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SK Hynix Raises $26.5 Billion In U.S. Listing; Memory Giants Micron, Sandisk Rise
Broadcom Inks Pact With Meta, Leads 21 Top Performers Onto Best Stock Watchlists
Leaderboard Quarterly Scorecard Webinar Q&A Summary For Thursday, July 9, 2026 Tesla faces a new bill in New Jersey that could potentially ban its autonomous vehicles because of the method in which they operate. At the same time, on the other side of the world in China, Elon Musk's car company made slight gains in EV market share, despite a year-over-year decline in retail sales. Amid all this news, Tesla (TSLA)…
GOOG weekly chart shows long-term trends and approaching second upside channel breakout attempt. Source: TradingView Inverse Head and Shoulders Setup Emerges Until the 50-day moving average is reclaimed, followed by a recovery of the prior swing high, downward pressure remains and could result in another test of recent support. Nonetheless, there is also the potential for a small bullish inverse head and shoulders pattern to develop. The pullback from Tuesday’s high of $370.89 completed a 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of the prior advance, with a low of $348.66 reached Thursday. The pullback has also tested support near the downtrend line, which previously represented dynamic resistance.
If Thursday’s low is retained, followed by a rise above Thursday’s high of $356.73, a one-day bullish reversal will trigger from the confluence of trendline and Fibonacci support, while a new higher swing low will also be established. That would create a second shoulder of a potential inverse head and shoulders bullish reversal pattern, with a breakout above the neckline at $370.89 confirming the pattern.
Further, although a decline below $348.66 would lead to a deeper pullback, the inverse head and shoulders pattern would remain valid provided a higher swing low is subsequently established above the left shoulder low at $343.63. Whether the stock confirms that pattern or instead extends the correction will likely determine the next significant move, making the developing support zone important to monitor.
Alphabet (GOOG), the parent company of Google; Amazon (AMZN), the e-commerce and cloud-computing company behind Amazon Web Services; Meta Platforms (META), the
Gil Luria, Head of Technology Research at D.A. Davidson, frames the debate over AI capital spending as a timing problem. Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet say their data center investments are already generating attractive returns because much of the capacity is sold before construction is complete. Investors are still waiting for those returns to become visible in reported cash flow.
“There’s a disconnect between what the companies are saying about return on investment from this AI spend and what investors feel,” Luria explained during a July 10 CNBC interview. “What investors see is diminishing cash flows, the lowest levels of cash flow margin they’ve seen in a long time.”
Luria believes both sides can be right. Hyperscalers are spending enormous sums upfront to meet contracted demand from customers such as OpenAI and Anthropic, while the revenue and cash flow from those investments will arrive over several years. The key question is whether cloud growth can accelerate quickly enough to justify the historic spending underway today.
OpenAI and Anthropic’s Cumulative Run Rate Climbed From Under $20B to Over $75B in 6 Months The clearest evidence that this spending cycle is anchored in real consumption sits on the customer side. “OpenAI and Anthropic combined had less than $20 billion run rate just six months ago. Now they have more than $75 billion run rate. That’s a huge curve,” Luria said.
That is the readthrough Luria wants investors to focus on. “For Microsoft, Amazon and Google… what those three companies are saying is these investments are already coming at good returns. You just don’t see that yet. When we build a data center, it’s already pre-sold. We know what it’s going to cost to build and operate. We’re marking that up substantially to our customers, and therefore there’s a good return.”
Microsoft Nearly Doubled Capex Without Sacrificing Its Margins Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT | MSFT Price Prediction) Q3 FY26 capex totaled $30.88 billion, up 84.39% year-over-year, while operating margin held at 46.3% and the AI business reached a $37 billion annual run rate, up 123% year-over-year. Commercial remaining performance obligations reached $627 billion, an enormous pre-sold backlog.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Microsoft didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Luria pointed to the offset that keeps margins steady: “We saw Microsoft do layoffs at Xbox to make sure that they can show that their revenue acceleration is happening with stable margins. That’s a sign of good returns.” He also expects Azure growth to accelerate from 40% in upcoming guidance. Microsoft shares are down 20.17% year-to-date through July 9, 2026, trading at $384.36.
Amazon Is Spending $200 Billion to Meet Explosive AI Demand Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) posted AWS revenue of $37.587 billion in Q1 2026, up 28%, the fastest growth in 15 quarters, at a 37.7% operating margin. The custom chips line topped a $20 billion revenue run rate, growing triple digits year-over-year. Anthropic committed to up to 5 GW of Trainium capacity and OpenAI to roughly 2 GW starting in 2027. Q1 capex climbed to $44.203 billion, and full-year 2026 capex is guided at roughly $200 billion.
Google Cloud Grew 63% as Free Cash Flow Fell 47% Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) posted the most dramatic acceleration. Google Cloud revenue grew 63% to $20.03 billion, with backlog nearly doubling quarter-on-quarter to over $460 billion. Capex more than doubled to $35.67 billion, and 2026 capex is guided at $175-$185 billion. Free cash flow fell to $10.12 billion, down 46.63% year-over-year. That is exactly the cash flow compression Luria described. Alphabet shares are up 14.81% year-to-date.
What to Watch Next Luria’s thesis rests on a multi-year gap between when hyperscalers spend money and when investors see the returns. Data centers require enormous upfront capital, while the revenue and cash flow they generate will likely arrive over years one through five. In the meantime, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet are protecting margins by cutting costs elsewhere and pointing to pre-sold capacity, accelerating cloud growth, and enormous backlogs as evidence that the demand is real.
The near-term test will be whether Azure accelerates from 40% growth and whether AWS and Google Cloud sustain their recent momentum. Microsoft’s $627 billion commercial backlog, Amazon’s capacity commitments from Anthropic and OpenAI, and Alphabet’s cloud backlog above $460 billion all support the hyperscalers’ argument.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Microsoft didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
, /PRNewswire/ -- The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz announces that investors with losses related to Microsoft Corporation ("Microsoft" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: MSFT) have opportunity to lead the securities fraud class action lawsuit.
IF YOU ARE AN INVESTOR WHO SUFFERED A LOSS IN MICROSOFT CORPORATION (MSFT), CLICK HERE BEFORE AUGUST 11, 2026 (THE LEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE) TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ONGOING SECURITIES FRAUD LAWSUIT.
What Is The Lawsuit About?
The complaint filed alleges that, between May 1, 2025 and January 28, 2026, Defendants failed to disclose to investors: (1) that Microsoft's Copilot family of products had experienced significant brand positioning, user experience, usage, data siloing, computational capacity, organizational, and interoperability problems; (2) that Microsoft's flagship proprietary AI model ranked well below competitors on a number of benchmark tests; (3) that Microsoft needed to increase by billions of dollars its capital expenditures and divert GPU and CPU capacity away from fulfilling demand for its profitable Azure services in order to improve the competitive positioning of its critical Copilot family of products and increase its AI-related R&D; (4) that, as a result of the foregoing, Microsoft had failed to convert a significant percentage of its commercial Microsoft 365 users to paid Copilot subscriptions and the Company's Copilot offerings had lost market share to rival products, a trend that was increasing; and (5) as a result, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.
Contact Us To Participate or Learn More:
If you wish to learn more about this action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact us.
The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz,
Email us at: [email protected]
Call us at: 310-914-5007
Visit our website at: www.frankcruzlaw.com
Follow us for updates on Twitter: twitter.com/FRC_LAW.
If you inquire by email, please include your mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased.
To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action.
This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
SOURCE The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz, Los Angeles
Key Takeaways SK Hynix made its debut, with the stock seeing a nice initial pop. The company is a leader in High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM). The debut further reinforces how fierce the broader AI trade remains. It’s been quite a busy period for debuts over the past month or so, with the SpaceX (SPCX - Free Report) IPO undoubtedly reflecting one of the biggest market events we’ve seen this year. And just recently, South Korean giant SK Hynix made its Nasdaq debut.
Notably, it marked the largest-ever U.S. market debut by a foreign company, surpassing Alibaba’s (BABA - Free Report) back in 2014.
Who is SK Hynix?SK Hynix commands a massive chunk of the global market for High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM), which is the vertically stacked, ultra-fast DRAM chips essential to power Nvidia's industry-standard AI accelerators. And as we’ve all grown accustomed to, Nvidia systems will likely continue to be the go-to for the companies clamoring for compute in the years to come.
The offering was seven times oversubscribed, and shares have popped nicely on the debut so far given the appetite for exposure to the memory component of the AI trade.
Given the red-hot demand for its solutions, SK Hynix plans to deploy the proceeds to construct massive new chip-fabrication plants and advanced packaging facilities to aggressively ramp up production of its high-demand AI memory (HBM).
Bottom Line
SK Hynix’s debut fully reinforces that the AI infrastructure environment remains absolutely robust. We’ve had the trend confirmed many times so far just this year, whether that’s through the massive CapEx outlays from mega-cap tech, the massive boom we’ve seen for power solutions powering the infrastructure, or the historical growth from Nvidia (NVDA - Free Report) .
AT&T stock is showing downward pressure. Where are T shares going? What Is Driving AT&T’s 5G Mobility Trial?AT&T, Ericsson and MediaTek completed North America’s first in-field trial of enhanced mobility features tied to Ericsson’s 5G Advanced Critical IoT subscription, with testing showing data interruption during cell changes reduced by up to 25% versus legacy Layer 3 mobility. The trial centers on Ericsson’s Low-Latency Mobility feature set, aimed at steadier handovers and more consistent data rates for devices in motion.
AT&T is also trading with a valuation narrative in focus, with the company sitting around a 7.08 P/E alongside industry comparisons that peg Verizon at 10.30 and Comcast at 4.58, shaping how investors handicap multiple expansion if network upgrades translate into steadier growth.
Critical AT&T Stock Levels To WatchFrom a trend perspective, the stock is still trading below every major moving average: the 20-day SMA ($21.92), 50-day SMA ($23.58), 100-day SMA ($25.60), and 200-day SMA ($25.52). It’s also 3.5% below the 20-day SMA and 17%+ below the 100-day and 200-day averages, which keeps rallies in "prove it" mode until price can reclaim those bands.
The moving-average structure remains a headwind, highlighted by the death cross that formed in May (50-day SMA below the 200-day SMA). On momentum, MACD is above its signal line and the histogram is positive, which points to easing downside pressure versus the prior downswing even if the broader trend hasn’t fully flipped.
Key Resistance: $23.50 — a nearby area where rebounds can stall, sitting close to the 50-day zone and a logical "line in the sand" for trend repair Key Support: $20.00 — a round-number area near the lower end of the 52-week range (low: $19.89) where buyers may try to defend again How AT&T Generates Revenue and Its Market PositionThe wireless business contributes nearly 70% of AT&T’s revenue, and the company is the third-largest US wireless carrier with 74 million postpaid and 17 million prepaid phone customers. It also serves about 15 million in-home broadband customers, with residential services making up roughly 11% of revenue.
Enterprise fixed-line services are about 14% of revenue and include internet access, private networking, security, voice, and wholesale network capacity. AT&T also has 25 million wireless customers in Mexico (about 3% of revenue), and it recently sold its 70% equity stake in DirecTV to partner TPG—context that matters because the 5G mobility trial speaks directly to network quality and reliability, a key lever for retaining and winning wireless subscribers.
AT&T Earnings Preview for July 2026The countdown is on: AT&T Inc. is set to report earnings on July 22, 2026 (confirmed).
EPS Estimate: 59 cents (Up from 54 cents YoY) Revenue Estimate: $31.83 Billion (Up from $30.80 Billion YoY) Valuation: P/E of 7.1x (Indicates value opportunity relative to peers) Analyst Consensus & Recent Actions: The stock carries a Buy rating with an average price target of $28.25. Recent analyst moves include:
Wells Fargo: Initiated with Underweight (Target $18.00) (July 8) Barclays: Equal-Weight (Lowers Target to $24.00) (July 8) Morgan Stanley: Overweight (Lowers Target to $25.00) (July 7) Barclays’ $24 target cut from $26 keeps attention on whether AT&T can use network-quality wins to justify multiple expansion rather than just defend yield. That change was highlighted in Barclays cut AT&T alongside other large-cap target resets.
AT&T Benzinga Edge Scorecard BreakdownBelow is the Benzinga Edge scorecard for AT&T, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses compared to the broader market:
The Verdict: AT&T’s Benzinga Edge signal reveals a mixed setup: weak momentum is the main technical drag, while growth and a reasonable value profile can keep longer-term investors interested. For traders, the cleaner tell is still price reclaiming resistance near $23.50 versus losing the $20.00 support zone.
AT&T Stock Price Movement on FridayT Stock Price Activity: AT&T shares were up 0.81% at $21.21 at the time of publication on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Image: Courtesy of AT&T
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Streaming video has come a long way since it was pioneered by Netflix (NFLX 2.76%) nearly two decades ago. Little did the company know when it launched its "Watch Now" service in 2007 -- as an add-on for its DVD-by-mail customers -- that it would be giving birth to a new industry. Since then, Netflix has become the world's largest subscription video streaming service.
Over the past year, however, the stock has taken in on the chin, down 42% from its peak in July 2025. There wasn't a single catalyst that weighed on the streaming pioneer, but rather a sequence of events that have served to confuse and frustrate investors.
The company faces a key hurdle when Netflix reports its second-quarter results after the market close on July 16. Given the stock's slump over the past year, is it finally time to buy Netflix ahead of earnings, or is there more pain to come? Let's dig in to see what the evidence suggests.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
What's happening with Netflix? The past year has been rife with uncertainty for Netflix investors.
The company's bid to buy the streaming and studio assets of Warner Bros. Discovery was scuttled by a higher bid from rival Paramount Skydance. Netflix refused to participate in a protracted and costly bidding war and walked away from the deal. As the company has shown so many times over the years, it's unwilling to overpay for content, and its decision was the right move, in my opinion.
Soon after, Netflix reported that founder and former CEO Reed Hastings had decided to step down from the board after nearly 30 years with the company. The loss of any C-suite executive can be cause for concern, and Hastings has become an institution. That said, longtime executives Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters have been running the company as co-CEOs for more than three years, so Hastings is leaving the company in experienced hands.
Netflix has also been pummeled by events unrelated to its operations. Just last month, Fox Corporation announced plans to acquire streaming pioneer Roku in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $22 billion. While this marriage had nothing to do with Netflix, rumors surfaced that Netflix had been "outbid" for Roku -- which the company disputed, saying it hadn't even submitted a bid.
Just days later, rumors surfaced that the company was looking to acquire Lionsgate Studios, a report the company flatly denied. By then, however, the popular narrative had taken over, suggesting that the multiple failed acquisition attempts showed Netflix lacked a clear growth strategy -- even though the company hadn't bid for either Roku or Lionsgate.
Simply put, this has all been much ado about nothing.
Today's Change
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Paint by numbers Despite the rumors to the contrary, Netflix's growth is chugging along. In the first quarter, Netflix generated revenue of $12.25 billion, an increase of 16%, while its earnings per share (EPS) jumped 86% to $1.23. The jump in net income was partially due to the $2.8 billion termination fee it received from Warner Bros.
Netflix maintained its full-year revenue growth forecast at about 13% at the midpoint, as well as projecting a doubling of its advertising revenue from $1.5 billion to $3 billion. Management also noted that content expenses would be weighted toward the first half of the year. Netflix has historically issued conservative guidance, so I don't see this as any cause for concern.
The real opportunity, in my opinion, is Netflix's strikingly low valuation. The stock is currently selling for 24 times earnings, marking only the third time in the past 15 years that Netflix has been this cheap.
That allows savvy investors to buy Netflix before investor sentiment improves and the stock begins to recover. July 16 could be that day.
Netflix (NFLX) is considering live TV and streaming bundles as it looks for new ways to keep viewers watching, according to The Wall Street Journal.The concern
JPMorgan Chase (JPM), a major Wall Street bank, has been testing whether artificial intelligence can move beyond supporting investors and begin making asset-all
Disney is famous for innovation, but the new 'Moana' remake has generated criticism for a lack of originality. (Photo by RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Few genres of film have been as much of a gamble for Disney as the live-action remakes of its classic cartoons. Last year alone, Lilo & Stitch grossed $1 billion and became almost as beloved as the animated original while Snow White lost an estimated $170 million and cast a dark spell on the studio due to a slew of negative coverage. The latest addition to Disney’s stable is coming for Snow White’s crown as the criticism of it is so harsh that it raises the question of whether it would have been better to make the movie with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The movie in question is Moana, starring newcomer Catherine Laga’aia as the eponymous Polynesian teenager who joins demigod Maui, played by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, on a seafaring adventure to restore prosperity to her people. Johnson voiced the character in the 2016 computer animated original but that’s far from the only similarity between the two films.
Although the movie debuts today it has already been panned by critics for its lack of originality. “Much of the film is shot-for-shot, line of dialogue-by-line of dialogue a veritable clone,” wrote Deadline. For the same reason, Digital Spy’s review described it as “the most pointless Disney live-action remake yet” and The Wrap even highlighted this in its headline saying “It’s the Same Film, Disney Just Wants You to Pay for It Again”.
This cynicism was a common thread in the reviews with entertainment journalists noting that the remake was released soon after the original in order to squeeze yet more money out of the movie which had already spawned a successful sequel in 2024. “Any live-action remake from Disney’s canon does beggar the question of ‘why,’” wrote Deadline adding that “‘because it brings in money,’ is an answer as obvious as it is depressing.”
Perhaps the greatest irony is that Disney may be on track to lose money on Moana rather than make a profit on it.
Live-action adaptations were once easy box office hits but as they have become more common, studios have had to walk an increasingly fine line to stand a chance of success. On the one hand, the more they stray from the source material, the more they risk alienating fans of the originals. On the other, the closer they stick to the source material, the greater the risk that they will be accused of adding nothing new.
This is a post-pandemic phenomena as audiences are now used to streaming movies without paying for each film. It has made consumers much more picky about which movies to pay to watch at the theater. Although Disney’s live-action adaptations are aimed at children, parents of course are the ones who are buying the tickets so if they don’t like the look of a film, they won’t pay for a ticket, especially in this tough economic climate. It is a particular problem for Disney as its cute and cuddly cartoon characters generally don’t translate well into a live action setting.
The Little Mermaid was widely criticized for the eerie appearance of the creatures which inhabit its undersea world. “There’s something about these depictions that triggers an uneasy response,” wrote Vox. “Maybe it’s the prolonged, lingering shots on their ‘smiling’ faces or that their tiny mouths are contorted in unnatural ways. It’s as though there’s almost something sinister hiding underneath the computerized animal skin – and that’s even before they start singing and dancing.”
Likewise, Johnson’s appearance in Moana has attracted widespread online criticism and ridicule with the largest wave of mockery centered on Maui’s long, curly hair. Observers have complained that the wig looks unnatural and cheap, magnified by the fact that despite Johnson’s muscular frame, he wears a plastic-looking body suit in the movie to try and match Maui’s oversized proportions. It doesn’t appear to be going down well.
A Wash Out At The Box Office?Early estimates suggested that Moana would have a healthy $80 million to $105 million domestic opening but those forecasts have sunk in the wake of the excoriating assessment from critics who have given the film an average rating of just 38% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
According to Variety, tracking services now forecast that the movie will actually debut to between $60 million and $65 million giving it ticket sales that are barely above the original, which opened to $56 million. Moreover, it is only a fraction of Moana 2’s domestic haul, which was a massive $139.7 million over its first three days.
However, Variety’s report warns that some exhibitors believe Moana could generate as little as $40 million domestically on opening which would yield a worldwide gross of just $115 million as $75 million at most is expected from overseas markets. Studios retain around half of the box office takings so this would give Disney just $58 million from the movie’s opening when takings are usually around their peak.
Variety described that outcome as “catastrophic” given that Moana carries an estimated $250 million budget without including Disney’s hefty global marketing spend. It’s a salutary reminder that box office isn’t the be-all-and-end-all for investors. Last month Disney boasted that it had become the first Hollywood studio in 2026 to surpass $3 billion at the worldwide box office but that seems hollow if it ends up making a loss on a high-profile movie like Moana.
The higher the budget, the more moviegoers are needed for the picture to break even. Moana will need to make waves to attract them.
The evidence for this is in the graph below which is based on information from internet search giant Google. Its Google Trends service analyzes the popularity of top queries though the results don’t reveal the number of searches for a specific term. Instead, each point on the graph is relative to the others on a scale of zero to 100. A score of 50 means there were half as many searches for the term on that date than there were when it hit 100, which represents peak popularity. In contrast, a score of zero relates to the lowest number of search enquiries during the given time.
Google search traffic for 'Moana' over time.
Google Trends
Google processes more than five trillion inquiries annually giving it a 90% share of the market so the results are as comprehensive as can be. Crucially, Google Trends captures as many of them as possible as it is not case sensitive and shows worldwide search inquiries.
It is possible to narrow the search down to this year’s Moana movie but in order to get the clearest indication of the popularity of the franchise over time, the most logical term to use is simply ‘Moana’. The results show that despite the release of the live-action adaptation, there have been far fewer searches for Moana during July than in December 2016 and December 2024 soon after the first and second movies debuted. The former has a Google Trends score of 90 and the latter hit 100 whereas it currently stands at just 48.
Granted, it is only early in the month but the movie is released today so you would expect the searches to be surging. It still has time to turn the tide but it remains to be seen whether it will do it.
The Quarter Of A Billion Dollar QuestionThere could be good reason why audiences aren’t searching for Moana a great deal now: there is no call for the film. It’s not long since the animated original debuted and its live-action counterpart does nothing new. So what is the point in spending a quarter of a billion dollars on making it, especially when the end result has been repeatedly compared to an AI production?
The Daily Telegraph joked that it felt like someone just typed the animated scenes into an AI video generator while Deadline wrote that it had “animation that is barely distinguishable from AI.” Mashable added that “it evoked in me a similar reaction to AI slop, where I cringe at the unnerving blend of the familiar and the not-quite-right.”
All jokes aside, Disney could do a lot worse than use AI to make live action adaptations which don’t change the source material at all.
In short, Generative AI can be used to create content, such as text, images, audio or video, based on patterns it learns from massive amounts of existing data. It can produce photorealistic videos as their components are derived from existing footage and the program can also predict the next element in a sequence, like a word, a pixel or a sound.
With billions of online videos to draw from, Generative AI programs can create scenes showing anything in a matter of seconds. They aren’t rendering each frame in 3D in a sequence as traditional animators and visual effects artists do. Instead, the AI program forecasts what the frame will look like and all it requires is the user to enter a text prompt which describes what they are looking for. The more detailed and precise the prompt, the closer the result will be to the request.
It has led to a torrent of so-called AI slop – bizarre videos showing everything from Elvis Presley in Star Wars to Stephen Hawking winning WWE wrestling matches. Many of the clips are indistinguishable from reality even though they are entirely artificial. This is why it has cast a dark spell on the movie industry and its influence is only growing.
The Way Of The FutureLast year London-based production house Particle 6 unveiled a photorealistic AI actress called Tilly Norwood and just a few days ago announced the first film that the creation will appear in – a dramedy called Misaligned. Uniqueness isn’t the only reason for this sudden interest. All it takes is the push of a button to give the character a different hair color, skin color, eyes or accent. There’s no need for any makeup or training giving it tremendous versatility at a low cost.
There’s no doubt that it’s eerie but it seems to be the way of the future given the vast sums that are being invested in AI. For obvious reasons, many actors are up in arms with Mary Poppins star Emily Blunt saying “good Lord, we’re screwed” when she was shown a news report about Norwood. “That is really, really scary. Come on, agencies, don’t do that. Please stop. Please stop taking away our human connection.”
In contrast, a number of directors have voiced support for AI as they can see benefits. “I can’t see a reason why you wouldn’t become interested in this stuff as a filmmaker. It’s so clearly a tool that might be up there with the camera. It’s going to be be better than CGI [Computer Generated Imagery],” said Jurassic World: Rebirth director Gareth Edwards recently. Peter Jackson added “I don’t dislike it at all. I mean, to me, it’s just a special effect.”
Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson has come out in support of using AI effects in film-making. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Some actors have expressed a sense of resignation towards AI. “AI is here. So to fight it is to fight a battle that we will lose,” said Demi Moore. “I do feel that there’s a place for it,” added Sandra Bullock. “It’s here. We have to observe it. We have to understand it. We have to lean into it. We have to use it in a really constructive and creative way, make it our friend.”
If actors and studios don’t do that, fans may do it anyway. As Matthew McConaughey recently explained, AI enables fans to digitally insert movie stars into personal events from the other side of the world without even asking.
In an attempt to get an AI platform onside, Disney announced a tie-up with OpenAI’s Sora video generation tool last year and although the partnership bit the dust when the platform closed earlier this year, the Mouse reportedly still wants to enter into a similar deal. Other studios have already signed AI deals of a different kind.
Michael Caine’s voice has been recreated using AI to narrate a new audiobook of The Odyssey to coincide with the release of the movie this month. Likewise, Netflix has recreated the voice of late legendary actor Gene Wilder for a Willy Wonka competition series. Appropriate permission was obtained in advance in both cases as it was for production of the movie As Deep as the Grave which features an AI performance from the late Val Kilmer. Film makers used footage, photos and voice recordings to help craft his performance.
Artificial Intelligence. Actual SavingsTo give an indication of the effect that AI can have on the bottom line, consider that it took 800,000 machine hours for Disney’s Pixar division to create 1995’s Toy Story as it had 114,240 frames of animation. However, an AI video generator could create a computer animated movie with a similar length and visual standard in around 400 minutes on a high-end cloud server cluster. If the project was split across separate high-end GPU nodes for each minute of the movie, the entire film could be rendered in under ten minutes. However, that’s not the end of the story.
If you just hit ‘generate’ and walked away, the resulting film would face significant production issues. For example, one of the characters might start the movie dressed in a certain way but by the end it could have warped into a completely different appearance. Likewise, the layout of the rooms could change and because the AI would generate the video separately from the audio, the lips would need to be manually matched, frame by frame, to the pre-recorded voice tracks.
‘Pre-training’ the AI program can fix a number of these issues but in turn, this requires doing some of the work that the program is designed to avoid. For example, if a 3D wireframe animation skeleton with exact physics, depth maps and camera movements is fed into a pre-trained AI, the program can simply render the textures, lighting and photorealistic skin on top making the end result much more stable. However, this requires the wireframe skeletons, depth maps and camera movements to be created and planned before the AI can get to work.
Of course, by its very nature, AI is learning every second as more of these videos are created so the processing time and caliber of the output are continually improving.
Nevertheless, even pre-training the AI takes considerably less time than rendering each frame by scratch, as was the case with Toy Story, or filming from scratch as happened with Moana. Feeding the entire Moana computer animated movie into a video generator would give the program more than enough information, especially if it was instructed to ensure that the the end result was no different to the original. It would cost a fraction of the amount that Disney spent on its live-action adaptation and could end up looking better. And if it didn’t, all Disney would need to do is type in some prompts and run the program again.
Sure, it would be lazy but so is copying the original shot for shot. Not even all the animals in the live action version look realistic with Moana’s chicken companion Heihei looking clearly computer generated. Ironically, inserting an obviously computer generated character into a photorealistic setting is exactly the kind of thing you find in AI slop videos.
Ultimately, the AI version would stand a greater chance of making a profit, due to its dramatically lower cost, so there would be less risk of wasting stockholders’ funds. Fans can create the movie themselves in AI, so by not doing this, Disney is opening the door being shown up by independent creators. In other words, it’s a lose-lose.
It’s no secret that there are some things computers can do better than humans and converting animated footage into live action is one of AI’s strengths. Of course, using AI isn’t the only solution. An alternative is walking that fine line and deviating from the source material in ways which justify the switch to live action filming. If it can’t be justified then it raises the question about whether the live action version should go ahead at all which is precisely what some critics say should have been asked about Moana.
The Walt Disney Company remains a Buy, supported by strong free cash flow, accelerating DTC profitability, and robust performance in sports and theme parks. DIS's Q2 results beat EPS and revenue estimates, with select streaming operating income up 88% and free cash flow at $4.94 billion, despite macro headwinds. Potential catalysts include a rumored Lionsgate acquisition, new CEO leadership, and AI-driven efficiencies across content and operations.
Delta Air Lines (DAL), an Atlanta-based U.S. airline, reaffirmed its adjusted 2026 earnings forecast of $6.50 to $7.50 a share as strong premium, corporate, and
Key Takeaways ExxonMobil and partners are investing $1B in the offshore Usan Infill Project in Nigeria.The project is expected to boost oil and gas output by 40,000 barrels per day.Production is anticipated within 18 months after seismic data guided the investment decision. Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM - Free Report) and its partners have set forth a $1 billion investment in the Usan Infill Project, an offshore oil and gas development in Nigeria. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (“NUPRC”) highlighted that this investment marks ExxonMobil's return to exploration and production activities in the country through its Nigerian subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria. The regulatory body added that the last drilling activity conducted by XOM in Nigeria was in 2016.
The billion-dollar investment is significant for the country’s energy sector, and the development is expected to increase oil and gas production by 40,000 barrels per day. Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria operates the Usan field, which lies in the Oil Mining Lease 138 under a production sharing contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company. The other partners in the project include Chevron Corporation, TotalEnergies and Nexen (a subsidiary of CNOOC).
The Usan field was discovered in 2002, and it started oil production in 2012. The development of the Usan field involved a floating production, storage and offloading unit and 42 subsea wells at depths of 2,400 meters off the coast of Nigeria. The NUPRC added that the Usan Infill Project is anticipated to begin production within 18 months. ExxonMobil and partners collected and analyzed seismic data to obtain information regarding recoverable oil volumes in the field before making the investment decision.
Nigeria is actively seeking to increase its crude oil production in the near-term and attract more investment to the upstream oil sector. The country intends to increase its production levels through the development of its offshore and onshore resources, improving its energy security. Additionally, the NUPRC announced that it awarded 19 petroleum prospecting licenses to several companies that participated in the 2022/2023 Mini Bid Round and the 2024 Licensing Round. This reinforces its strategy to raise oil and gas production in the country by encouraging new exploration activity and investments into its upstream sector.
XOM’s Zacks Rank and Key PicksXOM currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks from the energy sector are Cenovus Energy (CVE - Free Report) , Par Pacific Holdings (PARR - Free Report) and FuelCell Energy (FCEL - Free Report) . While Cenovus Energy and Par Pacific currently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) each, FuelCell Energy carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here.
Cenovus Energy Inc. is a Canadian integrated energy company with operations spanning the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors. The company is involved in exploration and production from its low-cost oil sands and heavy oil assets in Canada. The strategic MEG Energy acquisition is expected to boost Cenovus Energy's production levels in 2026.
Par Pacific Holdings operates an integrated downstream energy business across the United States, with fuel retail operations in Hawaii, Washington, and Idaho, refining operations in Hawaii, Wyoming, Washington, and Montana, and a supporting logistics network. Its refineries have a combined crude oil throughput capacity of 219,000 barrels per day and produce gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, marine fuels, asphalt, and other petroleum products.
FuelCell Energy is a clean energy company that offers scalable, reliable, low-carbon power solutions. It produces power using flexible fuel sources such as biogas, natural gas and hydrogen. The company’s proprietary molten carbonate fuel cell systems generate electricity through an electrochemical process instead of burning fuel, reducing carbon emissions and minimizing the environmental impact of power generation. FCEL is anticipated to play a crucial role in the energy transition by enabling industries and communities to shift from traditional fossil fuels to low-carbon alternatives.
General Fusion Group Ltd. to begin trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “GFUZ” on July 13, becoming the first publicly listed fusion company July 10, 2026 14:51 ET | Source: General Fusion
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- General Fusion Group Ltd. (“General Fusion” or the “Company”), a leader in the global race to commercialize fusion energy, today announced the successful completion of the previously announced business combination between Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III (“Spring Valley” or “SVAC”) (NASDAQ: SVAC), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, and General Fusion Inc.
General Fusion is entering the public markets with approximately US$150 million in cash, inclusive of net transaction proceeds from the private placement and trust capital, to advance its practical fusion energy technology. This capital is expected to fund General Fusion’s Lawson program through several key technical milestones, which the Company aims to complete in 2028, with the goal of demonstrating and de-risking its Magnetized Target Fusion (“MTF”) technology in a commercially relevant way.
With the business combination now closed, the Company’s shares and warrants are expected to begin trading on Nasdaq under the ticker symbols “GFUZ” and “GFUZW,” respectively, on July 13, 2026.
General Fusion is developing a practical path to fusion power that can help address major challenges, from climate change and energy security to powering AI and data centers. The Company's MTF technology is designed from the ground up with a practical power plant in mind to address critical barriers to commercialization and enable integration with existing power plant infrastructure. Today, General Fusion operates Lawson Machine 26 (“LM26”), the first MTF demonstration machine built at a commercially relevant scale and designed to achieve key technical milestones on the path to fusion commercialization.
Quick Facts:
General Fusion’s MTF is designed to solve significant barriers to commercializing fusion energy at a time when electricity demand is surging and nations around the world are racing to commercialize fusion power.As a technology, MTF aims to achieve fusion in a practical and economical way, avoiding superconducting magnets and high-powered lasers while enabling the use of existing materials for durable machines. In early 2025, General Fusion announced that it had designed, built, and begun operating its LM26 fusion demonstration machine in under two years. LM26 is the first MTF demonstration machine to be built at a commercially relevant scale. It mechanically compresses plasma with a lithium liner at 50% commercial-scale diameter, based on current design parameters.
LM26 aims to achieve key fusion technical milestones: plasma heating to 1 keV (10 million degrees Celsius), then 10 keV (100 million degrees Celsius), and ultimately the Lawson criterion, the combination of fusion parameters that can produce net fusion energy in the plasma. About General Fusion
General Fusion is pursuing a practical approach to commercial fusion energy and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. The Company was established in 2002 and has been funded by a global syndicate of leading energy venture capital firms, industry leaders, and technology pioneers. Learn more at www.generalfusion.com.
Certain statements included in this document are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws and “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws (collectively, “forward-looking statements”). All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this news release are forward-looking statements. Any statements that refer to projections, forecasts, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are also forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “seek,” “strategy,” “future,” “opportunity,” “may,” “target,” “should,” “will,” “would,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” “preliminary,” or similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market including the expected commencement date of trading, the net proceeds available to the Company, General Fusion becoming the first publicly listed fusion company, the outlook for the business of General Fusion, including its ability to commercialize MTF or any other fusion technology on its expected timeline or at all; and statements regarding the current and expected results of the LM26 program; as well as any information concerning possible or assumed future results of operations or financial position of the Company.
These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as, and must not be relied on as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and will differ from assumptions, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties, or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk that the Company is unable to maintain the listing of its securities on Nasdaq; the risk that the price of the Company’s securities may be volatile due to a variety of factors outside of the Company’s control; the risk that the Company never generates revenue; the risk that the Company fails to commercialize MTF on a cost effective basis, on the expected timeline or at all; the risk that the Company fails to achieve the objectives of the LM26 program; the risk that additional capital needed by the Company may not be raised on favorable terms, or at all, including as a result of the restrictions agreed to in connection with the private placement the Company closed on July 10, 2026; the risk that fusion energy does not gain public acceptance; the risk that the scientific and technical assumptions upon which MTF technology is based do not prove to be correct; the risk that our competitors develop viable fusion technology sooner than we do; the risk of supply chain disruptions; the risk that key technical material and service inputs may not be available when required on reasonable terms or at all; the risk that we are unable to attract and retain qualified personnel with highly technical expertise; the risk that we are subject to negative publicity; the risk that our assessment of the total addressable market for fusion energy is incorrect; the risk of changes in the laws and regulations governing the Company’s research and development activities and in the regulation of fusion energy; the risk of fluctuations in currency markets; the risk that the Company is unable to complete and successfully integrate any future acquisitions; the risk of increased competition in the fusion industry; the risk of accidents, earthquakes, fires, floods and other natural disasters; the risk that our information technology fails; the risk that our operating expenses are materially higher than forecast; the risk that we are unable to remediate material weaknesses in our internal controls or identify additional material weaknesses in the future; the risk that we are unable to adequately protect or enforce our intellectual property rights; the risk of third-party claims that we are infringing or violating another person’s intellectual property rights; the risk that our intellectual property applications are not granted; the risk of a cyber event or privacy breach resulting in an interruption in operations or financial loss; the risk that government reduces or delays funding of government programs in which we participate; the risk that future sales by existing shareholders could cause our stock price to decline; and the risk that we are unable to establish and maintain effective internal controls to produce accurate and timely public disclosure.
These forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions, including that none of the risks identified above materialize; that there are no unforeseen changes to economic and market conditions, and that no significant events occur outside the ordinary course of business.
The foregoing list is not exhaustive, and there may be additional risks that the Company does not know or currently believes are immaterial. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors, any other factors discussed herein and in the other filings by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including those described under the heading “Risk Factors.” The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required in accordance with applicable laws.
Investor Relations Contact:
You can contact General Fusion’s Investor Relations team by email at: [email protected].
If you are based in North America, you may also leave a toll-free voicemail at +1 (833) 717-1519. Callers outside North America can reach us at +1 (236) 253-6968.
Coca-Cola is pounding Pepsi on Wall Street, riding a lean beverage strategy to near-record highs while its bloated rival chokes on a slumping snack business.
Coke shares are nearly the highest ever since the Atlanta-based drinks giant entered the stock market over a century ago. Meanwhile, PepsiCo’s stock has tumbled nearly 30% since peaking just below $200 in 2023.
Pepsi reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings on Thursday, but the results failed to reassure investors as sales dropped in its core North American beverage division.
Coca-Cola’s stock is trading near all-time highs, while shares in Pepsi have tumbled by close to one-third since peaking just below $200 in 2023. monticellllo – stock.adobe.com The company posted a 6.4% increase in overall net revenue to $24.2 billion, with North American beverage sales accounting for $7.2 billion of the total.
After years of rivalry featuring “Pepsi challenges,” ill-fated experiments like “New Coke” and relentless ad campaigns, Coke was widely seen as coming out on top some years ago. Investors are seconding that opinion, pointing to disparate financials.
The financial gap between the competitors is most evident in their profitability. Coca-Cola reported a 35% operating margin in the first quarter, up from about 33% a year earlier. PepsiCo’s operating margin hovered around 16.5% for the first half of the year, less than half of its rival’s.
“It’s becoming more obvious to the investor base that Coke has a superior business model,” Nik Modi, co-head of global consumer research at RBC Capital Markets, told Barron’s.
PepsiCo’s challenges stem primarily from its snack division and its approach to bottling operations.
Packaged foods and snacks, including Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, generated 58% of PepsiCo’s revenue in 2025.
But aggressive price increases implemented during the COVID pandemic have hurt demand. Consumers have increasingly traded down to cheaper store brands to slash their grocery budgets.
Investors appear yet to be convinced by Pepsi’s strategy, which has been criticized for being bloated and overpriced. REUTERS In North America, snack food revenue fell 2% in the second quarter compared with a year ago, and unit sales remained flat.
PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta attributed the slowing snack sales partly to high gasoline prices, which deter customers from making impulse buys at convenience stores.
“I think the consumer is worse than what we had anticipated and driven mainly by gas prices,” the exec said Thursday during a conference call with investors.
Citi analyst Filippo Falorni said the company faced “continued weakness in North America” in a note to clients on Friday, warning that the sales slump would persist for as long as inflationary pressures caused by the Iran war hit the US economy.
PepsiCo also owns a string of snack brands, including Lays chips and the best-selling Doritos products. Bloomberg via Getty Images “This dynamic also creates carryover risk to numbers in 2027,” he added, “with still elevated cost inflation pressuring margins.”
Coca-Cola, by contrast, focuses almost exclusively on beverages. It has driven growth with products like Fairlife ultra-filtered milk and smaller, premium-priced soda cans.
Coca-Cola also keeps overhead costs low by franchising most of its bottling operations. PepsiCo still owns about 80% of its bottlers, creating higher structural costs that cut into its margins.
PepsiCo’s lagging performance recently drew the attention of activist investor Elliott Investment Management.
After disclosing a $4 billion stake in PepsiCo in September, the hedge fund pushed the company to streamline operations, lower prices, and consider refranchising its North American bottling network, similar to Coca-Cola’s model.
In response, Pepsi struck an agreement with Elliott late last year. The company agreed to a sweeping restructuring plan that includes cutting 20% of its US product lines by early 2026, lowering prices on core brands, and shuttering several manufacturing plants.
While PepsiCo has resisted a full refranchising of its bottling operations, it has begun testing the integration of its snack and beverage distribution systems to improve efficiency.
To improve profitability, RBC’s Modi suggested the company might need to rethink its heavy ownership of manufacturing and distribution facilities.
“They may have to make some tough choices,” he said.
Shares of Coca-Cola Co. rose in midday trading Friday, continuing to widen the financial gap with PepsiCo.
As of 2 p.m. EDT, Coca-Cola stock was trading at $83.34, up 71 cents, or nearly 1%, from Thursday’s close of $82.63. The stock continues to hover near its 52-week high of $85.68.
Meanwhile, shares of PepsiCo were down 56 cents, or 0.4%, trading at $137.30. The stock is lingering closer to its 52-week low of $133.75 after closing at $137.86 on Thursday.
Coca-Cola is set to report its second-quarter earnings July 28
Fifty-four. That is how many consecutive years PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP | PEP Price Prediction) will have raised its dividend once the 4% increase in the annualized dividend per share takes effect with the June 2026 payment. The company which now trades at a $200 billion market capitalization reaffirmed the streak in its Q1 FY2026 earnings release filed April 15, 2026, pushing its annualized payout to $5.92 per share.
For a retirement-focused reader who cares about income that keeps showing up, that streak is the story.
What It Means A 54-year run puts PepsiCo in a club of two Dividend Kings with 50-plus years of consecutive dividend increases. The raise is backed by real capital return. Management sized total FY2026 shareholder returns at roughly $8.9 billion, split between $7.9 billion in dividends and $1.0 billion in repurchases, on top of a new $10 billion share repurchase program running through February 28, 2030.
The cash flow behind that promise is doing its job. Pepsi’s Q1 core EPS came in at $1.61 against a $1.54 consensus, revenue landed at $19.44 billion versus $18.92 billion expected, and operating margin expanded 210 basis points to 16.5%. International segments carried the quarter, with EMEA core operating profit up 29% and Asia Pacific Foods up 35%. That is the plumbing that funds five decades of raises.
Market Reaction Pepsi stock closed at $144.22 on July 2, 2026, up 2.17% on the day. On a longer look, the stock is up 2.44% year to date, 3.37% over one week, and 9.84% over one year. That trails the S&P 500’s 9.22% YTD and 20.04% one-year gain, but recent trading has turned. TradingKey reported the stock rose 4.21% on July 1 driven by institutional accumulation, with the market pricing in a valuation floor ahead of Q2.
The same investor newsletter that told subscribers to buy Amazon in 2002, Netflix in 2004, and Nvidia in 2005 still publishes two new stock picks every month. Over 23 years, Motley Fool's Stock Advisor has more than quadrupled the S&P 500. New members get this month's picks, the Top 10 Rankings, and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Click here to unlock their next top stocks while new members are still being accepted.
Bull Case The defensive rotation is the setup. UBS analyst Sean Burns wrote on July 2 that “defensive dividend stocks like PepsiCo (PEP) and McDonald’s (MCD) are poised for a comeback, offering attractive value compared to high-growth tech stocks,” citing a 4.4% market-implied yield on lower-risk companies versus 1.4% for high-risk stocks. PepsiCo’s current dividend yield of 4.2% sits inside that band, and the stock trades at 16 times forward earnings against a trailing P/E of 22.
Valuation adds a second leg. Shares sit 17.55% below the 52-week high of $171.48 set on February 12, 2026, and the analyst average target of $166.82 implies room above the current print. CEO Ramon Laguarta framed the setup on the call: “We are encouraged with the resilience of the International business while North America continued to make progress in the first quarter.” Reaffirmed FY2026 guidance calls for organic revenue growth of 2-4% and core constant currency EPS growth of 4-6%, with free cash flow conversion of at least 80%.
The macro backdrop favors the thesis. Per capita disposable income has risen from $63,638 in 2024 Q1 to $68,391 in 2026 Q1, and personal consumption expenditures ran at $21,634.9 billion in 2026 Q1. Consumers keep buying snacks and drinks. Additionally, a beta of 0.359 means PepsiCo moves roughly a third as much as the broader market, exactly the profile retirement portfolios lean on when volatility picks up.
Bottom Line Fifty-four consecutive raises is a track record you can plan retirement income around. Pepsi’s Q2 2026 earnings are scheduled for July 9, 2026, with forecasted EPS of $2.19 on revenue of $23.97 billion, and a repeat of Q1’s international strength would validate the pricing the market is starting to put back into the stock. For long-term holders, the anchor is the payout streak, and the payout streak is still intact.
If You'd Bought Amazon When the Motley Fool Said To…In September 2002, Stock Advisor told subscribers to buy Amazon. In December 2004, Netflix. In April 2005, Nvidia. The newsletter still publishes two new stock picks every month — and over 23 years, has more than quadrupled the S&P 500. Here's how to get this month's picks:
- Join Stock Advisor for one year, with a 30-day money-back guarantee
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Five years from now, you'll probably wish you'd bought this month's picks. Don't miss them.
Tom White turns to a trio of outsized options trades he found in some of Wall Street's biggest tech stocks to close the trading week. He walks investors through the Big Moves he sees in Nvidia (NVDA), SpaceX (SPCX), and Intel (INTC).
MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) (“FedEx”) today announced the pricing terms of its previously announced cash tender offers (each, an “Offer” and, collectively, the “Offers”) to purchase up to $4,150,000,000 aggregate purchase price, not including accrued and unpaid interest (the “Offer Cap”), of FedEx's validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) notes set forth below (collectively, the “Notes”), using a “waterfall” methodology under which FedEx will accept the Notes i.
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Editor’s Note: Most investors spend their time deciding what to buy. TradeSmith CEO Keith Kaplan believes they’re overlooking an equally important question: when to buy it. Drawing on decades of historical market data, Keith and his team have identified recurring seasonal patterns they believe can help investors recognize historically favorable buying and selling windows across thousands of stocks.
In today’s essay, he explains how this research led to TradeSmith’s seasonality strategy, shares a few examples, and offers readers a chance to explore the tool themselves ahead of his free Breakthrough 2026 event on Thursday, July 16, at 10 a.m. ET. During the presentation, Keith will explain the research behind the strategy, discuss the market outlook he’s watching closely, and share three free stock recommendations. Try the tool and learn more about Breakthrough 2026 here.
Take it away, Keith…
In June 1944, as the Allies prepared to invade Normandy, their plans hinged on one man, Group Captain James Stagg.
And he was telling General Dwight D. Eisenhower, “Don’t do it!”
Turns out, he was right.
Everyone knows the Allies stormed the beaches on June 6, 1944. What you may not know is that D-Day was supposed to happen a day earlier – on June 5.
And if Eisenhower had ignored Stagg’s warning… and went ahead with the invasion a day earlier… the Allies could have failed.
Could one day have made that much difference?
Absolutely. Because Stagg’s warning came down to the most fundamental element of planning a seaborne invasion: the weather.
You see, Stagg’s path to the Allied Command was different than that of the more conventional officers in the war-room.
He was a meteorologist best known for leading an Arctic expedition in 1932. And when the war began, he was the superintendent of Kew Observatory — the United Kingdom’s weather-forecasting headquarters.
Now, Eisenhower was asking Stagg for the most crucial observations of his career: conditions in the English Channel ahead of the largest amphibious assault in history. And Stagg’s network of Royal Air Force weathermen had told him that a massive storm was rolling in.
Luckily for the U.K., the U.S., Canada, France, and the world, Eisenhower listened to Stagg. The landings took place on June 6, 1944, after the storm had passed. Eleven months later, the Allies were celebrating victory in Europe.
Timing is important for us as investors, too. It’s tempting to leave buying and selling decisions to gut feel. But at TradeSmith, we believe — like Stagg did — in following the data.
One of those signals is what we call “seasonality” — recurring patterns that repeat year in, year out with remarkable consistency.
I’ll show you how it works today… plus how seasonal trades generated 857% total growth in an 18-year backtest.
How Stock Seasonality Finds ‘Green Days’ I didn’t come to TradeSmith from Wall Street. I’m a software engineer by training.
So, when my team and I went looking for an edge for investors, we didn’t start by asking what should move a stock. We started by asking what the data already shows.
We built software that scans more than 5,000 stocks — decades of price history — and asks a simple question. Does this stock behave differently at certain times of the year than others?
The answer, again and again, was yes.
We’ve found historically reliable windows across thousands of stocks – specific times of the year when they tend to rise or fall.
We call the bullish windows “green days.” And we built a trading system around them that spots these seasonal patterns with an 83% historical accuracy rate.
In other words, they’ve shown up in about eight years out of every 10. That’s not a guarantee they’ll show up again. But it’s a statistical edge you can use to stacks the odds of success in your favor.
Seasonality isn’t new:
Commodity traders have always tracked planting and harvesting cycles. Energy markets move with heating and cooling demand. Gold has long shown seasonal strength tied to jewelry demand and annual buying patterns in India and China. And stock investors track seasonal patterns like the January Effect and the Santa Claus Rally. What’s new is that we can now measure it precisely – across thousands of stocks, over decades of data, and down to specific days.
Target Corp. (TGT), for example, has climbed during the same 29-day window — late June into late July — in 15 straight years, gaining an average of 5.2%:
Home Depot Inc. (HD) has done the same between mid-June and late July, rising 93.3% of the time over 15 years, with an average gain of 4.7%:
But rival home improvement store Lowe’s Cos. Inc. (LOW) optimal window comes nearly two months later.
LOW has gone up 86.7% of the time from August 10 to September 11 during the past 15 years, with an average return of 6.1%:
Over an 18-year backtest, these seasonal trades produced 857% in total growth — more than double the S&P 500 over the same stretch. Even in 2007, the worst year in the test, the strategy still came out ahead.
You don’t have to just take my word for it. I’ve asked my team to make a free trial of our Seasonality tool available so you can try it out for yourself.
Test Drive TradeSmith’s Stock Seasonality Tool You can try out our software on the stocks you own with this free, limited-time trial version.
We’re making it available ahead of our Breakthrough 2026 event. It’s all about the seasonal patterns you need to be aware of in this critical year.
That’s why we’ve made a version of our Seasonality software available for you to explore now.
We’ve unlocked access so you can see the seasonal “green days” for thousands of stocks ahead of our Breakthrough 2026 event.
It kicks off Thursday, July 16, at 10 a.m. ET.
I’ll walk you through how we uncovered these patterns, why they persist even in chaotic markets, and how you can use them to guide real-world trading decisions.
More important, I’ll be going into detail about the fast-approaching seasonality patterns you need to be aware of.
Knowing when the windows are opening and closing likely matters more to your wealth than any single decision you’ve made.
The first date you’ll want to circle on your calendar is July 16. If seasonality patterns hold this year, it could open up a lucrative trading opportunity in one of the market’s hottest AI stocks.
The US energy industry is bracing for a huge windfall from the Iran war, but oil majors aren’t planning to ramp up drilling – even as the Trump administration pushes them to lower gasoline costs.
President Trump has repeatedly pressured American energy giants to “Drill, baby drill!” and recently threatened to investigate the industry for price-gouging as Americans feel pain at the pump – a concern for Republicans ahead of the midterms.
But oil majors are reluctant to build out more rigs and wells, resisting White House pressure as they claim their bumper profits are just a temporary boost.
The US energy industry is bracing for a huge windfall – but oil majors are hesitant to ramp up production. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect “I think the industry is strong,” Joe Adamski, managing director of ProcureAbility, a supply chain consultancy, told The Post. “We are sitting at a very good position compared to the rest of the world … [but] oil companies are looking at it and saying this is a blip on the radar.”
In a preview of its second-quarter earnings, Exxon Mobil said this week it could see a $5 billion jump in profits – pushing adjusted earnings to $15.7 billion, or triple the previous quarter.
Experts said Chevron and Shell are also expected to report blowout second-quarter earnings later this month, similar to their first-quarter results – which came in 45% and 37% higher than expected, respectively.
“It’s going to be extra billions of dollars, as we saw with Exxon Mobil,” Jeff Krimmel, founder of Krimmel Strategy Group, told The Post. “It’ll be a multibillion gain across the industry just based on all the disruptions that continue to exist that really peaked toward the end of the second quarter.”
Big markups The huge windfall for US oil majors comes as attacks on vessels and airstrikes in the Middle East have largely choked off the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime route for 20% of the world’s oil. That has sent demand skyrocketing for alternatives like US crude, which peaked above $110 a barrel in April.
Markups on US crude jumped to an all-time high – as much as an extra $30 to $40 a barrel – as Asian and European refiners competed for the limited supply while scrambling to replace Middle Eastern oil stuck in the strait.
As of Friday, US crude oil futures traded at $71.25 a barrel while Brent crude hit $75.61 – set to end the week higher after Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was “over” and military strikes near the Persian Gulf again derailed traffic through the strait.
Trump has been pushing for more fossil fuel output, repeatedly urging companies to expand drilling operations and declaring a national energy emergency on the first day of his second term in January 2025.
US crude oil production hit a new record in 2025, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Bloomberg via Getty Images Last year, the Interior Department issued an aggressive proposal to expand offshore drilling near Florida and along the entire California coastline – fueling fierce pushback from local politicians fearful of oil spills.
In March, the Trump administration exempted drilling in the Gulf of America from the Endangered Species Act, citing “national security” concerns about oil supplies amid the war in Iran. Conservationists have decried the move, citing a risk to wildlife, particularly endangered whales.
Despite the policy changes, oil majors have been reluctant to spend their profits on building out more rigs and wells, as they expect demand to normalize quickly once the war ends unless there is severe lasting damage.
In a worst-case scenario for the oil industry, OPEC – the world’s most powerful oil cartel – could fall apart, and dominant Saudi Arabia could ramp up its energy production too far for others to compete, potentially sending oil as low as $40 a barrel, according to a CNN report.
Efficiencies, not new drilling US giants’ stance does not mean production has been slowing. US crude oil production hit a new record in 2025 of 13.6 million barrels per day according to the US Energy Information Administration. By comparison, the entirety of Europe, excluding Russia, reportedly produced about 4 million barrels per day – or less than 4% of the global share.
However, it was efficiencies like better equipment and technology – not extra drilling – that helped boost production last year, according to Krimmel.
In a preview ahead of its second-quarter earnings, Exxon Mobil said this week that it could see a jump of $5 billion. Christopher Sadowski The number of active rigs and wells that were drilled in the US actually dipped, according to the EIA.
“We saw oil prices get above $90, even $100 temporarily during this war, and there was no huge rush to add rigs, to add production,” Krimmel said. “We already had a production surplus going into the war. A lot of analysts are expecting to reapproach that surplus as these flows normalize now.”
In May, Exxon Mobil and Chevron said that despite the Iran war, they did not intend to drill much more oil than initially planned.
Adamski said fears of political blowback are also likely keeping oil majors from building out new rigs, an expensive process that can take years and face opposition from environmentalists.
“They are sensitive to being in a political storm, that they would have a target on their back and Congress will start talking again about windfall profit taxes and things like that,” Adamski said.
“So they want to avoid putting in the appearance that they are taking advantage of this, so instead they’re doing share buybacks, they are paying down debt. They’re doing things like that.”
Pain at the pump But oil majors’ massive profits could draw scrutiny as the war in Iran eats into wallets, costing Americans roughly $1,000 per household in higher fuel, food and other expenses, according to economist Mark Zandi.
Trump has been eager to lower gasoline prices ahead of the November midterms, most recently heralding a new chain of gas stations on social media that are selling gas for $3.479 a gallon – well below market prices and wholesale costs.
The White House said these “Freedom Fuel” stations, which are mostly located near Philadelphia and in southern New Jersey, are run by a private company with no government support. It is unclear who is running the stations and for how long.
Last week, the Department of Justice asked state attorneys general to investigate potential antitrust violations by energy giants – after Trump accused them of price-gouging.
“I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this. Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!” the president wrote in a Truth Social post in June.
Gas has been slower to come down than oil, hitting $3.88 a gallon Friday after peaking at $4.56 this spring, according to AAA – but experts said that is a normal reaction since there is typically a lag between gasoline and oil prices.
“It really is just politics. The public gets angry when gas prices go up, and politicians need to be seen as being responsive to that anchor,” Krimmel told The Post.
“That’s about the extent of the action that you’ll see out of the federal government…There is zero indication that anything nefarious is happening there.”
SummarySalesforce (CRM) trades at a depressed ~11x trailing FCF multiple, with a forward multiple of ~9.6x, reflecting SaaS-pocalypse fears and AI disruption concerns.CRM executed a massive $24.8B debt-funded buyback, reducing share count by over 10% in Q1 FY2027, signaling management conviction in undervaluation.Base-case annualized return is ~14% assuming no multiple change, with scenario analysis showing limited downside and upside potential of ~49% if multiples revert.AI is reinforcing, not eroding, CRM’s moat; platform integration, high switching costs, and innovation leadership underpin a robust, defensible business model.Looking for a portfolio of ideas like this one? Members of iREIT®+HOYA Capital get exclusive access to our subscriber-only portfolios. Learn More » jetcityimage/iStock Editorial via Getty Images
The SAAS-Pocalypse and Salesforce Salesforce (NASDAQ: "CRM"), the world's leading cloud client relationship management and enterprise software company, has seen its share price pummeled since it hit a record high of $367.87 on December 4, 2024. Had you held the shares through the
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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of CRM either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR) navigated a $290M bond maturity by issuing preferred equity and later securing cheap senior unsecured debt. IIPR.PR.A preferred shares experienced a sharp drawdown due to capital structure decisions, not deteriorating fundamentals, and have since rebounded. IIPR's balance sheet remains robust with a Debt/Assets ratio of 0.14 and a debt service coverage ratio of 10.4x.
US stocks ended higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 closing just shy of a record high as enthusiasm around artificial intelligence and semiconductor stocks offset concerns over renewed tensions in the Middle East.
Investors also turned their attention to the start of the second-quarter earnings season next week, when major US banks will begin reporting results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 148.28 points, or 0.28%, to 52,635.69. The S&P 500 gained 0.38% to close at 7,572.36, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.25% to finish at 26,273.21.
The benchmark S&P 500 finished the week up roughly 1%, while the Nasdaq also advanced more than 1%. The Dow, however, ended the week slightly lower.
Artificial intelligence remained a key driver of market sentiment after South Korean memory-chip maker SK Hynix made its Nasdaq debut.
The company opened at $170, about 14% above its American depositary receipt offering price of $149 after raising more than $26 billion in one of the world's largest share sales.
The listing renewed investor optimism around memory-chip makers despite recent volatility across the semiconductor sector.
Nvidia rose more than 3% on Friday, helping lead gains in the S&P 500.
Meta Platforms jumped around 6%, marking its strongest weekly performance since early 2024 after Bank of America reiterated its Buy rating.
Investor sentiment was also supported by reports suggesting Meta could improve the cost efficiency of its artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Although chip stocks have faced profit-taking in recent weeks, they remain among the year's strongest performers.
Micron Technology has surged more than 200% in 2026, while Lam Research, Marvell Technology and Intel have all more than doubled year to date.
Global markets also reflected mixed sentiment.
South Korea's Kospi gained 2.5%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.2%. China's CSI 300 declined 1.96%, weighed down by technology and industrial stocks. Europe's Stoxx 600 index finished little changed.
Middle East tensions remain in focusInvestors continued to monitor developments in the Middle East after renewed military exchanges between the United States and Iran earlier this week raised concerns about higher energy prices and inflation.
Market sentiment improved after President Donald Trump said Iran had requested to continue negotiations and that the United States had agreed, although he also stated that the June ceasefire was over.
Officials from Qatar and Pakistan are also working to facilitate renewed discussions between the two sides, while an administration official told MS Now that technical talks would continue despite the latest military actions.
The easing in oil prices following those developments helped support equities after Thursday's rally.
Investors are now preparing for the second-quarter earnings season, which begins next week with reports from major US banks.
According to LSEG I/B/E/S data, analysts expect S&P 500 earnings to increase 24% from a year earlier, with technology companies expected to account for much of the growth.
Despite the benchmark index trading near record highs, the S&P 500's forward price-to-earnings ratio has eased to around 20 times expected earnings from 21 times in late May, reflecting stronger corporate earnings expectations.
Markets will also closely watch next week's US inflation report and testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh before the House Committee on Financial Services for further clues on the outlook for interest rates.
Amazon (AMZN 0.73%), the company most people file under "expensive growth stock," trades at a lower forward price-to-earnings ratio than two old-school retailers, Walmart (WMT +1.48%) and Costco Wholesale (COST +0.36%). The forward P/E ratio, for anyone newer to this, simply measures how many dollars investors are paying today for each dollar of a company's expected earnings over the next year. The lower the number, the "cheaper" the stock on that one yardstick.
Image source: Getty Images.
By that measure, Amazon is the bargain of the bunch. It recently traded at a forward multiple in the high 20s, while Walmart sat closer to the high 30s and Costco commanded something in the mid-40s. Read that again: The market is asking you to pay far more for a dollar of Costco's future profit than for a dollar of Amazon's. For a business as fast-growing and dominant as Amazon, that feels backward. So what's going on? After turning it over for a while, the only answer I can settle on is that these three stocks are being priced for completely different things.
Today's Change
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What investors are really buying at Walmart and Costco Walmart and Costco are, at their core, machines built for predictability. People buy groceries and household basics in good times and bad, which makes their sales remarkably steady. Costco layers on a membership model that turns shoppers into renewing subscribers who come back out of something close to loyalty, and Walmart has spent recent years quietly building higher-margin businesses like advertising and its own membership program on top of the store base. Neither company is standing still.
But the reason their multiples have climbed so high, in my view, is that investors are paying a premium for certainty. In a market rattled by tariffs, shifting interest rates, and worries about a stretched consumer, a business that reliably grows earnings a little bit every single year becomes a kind of safe harbor. Money crowds into that reliability, and crowding pushes the price up. You're not just buying a retailer; you're buying peace of mind, and peace of mind has never been more in demand.
Today's Change
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0.36
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916.25
Why Amazon's own success makes its multiple look small Amazon's low multiple, oddly enough, is partly a story of things going right. Its earnings have been growing so fast that the "E" in the P/E ratio has ballooned, mathematically shrinking the ratio even as the stock price rises. The engine here isn't the online store everyone pictures. It's Amazon Web Services, the cloud division that recently posted its fastest growth in years, along with a booming advertising business built around the sponsored listings you see when you search the site.
Both of those throw off far higher profit margins than shipping boxes ever could, and management has said overall profitability recently hit the best level in the company's history. Amazon is even designing its own data-center chips now, which helps it control costs as it builds out artificial intelligence capacity.
So here's where I land. Walmart and Costco are being valued like dependable, bond-like compounders, and the market pays a rich premium for that dependability. Amazon is being valued like a technology company whose profits are still ramping and still tied to heavy, uncertain spending on cloud and AI infrastructure.
Investors trust the retailers' next few years almost completely, so they pay up. They trust Amazon's underlying business too, but they discount it for the volatility and the enormous capital it's pouring into the future. The gap isn't really about which company is better. It's about how much the market is willing to pay for a smooth ride versus a faster, bumpier one.
Today's Change
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1.48
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113.87
Cheaper on a P/E basis isn't the same as a better buy, and that's the trap to avoid. Walmart and Costco's premiums are earned by genuine consistency, but a premium also means less room for error if growth ever slows. Amazon's lower multiple looks tempting, but it comes with big AI bets that have to pay off. My honest read is that the "discount" on Amazon says more about what investors fear than about what Amazon is worth. Decide which trade-off fits you, and price it accordingly.
Signage is seen at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 14, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
CompaniesWASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday paused a union lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration from shutting down the top U.S. watchdog for consumer financial protection, agreeing to resume the case after lawmakers decide on the nomination of a new director, court records showed.
The current agency leadership had said the nominee, Capital One (COF.N), opens new tab senior executive Brian Johnson, should be allowed to decide whether to pursue mass layoffs that the administration has for more than a year been battling in court to impose on the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to a court filing.
Jumpstart your morning with the latest legal news delivered straight to your inbox from The Daily Docket newsletter. Sign up here.
The pause pointed to a possible change of direction in the long-running legal drama as Johnson, a Republican former top CFPB official, prepares to take over from Russell Vought, President Donald Trump's budget director and acting head of the CFPB who had publicly vowed to abolish the agency.
In an order on Friday, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said both sides must inform her within two days should the Senate confirm Johnson as director.
In light of a revised mass layoff plan unveiled in April, a federal appeals court last month agreed to allow Berman Jackson to consider lifting the preliminary injunction she imposed last year requiring the administration not to fire CFPB workers en masse while the courts decide if this is legal. The order issued Friday pauses that process.
Under the April plan, the CFPB workforce would fall to 556 workers, less than a third of the agency's size when Trump took office, with 80% and 85% of positions eliminated in the divisions of enforcement and supervision respectively.
Both sides now agree that if confirmed Johnson should be able to review the new layoff plan and "decide whether he would like to pursue it," according to a joint motion that prompted Jackson's Friday order.
Congress created the CFPB following the 2008 financial crisis to prevent predatory lending and police consumer financial industries that generated many of the toxic products underpinning the crisis.
Trump and other top officials have called for the CFPB's outright elimination, accusing it of politicized enforcement and unduly burdening companies, something consumer advocates have rejected as an illegal giveaway to politically connected corporate actors that jeopardizes public welfare.
Vought, who took over as acting CFPB director last year, is legally required to step down at the start of August.
Reporting by Douglas Gillison in Washington, editing by Deepa Babington
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
George Town, Grand Cayman--(Newsfile Corp. - July 10, 2026) - StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ: STNE) ("Stone") today announces that it will release its second quarter 2026 financial results on Thursday, August 13th, 2026, after the market closes. The Company will also host a conference call to discuss its results on the same day at 5:00pm ET (6:00pm BRT).
The conference call can be accessed live over the Zoom webinar (ID: 811 1885 5067 | Password: 785025). You can also access the meeting over the phone by dialing +1 646 931 3860 or +1 669 444 9171 from the U.S. Callers from Brazil can dial +55 21 3958 7888. Callers from the UK can dial +44 330 088 5830. The call will also be webcast live and a replay will be available a few hours after the call concludes. The live webcast and replay will be available on Stone's investor relations website at https://investors.stone.co/.
The Company also hereby informs that it will initiate its Quiet Period related to its second quarter 2026 financial results on July 27th, 2026.
About Stone
Stone is a leading provider of financial technology solutions that empower merchants to conduct commerce seamlessly across multiple channels and help them grow their businesses with payments, banking and credit.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/304724
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Jim Cramer picked a loud morning to turn bearish. On CNBC’s Squawk on the Street earlier this week, with oil up 5% and global stocks falling after the president declared the Iran ceasefire over, Cramer told David Faber he sees a supply-and-demand imbalance in capital markets he has not witnessed since early 2000. “There’s a lot of offerings, not enough money, and I am turning bearish,” he said, adding, “I have a huge cash position. I don’t want to buy any tech” and “I think we’re out of money, really.”
That is a striking call from someone who spent the last two years cheerleading the AI capex trade. So what spooked him? Two deals. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN | AMZN Price Prediction) raised $25 billion in debt that traded poorly, and SK Hynix is lining up a massive equity offering for Friday. Faber put the underlying question directly. “The real question is, when does capital become more dear? You have to pay more for it.”
The Bearish Pivot and the 2000 Comparison Cramer’s last comparable bearish turn came in October 2000, right before the dot-com unwind gathered speed. The parallel he is drawing now is mechanical, not emotional. When too many issuers rush the window at once, prices soften, buyers demand better terms, and the marginal deal has to sweeten.
The 10-year Treasury sits at 4.569%, in the 91.6th percentile of the past year’s range, so the risk-free hurdle for every corporate bond is already elevated. Add a wave of new supply and capital becomes more dear.
Meanwhile, the tape abroad is flashing. KOSPI is down 18% from its June high, with forward P/E at its lowest since October 2008, a print that would lead the tape on a quieter day.
Amazon’s Debt Deal and the OpenAI Canary Amazon is the tell here. Cramer said, “I’m not worried about Amazon. I’m worried about OpenAI, because if Amazon has raised and tapped out the debt market, and the way that piece of debt was received yesterday is not good.”
Amazon is the most creditworthy hyperscaler on the planet, guiding to roughly $200 billion of capex in 2026 on AI infrastructure, chips, robotics, and satellites, with Q1 capex alone at $44.2 billion and TTM free cash flow down 95% to $1.2 billion. If the top of the food chain has to pay up for money, everyone below has a problem.
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The market is not fully buying the panic yet. Polymarket traders are pricing in 87.5% odds that Amazon’s 2026 capex will exceed $200 billion, and AMZN is still up 8.25% year to date at $245. But the same book has an 88.5% probability that AMZN will close today. Traders think Amazon can still spend. They also think the stock gets punished while it’s doing so.
(Our bubble survivors handbook report walks through how to stay invested when the plumbing tightens like this.) The Q1 8-K lays out the capex ramp in the company’s own numbers.
What Out of Money Means for NVIDIA, Micron, and Your Holdings NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) is the counter-argument to Cramer’s thesis, at least on valuation. Cramer noted NVIDIA trades at 18x forward earnings, cheaper than half the S&P 500, though he is likely using the upper end of earnings estimates. Shares are up 11.2% YTD at $210, with Q1 FY2027 revenue of $81.62 billion, up 85.2% year over year.
Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) is the extreme case. The stock is up 704% for the year despite the recent selloff, and it just dropped 18% from its highest closing price in June. Micron’s fiscal Q3 revenue hit $41.46 billion, up 345.7% year over year, with Q4 guidance of $50 billion. HBM demand is real. Whether every buyer of an HBM4 wafer can keep funding itself is the Cramer question.
Keep an eye on the stock reaction to SK Hynix’s Friday equity deal and the next round of hyperscaler bond issuance. If those price ugly, Cramer’s supply-glut warning graduates from cable segment to base case. If they get absorbed, the AI capex machine keeps chewing through backlog. Either way, the cost of the money funding this cycle has stopped being an afterthought.
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Wall Street has a habit of making investors question their own sanity.
A company can post the best quarter in its history, crush expectations, raise the bar for an entire industry...and the stock still gets sold. Sound familiar? That's exactly what we've been watching unfold across memory chips and several AI infrastructure names.
Take Micron Technology (MU). The company delivered a blockbuster quarter in late June, producing record revenue, explosive earnings growth, and more evidence that AI demand for high-bandwidth memory and DRAM remains incredibly strong. By almost every fundamental measure, it was exactly what investors had been hoping to see.
Yet instead of rewarding shareholders, the market hit the sell button.
Then came Samsung Electronics. The company followed with preliminary second-quarter results showing another eye-popping surge in operating profit, fueled by the same AI data center spending that's reshaping the semiconductor landscape. Once again, the headlines looked spectacular. Once again, the stock struggled as investors focused less on the record profits and more on future spending, rising capital expenditures, and whether the cycle is getting "too good."
That selling pressure quickly spilled over to U.S. memory names. We've seen a similar story play out with Nebius Group. After becoming one of the hottest AI infrastructure stories on the market thanks to its GPU cloud buildout, the stock has surrendered a meaningful portion of its gains as enthusiasm gave way to concerns about competition, valuation, and execution.
None of this is unusual.
It's simply what happens when expectations get ahead of reality.
The Market Doesn't Reward Great...It Rewards Better Than Expected
One of the biggest mistakes investors make is assuming strong earnings automatically translate into higher stock prices. That's not how Wall Street works. Stocks don't trade on what happened last quarter. They trade on what investors expect to happen over the next six to twelve months. When everyone expects perfection, "excellent" suddenly feels disappointing.
That's especially true in themes as crowded as AI and memory. After triple-digit moves, investors stop asking whether a company is growing. They start asking whether growth can get even better.
If management hints at higher spending...
If margins look like they've peaked...
If competitors are catching up...
If guidance is merely "very good" instead of spectacular...
Algorithms don't wait around to debate it. They simply hit sell. It's classic "sell the news" behavior. By the time earnings arrive, many traders have already made their money. The report simply becomes an excuse to lock in gains. The Fundamentals Haven't Changed
Here's the important part. None of these pullbacks suddenly mean AI demand disappeared. Quite the opposite. Cloud providers are still spending aggressively. Hyperscalers are still ordering GPUs. HBM remains supply constrained. Memory demand tied to AI inference and training continues to look healthy well into the coming years.
That's why these violent reactions often have much more to do with positioning than fundamentals. When everyone owns the same stocks, there simply aren't enough buyers left when the music pauses.
Next week, 141 companies are scheduled to report earnings. What if you could know in advance which few would shock Wall Street by beating earnings expectations and pop in price?
Now you can.
Zacks proprietary "ESP" formula predicts positive earnings surprises with unthinkable 80% accuracy. They’ve led us to recent gains of +78.2%, +64.5%, and +34.3% in as little as 10 days.¹
What stocks is the system picking today? Find out before doors close to new investors at midnight, Sunday, July 12.
While investors focus on the selling in semiconductors, they're missing what's happening elsewhere. The money isn't leaving the market. It's moving. That's internal rotation. Capital has been flowing toward areas that largely sat out the AI party.
Financials have attracted fresh interest. Healthcare has quietly stabilized. Consumer staples are seeing renewed buying. Industrials and select small-cap names have started participating again as investors broaden their exposure beyond the same handful of AI leaders.
That's actually a healthy development. Bull markets don't survive when only a dozen stocks carry the entire market. They become much stronger when leadership expands. What Investors Should Do
This is where discipline matters. Don't confuse price action with business performance. A stock falling after great earnings doesn't automatically mean the story is broken. Sometimes it simply means expectations got ahead of reality. Instead of reacting emotionally, ask yourself a few simple questions. Has the long-term thesis actually changed? Is AI demand slowing? Has valuation become more attractive after the pullback? Where is institutional money rotating next?
The Whisper of the Zacks Earnings ESP
One of the things that gets us on the hunt for where the money is moving is going back to the basics of the earnings estimate philosophy at the heart of the Zacks Rank. Here are the clues:
• Earnings estimates come from brokerage firm stock analysts.
• These analysts are highly motivated to create conservative estimates that can easily be beat. Why? If a stock has a Buy rating and the estimates are too high, the stock is more likely to disappoint. This would drive the stock price lower, and their stock ratings would perform poorly (leading to lower compensation).
• The closer to earnings season we get, the more accurate the information that goes into the estimate.
Add it all up, and there is no good reason for an analyst to create a higher estimate close to the date of the earnings report unless they had a DARN GOOD REASON. Focusing on those estimates closest to the earnings announcement is where we found the “whisper that becomes a scream,” a clear indication from the analyst community of which stocks are more likely to beat earnings by a wide margin. And most importantly, rise on that news.
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All the Best,
Dave
Dave Bartosiak is Zacks' resident earnings surprise expert. He selects stocks and delivers daily commentary for our Surprise Trader portfolio.
¹ The results listed above are not (or may not be) representative of the performance of all selections made by Zacks Investment Research's newsletter editors and may represent the partial close of a position. Access grants you a comprehensive list of all open and closed trades.
South Korean semiconductor giant SK Hynix made history on Wall Street, listing on Nasdaq today via American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) under the ticker SKHY.
The firm’s US initial public offering (IPO) priced at $149 was more than 7x oversubscribed – and raised a total of about $26.5 billion. This made it the largest-ever US listing by a foreign company.
SK Hynix stock is now better-positioned to compete for capital against its American rival, Micron. But is it really a better investment than MU for the long-term? Let’s find out!
SKHY shares may be a superior investment than Micron due to the company’s absolute dominance on the High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) market.
The South Korean giant commands an impressive 56.4% share of the global HBM sector – which makes it the primary supplier of ultra-fast memory for artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators.
In fact, SK Hynix is already deeply integrated into Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin platform with its advanced HBM4 architecture.
While Micron Technology is executing rather well and has sold out its capacity through the end of this year, it controls a much smaller 21% market share.
SK Hynix’s massive volume footprint grants it unparalleled pricing power and stronger, contracted multi-year revenue visibility with hyperscalers.
In terms of profitability, SK Hynix shares seem to be in a whole another league.
In its latest reported quarter, the company’s operating margin stood at a staggering 72%, driven by high-value enterprise solid-state drives (eSSDs) and premium DRAM modules.
However, despite this world-class financial efficiency, a notable valuation disconnect persists. SK Hynix trades at a highly attractive forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of just 8x, which makes it infinitely cheaper to own than Micron.
In other words, SKHY offers investors direct exposure to the booming artificial intelligence memory market at a much lower valuation than MU.
Despite significant market debut gains, SKHY stock remains attractive as a long-term holding also because the company plans of using the IPO proceeds to future-proof its production moat.
Executives have earmarked substantial funds for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment and advanced packaging plants, including the Yongin semiconductor cluster.
This positions SK Hynix to significantly benefit as the global tech infrastructure shift from massive foundational model training toward real-time, continuous inference driven by agentic AI.
All in all, Icheon-headquartered SK Hynix Inc combines unrivaled HBM leadership, impressive profitability, compelling valuation, and an aggressive capacity expansion strategy all into one.
While Micron Technology remains a formidable competitor, SKHY appears better positioned to capture the next phase of AI-driven semiconductor demand, making it a more compelling long-term investment for growth-oriented investors in 2026.
John Coogan spent Wednesday's TBPN segment arguing that the largest AI hardware IPO no US retail investor can buy yet might also be the cheapest name in the entire complex.
SummarySK hynix Inc. debuts on NASDAQ via ADR IPO, offering US investors direct access to the HBM market leader.SKHY commands 56.4% HBM market share, outpacing Micron and Samsung, and benefits most from the AI data center buildout.SKHY's operating margins have surpassed Micron's since 2024, and its forward P/E is a compelling 8x despite clear market leadership.I rate SK Hynix a Strong Buy, citing superior HBM positioning, robust growth, and valuation discount relative to peers. Just_Super/iStock via Getty Images
Investment Thesis Today, SK hynix Inc. (SKHY) started trading on the NASDAQ, providing U.S. investors direct access through a national exchange. Prior to this listing, which is structured as an ADR IPO, investors could only buy SKHY on
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Key Takeaways Intuitive Surgical reports Q2 results on July 16, with sales seen up 15% and EPS up 13.2% year over year.ISRG faces margin pressure from da Vinci 5 rollout, tariffs and higher input costs despite strong growth.ISRG's recurring revenues, procedure growth and da Vinci 5 adoption support its long-term outlook. Intuitive Surgical (ISRG - Free Report) is set to release second-quarter results on July 16. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for sales is pegged at $2.81 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 15%, and the same for earnings per share (EPS) implies an improvement of 13.2% to $2.48. The estimate for EPS has remained stable over the past seven days.
In the last reported quarter, Intuitive Surgical delivered an earnings surprise of 20.19%. The company’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 16.82%.
Although ISRG’s top and bottom-line figures are likely to reflect strong growth during the second quarter, its shares have underperformed the Zacks Medical - Instrument industry as well as other robotic-surgery device makers — Stryker (SYK - Free Report) , Zimmer Biomet (ZBH - Free Report) , Globus Medical (GMED - Free Report) and Stereotaxis (STXS - Free Report) — so far this year. The stock has declined 27.4%, its industry has dipped 14.2%, and the S&P 500 Index has gained 9.5% in the same period. The share prices of SYK, ZBH, GMED and STXS have decreased 6.9%, 0.8%, 12.2% and 24.4%, respectively.
YTD Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
While Stryker commercializes its Mako robotic system for orthopedic joint replacements, Zimmer Biomet has ROSA system, which is available for orthopedic and neurosurgical procedures. Globus Medical and Stereotaxis’ robotic portfolios include ExcelsiusGPS and Genesis systems, respectively, used for spine and cranial procedures, and endovascular interventions.
The underperformance of the ISRG stock has led to a decline in its valuation multiples as well. The Price-to-Earnings Forward 12 Month (P/E F12M) valuation has fallen from a high of 96.05X at the beginning of 2025 to its current 37.12X, reflecting a significant decline despite robust earnings growth. At its current valuation multiples, the ISRG stock looks attractive amid its strong fundamentals.
P/E F12M Valuation of ISRG vs Industry
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Why Investors Are Selling ISRG StockDespite consistently delivering double-digit revenue and earnings growth, Intuitive Surgical stock has remained under pressure this year as investors weigh near-term margin headwinds against its long-term growth story. The biggest concern stems from the ongoing rollout of the next-generation da Vinci 5 platform.
Although customer adoption has exceeded expectations, the system currently carries lower margins than the mature Xi platform due to higher manufacturing, service and support costs. The company also expects elevated trade-in activity as hospitals replace older systems with da Vinci 5, creating an additional drag on profitability. Management further expects faster growth of newer da Vinci 5 and Ion platforms, along with higher depreciation from recent manufacturing expansions, to keep gross margins under pressure in 2026.
Tariffs, higher freight expenses and rising semiconductor memory costs are expected to increase input costs through the remainder of the year, while management continues to monitor potential supply constraints across components. Internationally, China remains a difficult market due to lower tender activity, domestic competition and pricing pressure, while Japan continues to face slower capital placements despite supportive reimbursement initiatives.
Investors are also watching the impact of GLP-1 obesity drugs, which continue to reduce bariatric procedure volumes. Although none of these challenges materially alter Intuitive Surgical’s long-term outlook, they have contributed to weaker investor sentiment and multiple compression in recent months. The entry of both large and smaller players, including Stryker, Zimmer Biomet, Globus Medical and Stereotaxis, into the robotic surgery market could intensify competition over time and erode ISRG's market share.
The Bull Case: What Drives ISRG's Prospect?While short-term concerns have weighed on the stock, Intuitive Surgical's underlying business remains exceptionally strong. The company continues to generate robust financial performance, reporting 23% revenue growth and a 36% increase in adjusted earnings during the first quarter of 2026, supported by 17% overall procedure growth across its da Vinci and Ion platforms.
Recurring revenues accounted for 86% of total sales, highlighting the resilience of its business model. Higher utilization of installed systems continues to drive high-margin instruments, accessories and service revenues, creating a recurring revenue stream that becomes increasingly valuable as the installed base expands. U.S. da Vinci utilization increased 4% during the first quarter, while utilization of da Vinci 5 systems remains approximately 11% higher than the legacy Xi platform.
The da Vinci 5 upgrade cycle is likely to remain Intuitive Surgical's biggest growth catalyst over the next several quarters. Customer adoption has been stronger than expected, with nearly 1,500 da Vinci 5 systems installed and approximately 13,000 surgeons already using the platform. Hospitals continue to upgrade their older systems, reflected by a sharp increase in trade-ins.
da Vinci Market Opportunity
Image Source: Intuitive Surgical
New Force Feedback instruments, additional FDA clearances and ongoing software enhancements are expected to improve clinical outcomes and further accelerate adoption. Intuitive Surgical continues to invest heavily in AI-enabled capabilities through its digital ecosystem. The company is leveraging surgical video, robotic data, force-feedback information and electronic medical records to develop AI-powered anatomy identification, decision support, workflow optimization and, eventually, augmented dexterity and automation.
Combined with rapid growth in the Ion lung biopsy platform, expanding SP procedures, rising international adoption and a growing installed base, these innovations provide multiple long-term growth drivers that reinforce Intuitive Surgical's leadership in robotic-assisted surgery.
Earnings Beat LikelyOur proven model predicts an earnings beat for ISRG this earnings season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat, which is the case here.
Earnings ESP: Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate Estimate ($2.55) and the Zacks Consensus Estimate ($2.48), is +2.78%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Zacks Rank: The company carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
ConclusionAlthough near-term margin pressure from the da Vinci 5 rollout, tariffs and higher input costs has weighed on investor sentiment, Intuitive Surgical's long-term investment thesis remains intact. The company continues to deliver industry-leading procedure growth, expanding recurring revenues, increasing system utilization, and driving strong adoption of its newest robotic platforms while building a differentiated AI-enabled surgical ecosystem.
ISRG Short-Term Price Target
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
With consistent strong execution and valuation multiples that have compressed significantly from its 2025 peak to around 37.1X despite healthy earnings growth, ISRG's valuation appears considerably more attractive than it was earlier this year. For long-term investors seeking exposure to robotic surgery, the recent pullback presents an opportunity to accumulate shares of a company with durable competitive advantages and robust growth fundamentals. Moreover, an expected earnings beat in the second quarter, along with its favorable rank, makes it an attractive bet before its second-quarter earnings release.
ServiceNow stock is facing resistance. Why is NOW stock retreating? What Is Driving ServiceNow’s Stock Today?The latest narrative centers on Accenture’s rollout of two AI-focused offerings built on ServiceNow’s AI Platform: managed security services and an AI-powered automation solution aimed at lowering the cost and complexity of modernizing enterprise risk and security operations.
The stock has also been riding a friendlier tone after a July 1 upgrade to Buy that argued software valuations were pricing in "extinction," framing the pullback as a better entry.
ServiceNow also picked up a sentiment boost after a high-visibility TV nod, with Stephanie Link calling it a buy on CNBC’s "Final Trades," keeping the July 1 Guggenheim upgrade in focus for momentum traders.
That segment also highlighted Microsoft’s 4,800 job eliminations, and that cost-discipline backdrop provides a benchmark for ServiceNow because tighter enterprise budgets can accelerate demand for workflow automation and AI-driven efficiency tools like NOW’s platform via job eliminations in large enterprises.
NOW Stock: Key Technical Levels To WatchFrom a longer-term lens, the chart is still in repair mode: the stock is down 44.52% over the past 12 months and is trading 17.8% below its 200-day SMA ($130.82), which can keep rallies facing "prove it" selling. The trend backdrop is also weighed down by the death cross that formed in August 2025 (50-day SMA below the 200-day SMA), even though price has recently reclaimed shorter averages.
In the near term, shares are trading above the 20-day SMA ($101.30), 50-day SMA ($101.82), and 100-day SMA ($103.06), which helps explain why dips have been getting bought. Momentum is best read through RSI here: at 54.81 (neutral), it suggests the rebound isn’t stretched, but it still needs follow-through to turn into a sustained uptrend rather than a bounce.
Key Resistance: $111.00 — a nearby round-number area where rebounds can stall Key Support: $89.50 — a prior demand zone that sits above the $81.24 52-week low area What Does ServiceNow Do and How Does It Make Money?ServiceNow provides software solutions to structure and automate various business processes via a SaaS delivery model, with its roots in IT service management for enterprise customers. Over time, it expanded within IT workflows and pushed workflow automation into areas beyond IT, including customer service, HR service delivery, and security operations.
That backdrop ties directly to the Accenture-led security and risk workflow offerings, where large customers often want a packaged solution plus implementation help. If those AI-led products translate into faster adoption and clearer monetization, it can help the longer-term trend catch up to the improving near-term tape.
ServiceNow Earnings Preview: What Analysts ExpectThe countdown is on: ServiceNow is set to report earnings on July 22, 2026 (confirmed).
EPS Estimate: 76 cents (Down from 82 cents YoY) Revenue Estimate: $3.93 Billion (Up from $3.21 Billion YoY) Valuation: P/E of 64.8x (Indicates premium valuation relative to peers) Analyst Consensus & Recent Actions: The stock carries a Buy rating with an average price target of $137.07. Recent analyst moves include:
Goldman Sachs: Buy (Lowers Target to $145.00) (July 9) Truist Securities: Buy (Raises Target to $130.00) (July 9) Guggenheim: Upgraded to Buy (Target $125.00) (July 1) What Would $1,000 in ServiceNow Be Worth Today?A $1,000 investment in ServiceNow on July 12, 2021, would be worth $944 on July 10, 2026 — a -5.6% total return over the July 12, 2021 to July 10, 2026 span. The stake swung between $600 and more than $2,000, ending well below its 2025 peak.
The ride included a sharp slide to its period low on October 14, 2022, followed by a powerful rebound that culminated in a period high on January 28, 2025. The maximum drawdown over the holding period was -64.5%, underscoring how volatile the path was even though the investment finished only modestly lower than where it started.
On an annualized basis, ServiceNow returned -1.2%, lagging the S&P 500’s 11.6% annualized gain and the Nasdaq 100’s 14.9% annualized gain over the same window. Among the listed peers, Meta Platforms, Inc. was the standout with a 113.9% annualized return.
Today, ServiceNow Inc. has a market capitalization of about $114.3 billion and a current P/E of 64.8.
ServiceNow Benzinga Edge Rankings: Strengths and WeaknessesBelow is the Benzinga Edge scorecard for ServiceNow, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses compared to the broader market:
The Verdict: ServiceNow’s Benzinga Edge signal reveals a growth-heavy profile with weak value and weak momentum, which often translates into choppier trading when sentiment cools. With earnings close, the stock may need a clean fundamental "beat-and-raise" style outcome to push through resistance and improve the momentum score.
ServiceNow Price Action: Current Stock MovementNOW Stock Price Activity: ServiceNow shares were down 1.31% at $107.41 at the time of publication on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Image: Shutterstock
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Andrew Graham doesn't see fatigue hitting the AI space. He believes the issue investors have is a "performance gap" between hyperscalers and semiconductors.
WINONA, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fastenal Company (Nasdaq:FAST) ('Fastenal,' 'we,' 'our,' or 'us') reported its board of directors declared a dividend of $0.26 per share to be paid in cash on August 25, 2026 to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 28, 2026. Except for share and per share information, dollar amounts are stated in millions.
We began paying annual dividends in 1991, semi-annual dividends in 2003, and then expanded to quarterly dividends in 2011. In addition to these regular dividend payments, we have previously paid special one-time dividends in December 2008, December 2012, December 2020, and December 2023. Our board of directors currently intends to continue paying quarterly dividends, though all future determinations as to payment of dividends will depend upon the financial condition and results of operations of Fastenal and such other factors as are deemed relevant by the board of directors at that time.
In 2026, 2025, and 2024, we paid (or declared) dividends as follows:
Year
First
Quarter
Second
Quarter
Third
Quarter
Fourth
Quarter
Total
2026
$
0.240
$
0.240
$
0.260
2025
$
0.215
$
0.220
$
0.220
$
0.220
$
0.875
2024
$
0.195
$
0.195
$
0.195
$
0.195
$
0.780
Dividend and common stock repurchase activity during the last ten years is as follows:
Average Per
Total
Dividends per Share
Total Value of
Total Number
Share Price of
Dividend
Dividends
Regular
Special
Total
Common Stock
of Shares
Common Stock
Year
Payments
Paid
Dividend
Dividend
Dividend
Purchased
Purchased
Purchased
2026
Three (1)
$
849.3
$
0.740
$
—
$
0.740
$
49.8
1,075,000
$
46.33
2025
Four
$
1,004.2
$
0.875
$
—
$
0.875
$
—
—
$
—
2024
Four
$
893.3
$
0.780
$
—
$
0.780
$
—
—
$
—
2023
Five (2)
$
1,016.8
$
0.700
$
0.190
$
0.890
$
—
—
$
—
2022
Four
$
711.3
$
0.620
$
—
$
0.620
$
237.8
10,000,000
$
23.79
2021
Four
$
643.7
$
0.560
$
—
$
0.560
$
—
—
$
—
2020
Five (2)
$
803.4
$
0.500
$
0.200
$
0.700
$
52.0
3,200,000
$
16.27
2019
Four
$
498.6
$
0.435
$
—
$
0.435
$
—
—
$
—
2018
Four
$
441.9
$
0.385
$
—
$
0.385
$
103.0
8,000,000
$
12.88
2017
Four
$
369.1
$
0.320
$
—
$
0.320
$
82.6
7,600,000
$
10.86
Ten Year Total
$
7,231.6
$
5.915
$
0.390
$
6.305
$
525.2
29,875,000
$
17.58
In the second quarter of 2026, we purchased 650,000 shares of our common stock at an average price of $45.72 per share.
We have authority to purchase up to 11,325,000 shares of our common stock under the July 12, 2022 authorization. This authorization does not have an expiration date.
All share and per share information reflects the two-for-one stock split in each of 2019 and 2025.
About Fastenal
Organizations around the world rely on Fastenal to help them simplify and secure the supply chain for a broad range of industrial products. To understand our customers' challenges and provide services and solutions that fit their unique needs, we've built out the most extensive presence in our industry, with a vast network of local teams and embedded technology. At the heart of it all is a simple commitment: great people, close to the customer, backed by world-class logistics, technology, and resources.
Additional information regarding Fastenal is available on our website at www.fastenal.com.
This press release contains statements that are not historical in nature and that are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, "forward looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding expectations as to payment of a quarterly cash dividend and stock repurchase activity in the foreseeable future. Any future determination as to payment of dividends or stock repurchases will depend upon the financial condition and results of operations of Fastenal and such other factors as are deemed relevant by the board of directors. For example, a change in business needs including working capital and funding for acquisitions, or a change in income tax law relating to dividends or stock repurchases, could cause us to decide not to pay a dividend in the future or not to repurchase common stock pursuant to the existing share repurchase authorization. A discussion of other risks and uncertainties is included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent annual report and subsequent quarterly reports. FAST-D
Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT) is expected to post accelerating revenue growth in the second quarter, according to UBS, with results likely to come in largely in line with management's outlook on the back of price increases and stable gross margins.
The bank forecasts second-quarter revenue of €4.8 billion, up 15.6% on a foreign exchange neutral basis, compared with 14.2% growth in the first quarter.
UBS expects 6 million premium net additions, down from 8 million a year earlier, citing longer conversion times tied to new free tier features, a shift in campaign marketing timing and a tougher iOS comparison.
Premium average revenue per user is expected to grow 8.1% year over year on an FXN basis, while advertising revenue growth is expected to improve as the company laps lower podcast inventory from last year, with further acceleration anticipated in the second half as self-serve and programmatic channels expand.
UBS forecasts gross margins expanding 160 basis points year over year to 33.1%, and operating income of €634 million for the quarter.
Looking further out, UBS is largely maintaining its 2026 estimates, projecting €19.4 billion in annual revenue, up 14.3% FXN, and gross margins of 33.3%. The bank expects free cash flow of €3.4 billion in 2026, up 18% year over year, and anticipates Spotify will ramp up share buybacks following the cash repayment of its convertible notes in March.
UBS rates Spotify shares Buy and lowered its price target to $690 from $735, reflecting slightly lower EBITDA estimates on higher opex and a reduced forward multiple. The bank pointed to new AI tools and premium tier offerings as potential drivers of deeper user engagement and improved premium conversion over the medium to long term.
Resources Investor Relations Journalists Agencies Client Login Send a Release News Products Contact , /PRNewswire/ -- Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm, today announced that the Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.820 per share on Aon's outstanding Class A Ordinary Shares. The dividend is payable August 14, 2026 to shareholders of record on August 3, 2026.
About Aon
Aon plc (NYSE: AON) exists to shape decisions for the better — to protect and enrich the lives of people around the world. Through actionable analytic insight, globally integrated Risk Capital and Human Capital expertise, and locally relevant solutions, our colleagues provide clients in over 120 countries with the clarity and confidence to make better risk and people decisions that protect and grow their businesses.
Follow Aon on LinkedIn, X, Facebook and Instagram. Stay up to date by visiting Aon's newsroom and sign up for news alerts here.
Investor Contact
Hallie Miller
[email protected]
Media Contact
[email protected]
Toll-free (U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico): +1 833 751 8114
International: +1 312 381 3024
, /PRNewswire/ -- Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm, plans to announce second-quarter 2026 results on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in a news release to be issued at 6:30 AM ET.
Aon's President and CEO Greg Case and CFO Edmund Reese will also host a conference call at 8:30 AM ET on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, which will be broadcast live through Aon's Investor Relations website at ir.aon.com. A replay will be available shortly after the live webcast. The earnings release and supplemental slide presentation will also be available on Aon's Investor Relations website.
About Aon
Aon plc (NYSE: AON) exists to shape decisions for the better — to protect and enrich the lives of people around the world. Through actionable analytic insight, globally integrated Risk Capital and Human Capital expertise, and locally relevant solutions, our colleagues provide clients in over 120 countries with the clarity and confidence to make better risk and people decisions that protect and grow their businesses.
Follow Aon on LinkedIn, X, Facebook and Instagram. Stay up to date by visiting Aon's newsroom and sign up for news alerts here.
Investor Contact
Hallie Miller
[email protected]
Media Contact
[email protected]
Toll-free (U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico): +1 833 751 8114
International: +1 312 381 3024
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Replacing $7,500 a month with dividends is a math problem before it is anything else. The number you need to invest depends almost entirely on the yield you chase, and each yield tier carries a different set of tradeoffs that reveal themselves only after you own the position for a decade.
Across three broad approaches, the capital required to produce $90,000 a year ranges from roughly $1 million to over $2.5 million. That gap reflects the risks accepted at each tier, and some of those risks only surface years later.
The Conservative Path: Dividend Growers Around 3% to 4% At a blended 3.5% yield, generating $90,000 requires roughly $2,571,000 in capital ($90,000 divided by 0.035). This is the tier of dividend kings and aristocrats: healthcare, consumer staples, and diversified industrials that raise payouts every year.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ | JNJ Price Prediction) currently yields about 2% after a 67% one-year rally, with 64 consecutive years of increases and a fresh 3% hike in April. Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) yields near 3% and just extended its streak to 70 straight annual increases. Neither hits 3.5% alone, so this tier typically pairs blue chips with higher-yielding aristocrats, regulated utilities, and broad dividend-growth ETFs to lift the blended yield.
The tradeoff is straightforward: you tie up the most capital, but the income line grows every year without you touching it.
The Middle Ground: 5% to 7% From REITs and Hybrids At a 6% yield, the math shrinks to $1.5 million. This is the range of net-lease REITs, preferred shares, midstream energy partnerships, and high-dividend equity funds.
Realty Income (NYSE:O), the self-styled Monthly Dividend Company, yields about 5.1% and recently paid its 670th consecutive monthly dividend. Q1 AFFO per share grew 7% year over year, and management raised 2026 guidance to $4.41 to $4.44. The stock has returned 47% over a decade, well behind the S&P 500 but with far steadier income.
The tradeoff here is real. Dividend growth slows to the low single digits, price appreciation is modest, and rate-sensitive REITs move sharply with the 10-year Treasury, which sits at almost 4.5%.
The Aggressive Reach: BDCs and Double-Digit Yields At 9%, you need about $1 million. Business development companies dominate this tier. Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) yields roughly 10.4% on a $0.48 quarterly dividend that has held steady for six straight quarters. Main Street Capital (NYSE:MAIN) pays a $0.26 monthly base plus a $0.30 quarterly supplemental, pushing total annual payouts to roughly $4.32 per share.
The catch shows up in the fine print. ARCC absorbed $412 million in unrealized losses in Q1 and NAV per share declined. MAIN is down 10% year to date. BDC distributions are also taxed largely as ordinary income rather than qualified dividends, which materially raises the tax bill in most brackets.
Why the Slower Yield Often Wins JNJ’s quarterly dividend was $0.66 in 2013 and is $1.34 today, roughly doubling in 13 years. That is the point dividend-growth investors are buying: the starting yield may look modest, but the income stream can become much larger if the company keeps raising the payout. Price appreciation is a separate variable, and it should not be assumed just because the dividend grew.
A 10% yield that never grows delivers $100,000 forever in nominal dollars. A 3% yield on $1 million that grows 7% annually passes $100,000 in about year 19 and keeps climbing if that growth continues. Static yield is a treadmill. Growing yield is a staircase, but only if the business can keep raising the payout.
What to Do With This Recalculate against your actual spending, not your salary. If retirement expenses run $6,000 a month instead of $7,500, required capital drops by roughly $360,000 at a 5% yield, and the conservative tier suddenly becomes reachable. Pull the 10-year total return of a dividend-growth basket against a BDC or mortgage REIT basket. The gap is usually larger than the headline yield differential suggests once compounding and NAV drift are included. Model taxes tier by tier. Qualified dividends from JNJ and PG cap at 20% federal for most investors, while REIT and BDC distributions are taxed as ordinary income, which under the 2026 brackets tops out at 37%. The Yield Solves the Math, Not the Risk A $7,500 monthly dividend target can be built with about $2.57 million at 3.5%, $1.5 million at 6%, or roughly $1 million at 9%. The lower capital number looks easier, but it usually comes with more credit risk, rate sensitivity, tax drag, or distribution risk. The question is not which yield gets you to $90,000 fastest. It is which income stream is most likely to still be there ten years from now.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Shares of Trade Desk (TTD 1.19%) fell 52.4% in the first half of 2026, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The digital advertising platform faced a combination of slowing growth, executive turnover, and a public dispute with one of its largest partners.
Soft guidance and a major client dispute Trade Desk kicked off 2026 with a February earnings report that beat revenue estimates but came with the kind of guidance targets no investor wanted to hear. Management projected a sharp slowdown in Q1 growth, and many shareholders headed for the exits in a hurry.
Then came the Publicis problem. In March, advertising giant Publicis Groupe (PUBGY +1.81%) pulled its recommendation of Trade Desk after an audit alleged the company had been stacking fees in ways that didn't match contractual terms. Trade Desk disputed the findings, but the fallout contributed to reduced ad spending and soft Q2 guidance in May.
Image source: Getty Images.
This clash was a big deal, because Publicis used to be one of Trade Desk's top clients. The French company's market cap is more than twice Trade Desk's nowadays. It also sports roughly $19.9 billion in trailing sales, far outweighing Trade Desk's $3.0 billion.
The two sides eventually settled privately on June 12, with Publicis resuming its recommendation. Terms were not disclosed, and it wasn't market-moving news.
At the same time, Trade Desk's revenue growth is slowing down. The company is still growing at a double-digit percentage clip, year over year, but just barely. Two years ago, the top-line growth rate remained reliably above 20%. And management guided to just 8% sales growth in the upcoming Q2 2026 report. That's a long way from the hypergrowth days Trade Desk investors once took for granted.
Executive turnover added to the uncertainty. The company went through another CFO transition in early 2026; the departure of former CFO Alex Kayyal remains unexplained. The former venture capitalist still holds a board seat, so there can't be a ton of bad blood in his CFO departure. Still, the split raised eyebrows and dragged Trade Desk's stock down again.
Today's Change
(
-1.19
%) $
-0.24
Current Price
$
19.52
A vote of confidence from the CEO Not everything was doom and gloom. In April, CEO Jeff Green made headlines by personally buying $150 million worth of company stock. That's a meaningful vote of confidence from someone with a front-row seat to the business and its prospects.
Trade Desk's stock now trades 84% below its 2024 peak. The company remains profitable and is still growing revenue. It's the pace of growth that's slowing down. For patient investors, the depressed valuation could represent an attractive entry point; for skeptics, it reflects real risks that haven't fully played out.
Key questions for the second half of 2026 include whether growth can stabilize, how Trade Desk will fend off competition from Amazon's (AMZN 0.73%) advertising platform, and whether new AI tools and streaming-TV partnerships can translate into meaningful revenue.
The Q2 earnings report in early August should offer some clarity. I can hardly wait.
WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of securities of Lucid Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: LCID) between February 25, 2026 and April 13, 2026, inclusive (the “Class Period”), of the important July 28, 2026 lead plaintiff deadline.
SO WHAT: If you purchased Lucid 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 Lucid class action, go to https://www.rosenlegal.com/cases/lucid-group-inc-2026/join 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 July 28, 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 litigate 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 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 billions 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, throughout the Class Period, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) a supplier quality issue had significantly disrupted deliveries of the Lucid Gravity; (2) the foregoing was likely to, and did, have a material negative impact on Lucid’s business and financial results; (3) accordingly, the defendants had overstated the purported enhancements to Lucid’s manufacturing and delivery capabilities and overall operations; and (4) as a result, defendants’ public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.
To join the Lucid class action, go to https://www.rosenlegal.com/cases/lucid-group-inc-2026/join 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.
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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
, /PRNewswire/ -- The Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces that investors with substantial losses have opportunity to lead the securities fraud class action lawsuit against Lucid Group, Inc. ("Lucid" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: LCID).
IF YOU ARE AN INVESTOR WHO SUFFERED A LOSS IN LUCID GROUP, INC. (LCID), CONTACT THE LAW OFFICES OF HOWARD G. SMITH BEFORE JULY 28, 2026 (LEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE) TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ONGOING SECURITIES FRAUD LAWSUIT.
Contact the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith to discuss your legal rights by email at [email protected], by telephone at (215) 638-4847 or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com.
What Is The Lawsuit About?
The complaint filed alleges that, between February 25, 2026 and April 13, 2026, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) a supplier quality issue had significantly disrupted deliveries of the Lucid Gravity; (2) the foregoing was likely to, and did, have a material negative impact on the Company's business and financial results; (3) accordingly, the Defendants had overstated the purported enhancements to Lucid's manufacturing and delivery capabilities and overall operations; and (4) as a result, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.
Contact Us To Participate or Learn More:
If you wish to learn more about this class action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to the pending class action lawsuit, please contact:
Howard G. Smith, Esq.,
Law Offices of Howard G. Smith,
3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112,
Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020,
Call us at: (215) 638-4847
Email us at: [email protected],
Visit our website at: www.howardsmithlaw.com.
To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action.
This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
Contact Us:
Law Offices of Howard G. Smith
Howard G. Smith, Esquire
215-638-4847
[email protected]
www.howardsmithlaw.com
Lucid Group shares are sliding. Why is LCID stock falling? What To Watch For Lucid Group’s Next EarningsLucid also set August 4 as the next earnings checkpoint, keeping the market focused on whether the 4,774-produced/3,953-delivered cadence can improve as the company pushes execution and accountability through the new org structure.
Critical LCID Price Levels To WatchFrom a trend perspective, LCID is still in a clear longer-term downtrend: it’s trading 0.9% below its 20-day SMA ($5.68), 3.9% below its 50-day SMA ($5.85), 25.3% below its 100-day SMA ($7.53), and 49.8% below its 200-day SMA ($11.20). The moving-average structure stays bearish with the 20-day SMA below the 50-day SMA and the 50-day SMA below the 200-day SMA, which typically keeps rallies "sellable" until proven otherwise.
Momentum looks more range-bound than trending right now, with RSI at 47.52 (neutral). In plain terms, RSI helps gauge whether buying or selling has become stretched; readings near 50 often line up with choppy, two-sided trade rather than a runaway move.
Key turning points still matter for context: the stock logged a recent swing low in June (when RSI also dipped into oversold territory) and a swing high in July, but it also broke below support in June—damage that often takes time to repair. For swing traders, that keeps the focus on whether bounces can reclaim key averages rather than just "not making new lows."
Key Support: $5.50 — a nearby floor where buyers previously stepped in, sitting close to the current price and near the short-term moving-average zone What Is Lucid Group’s Business Model?Lucid Group is a technology and automotive company focused on developing next-generation electric vehicle (EV) technologies, selling through a direct-to-consumer model that includes geographically distributed retail and service locations. It leans heavily on in-house hardware and software innovation, vertical integration, and clean-sheet engineering and design—work that underpins the Lucid Air luxury sedan.
That business model makes operational cadence and organizational focus especially important, because scaling production, deliveries, and customer operations tends to drive sentiment as much as product headlines. In that light, the leadership reshuffle reads as an attempt to tighten accountability and execution across regions including North America, the Middle East, and other international markets.
LCID Stock Price Action UpdateLCID Stock Price Activity: Lucid Group shares were down 3.77% at $5.61 at the time of publication on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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VANCOUVER, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ZoomInfo (NASDAQ: GTM), the all-in-one AI GTM platform, has reported that Vensure, one of the fastest-growing professional employer organizations in the United States, uses ZoomInfo to turn the data it inherits from acquisitions into a single trusted source its revenue teams can act on immediately, according to the company. Vensure prizes what it calls violent execution: the ability to move at the drop of a hat for the businesses that trust it with payroll, be.
, /PRNewswire/ -- Glancy Prongay Wolke & Rotter LLP announces that investors with losses have opportunity to lead the securities fraud class action lawsuit against Zoetis Inc. ("Zoetis" or the "Company") (NYSE: ZTS).
IF YOU SUFFERED A LOSS ON YOUR ZOETIS INVESTMENTS, CLICK HERE BEFORE JULY 27, 2026 (LEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE) TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SECURITIES FRAUD LAWSUIT
What Is The Lawsuit About?
The complaint filed alleges that, between January 14, 2025 and May 6, 2026, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) veterinarian prescription growth and adoption of Zoetis' Librela, a canine pain treatment, were sharply weakening as clinicians became more cautious following FDA safety warnings concerning serious neurological complications in dogs; (2) Zoetis' Simparica Trio was losing significant market share to a lower priced competing canine parasiticide with broader indicated use in a slowing overall market; and (3) Zoetis' dermatology products, Apoquel and Cytopoint, were losing substantial market share to a newly launched competing canine treatment; and (4) as a result, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.
Contact Us To Participate or Learn More:
If you wish to learn more about this action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact us.
Charles Linehan, Esq.,
Glancy Prongay Wolke & Rotter LLP,
1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100,
Los Angeles California 90067
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 310-201-9150 (Toll-Free: 888-773-9224)
Visit our website at www.glancylaw.com.
Follow us for updates on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.
If you inquire by email, please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased.
To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action.
This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
Contact Us:
Glancy Prongay Wolke & Rotter LLP,
1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100,
Los Angeles, CA 90067
Charles Linehan
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 310-201-9150
Toll-Free: 888-773-9224
Visit our website at: www.glancylaw.com.
Key Takeaways Seagate expects higher Q4 FY2026 revenues, backed by strong AI-driven demand for high-capacity storage.WDC forecasts stronger Q4 FY2026 revenues and higher margins as AI storage demand stays resilient.STX and WDC project solid earnings growth, supported by improving profitability and AI infrastructure demand. Micron Technology, Inc.’s (MU - Free Report) shares have delivered phenomenal returns of more than 600% over the past year, and the company surpassed the $1 trillion market capitalization mark in late May 2026. The company has moved beyond its traditional classification as a cyclical memory chip maker and has become an essential supplier in the AI infrastructure ecosystem.
Unprecedented demand for Micron’s cutting-edge high-bandwidth memory chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) servers, along with a strategic partnership with Anthropic, including a multi-year storage supply agreement, has fueled investors’ optimism and driven its shares upward.
However, Micron’s shares recently experienced volatility as investors raised concerns that the memory cycle could be approaching a peak. The stock also pulled back after the company’s fiscal third-quarter 2026 earnings, as investors took profits following a substantial rally ahead of earnings.
While Micron’s pullback isn’t due to any meaningful deterioration in its AI business fundamentals, the stock’s latest volatility highlights the importance of diversification within the AI infrastructure framework. Investors looking to capture similar long-term growth trends should consider other beneficiaries of the AI buildout.
Two companies that deserve attention are Seagate Technology Holdings plc (STX - Free Report) and Western Digital Corporation (WDC - Free Report) , as they have delivered impressive gains of 504.7% and 774% over the past year. Let’s examine the key catalysts that could support further upside in these AI infrastructure stocks –
Seagate’s AI Storage Boom Drives Growth and Upside Fueled by growing data-center storage demand, improving margins and robust cash flows, Seagate is well-poised for continued growth. These tailwinds could translate into additional gains in Seagate’s share price, positioning it as a potential long-term AI infrastructure winner similar to Micron’s rise.
Seagate expects revenues of around $3.45 billion, plus or minus $100 million, for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2026, up from $3.11 billion generated in the fiscal third quarter of 2026, according to investors.seagate.com. The sustained revenue growth momentum reflects strong customer demand for its high-capacity storage solutions.
Seagate’s strong 47% non-GAAP gross margin in the fiscal third quarter highlighted improved operational efficiency and expanding profitability. At the same time, its $953 million in free cash flow underscored the strength of its core business. As a result, the company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 84.3%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14.93 for STX’s earnings per share (EPS) is up 47.5% year over year.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Western Digital’s AI Storage Boom Could Drive More Upside Western Digital is well-positioned to accelerate growth by increasing the sales of higher-value enterprise HDDs amid strong pricing conditions. For the fiscal third quarter of 2026, Western Digital’s revenues totaled $3.34 billion, up 45% from a year earlier, according to the company’s press release.
Moreover, the company expects revenues for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2026 to be even stronger, at $3.65 billion, plus or minus $100 million. The strong outlook reflects resilient demand for AI infrastructure, as cloud and enterprise customers expand high-capacity storage to support AI growth.
The company’s improving gross margin has further strengthened its financial position, enabling more investment in research and development, stronger earnings growth, and supporting long-term share price gain. For the fiscal third quarter, Western Digital’s non-GAAP gross margin increased to 50.5% from 40.1% a year ago. Additionally, the company expects non-GAAP gross margin to increase to 51-52% in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2026.
Consequently, the company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 104.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate of $10.06 for WDC’s EPS is up 54.8% year over year.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Both Seagate and Western Digital have a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here.
