the investor with the largest financial interest in the relief sought by the class who is adequate and typical of class members who directs and oversees the litigation on behalf of the putative class. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision to serve as a lead plaintiff or not.

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP also encourages anyone with information regarding Fermi's conduct to contact the firm, including whistleblowers, former employees, shareholders and others.

To learn more about the Fermi class action, go to www.faruqilaw.com/FRMI or call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310).

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn, on X, or on Facebook.

Attorney Advertising. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP (www.faruqilaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your particular case. All communications will be treated in a confidential manner.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/279955

Source: Faruqi & Faruqi LLP

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Sun, 11/01/2026 - 14:35

Michael Saylor echoed Hal Finney's iconic "Running Bitcoin" tweet exactly 17 years later, marking the moment with three words — and a $61 billion Bitcoin position behind them.

Cover image via U.Today Just 17 years after Hal Finney typed "Running bitcoin" on X, Michael Saylor posted the exact same phrase.

The date was not just a guess. On Jan. 11, 2009, Finney sent the first-ever tweet confirming that Bitcoin was up and running. On Jan. 10, 2026, Saylor put on a near-perfect anniversary show — simple and calculated — as the company he runs holds one of the world's biggest Bitcoin treasuries.

Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, owns 673,783 BTC, which they bought on average for $75,024. At current prices, that stake is worth over $61.16 billion — a 20.98% unrealized gain.

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Even so, MSTR shares are still trading way below their net asset value, with a basic NAV multiple of 0.739 and a diluted NAV of 0.823. That spread leaves billions in unpriced exposure, even after five years of consistent accumulation.

The message also comes at a time when there is a lot of interest in Bitcoin's role in the world of money again. While there are now spot ETFs, Saylor's firm continues to operate as a high-leverage BTC proxy — without redemption features, without fee compression and without strategic drift.

Running Bitcoin in 2026The company's enterprise value currently reflects just under 96% of its BTC holdings, suggesting that institutional investors are still reluctant to value Strategy at the same level as its main asset.

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Back in 2009, "running Bitcoin" was all about getting software together on your own machine and hooking it up to a network with a couple of folks. In 2026, it now describes a public company that holds over 3% of the total Bitcoin supply — with no hedge, no escape plan and no excuse.

Saylor did not explain his tweet — the date did the talking.

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Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has declared the blockchain trilemma solved following the December 2025 Fusaka upgrade. The protocol is shifting toward distributed block building to prevent builder oligopolies from controlling transaction inclusion. Experts like Mo Dong note that while technically complex, the real challenge is incentive alignment, as distributed building complicates MEV extraction.

After retreating from late-2025 highs, Bitcoin has spent much of recent trading days fluctuating between the mid-$80,000s and low-$90,000s, with buyers consistently stepping in on dips and sellers defending the same resistance level.

Interestingly, this technical setup resembles the structure Bitcoin formed before its last major rally that eventually pushed it to its price peak above $126,000.

Bitcoin Revisits A Familiar Consolidation Structure A closer look at BTC price action on the daily candlestick timeframe chart shows that the leading cryptocurrency is tracing a pattern that looks very similar to what played out between March and May 2025. 

In that earlier phase, Bitcoin spent weeks trading between roughly $76,000 and $86,000, repeatedly failing to break higher and giving the impression of stagnation. During that time, the Bitcoin price held above support levels and continued to print lower lows within the range and gave the impression of a lack of immediate upside. 

That consolidation ultimately proved to be a base. Once Bitcoin broke above the upper boundary of that range at $86,000, the sentiment changed very quickly and created the stage for a strong upside move that eventually led to Bitcoin. 

Bitcoin is currently trading at $90,601. Chart: TradingView The current structure shows the same characteristics, only at a higher altitude. This time, Bitcoin is ranging between approximately $84,000 and $94,000, with price compressing in a similar way to early 2025.

Bitcoin Price Chart. Source: @aganstwallst On X

Why Bitcoin Might Push To New ATHs The $94,000 level has become the primary area determining Bitcoin’s current upward price action. Bitcoin’s price action tested this zone during an early January rally, briefly pushing toward $94,500 on January 5 before facing rejection and dropping back into correction. That rejection is now in the past, and the next priority is what Bitcoin might do once it finally secures a decisive break above this resistance.

The previous performance is a good reference point for what could follow a confirmed breakout. After Bitcoin cleared $86,000 during the prior consolidation last year, it pushed up for many months, eventually reaching a peak price of around $126,080. That move represented a gain of about 46% from the breakout level. 

No two price movements can play out in exactly the same way, but the similarities between the current setup and last year’s structure suggest that Bitcoin may once again be building energy below resistance. 

If Bitcoin delivers a comparable expansion after breaking above $94,000, the projected upside targets would extend a little above $126,000 and lead to the creation of a new all-time high. Applying the same percentage move from $94,000 points to a potential advance to as high as $138,000.

Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView

16h05 ▪ 4 min read ▪ by Lydie M.

Summarize this article with:

Memecoins live at a strange pace. Everything goes very fast, then nothing. On Solana, Pump.fun has been one of the main accelerators of this dynamic. But when a platform grows, every setting becomes political. Even a simple fee.

In brief Pump.fun adjusts its model for memecoins on Solana by revising creator fees The platform now allows revenue sharing to up to 10 wallets and adds control tools related to CTOs The objective is to limit abuses, clarify token management, and put incentives on the right side, the market side. Pump.fun tweaks the rules of the game in the crypto ecosystem After breaking records with the Solana memecoin explosion, Pump.fun announced a revamp of its creator fee system, with a fee share and new controls for CTO teams and admins. The change allows revenue to be distributed to up to 10 wallets after launch. It also becomes possible to transfer coin ownership and revoke certain update authorities.

Co-founder Alon Cohen makes a rare observation in crypto: the old mechanism may have “twisted” incentives. On X, he explains that the Dynamic Fees V1 version did generate activity. But it did not produce sustainable market behavior.

Behind the words, there is a simple idea. If the reward mainly comes when you create, you end up creating for the sake of creating. However, a memecoin without traders quickly looks like an empty showcase. It’s pretty for two minutes. Then the liquidity evaporates.

According to Cohen, the model encouraged “low-risk” creation at the expense of “high-risk” trading. And he considers that dangerous. The reason is that crypto traders remain the source of liquidity and volume. Without them, even the best slogans don’t pay the spread.

The platform says it did see a true peak at the beginning. In a few weeks, new creators launched tokens and even livestreamed. Pump.fun claims volumes on its bonding curve more than doubled over the period, before momentum dropped.

The new fee sharing: more transparency, less drama The most concrete novelty is this fee sharing. A creator, or a CTO (Community Takeover) admin, can now set a percentage and send it to several addresses. In practice, this opens the door to clearer distributions: team, treasury, moderation, contributors.

Another important detail is that this crypto platform insists the Pump.fun team will not receive these fees. Cohen presents the mechanism as a tool “for the trenchers,” meaning for actors on the ground, not the parent company. Fees remain claimable at any time.

Finally, control options matter as much as money. Being able to transfer coin ownership, or revoke an update authority, builds trust. Too many projects end in “CTO” because governance remained shaky. Here, Pump.fun attempts to make this transition less opaque.

This revamp arrives in a less euphoric context than in 2024. Pump.fun remains a dominant launchpad on Solana, thanks to almost frictionless token creation and a standardized path to liquidity.

But dominance is not a permanent state. Indeed, in July, a rival named LetsBonk briefly surpassed Pump.fun in volume and revenue, before the momentum shifted back. Pump.fun also strengthened its position through buybacks of its PUMP token and a payout program under “Project Ascend.” It thus realized a record withdrawal of $436M as the crypto memecoin era comes to an end

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Lydie M.

Enseignante et ingénieure IT, Lydie découvre le Bitcoin en 2022 et plonge dans l’univers des cryptomonnaies. Elle vulgarise des sujets complexes, décrypte les enjeux du Web3 et défend une vision d’un futur numérique ouvert, inclusif et décentralisé.

DISCLAIMER

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.

The UAE government now sponsors Bitcoin mining operations that will run on the nation’s substantial supply of natural gas. CZ, founder of Binance, interjected on social media that the UAE has been mining Bitcoin “for a while.”

Governments in countries like Japan, El Salvador and Russia already sponsor Bitcoin mining and now the UAE has joined those ranks, according to recent reports.

Is the UAE government involved in Bitcoin mining? The United Arab Emirates has joined the list of nations choosing to embrace government-sponsored Bitcoin mining, according to recent announcements circulating on social media. CZ, the founder of Binance, responded to an announcement post about the UAE’s mining activities stating, “Has been for a while, based on my knowledge.”

Arkham Intelligence revealed back in August of 2025, that the UAE had approximately 6,300-6,450 Bitcoins worth $700 million gained through state-backed mining operations that were carried out through Citadel Mining.

Rather than allowing private companies to control the sector or attempting to restrict it through regulation, the UAE’s government is choosing to directly participate in or sponsor mining operations.

However, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi banned cryptocurrency mining on agricultural land in September 2025 and imposed fines of up to AED 100,000 on violators to protect energy resources and land-use laws.

Despite this, the UAE regards Bitcoin mining as a core national infrastructure, in the same way that countries treat data centers, telecommunications networks, or energy projects.

News out of Dubai and Abu Dhabi in recent years has reinforced the country’s progressive approach to regulating the digital assets sector, attracting major cryptocurrency exchanges and blockchain companies, and establishing free zones specifically designed for crypto businesses.

Which other countries are involved in Bitcoin mining? El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021, and although that was rescinded in 2025, the country still holds 7,517 BTC. The country mined 474 BTC over a period of three years using geothermal energy from volcanoes.

Bhutan, a small Himalayan kingdom, revealed in 2023 that it started secretly mining Bitcoin in 2018 using its abundant hydroelectric power resources. It mines 55-75 BTC weekly and uses the token to fund civil servant salaries and public services.

Ethiopia is in agreement with international mining companies to run their mining operations on the country’s surplus hydroelectric power.

Iran, Japan and Russia have also been making crypto-friendly policies to benefit in different ways. Iran legalized mining at the state level in 2019 to generate revenue and pay for imports under economic sanctions. The country shut down 100 illegal mining farms in 2025 and periodically bans even legal mining during periods of energy crisis.

Japan recently launched state-sponsored mining in order to balance its grid load. Russia’s regional government and state-linked utility companies in Siberia run their mining operations on hydropower. However, mining is currently banned in different areas in Russia due to energy concerns.

France’s government-backed mining operations are still in the proposal stage and are not yet fully operational, but the country intends to use its surplus nuclear energy to power its activities. For context, France produces over 70% of its electricity from nuclear power and could generate $100-$150 million annually from 1 gigawatt of surplus energy.

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Sun, 11/01/2026 - 15:26

XRP reversed a strong run at 2026's start, which pushed its price to a high of $2.41 on Jan. 6.

Cover image via U.Today XRP is trading quietly in the market, with 24-hour volumes dropping as much as 58%. Traders are signalling lower activity as trading volumes in the last 24 hours fell 58.41% to $1.1 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.

While this may seem concerning, the similitude of a reversal signal on XRP charts may signal that attention needs to be paid at this time.

According to Ali, a crypto analyst, XRP appears to be printing a gravestone doji, adding that this might not be a "great look" for the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

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From Ali's tweet, it seems this pattern is forming on the weekly chart as he highlighted this pattern on this time frame.

The gravestone doji is a candlestick pattern in which the opening and closing price of the candle is at the same level or is very close to the same level. Doji reflects indecision in the market, with the gravestone doji having long upper shadow and no body. Its appearance is significant after an uptrend, as it might indicate a bearish reversal.

A gravestone doji often implies that the market has decided to be bearish.

What's next for XRP price?XRP reversed a strong run at 2026's start, which pushed its price to a high of $2.41 on Jan. 6. The cryptocurrency fell for five days at a stretch taken from this date and is currently making rebound attempts.

At the time of writing, XRP was up 0.13% in the last 24 hours to $2.10 but down 0.62% weekly.

XRP's price drop in the past week coincided with the first net outflows from XRP ETFs.

U.S. spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded their first net outflow day since listing in mid-November, ending a consistent inflow streak among major crypto funds. The funds recorded outflows of $40.8 million on Jan. 7, according to SoSoValue data.

As it stands, XRP continues to trade in a broad range between $1.77 and $2.41. It will be watched in the short term if XRP will convert the daily MA 50 at $2 into support to sustain bullish momentum.

The next crucial breakout for XRP lies at $2.56, which coincides with the daily MA 50. A break above here might open the pathway toward $3 and $3.5.

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Analysts at asset manager VanEck have outlined a long-term capital market outlook that values Bitcoin (BTC) at a whopping $53 million by 2050.

The stratospheric price prediction represents VanEck’s bull case in the scenario, which maintains a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29% for Bitcoin over the next 25 years, according to a recent blog post titled “Bitcoin Long-Term Capital Market Assumptions,” which was authored by Matthew Sigel, the company’s head of digital assets research, and senior analyst Patrick Bush.

Bitcoin To Gain Traction As Both A Settlement Asset And A Reserve Holding Sigel and Bush describe hyper-Bitcoinization as the period when the premier cryptocurrency becomes a settlement currency for international and domestic trade and makes its way into more central bank reserves.

“In a ‘hyper-Bitcoinization’ scenario where Bitcoin captures 20% of international trade and 10% of domestic GDP, the implied value per coin could reach $53.4 million,” the analysis reads. 

“This scenario requires Bitcoin to achieve parity with or surpass gold as a primary global reserve asset,” they continued, “constituting nearly 30% of world financial assets.

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Notably, that’s VanEck’s bullish case valuation for Bitcoin. But even the firm’s base case predicts significant price appreciation ahead for BTC: It estimates an annualized return of around 15%, resulting in a price of $2.9 million per coin by 2050.

In this scenario, VanEck forecasts that BTC will account for 5-10% of global trade settlement volume. It’s worth noting that Bitcoin is already being used in international trade, particularly in economically sanctioned nations like Venezuela and Russia, but has seen little traction in G7 nations. Additionally, the model suggests that central banks will likely allocate up to 2.5% of their balance sheets to Bitcoin, representing diversification away from sovereign fiat currencies.

Global liquidity expansion and monetary debasement would be the key drivers of BTC’s price growth, Sigel and Bush noted in the report: “Bitcoin is not a tactical trade in this framework; it functions as a long-duration hedge against adverse monetary regime outcomes.”

Even in its bear-case scenario, VanEck still assumes a 2% CAGR to $130,000 — around 3% above its current lifetime high peak of $126,080 registered in October 2025.

As of press time, Bitcoin is trading at $90,813, up roughly 0.2% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data.

Sun, 11/01/2026 - 15:31

Binance's top traders are now 300% more bullish on XRP, with 76% of them holding long positions — it is only logical to ask if a $3 breakout could be in play before January wraps.

Cover image via www.freepik.com Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.

XRP is hot again after Binance's top trader metrics revealed a heavy bias: 76.16% of the best accounts are holding long, with only 23.84% still betting against it. The long/short account ratio has shot up to 3.19, which is one of the most bullish positions in months.

Even more importantly, the position-based ratio also climbed to 1.97, showing that this is not just a crowd of sidelined bulls — these accounts are actually sizing up on XRP.

Source: BinanceJust a few days ago, XRP bounced off the $1.80 zone and got back up to the $2.10 level, but the price is still pretty low compared to the early January time when it almost broke through to $2.40.

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While the chart still shows some selling pressure, derivatives sentiment has flipped decisively, and that rarely happens without reason. This is not a neutral crowd hoping for direction — it is a packed bus heading north.

Why long XRP?Partly due to short-side exhaustion. Funding rates are cooling, and the market has digested a month-long altcoin cycle. While Bitcoin consolidates, high-beta assets like XRP are attractive candidates for catch-up plays, especially if the ETF narrative sustains.

But a ratio of almost 3.2 long/short often suggests local overconfidence or front-running. In the past, there were similar imbalances before XRP's big moves in March 2021 and November 2023.

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If things keep going the way they are, we might see a rise to somewhere between $2.80 and $3 before the end of the month, as long as the current pace does not slow down around the $2.40 mark.

For now, it is plain to see that whales are loading up, and they are doing it quickly. If $2.40 cracks, January has a chance of a final run.

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Cover image via U.Today Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.

Cardano is trading quietly in the market, with its open interest slightly rising in the last 24 hours.

ADA trading volumes are lower, falling nearly 38%. Traders are signalling lower activity as trading volumes in the last 24 hours fell 37.56% to $264.44 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.

Cardano's open interest came to $794.54 million, according to CoinGlass data, representing a 0.25% increase in the last 24 hours.

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Open interest refers to the total number of outstanding futures or options contracts in the market. It might reflect participation and liquidity in the markets.

Cardano signals quiet resetCardano reversed a strong run at the start of 2026 alongside the rest of the crypto market. After reaching a high of $0.437 on Jan. 6, Cardano began to decline, marking five days of drop since this date.

The price drop across the market this week was not only accompanied by increased liquidations, but also coincided with a move that saw the options markets de-risk aggressively, with open interest falling. Along these lines, Cardano saw its open interest fall, creating an unwind.

The slight increase in open interest after days of drop might signal a reset, albeit a quiet one as volumes drop.

The chances of consolidation remain in the short term, given that the market just cleared a lot of leverage.

Cardano has traded in a broad range between $0.33 and $0.483 since late November. A strong move for Cardano might begin above the resistance of the range at $0.483, which might target the $0.65 level (the daily MA 200) next.

In positive news for Cardano, Leios might be journeying its way toward mainnet launch. IOG’s public Leios tracker shows the Cardano Improvement Proposal is 67% complete, and delivery work is actively progressing across specifications, simulations and implementation.

Expectations are also in place for the first Cardano spot ETF in the U.S. as Grayscale's spot Cardano remains under SEC review, with a decision now expected in early 2026.

Cover image via U.Today Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.

The last day of the week is bullish for the crypto market, according to CoinMarketCap.

Top coins by CoinMarketCapZEC/USDThe rate of Zcash (ZEC) has risen by 3.34% over the last 24 hours.

Image by TradingViewOn the hourly chart, the price of ZEC might have set a local resistance at $400.60. If the daily bar closes far from that mark, one can expect a test of the support by tomorrow.

Image by TradingViewOn the bigger time frame, one should focus on the nearest level at $371.25. If a breakout happens, the accumulated energy might be enough for an ongoing decline to the $320 zone.

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Such a scenario is relevant over the next week.

Image by TradingViewOn the weekly chart, the price of ZEC has bounced off the support at $371.25. However, if a correction does not happen and the weekly bar closes near that mark, traders may see a test of the $300 range by the end of the month.

ZEC is trading at $389.24 at press time.

Key takeaways:

Monero jumped above $500 as traders favored it over Zcash amid governance turmoil.

History suggests XMR risks a sharp pullback unless it firmly breaks above $500–$520.

Monero (XMR) surged past the $500 mark for the first time since its peak in May 2021.

The privacy-focused cryptocurrency briefly touched $500.66 after rising more than 6% on Sunday and 20% over the past week. That brought it closer to its record high of around $517.50, established in April 2021.

XMR/USD daily chart. Source: TradingViewZcash fiasco stirs XMR price rallyMonero's ascent contrasted sharply with the turmoil engulfing its privacy coin rival, Zcash (ZEC).

On Wednesday, the Electric Coin Company (ECC) team behind Zcash resigned en masse, citing intolerable working conditions and board disputes over the project's assets and direction.

The fallout exposed deep rifts in Zcash's leadership, particularly involving the Bootstrap Project and funding allocations. ZEC's price plummeted by over 20% days after the mass resignation, reaching a weekly low of around $360 over the weekend.

ZEC/USD daily chart. TradingView Monero also drew support from a wave of bullish institutional commentary.

In their latest reports, firms such as Grayscale and Coinbase highlighted privacy coins as a key growth theme, citing rising demand for financial confidentiality in an increasingly regulated crypto landscape.

With Zcash in flux, traders appeared to favor Monero as the cleaner privacy exposure.

Monero fractal indicates rally won’t lastAs of January, XMR was on the cusp of price discovery while eyeing a breakout above its record high of around $517.50.

Similar breakout attempts occurred seven times in the past, each failing and followed by sharp corrections, ranging from roughly 40% to as much as 95%, toward an ascending trendline support.

XMR/USD two-week chart. Source: TradingViewXMR will risk entering a prolonged correction phase if history repeats, taking its price toward $200-270, an area aligning with the lower trendline support and prevailing Fibonacci retracement lines.

Conversely, a sustained breakout above the $500–$520 resistance would invalidate the bearish fractal.

In that scenario, XMR could follow the path of cryptocurrencies that broke out after multi-year consolidations in 2025, opening the door for a rally toward $775, a Fibonacci retracement line, and a new all-time high this year.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. While we strive to provide accurate and timely information, Cointelegraph does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information in this article. This article may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Cointelegraph will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your reliance on this information.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. While we strive to provide accurate and timely information, Cointelegraph does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information in this article. This article may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Cointelegraph will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your reliance on this information.

Grayscale has turned Ethereum’s staking yield into something ETF investors instantly recognize: a cash distribution.

On Jan. 6, the Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF (ETHE) paid around $0.083 per share, totaling $9.39 million, funded by staking rewards the fund earned on its ETH holdings and then sold for cash.

The payout covered rewards generated from Oct. 6 through Dec. 31, 2025. Investors on record as of Jan. 5 received it, and ETHE traded ex-distribution on that record date, following the same calendar mechanics used across its stock and bond funds.

It's easy to shrug at this as a niche detail inside a niche product. But it's a meaningful milestone for how Ethereum is being packaged for mainstream portfolios.

Staking has always been central to Ethereum’s economics, but most investors have experienced it indirectly, through price appreciation, crypto-native platforms, or not at all.

An ETF distribution changes the framing, making Ethereum “yield” show up as a line item that looks a lot like income.

That matters for two reasons. First, it could change how allocators model ETH exposure, not just as volatility but as an asset with a recurring return stream. Second, it sets up competition among issuers: if staking proceeds become a feature, investors will start comparing ETH funds on the same dimensions they use for income products, including net yield, schedule, transparency, and fees.

A dividend moment, even if nobody wants to call it thatThe word “dividend” is not technically correct here, but it captures the investor instinct this payout is designed to trigger.

A corporate dividend comes from profits. Staking rewards come from protocol mechanics, a mix of issuance and fees paid to validators for securing the network. The economic intuition, though, is familiar: you hold an asset, and it throws off a return.

When that return is delivered in cash and arrives on a tidy timetable with a record date and a payable date, most investors will file it mentally under income.

Grayscale’s own framing is close to that idea. The firm says ETHE is the first US Ethereum ETP to distribute staking rewards to shareholders. If that “first” sticks, it'll become a marketing wedge. If it doesn't, it'll still become a category precedent, because there's now a template for how to do it.

The more important point is what this does to Ethereum’s narrative in traditional markets. For years, the institutional pitch for ETH has been split between two camps.

One is the “tech platform” camp: settlement layer, smart contracts, tokenized assets, stablecoins, L2 scaling. The other is the “asset” camp: scarce-ish collateral, network effects, monetary policy, burn mechanics, staking yield.

ETHE’s distribution pulls those camps closer together. It's hard to talk about Ethereum as infrastructure without also talking about who gets paid for running that infrastructure. And it's equally hard to talk about Ethereum as an asset without addressing how the staking stack routes value to holders, validators, and service providers.

There's also a more boring reason this could spread.

One of the sticking points for staking inside trust-like products has been whether staking activity jeopardizes how the vehicle is treated for tax purposes. In Rev. Proc. 2025-31, the IRS provided a safe harbor allowing certain qualifying trusts to stake digital assets without losing their grantor trust status.

That doesn't solve every legal nuance, but it reduces a major source of structural anxiety and helps explain why issuers are now more willing to operationalize staking and pass proceeds through.

In other words, this payout is more than just a payout. It's a sign that the plumbing is becoming less experimental.

How staking yield becomes an ETF distributionTo see why this is more consequential than it looks, focus on what had to happen behind the scenes.
Ethereum staking yield is not a coupon. It doesn't arrive on a fixed schedule at a fixed rate. Rewards vary with network conditions, the total amount staked, validator performance, and fee activity. Crypto-native stakers experience that variability directly.

An ETF has to translate that messiness into something that fits securities-market expectations. That means clear disclosure, clean accounting, repeatable operations, and a mechanism for converting rewards into cash.

Grayscale’s announcement is explicit on the key step: the distribution represents the proceeds from the sale of staking rewards earned by the fund. That means the fund didn't just let rewards accumulate and boost NAV invisibly: it turned them into cash and sent that cash out.

This design choice affects how investors perceive performance. If rewards accrue inside the product, returns show up as both price and NAV. If rewards are distributed, returns show up partly as cash and partly as price.

Over time, both approaches can deliver similar total return, but they feel different, because one looks like growth, and the other looks like income. Investors often behave differently depending on which box they think they're in.

The dates also show how deliberately “ETF-native” this has been made. The rewards were earned over a defined period, and the distribution followed a familiar sequence: record date, payable date, and ex-distribution trading behavior on the record date.

The mechanics matter here because they set expectations. Once shareholders experience one distribution, they begin asking when the next one is and how large it might be.

That's where the useful questions start.

How much of the fund’s ETH is actually staked? A product can hold ETH while still allowing a smaller portion to be staked, depending on operational constraints, liquidity needs, and policy.

What is the fee drag between gross rewards and investor payouts? Staking has counterparties and services, and net yield is what investors will care about once “staking income” becomes a selling point.

How is risk handled? Validators can be penalized for misbehavior or downtime, and service providers can introduce operational vulnerabilities. Even if investors never have to learn the word “slashing,” they'll care about whether the process is robust.

This is also why the “dividend moment” is a useful hook but an incomplete story. The real evolution is that ETH yield is being standardized into a product experience that can be compared across issuers and slotted into allocation frameworks.

The yield race is coming, and the fine print will decide winnersGrayscale got the first big headline, but it's already clear that the market is moving toward competition on yield packaging.

21Shares has announced a staking-rewards distribution for its 21Shares Ethereum ETF (TETH), complete with a per-share figure and a scheduled payment. If another issuer as large as 21Shares is willing to do it quickly, it suggests the industry believes investors will respond, and that the operational path is becoming repeatable.

Once multiple funds are distributing staking proceeds, the ranking criteria shift. Fees and tracking still matter, but now a new set of questions becomes unavoidable:

Net yield and transparency: Investors will start asking not just “what did you pay?” but “how did you calculate it?” A credible yield product explains the difference between gross staking rewards, operational costs, and what actually makes it to shareholders.Distribution cadence and investor expectations: A quarterly pattern, a semiannual pattern, or an irregular schedule will each attract different investors. Predictability can be a feature, but staking rewards are variable. Funds will have to strike a balance between smooth messaging and honest disclosure.Product design: cash distribution vs NAV accretion: Two funds can stake ETH and deliver similar total returns while looking different on a statement. Over time, that affects who owns them and how they trade around distribution dates.Structural and tax clarity: The IRS safe harbor is helpful, but it is only part of the policy environment. As staking becomes more common inside regulated products, the scrutiny shifts to how custody, service providers, and disclosures are handled.This is the kind of development that looks small on day one and feels obvious in hindsight. Ethereum staking yield has been there all along. The change is that it is now being routed through an ETF wrapper in a way that looks normal to institutional investors.

If that becomes standard, it alters how Ethereum fits into portfolios. ETH stops being just a directional bet on adoption and network effects, and becomes a hybrid exposure: part growth narrative, part yield narrative, all delivered through a familiar chassis.

That doesn't remove volatility or make staking rewards predictable. It does, however, make the asset easier to own for the kind of investors who prefer their crypto to behave, at least operationally, like every other line item they hold.

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The Nasdaq 100 is an index most often associated with technology stocks like Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) due to its historical focus on innovation and high-growth companies. While it is not a “pure” technology index — there is a separate Nasdaq 100 index devoted exclusively to tech stocks — its heavy tilt towards tech-driven companies makes it the benchmark many investors associate with technology. 

On Jan. 20, though, a new stock will be added to the index that is decidedly not a tech name: retail behemoth Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT).

Diversity Beyond Tech Giants Despite the index’s reputation for being the premier tech index, it actually is home to a variety of companies in different sectors, including retailers like Costco (NASDAQ:COST), beverage companies such as PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP), as well as other consumer-facing companies including Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC), and Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU). 

Yet it’s this diversity sprinkled among tech giants such as Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), that makes them the exceptions that prove the rule. The index’s composition reflects a broader representation of the modern economy, where technology intersects with traditional industries, but the core remains dominated by innovative tech leaders.

How Walmart Made the Cut Nasdaq determines companies for inclusion in the index based on criteria such as being listed exclusively on the Nasdaq Global Select or Global Market tiers, having an average daily trading volume of at least 200,000 shares, and maintaining a minimum three-month average daily traded value of $5 million. 

Companies must also have a free float of at least 10%, be publicly traded for at least three months, be current with quarterly and annual reports, and not be in bankruptcy proceedings. Additionally, the index excludes financial companies and includes only the largest non-financial stocks by market capitalization, with annual rebalancing in December and potential special rebalances. 

Walmart will replace AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) when the change is made on Jan. 20, before the market opens, following Walmart’s recent switch from the NYSE to Nasdaq in December to align with its tech-focused transformation.

Walmart Has Been a Growth Dynamo Walmart’s recent earnings results show continued strength. In its fiscal third quarter, revenue reached $179.5 billion, up 5.8% year-over-year, beating analyst estimates of $177.4 billion, as adjusted earnings came in at $0.62 per share, also above the expected $0.60 per share. 

Globally, e-commerce sales grew 27%, with U.S. comparable sales up 4.5% excluding fuel, helping net income surge 34% to $6.1 billion, or $0.77 per share, from $4.58 billion the previous year. Walmart also raised its full-year guidance, expecting net sales growth of about 5% at the midpoint and adjusted earnings of $2.58 to $2.63 per share. 

This kind of performance has led to market-beating gains by Walmart’s stock. Over the past few years, Walmart had a total return of about 150% compared to 104% by the Nasdaq 100. That is despite the monstrous gains posted by the index’s most-heavily weighted components like Nvidia, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META). 

This stems from Walmart’s successful pivot to omnichannel retail, investments in supply chain technology, and gains in higher-income customer segments, allowing it to weather economic pressures better than pure tech plays during volatile periods like 2022.

Key Takeaway In addition to the Nasdaq 100, Walmart will also be added to the Nasdaq-100 Equal Weighted Index and the Nasdaq-100 Ex-Tech Sector Index. As the Nasdaq 100 bills itself as representing the “new 21st century economy,” Walmart is a natural fit for inclusion. The retailer’s integration of AI, automation, and e-commerce — such as AI-powered supply chain optimization, predictive analytics, and personalized shopping experiences — aligns with the index’s emphasis on innovation. 

Walmart’s shift to a Nasdaq listing in late 2025 after more than 50 years on the NYSE, underscores its tech ambitions, positioning it alongside growth-oriented companies. This addition could attract up to $19 billion in index-fund inflows, boosting liquidity and visibility while highlighting how traditional retailers are evolving in a digital era.

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Disclosure: The opinions, analyses, and evaluations here are ours and not provided by any bank, financial institution, or any other company. They have not reviewed, approved or endorsed our content.

Rocket Lab had a fantastic end to 2025 and has continued to rally this year.

Rocket Lab (RKLB +2.13%) closed out 2025's trading with another month of huge gains. The company's share price surged 65.5% across the stretch. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index was roughly flat, and the Nasdaq Composite index declined 0.5%.

Image source: Getty Images.

Rocket Lab stock soared in a jam-packed December Rocket Lab investors saw a ton of relevant news in December. The stock started climbing early in the month in conjunction with news that SpaceX is gearing up for an initial public offering (IPO) late in 2026. News of a potential IPO for SpaceX helped lift valuations for many other space-tech stocks, and Rocket Lab benefited from the trend.

On the heels of the SpaceX news, Rocket Lab stock got a boost from news that the company had been awarded a new funding deal through the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The new contract is aimed at bolstering Canada's domestic space capabilities.

Rocket Lab followed the Canada contract win with news that it had completed its first mission for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The mission was launched from New Zealand and represented the first of two scheduled missions for JAXA's Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program.

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On Dec. 18, Rocket Lab announced that it had successfully completed the launch of the STP-S30 mission for the U.S. Space Force. Following the successful launch, Rocket Lab announced that it had been awarded a new contract with Space Force worth at least $806 million. The contract award also came with expansion options worth approximately $10.5 million and the potential for additional add-on services that could bring the total value of the deal to roughly $1 billion.

Following the Space Force wins, Stifel published new coverage on the stock. The firm's analysts maintained a buy rating on Rocket Lab and increased their one-year price target from $75 per share to $85 per share. Needham also raised its rating on Rocket Lab stock later in the month, raising its one-year price target from $63 per share to $90 per share and maintaining a buy rating on the stock.

Why Rocket Lab stock has kept rising in 2026 Rocket Lab stock has kept surging higher in January's trading. The stock is currently up 21.6% in the month as of this writing. While there hasn't been any major fresh news for the company, investors have continued to pour into the stock following the company's big wins last month. Investors have also been ramping up bets that the Federal Reserve could deliver more interest rate cuts this year than previously expected.

Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Rocket Lab. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Innovative technologies enable retailers to implement intelligent stores at scale to deliver smarter, more responsive shopping experiences Industry partners to display production-ready AI solutions for loss prevention, digital twins, AI agents, customer analytics, and more , /PRNewswire/ -- Retail's Big Show -- Super Micro Computer, Inc. (SMCI), a Total IT Solution Provider for AI/ML, HPC, Cloud, Storage, and 5G/Edge, today announced collaboration with technology partners for AI-powered intelligent in-store retail solutions designed to meet increasing customer expectations with scalability, improved productivity and increased profitability.

Edge AI Infrastructure Solutions for Intelligent Retail Stores "AI is reshaping shopping experiences, enabling real-time analysis of video and other data to give retailers actionable insights to optimizing staff efficiency, reducing shrinkage, increasing profits, and avoiding stock-outs," said Charles Liang, president and CEO of Supermicro. "By combining Supermicro's complete and scalable AI platforms with NVIDIA RTX PRO accelerated computing solutions, we're enabling retailers to build intelligent stores that maximize the benefits of AI-driven applications."

According to the latest NVIDIA State of AI in Retail & CPG report, 89% of respondents reported that AI is helping to increase annual revenue, while 95% said it is helping decrease annual costs, highlighting the measurable business impact retailers are already achieving because of AI1.

For more information, please visit https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/edge/servers

Supermicro Complete and Scalable Edge AI Infrastructure

Retail-centric AI applications require sub-second responsiveness which is only possible, at scale, if data is processed directly at the edge. Supermicro's Edge AI infrastructure enables the deployment of solutions in distributed environments, such as intelligent retail stores and supply chains, to provide a complete solution.

Deploying at the edge presents a myriad of unique challenges in comparison to the data center. Supermicro's broad Edge AI portfolio of products helps customers and partners overcome these challenges while striking the right balance between performance and ROI.

For deployments in harsh environments where conditioned space is not available, the fanless E103 series of products bring AI processing power where it couldn't go before. Supermicro also offers a fanned small form factor E300 series systems with AI capabilities.

When there is a demanding AI workload at the edge, customers and partners can turn to numerous systems capable of holding the latest discrete GPUs for AI acceleration. Ranging from 1U short-depth to larger 4U form factors, solutions can be right-sized to meet the customer's needs by enabling the latest generation of NVIDIA RTX PRO Blackwell series.

Supermicro Intelligent Store Partners

Supermicro is collaborating with ecosystem partners including Everseen, Kinetic Vision, ALLSIDES, LiveX, WobotAI, and Aible, to create intelligent stores that positively impact day-to-day retail operations as well as longer term supply chain management.

Everseen's Evercheck solution uses Vision AI to help reduce shrink and improve staff productivity and customer experiences. Built on the Everseen Vision AI platform, Evercheck detects, and deters recovery of unwanted behaviors at checkout, helping retailers recover losses and streamline front-of-store operations. "Everseen has spent years working alongside some of the world's largest retailers, understanding the realities of the store floor and solving loss challenges where they actually happen," said Joe White, CEO of Everseen. "By partnering with Supermicro and leveraging NVIDIA-accelerated computing, Evercheck delivers real-time computer vision at the edge - transforming store activity into intelligence retailers can act on immediately."

Wobot AI, focused on building Video AI Agents for the physical world, will be demonstrating how the cameras retailers already own can be turned into systems that continuously observe, learn, and produce usable insight. By converting ordinary CCTV infrastructure into autonomous agents that recognize patterns, identify friction, and surface decisions, Wobot's AI Agents enable retailers to improve day-to-day operations with practical and measurable outcomes. "By working with Supermicro and NVIDIA at the edge, we're able to deploy Video AI Agents in a way that's scalable, reliable, and focused on real-time operational insight—not experimentation," said Will Kelso, President, Revenue & Growth at Wobot AI.

LiveX AI - "Retail is entering an era where AI agents become the default interaction layer between brands and customers," said Jerry Li, Co-Founder and CEO of LiveX AI. "With NVIDIA's accelerated AI and Supermicro's edge infrastructure, we can deploy a helpful, human-like AI agent directly in physical spaces—such as kiosks or holograms—bringing the speed, intelligence, and continuity of digital experiences into brick-and-mortar environments. This collaboration makes AI agents usable, in real time, where customers actually are." Kinetic Vision and ALLSIDES are bundling their expertise for a True Digital Twin solution designed to develop, test, and optimize supply chain processes, checkout stations, and other complex systems. "The combination of Supermicro's high reliability optimized infrastructure and NVIDIA's accelerated computing stack gives Kinetic Vision the foundation to innovate at speed. Together, we are helping retailers move from experimentation to production-ready AI solutions that drive measurable operational and customer experience gains," says Jeremy Jarratt, Kinetic Vision CEO.

Franz Tschimben, CEO at ALLSIDES, adds: "Building on the combined strengths of NVIDIA and Supermicro, we deliver a high-fidelity 3D digital twin data layer for AI training that enables retailers to power applications across the entire retail value chain — from training robots with physical AI, to production and production planning, virtual store layouts and consumer feedback systems, and e-commerce integrations — helping drive higher conversion rates, faster decision-making, and greater operational efficiency."

Supermicro will also feature Superb AI's retail-focused VSS solution, combining Superb AI's proprietary VLM with NVIDIA AI Blueprint components to enable subjective reasoning capabilities, natural-language search, automated incident summarization, and customer behavior insights across store camera networks. Aible will highlight its automated agent solution, which analyzes vast amounts of data across millions of patterns to explain changes in retail KPIs, such as the average purchase amount or number of purchases. Aible will also demonstrate how the latest NVIDIA Retail blueprints can be incorporated into agentic solutions that automatically customize customer experiences and optimize retail operations at scale. Arijit Sengupta, CEO of Aible, adds, "Today's market and labor conditions are constantly changing. Only autonomous agents can understand and adjust to these ever-changing patterns of customer behavior, inventory costs and supply, and labor access at scale. Working with NVIDIA and Supermicro, Aible brings autonomous agents subject to business user review to the retail edge."

These intelligent retail solutions will be demonstrated by Supermicro and its partners at NRF: Retail's Big Show in New York City from January 11-13. To learn more about AI-powered retail applications or Supermicro's AI Infrastructure solutions, visit Supermicro booth #5281 and attend its speaking session featuring PepsiCo and Kinetic Vision. For more details, please visit www.supermicro.com/NRF

1Source: "NVIDIA State of AI in Retail and CPG" 2026

About Super Micro Computer, Inc.

Supermicro (NASDAQ: SMCI) is a global leader in Application-Optimized Total IT Solutions. Founded and operating in San Jose, California, Supermicro is committed to delivering first to market innovation for Enterprise, Cloud, AI, and 5G Telco/Edge IT Infrastructure. We are a Total IT Solutions provider with server, AI, storage, IoT, switch systems, software, and support services. Supermicro's motherboard, power, and chassis design expertise further enables our development and production, enabling next generation innovation from cloud to edge for our global customers. Our products are designed and manufactured in-house (in the US, Taiwan, and the Netherlands), leveraging global operations for scale and efficiency and optimized to improve TCO and reduce environmental impact (Green Computing). The award-winning portfolio of Server Building Block Solutions® allows customers to optimize for their exact workload and application by selecting from a broad family of systems built from our flexible and reusable building blocks that support a comprehensive set of form factors, processors, memory, GPUs, storage, networking, power, and cooling solutions (air-conditioned, free air cooling or liquid cooling).

Supermicro, Server Building Block Solutions, and We Keep IT Green are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Super Micro Computer, Inc.

All other brands, names, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Super Micro Computer, Inc.

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP Securities Litigation Partner James (Josh) Wilson Encourages Investors Who Suffered Losses In Ardent To Contact Him Directly To Discuss Their Options

If you purchased or acquired securities in Ardent between July 18, 2024 and November 12, 2025 and would like to discuss your legal rights, call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310).

[You may also click here for additional information]

NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a leading national securities law firm, is investigating potential claims against Ardent Health, Inc. (“Ardent” or the “Company”) (NYSE: ARDT) and reminds investors of the March 9, 2026 deadline to seek the role of lead plaintiff in a federal securities class action that has been filed against the Company.

Faruqi & Faruqi is a leading national securities law firm with offices in New York, Pennsylvania, California and Georgia. The firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors since its founding in 1995. See www.faruqilaw.com.

As detailed below, the complaint alleges that the Company and its executives violated federal securities laws by making false and/or misleading statements and/or failing to disclose information regarding Ardent Health's accounts receivable. During the Class Period, Defendants publicly reported the Company’s accounts receivable on a quarterly basis. In addition, Defendants represented that the Company maintained professional malpractice liability insurance in amounts “sufficient to cover claims arising out of its operations.”

On November 12, 2025, Ardent announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2025. The Company revealed a $43 million reduction in its revenue due to accounting changes, and a $54 million increase in professional liability reserves.

On this news, Ardent's stock price fell $4.75 per share, or 33.81%, to close at $9.30 per share on November 13, 2025.

The court-appointed lead plaintiff is the investor with the largest financial interest in the relief sought by the class who is adequate and typical of class members who directs and oversees the litigation on behalf of the putative class. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision to serve as a lead plaintiff or not.

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP also encourages anyone with information regarding Ardent’s conduct to contact the firm, including whistleblowers, former employees, shareholders and others.

To learn more about the Ardent Health class action, go to www.faruqilaw.com/ARDT or call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310).

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn, on X, or on Facebook.

Attorney Advertising. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP (www.faruqilaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your particular case. All communications will be treated in a confidential manner.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c00df434-1b43-4881-800b-4385df9e694a 

Energy Transfer has a huge 7.8% yield, but is it the best midstream income option for your portfolio?

Energy Transfer (ET +0.41%) has a very attractive 7.9% distribution yield. For comparison, the S&P 500 index (^GSPC +0.65%) is only offering a yield of 1.1%, and the average energy stock's yield is 3.3%. But before you run out and buy this high-yield business right now, there are a few facts you need to know.

What does Energy Transfer do? Energy Transfer's core business is moving oil and natural gas. Its portfolio of pipeline, transportation, processing, and storage assets is vital to the energy sector's proper operation. Essentially, Energy Transfer helps to connect the upstream (energy production) to the downstream (chemicals and refining) and to the rest of the world.

Image source: Getty Images.

Unlike the upstream and downstream, however, Energy Transfer's business isn't tied to commodity prices. The master limited partnership (MLP) essentially collects fees for the use of its energy infrastructure assets. So the volumes flowing through its system are more important than the price of oil and natural gas. Volumes tend to remain stable even during oil downturns because of the importance of this energy source to the global economy.

In the third quarter of 2025, Energy Transfer's distribution looked very solid. The MLP's distributable cash flow covered the distribution by 1.65 times. Moreover, Energy Transfer believes the business is stronger financially today than it has ever been in its history, with debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) within the target range of 4 times to 4.5 times.

Presumably, the distribution is safe, given that management is targeting a 3% to 5% distribution growth rate for the foreseeable future while maintaining it current leverage levels. That growth is going to be powered by capital investments totaling $5 billion in 2026 alone. There are more projects on the horizon, as well.

A less-than-stellar history Energy Transfer does, indeed, appear to be an attractive income investment right now. But there's a caveat. In 2020, the MLP cut its distribution in half. That move appears to have achieved its main goal of allowing the company to strengthen its balance sheet.

However, it is hard to ignore the fact that the cut occurred during the oil downturn, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. That was a very uncertain period, but one during which dividend investors would likely have preferred to see distribution consistency instead of a distribution cut.

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In fairness, the distribution is now back in growth mode. The quarterly payment is now higher than it was prior to the cut. However, investors who relied on the income from Energy Transfer to cover their living expenses would have been sorely disappointed by the cut. It is likely that some ended up selling the MLP due to the cut, meaning they did not benefit from the subsequent distribution recovery.

The risk of another cut appears fairly low at present, but conservative dividend investors would be justified in having second thoughts about investing in Energy Transfer. The 2020 cut was, in fact, the second worrying move.

The first occurred during the 2016 energy downturn, when Energy Transfer agreed to acquire Williams Companies (WMB 1.31%) but then changed its mind. To avoid the deal, the company issued convertible securities that appeared to protect the buyers from a dividend cut, which management said might be necessary if the Williams deal were completed as planned. The CEO at the time bought a significant amount of the convertible, making it appear as if insiders were being protected at the expense of shareholders.

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It would be entirely reasonable for risk-averse investors to have trust issues in this scenario. This is why it is important to note that Energy Transfer isn't the only high-yield midstream investment you can buy. Peer Enterprise Products Partners (EPD +0.56%) has a 6.8% yield, an investment-grade credit rating, and a 27-year streak of annual distribution increases, which is roughly as long as the MLP has been publicly traded.

Energy Transfer requires a lot of trust You can easily argue that 2020 and 2016 are ancient history on Wall Street. That's fair, and Energy Transfer does appear to be on much stronger financial ground right now.

However, putting a price on trust is challenging. It could be hard for conservative investors to sleep at night when another energy downturn comes along. So Energy Transfer is most appropriate for more aggressive investors. Conservative investors may want to consider a more reliable peer, such as Enterprise Products Partners.

January 11, 2026 09:30 ET  | Source: RxSight, Inc.

ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Jan. 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (Nasdaq: RXST) -- RxSight, Inc., an ophthalmic medical device company dedicated to providing high-quality customized vision to patients following cataract surgery, today announced certain preliminary unaudited financial and operational results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2025. In addition, the company provided an update on the previously announced Chief Financial Officer transition.

Preliminary Unaudited Fourth Quarter and Full-year 2025 Results

Preliminary unaudited fourth quarter 2025 revenue is expected to be approximately $32.6 million, driven by: The sale of 28,611 Light Adjustable Lenses (LAL™/LAL+®); representing a 10% increase in procedure volume compared to the third quarter of 2025; andThe sale of 25 Light Delivery Devices (LDD™s), expanding the installed base to 1,134 LDDs as of December 31, 2025. Preliminary unaudited 2025 fiscal year revenue is expected to be approximately $134.5 million, versus November guidance of $125 to $130 million, reflecting: The sale of 109,615 LALs, representing a 12% increase in procedure volume compared to 2024; andThe sale of 163 LDDs. Preliminary unaudited cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments as of December 31, 2025, are expected to be $228.1 million.Audited full-year 2025 financial results and full-year 2026 guidance will be announced in conjunction with the company's fourth quarter earnings release in February. “Procedure trends during the quarter reflected a continued, measured pace of stabilization and recovery, and we remain encouraged by strong engagement across the field as our unified commercial team deepens customer relationships,” said Ron Kurtz, Chief Executive Officer and President of RxSight. “Despite headwinds in 2025, our team made meaningful progress, enabling us to treat more patients than ever before. With more than 1,100 LDDs installed, approximately 10% share of the premium IOL market, and adoption by over 25% of U.S. cataract surgeons, we exited the year in a strengthened position for sustained, long-term growth.”

New Chief Financial Officer

The company is also pleased to announce that Mark Wilterding has been appointed Chief Financial Officer, effective January 11, 2026. Mark will report to Ron Kurtz and will be responsible for overseeing the company's finance organization. 

“We are excited to welcome Mark as RxSight's new Chief Financial Officer”, said Ron Kurtz. “Mark has a proven track record of building strong teams, partnering with key Medtech stakeholders, and driving operational excellence. His leadership and expertise will be particularly valuable as we continue to position RxSight for the future.”

Mr. Wilterding has more than 25 years of financial leadership experience, most recently serving as the Senior Vice President of Global Finance for Edwards Lifesciences, where he joined in 2019. In this role, he oversaw investor relations, financial planning and analysis, treasury, financial operations and strategy, and regional finance teams. Prior to joining Edwards Lifesciences, Mr. Wilterding worked for Medtronic and spent the first 15 years of his career at Citi and Credit Suisse. He received a B.A. in economics from St. Olaf College and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

“I am thrilled to be joining RxSight, a company offering the only adjustable IOL technology, which is redefining the premium category”, said Mark Wilterding. “RxSight products deliver meaningful value to patients and surgeons, and I am looking forward to supporting their continued advancement as we aim to drive long-term, sustainable growth and shareholder value.”

As previously communicated, Shelley Thunen will support the company in a consulting capacity.

The company’s fourth quarter and full-year 2025 financial and operational results are preliminary and are subject to the completion of the company’s 2025 audit. Audited full-year 2025 and unaudited fourth quarter 2025 financial results are expected to be announced in February 2026.

About RxSight, Inc.

RxSight, Inc. is an ophthalmic medical device company dedicated to providing high-quality customized vision to patients following cataract surgery. The RxSight® Light Adjustable Lens system, comprised of the RxSight Light Adjustable Lens® (LAL®/LAL+®, collectively the “LAL”), RxSight Light Delivery Device (LDD™) and accessories, is the first and only commercially available intraocular lens (IOL) technology that can be adjusted after surgery, enabling doctors to customize and deliver high-quality vision to patients after cataract surgery. Additional information about RxSight can be found at www.rxsight.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including: statements concerning: the company’s preliminary unaudited fourth quarter and fiscal 2025 financial and operational results and the anticipated timing of announcing audited full-year 2025 and unaudited fourth quarter 2025 financial results; procedure trends, including the pace of stabilization and recovery in the company’s business; engagement across the field and the ability of the company’s unified commercial team to deepen customer relationships; the growing recognition of the value delivered by the company’s adjustable intraocular lens technology to patients and doctors; expectations regarding continued adoption of the RxSight system, including utilization across the company’s installed base of more than 1,100 Light Delivery Devices, adoption by a meaningful portion of U.S. cataract surgeons, and penetration within the premium IOL market; the company’s ability to treat more patients over time; the company’s plans to continue innovating its adjustable IOL technology and products; the belief that adjustable IOL technology is redefining the premium category and can support sustained, long-term growth; and the potential of the company’s technology, products, and leadership team to drive long-term, sustainable growth and shareholder value. Such statements relate to future events or our future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed, implied or inferred by these forward-looking statements, including those risks described in the company’s prior press releases and the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including in Part II, Item 1A (Risk Factors) of the company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2025, filed with the SEC on November 5, 2025, and any subsequent filings with the SEC. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expects,” “plans,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “projects,” “potential,” or “continue” or the negative of such terms and other same terminology. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Actual events or results may differ materially. In evaluating these statements, you should specifically consider various factors. These and other factors may cause our actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement. We undertake no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release to conform those statements to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by applicable law.

Preliminary Estimates

The foregoing financial and operational results are preliminary estimates. We are in the process of finalizing our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025, and our actual results remain subject to completion of those financial statements and their audit by our independent registered public accounting firm. These preliminary estimates are based on information available to management as of the date of this press release and certain related assumptions, which could prove incorrect. Our actual, reported results of operations could differ based on completion of our year end closing procedures, final adjustments and developments that may arise prior to completion of our annual financial statements, and adjustments arising from the audit by our independent registered public accounting firm. You should carefully review our audited, consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025 when they become available.

Company contact:
Mark Wilterding
Chief Financial Officer
[email protected]

Investor Relations Contact:
Oliver Moravcevic
VP, Investor Relations
[email protected]

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

The S&P 500 closed a winning year and is expected to climb as much as 20% this year. The broad market index saw several ups and downs throughout 2025 but continues to remain a smart investment. Despite the risks, it is expected that the S&P 500 will hit 7700 in 2026. It achieved double-digit gains for three consecutive years, and the upward momentum could continue. 

The index offers exposure to the top U.S. stocks and speaks a lot about the overall economy. While the S&P 500 is considered a great investment, there are several exchange-traded funds that outperform it. If you’re ready to diversify your portfolio with ETFs, here are three that can beat the S&P 500 this year. 

VanEck Semiconductor ETF The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) is one of the best-performing ETFs of the last five years and has gained 53% in the past year, beating the S&P 500. It jumped over 220% in the past five years and is exchanging hands for $378 today. As the semiconductor sector boomed, this ETF had some of its best days. It is set for another winning year and could beat the S&P 500 again.

The fund offers exposure to 25 stocks and tracks the MVIS US Listed Semiconductor 10% Capped ESG Index. It is a pure-play semiconductor ETF that is stacked with the leading chip stocks. The fund has $3.8 billion in assets under management and an expense ratio of 0.35%. In the last three years, SMH has achieved an average annual return of 46.83%. 

Since it holds only 25 stocks, the top 10 holdings make up 75% of the portfolio, and they include industry stalwarts such as Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, Broadcom, Micron Technology, Qualcomm Inc., and Intel. These companies are delivering the kind of growth that justifies their valuation and carry a high upside potential. It builds a portfolio based on the size, which means the largest companies have the highest holding. Hence, Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing account for about one-third of the portfolio. 

As long as the AI boom continues, VanEck Semiconductor ETF can benefit. The S&P 500 is soaring due to the same momentum of the AI industry; however, SMH is purely focused on the sector and can generate higher returns. It looks like a good ETF set to outperform the S&P 500 again.

Vanguard Growth Index Fund ETF Vanguard’s Growth Index Fund ETF (NYSEARCA:VUG) tracks the CRSP U.S. Large Cap Growth index. It gives exposure to the best players in the AI race and has managed to beat the S&P 500 every year since its inception in 2004. 

The ETF holds 160 stocks and invests aggressively in the stocks that deliver the highest returns. The index rebalances each quarter and removes the stocks that do not meet its criteria. This allows for the best stocks to remain in the ETF. By holding only 160 stocks, the ETF ensures top quality and has no exposure to the poor performers. It has been a stellar performer over the past five years, and the current economic backdrop is favorable for the AI sector. 

VUG continues to remain tech heavy, with 62% of the fund in the technology sector. However, it offers diversification and invests in consumer discretionary, financials, and healthcare. It has the highest allocation in Nvidia and Apple Inc., which form 22% of the portfolio. Other stocks in the top 10 holdings include Microsoft, Broadcom, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Eli Lilly. VUG has a yield of 0.38% and an expense ratio of 0.04%. 

The Vanguard Growth Index Fund ETF has generated a compound annual return of 12.2% since inception. Its cumulative 3-year return is 132.62%, and its 5-year return is 97.96%. The fund has gained 19.84% in a year and is exchanging hands for $488.15. 

I believe the technology sector will continue to drive growth this year, and it will take the broader market higher. This means VUG could beat the S&P 500 again in 2026. 

Invesco QQQ Trust The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) tracks the performance of the Nasdaq 100 index and is one of the most popular ETFs today. It has an impressive track record and has outperformed the S&P 500 three times in a row. 

The fund holds the 100 most valuable non-financial companies in the Nasdaq 100, and it has been a steady winner. QQQ holds about 100 stocks and has an expense ratio of 0.18%. It has $403 billion in assets under management. 

Since its launch in 1999, the fund has generated 545% more returns than the S&P 500. It is one of the oldest ETFs, with 25 years of history. The fund has rallied, driven by the AI boom, and allocates 64% towards the technology sector. It also offers diversification by investing in consumer discretionary, healthcare, and telecommunications. 

Its top 10 holdings include the best tech stocks, such as Nvidia, Apple Inc., Microsoft, Tesla, Meta Platforms, Amazon, Broadcom, and Alphabet. It is top-heavy with the top 10 constituting 48% of the portfolio. The top three holdings, Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft, form 22% of the portfolio. 

While the fund isn’t exclusive to tech stocks, it has generated significant returns driven by the tech companies. It has generated a cumulative 3-year return of 134% and a 5-year return of 101%. QQQ has gained 22% in a year and is exchanging hands for $620.47. 

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Disclosure: The opinions, analyses, and evaluations here are ours and not provided by any bank, financial institution, or any other company. They have not reviewed, approved or endorsed our content.

, /PRNewswire/ --

Why: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of securities of agilon health, inc. (NYSE: AGL) between February 26, 2025 and August 4, 2025, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), of the important March 2, 2026 lead plaintiff deadline in the securities class action first filed by the Firm.

So what: If you purchased agilon securities during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.

What to do next: To join the agilon class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=46039 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than March 2, 2026. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.

Why Rosen Law: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually handle securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved, at that time, the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

Details of the Case: According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) defendants recklessly issued guidance for 2025 that they knew or should have known was not going to be achieved, given material industry headwinds of which they were aware; (2) defendants materially overstated the immediate positive financial impact from "strategic actions" taken by agilon to reduce risk; and (3) as a result, defendants' statements about agilon's business, operations, and prospects were materially false and/or misleading at all times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. 

To join the agilon class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=46039 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] for information on the class action.

No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm or on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm.

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

Contact Information:

Laurence Rosen, Esq.
Phillip Kim, Esq.
The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.
275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 686-1060
Toll Free: (866) 767-3653
Fax: (212) 202-3827
[email protected]
www.rosenlegal.com

SOURCE THE ROSEN LAW FIRM, P. A.

Expanded partnership introduces AI agents that go beyond advice to take action—giving customers project recommendations and managing complex material orders for pros

, /PRNewswire/ -- Today at NRF 2026, The Home Depot and Google Cloud announced an expansion of their strategic partnership, further advancing the interconnected retail experience with new agentic AI tools that provide real-time, expert assistance to homeowners and professional customers (pros) like contractors, renovators and remodelers.

Through the deployment of Google Cloud's AI, The Home Depot is extending its home improvement expertise from the store aisles to customers' fingertips, including new capabilities in its Magic Apron assistant, AI-powered product list builders for pros, and new tools to improve customer and store support. By deploying Google Cloud's Gemini models and Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience (CX), the company is creating a native "AI-first" experience that is personalized, contextual and available wherever the customer is—from the living room to the jobsite to the shelves.

Looking ahead, these capabilities will expand beyond The Home Depot's own platforms as the company participates in new, agentic shopping experiences across AI Mode in Google Search and the Gemini app in the coming months.

"The Home Depot has always been about providing excellent customer service," said Jordan Broggi, EVP Customer Experience and President – Online, The Home Depot. "By building on Google Cloud's AI solutions, we're putting 'Orange Apron' expertise in the pocket of every customer and creating an AI experience that is personalized, contextual, and available wherever the customer is—whether that's the home, the jobsite, or in the aisles of our stores."

"We are entering a new chapter of retail where technology doesn't just suggest products—it solves problems," said Jose Gomes, vice president, Retail & Consumer Packaged Goods at Google Cloud. "The Home Depot is leading in the agentic commerce era, and using AI to deliver real-world value. By integrating Google Cloud's AI, The Home Depot is ensuring that customer interactions—whether from a pro on a jobsite or a shopper in an aisle—are powered by the most sophisticated intelligence available today."

Magic Apron Assistant provides conversational home improvement recommendations and project expertise

The Home Depot significantly expanded its Magic Apron suite of AI tools, transforming them from a simple AI assistant on homedepot.com product pages into conversational, expert digital companions for DIYers and pros across Home Depot digital platforms. Customers can now describe their projects in plain language, and Magic Apron moves beyond simple search results to provide expert conversational advice and personalized recommendations for everything from how to fix a leaky faucet to full kitchen remodels. By integrating the Shopping agent from Gemini Enterprise for CX, The Home Depot is enhancing its Magic Apron platform which will soon have advanced multimodal capabilities, including image upload and visualization that allows the digital concierge to intuitively guide customers through complex home improvement projects.

The Home Depot also built a new store experience in Magic Apron, which integrates the agentic AI experience with real-time local store inventory and product locations—combining its proprietary home improvement knowledge and store wayfinding guidance right in a customer's pocket. As one of the first localized AI agents of its kind in retail, this expanded functionality provides aisle-level precision, directing customers to the exact bay for any item and offering technical guidance in the aisles. If a customer asks "What grout works best with glass tiles?" Magic Apron will not only provide how-to guides and recommend unsanded or epoxy grout, but it will also show the customer exactly where to find that product in the store and what additional materials the shopper may want to buy. Currently testing at select stores, the company plans to roll out this in-store experience nationwide in the coming months.

Accelerating pro workflows with AI-powered materials lists

For pro customers like renovators, remodelers, and contractors, The Home Depot will offer a new AI-powered materials list feature on its pro digital site. The new feature allows pros to describe a project via voice or text, or even upload a list of products the pro already has. The agent then interprets the project intent to quickly generate a comprehensive, grouped list of materials, even suggesting essential missed items required for the job—significantly accelerating the estimating and planning process for pros. Launched in beta in November 2025 and scaling nationally this month, these lists can help pros generate accurate quotes in a fraction of the time it used to take, so they can focus on bringing in new business more quickly and seamlessly.

Precision at the pavement with AI-powered route intelligence

The Home Depot built a smarter last mile with new route intelligence powered by Gemini and Google Maps Platform. This system predicts and prevents delivery failures by layering customer-specific data—like operating hours and drop-off preferences—with external factors like weather and road quality. Leveraging multimodal AI, the platform interprets Google Maps to spot potential access blockers such as narrow or unpaved streets, gated entries or posts that would make delivery or entry difficult. The new feature unlocks predictive capabilities to anticipate and mitigate delivery risks, ensuring a reliable and consistent customer experience. And by alerting drivers where large trucks may struggle to turn or offload, the system will soon be able to recommend the right equipment and crew size to ensure even the most complex sites receive on-time, complete deliveries.

Bringing a new level of customer service with AI-powered chat, SMS, and voice

The Home Depot is redefining how customers get help by replacing rigid, menu-driven automation with conversational AI that understands intent and resolves issues in real-time. Live today across SMS, chat and phone, the platform allows customers to speak naturally, eliminating the friction and dead ends common in traditional service experiences.

Powered by Gemini Enterprise for CX, the approach is already delivering materially better engagement and resolution outcomes, proving that conversational AI can move beyond deflection of issues to drive real customer impact at enterprise scale. Building on this momentum, The Home Depot is now testing next-generation AI voice agents in select stores, enabling associates to focus on the most complex customer needs.

Gemini Enterprise empowers associates at the Store Support Center

The Home Depot is one of the first companies to equip thousands of associates with Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise, a new agentic platform that automates end-to-end business processes. At the company's Store Support Center, Gemini Enterprise equips teams with specialized agents to automate workflows in seconds, from more easily predicting project bottlenecks, to drafting marketing copy and auditing digital designs. By offloading routine execution, associates can focus on creative problem solving, high-impact strategy, and long-term growth.

About The Home Depot

The Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer.  At the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2025, the company operated a total of 2,356 retail stores and over 1,200 SRS locations across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. The Company employs over 470,000 associates. The Home Depot's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index.

About Google        

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. Through products and platforms like Search, Maps, Gmail, Android, Google Play, Google Cloud, Chrome and YouTube, Google plays a meaningful role in the daily lives of billions of people and has become one of the most widely-known companies in the world. Google is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. 

SOURCE Google Cloud

The search giant is making its first foray into the agentic commerce market with AI tools for retailers. Meanwhile, major chains are already preparing for the wave of AI agent-based shopping.

Kroger will use Google Cloud new agentic platform, Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience, to simplify and transform how customers shop and eat

, /PRNewswire/ -- The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) today announced an expanded relationship with Google Cloud. The leading grocery chain will use the Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience (CX) solution to support its customer experience transformation, combining cutting-edge technology with the care, food knowledge and understanding customers expect from Kroger – all into a new personal shopping assistant.

Under the expansion Kroger will roll out Gemini Enterprise for CX nationwide to help make grocery planning easier through an integrated Meal assistant and Shopping assistant –providing faster shopping, without compromising on unique customer preferences. 

In addition to deploying Gemini Enterprise for CX, Kroger will also use Customer Experience Agent Studio to analyze interactions and intent on calls made by customers to stores to proactively identify and resolve issues earlier, enhance associate productivity, and deliver a more seamless, "white-glove" experience nationwide.

"We know our customers want an experience that is seamless and adapts to the context of their day, and the Shopping assistant is one more way we will transform how our customers will engage with us," said Yael Cosset, executive vice president and chief digital officer for Kroger. "A customer planning a week of dinners, seeking recipe inspiration, or jumping into a new food regimen, will be able to ask our integrated assistant to create a shopping list based on their immediate needs, their budget, and family's unique preferences. We are streamlining every aspect of the shopping experience from building a basket and getting relevant offers and savings, to scheduling a delivery faster than ever before. We are making grocery shopping simpler and more personal, creating more time for real connections around foods families love."

Building a Personal Shopping Companion

Kroger has been helping families find foods they love for nearly 150 years, by removing the need for customers to compromise on the choice of product, including innovative Our Brands products, offering more options to shop how they want in store, through pickup or delivery, and providing personalized offers and value to each customer.

Kroger's Shopping assistant will build upon this foundation, reducing the time it takes to complete complex, multi-step tasks without requiring a lot of input from customers. The Shopping assistant incorporates AI-enabled features such as:

Intelligent execution: Agentic integration, allowing the assistant to complete complex tasks from a single instruction—such as explore meal ideas, build complex carts for a big occasion, reorder a past purchase, or compare product details. Inspiration-to-cart flow: Converts a customer request, like "I want to prepare vegan tomato soup" into a guided recipe, with a detailed ingredient list, that can be added to their shopping carts with a single click. Accurate and grounded: Makes recommendations based on Kroger's proprietary data asset and grounded in actual assortment, pricing, and availability, meaning customers receive relevant, reliable suggestions they can act on immediately. The Shopping assistant takes advantage of Kroger's precise understanding of customer needs, and will deliver a complete solution—from finding value, to planning, to purchasing a full meal—that every member of the family will enjoy. "Kroger is pioneering the future of commerce by embracing true generative and agentic AI at the heart of their customer journey," said Darshan Kantak, vice president of product for applied AI at Google Cloud. "With Gemini Enterprise for Commerce, Kroger will be setting a new standard for grocery, ensuring its agent becomes a comprehensive digital concierge across every customer touchpoint."

About The Kroger Co.

At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the Human Spirit™. We are, across our family of companies more than 400,000 associates who serve over 11 million customers daily through an eCommerce shopping experience and retail food stores under a variety of banner names, serving America through food inspiration and uplift, and creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.

About Google Cloud

Google Cloud is the new way to the cloud, providing AI, infrastructure, developer, data, security, and collaboration tools built for today and tomorrow. Google Cloud offers a powerful, fully integrated and optimized AI stack with its own planet-scale infrastructure, custom-built chips, generative AI models and development platform, as well as AI-powered applications, to help organizations transform. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted technology partner.

SOURCE The Kroger Co.