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SummarySandisk's revenue growth is supported by AI-driven memory shortages, expected to persist until at least 2027, and expansion of its Flash Venture with Kioxia.The Kioxia joint venture secures NAND supply, shares R&D/capex, and plans to double wafer capacity by FY2029, enhancing Sandisk's supply chain resilience.Upcoming 332-layer 10th Gen NAND and high bandwidth flash products are set to improve Sandisk's competitiveness amid shifting industry dynamics. Getty Images

By Khaveen Jey, CFA, FMVA, Portfolio Manager @ Khaveen Investments & Nicholas Tan, Investment Research Analyst @ Khaveen Investments

We cover Sandisk (SNDK), an American NAND designer, in this analysis. Over the last 3 years, we find that its

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

Khaveen Investments is registered as an investment adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Registration with the U.S. SEC does not imply a certain level of skill or training. No information in this publication is intended as investment, tax, accounting, or legal advice, or as an offer/solicitation to sell or buy. Material provided in this publication is for educational purposes only and was prepared from sources and data believed to be reliable, but we do not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

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

If you purchased or acquired securities in Futu between May 24, 2023 and May 27, 2026 and would like to discuss your legal rights, call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310).

[You may also click here for additional information]

, /PRNewswire/ -- Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a leading national securities law firm, is investigating potential claims against Futu Holdings Limited("Futu" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: FUTU) and reminds investors of the August 25, 2026 deadline to seek the role of lead plaintiff in a federal securities class action that has been filed against the Company.

James (Josh) Wilson, Faruqi & Faruqi Senior Partner (PRNewsfoto/Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP) Faruqi & Faruqi is a leading national securities law firm with offices in New York, Pennsylvania, California and Georgia. The firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors since its founding in 1995. See www.faruqilaw.com.

As detailed below, the complaint alleges that the Company and its executives violated federal securities laws by making false and/or misleading statements and/or failing to disclose that: (1) Futu was not in compliance with the requirements of the CSRC, including because the Company continued to conduct securities business, public fund sales business and futures business in mainland China without obtaining the requisite licenses or approval; (2) as a result, Futu was reasonably likely to face regulatory penalties, including the disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and other penalties; (3) as a result of the foregoing, Futu's financial results were overstated; and (4) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

On May 22, 2026, pre-market, Futu issued a press release allegedly disclosing that it had received a notification letter from the CSRC stating that "certain Futu entities in mainland China and Hong Kong . . . without obtaining the requisite licenses or approval, conducted securities business, public fund sales business and futures business in mainland China" and that the CSRC "proposes to order the Related Companies to rectify or cease such activities, confiscate illegal gains, and impose fines, with the total proposed penalty amounting to approximately RMB1.85 billion (approximately USD271 million)." The Futu class action lawsuit further alleges that the regulatory authority "proposes to impose a personal fine of RMB1.25 million (approximately USD 183,575) on Mr. LI Hua, the founder and CEO of the Company." On this news, the price of Futu stock fell more than 27%, according to the complaint.

Then, on May 28, 2026, before the market opened, Futu issued a press release reporting financial results for the first quarter of 2026, allegedly including the proposed penalties comprised of "(i) confiscation of illegal gains of approximately RMB470 million [approximately $69.21 million USD] and (ii) imposition of fines of approximately RMB1.38 billion in an aggregate amount of approximately RMB1.85 billion." On this news, the price of Futu stock declined nearly 5%, according to the complaint.

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

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

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

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Investors Regarding the Futu Holdings Limited Securities Class Action Lawsuit:

What is the Futu Holdings Limited securities fraud lawsuit about?

The lawsuit alleges that Futu misled investors by failing to disclose it was conducting certain securities, public fund sales, and futures businesses in mainland China without required CSRC licenses or approvals. According to the complaint, this exposed the Company to significant regulatory penalties, overstated its financial results, and made its public statements about its business and prospects materially misleading.

Who may be eligible to participate in the lawsuit?

Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Futu Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: FUTU) securities between May 24, 2023 and May 27, 2026, inclusive (the "Class Period"), and suffered losses may be eligible to participate in the securities class action. Eligibility depends on the specific facts of each investor's transactions and losses.

What is a lead plaintiff, and how can I seek appointment?

A lead plaintiff is the investor appointed by the court to represent the interests of all class members during the litigation. Generally, the investor with the largest financial interest who meets the legal requirements may be selected. Investors seeking appointment must file a motion with the court by the August 25, 2026 deadline through counsel of their choice.

What should investors do if they purchased Futu Holdings Limited stock during the Class Period?

Investors who purchased Futu securities during the Class Period should review their investment records, preserve relevant documents, and consider contacting counsel to understand their legal rights. Those interested in serving as lead plaintiff must act before the August 25, 2026 deadline, while investors who do not seek that role may still remain eligible to share in any potential recovery.

Why should investors contact Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP?

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP has represented investors in securities litigation for decades and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for shareholders. Investors who purchased Futu Holdings Limited securities during the Class Period may contact the firm to discuss their legal rights, potential claims, and the lead plaintiff process at no cost or obligation.

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

SOURCE Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP

Global energy markets are quietly undergoing a massive structural shift. As countries race to secure reliable power that produces no carbon emissions, a once-niche technology has moved to the center of national security planning: the small modular reactor, or SMR. SMRs are factory-built microreactors, designed to be shipped on standard trucks and deployed rapidly, bypassing the multibillion-dollar cost overruns that plague traditional nuclear facilities.

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Fusing Sovereign Capital to the Nuclear RenaissanceNano Nuclear Energy Today

NNE

Nano Nuclear Energy

$21.73 +0.98 (+4.74%)

As of 10:25 AM Eastern

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

52-Week Range$18.93▼

$60.87Price Target$46.50

For early-stage nuclear ventures, the primary barrier to entry has always been the sheer volume of upfront capital expenditures required to survive a decade-long commercialization timeline. Retail shareholder dilution is usually the painful mechanism that bridges this cash flow gap.

Sovereign wealth is changing that math entirely. When state-linked entities enter the capital stack, the dilution threat evaporates, replacing retail risk with geopolitical insulation. Nano Nuclear Energy NASDAQ: NNE currently trades near $21 and sits squarely in the middle of this energy sector transition. Wall Street analysts anchor fair value estimates near $46.50, meaning investors need to understand the mechanics behind Nano Nuclear Energy's strategic maneuvers to position themselves ahead of the broader nuclear renaissance.

Fueling the Core With Middle Eastern CapitalThe math on advanced nuclear technology is notoriously brutal. Developing a microreactor requires years of intense engineering, extensive regulatory lobbying, and heavy cash burn. Nano Nuclear Energy reported a $9.2 million net loss in fiscal Q2 2026, a deficit driven largely by elevated headcount and vital research and development expenditures. The company consumed $9.3 million in operational cash flow over the preceding six months. For a standard micro-cap stock, this cash trajectory usually signals an impending secondary offering to raise capital, a move that effectively dilutes existing shareholders.

Shares of Nano Nuclear Energy recently rose 11% following reports of preliminary investment discussions with an entity linked to the United Arab Emirates National Security Adviser, Sheik Tahnoon Bin Zayed. This engagement operationalizes a February 2026 Memorandum of Understanding with Abu Dhabi-based EHC Investment L.L.C., a framework specifically structured to explore the deployment of KRONOS micro modular reactors across the Gulf region.

Nano Nuclear Energy Inc. (NNE) Price Chart for Thursday, July, 2, 2026

Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds are aggressively pursuing nuclear technology to diversify their grid infrastructure away from fossil fuels. Sovereign wealth provides patient capital. State actors do not care about quarterly earnings per share; they care about 50-year dominance in infrastructure. An investment from a United Arab Emirates state-linked entity would validate the engineering behind the KRONOS system on a global stage. It would also provide the bridge capital necessary to survive the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission review process without punishing early investors through dilution.

The Tech Sector Needs a Nuclear BaseloadSovereign wealth provides the geopolitical base case, but the technology sector is engineering a massive secondary catalyst. Artificial intelligence requires staggering amounts of electricity. Hyperscale data centers are physically constrained by local grid capacity, forcing tech giants to seek localized, off-grid baseload power solutions.

Nano Nuclear Energy recently executed a strategic collaboration with Super Micro Computer NASDAQ: SMCI targeting co-packaged nuclear modules for artificial intelligence server infrastructure. This concept shifts the microreactor narrative away from traditional utility applications and positions the technology squarely toward tech-driven infrastructure. Packaging KRONOS microreactors alongside hyperscale server farms allows operators to bypass regional grid limitations entirely. This positions Nano Nuclear Energy not just as an alternative energy play, but as a critical component within the physical supply chain of global artificial intelligence deployment.

A High-Yield Meltdown for SMR Short SellersUnderstanding the fundamental business is only half the equation, as understanding how the market is trading the stock is equally critical. Nano Nuclear Energy commands a valuation of roughly $1.1 billion on a highly illiquid float of 35 million shares. Short sellers currently maintain a highly aggressive posture, controlling 28.35% of the float, representing nearly 11.5 million shares sold short.

These bearish bets are anchored in traditional energy market mechanics. Short sellers are betting the commercialization timeline will starve Nano Nuclear Energy of capital, forcing a collapse in the share price before a physical reactor ever comes online. High short interest against a small float creates a powder keg for investors. The current days-to-cover ratio sits at 4.34. This metric means that even at average daily trading volumes, it would take short sellers over four consecutive days of pure buying to exit their positions.

If preliminary negotiations with the United Arab Emirates result in a definitive joint venture or a direct equity injection, the short sellers' foundational thesis is instantly undermined. A rush to cover 11.5 million shares in an illiquid market could trigger a classic, violent short squeeze. Smart money is quietly positioning for this exact upside scenario. Institutional flows showcase a net-positive accumulation trajectory, with 135 institutional buyers injecting $406.44 million over the trailing 12 months. This dwarfs the $109.75 million in institutional outflows.

The Fallout of Geopolitical FrictionA high-conviction approach requires acknowledging the structural risks. Regional geopolitical friction in the Middle East dictates the immediate deployment timeline. Chief Executive Officer James Walker explicitly stated that site selection and feasibility studies in the Gulf face delays pending a resolution to regional conflicts involving Iran.

Insider selling activity also warrants scrutiny. Chairman Jiang Yu and Chief Executive Officer James Walker liquidated a combined 700,000 shares on June 3, 2026. This equates to roughly $22 million sold via automated 10b5-1 trading plans. Prescheduled 10b5-1 plans do not necessarily indicate a lack of internal confidence, but heavy executive selling at the onset of major sovereign wealth negotiations naturally caps near-term upward momentum.

To offset the long regulatory runway of the core reactor business, management executed a critical acquisition in May 2026. The purchase of Secured Transportation Services transitions Nano Nuclear Energy from a pure pre-revenue venture into an enterprise holding a revenue-generating subsidiary.

Secured Transportation Services executes transport missions aligned with the Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration. This new cash flow, paired with a current ratio of 95.73, provides Nano Nuclear Energy with a short-term buffer against margin compression while the KRONOS reactors work through the regulatory pipeline.

Securing Your Stake in the SMR Chain ReactionThe global shift toward advanced nuclear baseloads is transitioning from speculative theory to sovereign-backed reality. Preliminary funding discussions validate the commercial viability of localized microreactors, and the integration of small modular reactors into artificial intelligence data center infrastructure opens entirely new total addressable markets.

Regional instability in the Gulf and active insider selling present tangible hurdles, but the underlying market mechanics of an illiquid float paired with heavy short interest create a highly asymmetric risk profile. Investors with a higher risk tolerance might consider adding Nano Nuclear Energy to an infrastructure watchlist as the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission formalizes its review activities and sovereign wealth negotiations mature into definitive funding agreements.

Should You Invest $1,000 in Nano Nuclear Energy Right Now?Before you consider Nano Nuclear Energy, you'll want to hear this.

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SpaceX stock has been volatile following its public debut. Should investors be buying now?

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears poised to make a big bet on a potentially big market, but one that commands much slimmer margins than his company's dominant online ad business.

Cloud infrastructure has proven to be highly lucrative for hyperscaler peers Amazon, Microsoft and Google, and Zuckerberg has hinted of late that Meta could be headed in that direction. On Wednesday, CNBC's Jim Cramer confirmed that Meta will sell excess computing power to outside customers. The company is debating whether to offer access to AI models hosted on its infrastructure or to sell access to raw computing power, according to Bloomberg.

Wall Street welcomed the news. After slumping for the past year, Meta's stock started the third quarter with a bang, jumping 9% on Wednesday for its sharpest rally in more than five months. Investors have been looking for Meta to diversify its business and monetize its multi-hundred-billion-dollar investment in advanced data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

"Making this as a revenue stream has been part of their road map," said Karan Ramchandani, managing director at advisory firm Post Oak Group. "It seems like a no-brainer to compete in the market, to sell compute power to other B2B players."

At Meta's annual shareholder meeting in May, Zuckerberg said a potential cloud computing business is "definitely on the table." And seven months earlier, on an earnings call, Zuckerberg said companies are regularly "asking if we have compute that they could buy from us at some premium to what we've bought it at."

watch now

Just before Wednesday's rally, Meta's stock closed out its fourth straight quarterly drop, losing almost a quarter of its value over that stretch. In April, Meta boosted the high end of its 2026 capital expenditures guidance by $10 billion to $145 billion. Some of that is getting funded through debt, with the company raising $25 billion from a bond sale just as it was reporting first-quarter earnings.

"I think that this is a response to complaints that the company may be overspending and skepticism that Meta will ever earn a commensurate return on its capex," said Paul Meeks, head of technology research at Freedom Capital Markets, regarding Meta's push into cloud. "The problem with this company is that it only builds, or only thus far, capacity for itself, and it's not really monetizing any AI apps yet."

Almost all the financial benefits of Meta's AI spending to date have been recognized in the company's core advertising business, which has seen dramatically improved targeting capabilities and has offered a wider suite of creative tools to marketers. Meta still gets 98% of its revenue from digital ads.

Zuckerberg has been trying to change the narrative, with cloud being perhaps the most ambitious new effort. Meta shares jumped almost 4% in May, when the company announced various paid subscription plans for Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp in addition to two subscription services for its Meta AI app and website.

Meta declined to comment for this story.

Not trying to be AWSCloud infrastructure is a particularly valuable commodity as the generative AI boom nears its fourth anniversary, and is something that very few companies can afford to provide at scale. The U.S. leaders are Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, which have all built large businesses by allowing companies to offload their computing requirements.

Mark Mahaney, an analyst at Evercore, said it's unlikely that Meta will try to challenge those hyperscalers. Rather, Mahaney sees Meta following in the footsteps of so-called neoclouds such as CoreWeave and Nebius, which offer access to AI-specific computing products like Nvidia chips and systems.

Shares of CoreWeave and Nebius both suffered double-digit drops on Wednesday following the Meta report.

Mahaney said Meta may have been motivated in part by Elon Musk's SpaceX. The company, which owns xAI, has recently signed deals to offer capacity to Google and Anthropic amounting to more than $2 billion in combined revenue a month as well as to startup Reflection AI.

Brian Schechter, a partner at Primary Venture Partners, also made the comparison to SpaceX. He said the companies are similar in that they've spent billions of dollars training big AI models on top of their own infrastructure.

Both companies "failed to bring to market an AI model that drove huge customer traction," Schechter said. "Being able to monetize their compute after a missed training run shows how compute can function more like a commodity."

One area of concern for some investors will be the potential hit to Meta's profitability. Selling cloud services typically requires building a big enterprise sales and support team, and the margins can't match what Meta generates from ads.

Meta's gross margin of 82% is among the highest in the tech industry, and the company recorded an operating margin of 41% in the latest quarter. Google provides a glimpse of what's to come.

Google's services business, which mostly comes from ads, notched an operating margin of 42% in the first quarter, while for cloud the margin was 18%. It took many years just to get there. The company launched its cloud infrastructure business in 2008 and made it generally available in 2011. In 2020, Google started disclosing financials, and didn't record a profit until the first quarter of 2023.

Meeks said that while Meta "probably has one of the most glorious business models in tech," anything it enters outside of online ads "would be dilutive to their business and would lower their margins from their glory days."

"As a Meta shareholder, I'd rather see them continue with open models and monetize AI through products and services with much higher margins than get into the brutal battle of building data centers in places like North Dakota," Meeks said.

WATCH: Meta building out cloud business is 'a really smart pivot,' says Evercore ISI's Mark Mahaney.

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“I find it difficult to believe that Meta was up only 49 points when it is getting into the most lucrative game, business-to-business at 18x EPS????” CNBC’s Jim Cramer wrote on X after reports emerged that Meta is exploring a cloud infrastructure business that would allow developers to access its AI models and compute capacity.

JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth believes the opportunity could be far larger than many investors realize.

From AI Spending to AI RevenueAccording to Bloomberg, Meta is considering charging developers to access AI models hosted on its infrastructure while also renting excess compute capacity to third parties, a strategy similar to AI cloud providers that lease GPU clusters to enterprise customers.

For Meta, the move could create an entirely new revenue stream beyond advertising.

JPMorgan estimates that every gigawatt of AI infrastructure made available to external customers could generate roughly $20 billion in annual revenue and add several dollars to earnings per share, providing meaningful returns on the company’s enormous AI infrastructure investments.

The analysts said monetizing infrastructure would also give Meta greater flexibility by allowing it to recoup part of the billions of dollars it continues to spend building AI data centers and compute capacity.

But Is Selling Compute the Best Use of Meta’s AI?While the revenue opportunity is compelling, JPMorgan isn’t convinced renting GPUs is Meta’s best long-term strategy.

Instead, the firm argues it would rather see Meta deploy that compute internally to power AI products across its ecosystem of roughly 4 billion users—including business agents, Meta AI, smart glasses and future AI services—where the long-term value creation could ultimately exceed infrastructure rental revenue.

That view aligns with comments CEO Mark Zuckerberg made during Meta’s annual shareholder meeting, where he acknowledged there is clear external demand for compute but said the company has prioritized reserving capacity for its own AI ambitions. Zuckerberg added that selling infrastructure could become an option if Meta eventually determines it has built more capacity than it needs.

A New Way to Value Meta?The debate extends beyond cloud computing.

For years, investors have viewed Meta primarily as an advertising company funding an expensive AI buildout. If the company begins generating meaningful recurring revenue from cloud infrastructure alongside its AI products, Wall Street may have to start valuing Meta as more than a social media platform.

Instead of simply asking whether Meta’s AI spending is too high, investors could soon be asking a different question: how much is the infrastructure itself worth?

Image via Shutterstock

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Employees work at the Tesla Gigafactory during a government-organised media trip in Shanghai, China, April 14, 2026. REUTERS/Go Nakamura Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

CompaniesBEIJING, July 2 (Reuters) - Tesla's (TSLA.O), opens new tab China-made electric vehicle sales rose for an eighth month in June, supported by an extended ​recovery in the U.S. automaker's European sales.

Deliveries of Model ‌3 and Model Y vehicles made in its Shanghai plant, which is also an export hub for Europe, grew 24.4% from a year ​earlier to 89,091 units, data from the China Passenger ​Car Association showed on Thursday. The increase followed ⁠a 39.4% gain in May.

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For the second quarter, Tesla's combined ​China sales and exports from the Shanghai factory were up ​32.8% year-on-year.

Later on Thursday, the EV specialist is expected to report a 5% year-over-year increase in global vehicle deliveries to 402,780 vehicles over the past ​quarter, buoyed by stronger demand in Europe where a ​spike in fuel prices following the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran has prompted ‌more ⁠consumers to turn to EVs.

The recovery in Europe and resilient demand in China are expected to help offset declining sales in North America.

Even so, the results could leave the door for ​its biggest ​Chinese rival, BYD (002594.SZ), opens new tab, ⁠to retake the title of the world's top EV seller after briefly ceding it to ​Tesla in the first quarter.

BYD, which posted a ​second ⁠consecutive month of sales growth in June, sold 557,090 battery-electric vehicles globally in the second quarter, underlining the strength of its ⁠overseas ​expansion, particularly in Europe, as it ​seeks to diversify beyond China's fiercely competitive domestic market.

Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Zhang ​Yan and Ju-min Park; editing by Barbara Lewis and Louise Heavens

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

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found no crashes tied to the issues and that they posed only a low safety risk and were addressed in software updates.

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Elon Musk has bet Tesla's future on its Cybercab robotaxi and Optimus humanoid robot. Christian Marquardt - Pool/Getty Images Tesla's sales are bouncing back — with a little help from high gas prices.

The EV giant delivered 480,126 EVs in the second quarter, up 25% year-over-year, in a sign that Tesla sales have largely recovered from a wave of anti-Elon Musk backlash in 2025 and a steep decline in the wider US EV market.

The sales figures came in way above Wall Street's expectations. A Bloomberg consensus of Wall Street analyst predictions estimated Tesla would sell 396,466 EVs, while a company-compiled consensus suggested deliveries would reach 406,024 vehicles.

Tesla's share price rose nearly 2% in premarket trading on the sales numbers, before paring back gains.

Like many of its rivals, Tesla has been battling a so-called "EV winter" in the US following the end of the $7,500 tax credit for new electric vehicles in September.

Total US electric vehicle sales fell 27% in the first three months of the year, according to data from Cox Automotive, and a wave of electric vehicle models has since vanished from the market as automakers roll back ambitious EV targets amid weak demand.

However, a spike in gas prices due to the war in the Middle East appears to have given the industry a shot in the arm. Data from Kelley Blue Book, an automotive research firm, estimates EV sales in the US topped 85,000 in May, the highest since the EV tax credit was scrapped in September 2025.

In February, before the war began, average US gas prices were just under $3 per gallon. They peaked in May at about $4.56 per gallon, according to AAA.

Stephanie Valdez-Streaty, Cox Automotive's director of industry insights, told Business Insider that Tesla's second-quarter sales have been boosted by high gas prices.

That boost mainly came from markets like Europe, which have seen an EV sales boom in recent months, Valdez-Streaty said. Meanwhile, she added, growth of alternative fuel vehicles in the US has been focused on hybrids — which Tesla doesn't sell.

"If you think about the European market and the Chinese market, Tesla definitely benefited from those high gas prices," she said.

In a June note, analysts at Goldman Sachs wrote that they expect EV adoption to accelerate in the coming years, ultimately pushing oil prices down.

All eyes on robotaxisFor Tesla, the latest figures show that its underlying EV business remains strong, even as the company pivots away from it.

In January, Musk said Tesla would end production of its premium Model S and X vehicles to free up factory space for its Optimus humanoid robot, which is set to start production this summer.

Tesla is also ramping up production of its Cybercab, a gold-colored robotaxi that doesn't have a steering wheel or pedals. The company's wider robotaxi rollout has been sluggish so far, however, with only a few dozen vehicles operating in Austin, Houston, and Dallas a year after the service began.

The Tesla Cybercab is key to Tesla's robotaxi ambitions.  Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images The EV pioneer has been eclipsed in recent weeks by Musk's other public company, SpaceX, which raised $85 billion in a record-breaking IPO and is now valued at almost $480 billion more than Tesla.

SpaceX's stock market surge has led some Tesla investors to suggest that the two companies should merge. Speaking before SpaceX went public, the rocket maker's president, Gwynne Shotwell, didn't rule it out.

"That might make Elon's life a little easier, actually," she said.

"There's no question that there's synergies between Tesla and SpaceX in our futures, definitely, there's a convergence of a kind of what we're all trying to accomplish in the future," Shotwell added.

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Tesla Elon Musk

A Tesla electric vehicle is parked at a Tesla dealership, after Tesla, Inc. released its financial results for the first quarter of 2025, in Berlin, Germany April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

SummaryCompaniesEurope rebound followed last year's slump, partly linked by analysts to Musk's politicsDeliveries topped production by over 28,000 vehicles, reducing inventory buildupTesla will report quarterly results on July 22 after markets closeCo expects to spend more than $25 billion ​on capital expenditure in 2026July 2 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab blew past Wall Street estimates for second-quarter deliveries on Thursday, posting a record for the period as recovering demand in Europe outweighed persistent weakness in North America.

The strong figures suggest Tesla's mainstay auto business is regaining momentum after two straight annual sales declines, ​providing the spending cushion needed to power its ambitions in autonomous driving and artificial intelligence - the main drivers ​of the company's roughly $1.6 trillion valuation.

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Tesla expects to spend more than $25 billion on capital expenditure ⁠in 2026, nearly triple the $8.5 billion last year, to expand AI infrastructure, battery production, Cybercab manufacturing and Optimus robots.

"I ​think the huge growth in Europe is the key driver for Tesla right now. US sales still appear to be down, ​albeit less than the broader US EV decline, while China is seeing small growth," said Seth Goldstein, senior equity analyst at Morningstar.

Tesla's recovery in Europe was aided by government EV incentives, faster electrification of corporate fleets, higher fuel prices and an easing of the consumer backlash ​over CEO Elon Musk's far-right politics last year.

The company delivered 480,126 vehicles in the April-June period, a record for the ​second quarter and up about 25% from a year earlier, easily surpassing analysts' average estimate of 402,776 vehicles, according to Visible Alpha data.

Tesla ‌produced ⁠451,758 vehicles during the quarter. The deliveries exceeded production by more than 28,000 vehicles, leading the company to draw down inventory that it built up during the first quarter.

The company's China-made EV sales have risen this year, helped by production of the refreshed Model Y, despite intense competition from BYD (002594.SZ), opens new tab and other domestic automakers.

Shares of Austin, Texas-based Tesla were down about ​2% after gaining 12% so ​far this week. The ⁠company said it will report quarterly results on July 22 after markets close.

Analysts said much of the optimism had already been priced in after Tesla's shares rallied ahead of the ​quarterly deliveries report, resulting in a muted reaction on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, smaller rival ​Rivian raised its annual ⁠deliveries forecast and beat estimates for second-quarter deliveries.

Tesla has continued to roll out its Full Self-Driving (FSD) advanced driver assistance software in Europe, although it is available in only a handful of countries. Analysts expect broader availability over the coming months to support ⁠demand.

The company ​expanded its robotaxi operations after launching a limited commercial service in Austin ​in June. Musk has said the company intends to rapidly expand the service through 2026.

Production of the Cybercab, Tesla's purpose-built autonomous vehicle without pedals or ​a steering wheel, is expected to ramp up later this year.

Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli

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

Akash reports on technology companies in the United States, electric vehicle companies, and the space industry. His reporting usually appears in the Autos & Transportation and Technology sections. He has a postgraduate degree in Conflict, Development, and Security from the University of Leeds. Akash's interests include music, football (soccer), and Formula 1.

There have been a lot of bears on the tail of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA | TSLA Price Prediction) in the past several years, but the name has proven quite punishing to short. Now that Dr. Michael Burry of The Big Short fame doesn’t have to answer to any investors (he’s moved on from Scion), it feels like the man is now able to place bearish bets against companies that he fundamentally believes are at risk of a tumble or even a crash.

Of course, Dr. Burry is a brilliant man who made one of the best trades of all-time in the face of the housing meltdown of 2008. But like so many other investment greats, his batting average is not perfect and, on occasion, he’ll strike out. In any case, I do think the man has a strong case for placing bearish bets against Tesla at north of $416 per share.

Tesla shares are picking up traction. But standing in front of a potential breakout is risky The recent spike in the release of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) v14 Lite release, I think, might be a tad overdone. At the end of the day, Tesla still has a lot to prove as Optimus, the Terafab, and its custom silicon look to hit the spot. At these heightened valuations, there is certainly no room for error. But, then again, it’s Tesla and Elon Musk we’re talking about.

Fans of the firm and Mr. Musk are among the most patient of investors in the world. Call them diamond hands, if you will, but they’re willing to stick around for the long run as they buy into Mr. Musk’s long-term vision of the future.

Could it be that Mr. Musk’s exceptional stewardship is worth more than 300 times trailing price-to-earnings (P/E), as he splits his time across Tesla and Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ:SPCX)?

As always, time will tell. Maybe one day Tesla and SpaceX will merge into one — a move that I think would make the most sense, given robots, AI, chips, orbital data centers, and lunar production all seem to fit into the same basket.

Why I wouldn’t follow Dr. Burry’s new big short While Dr. Burry’s latest Tesla short should have investors asking questions about what could go wrong as the price of admission starts to swell again, I still think that Dr. Burry’s moves and words should not be taken as any form of gospel.

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

Despite its lofty valuation, Tesla has and will probably continue to be tough to short. That is, unless some of the big, ambitious projects that lie ahead run into a few hurdles. The company is taking a huge risk to get a better seat in the physical AI race.

But, then again, high risk tends to accompany high reward, and if there’s a man who’s shown he can execute, it’s Elon Musk. Though, he’s known to be quite aggressive with the timing. As AI moves down an exponential curve, rather than a linear one, though, maybe Mr. Musk will be right to move with such aggression, as he turns his vision, deep pockets, and speed of execution into a tremendous first-mover’s advantage.

When it comes to AI and robotics, much of the spoils are bound to go to the firms that are willing to take risks, move fast, and shoot high. In that regard, I’d be pretty hesitant to follow anyone into a short position on shares of Tesla.

The bottom line Still, at these valuations, I think it’s not hard to dismiss the bear-case scenario, especially if interest rates are destined to go higher from here, and if delays hit Cybercab, Optimus, or EV sales.

Add dilution into the equation, and it certainly feels like Dr. Burry might just get the timing right with his new short position. Personally, I wouldn’t go long or short in a name that’s a fierce tug of war between the bulls and the bears.

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

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

The automaker shipped off 480,126 EVs to consumers last quarter, much more than even bullish analysts projected.

Tesla TSLA reported second-quarter vehicle deliveries that comfortably exceeded Wall Street expectations on Thursday, signaling a significant rebound in demand as the electric-vehicle maker navigates an increasingly competitive global market.

The company delivered 480,126 vehicles worldwide during the second quarter, according to a statement released Thursday.

The result came in well above analyst expectations. FactSet estimates had pointed to deliveries of approximately 409,000 vehicles, while Tesla's company-compiled consensus forecast stood at roughly 406,000 units.

The stronger-than-expected performance marks a notable recovery for Tesla after a challenging period.

Vehicle sales came under pressure from slowing electric-vehicle demand, rising competition, and political controversies surrounding Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk.

Deliveries increased 25% from a year earlier, when Tesla faced consumer backlash linked to Musk's work with the Trump administration.

Despite the stronger-than-expected deliveries, Tesla shares fell nearly 3% in Thursday morning trading as investors took profits following a sharp rally in recent sessions.

The stock remains up roughly 11% over the past five trading days, suggesting much of the delivery upside had already been anticipated.

Morningstar noted that the company's vehicle mix continued to shift toward its mass-market offerings, with Tesla delivering 467,762 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles during the quarter.

The firm also pointed to Tesla's energy storage business, where deployments reached 13.5 gigawatt-hours, up from both a year ago and the previous quarter but slightly below analyst expectations of 13.8 GWh.

Investors are now awaiting Tesla's full second-quarter results on July 22 for additional details on profitability and business performance.

China made EV sales also remain strongFresh data also showed continued momentum at its Shanghai manufacturing hub, which supplies both the Chinese market and export destinations across Europe.

Data released Thursday by the China Passenger Car Association showed that deliveries of Model 3 and Model Y vehicles produced at Tesla's Shanghai factory rose 24.4% year over year in June to 89,091 units.

The increase followed a 39.4% gain recorded in May.

For the second quarter as a whole, Tesla's combined China sales and exports from the Shanghai facility increased 32.8% compared with the same period last year.

The results suggest Tesla's recovery in Europe also continued during the quarter, helping offset broader concerns about slowing growth in the global electric-vehicle market.

Despite the strong delivery performance, investor attention has increasingly shifted beyond Tesla's traditional automotive business.

Many shareholders are focused on Musk's longer-term strategy centered on artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, and robotics.

Tesla is investing heavily in projects including its Cybercab autonomous vehicle platform and Optimus humanoid robots, initiatives that many investors view as potentially more important to the company's long-term valuation than vehicle sales alone.

Speculation has also grown around the possibility of a future combination between Tesla and SpaceX following the rocket company's blockbuster initial public offering last month.

Even as investors look toward those future opportunities, Tesla's vehicle business remains a critical source of cash generation.

Maintaining strong delivery growth is particularly important as the company significantly increases spending on new initiatives.

Tesla plans to invest more than $25 billion this year, roughly three times the amount spent last year, as it expands manufacturing capacity and accelerates development of autonomous vehicles, robotics, and related technologies.

Tesla also received favorable regulatory news on Thursday.

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it had closed a preliminary evaluation launched in 2022 involving approximately 695,000 Tesla vehicles over reports of unexpected deceleration.

The investigation covered Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.

According to the agency, the decision was based on a low demonstrated hazard to drivers and a substantial decline in incident reports following software updates introduced by Tesla in early 2022.

NHTSA said reported incidents fell from roughly 300 cases when the investigation began to 45 reports in 2024, 19 in 2025, and just three so far in 2026.

The regulator added that the reported conditions did not alter vehicle lane positioning or create significant reductions in following distance that could lead to collisions.

The development follows another recent regulatory decision.

Last week, NHTSA separately closed an expanded investigation involving an estimated 376,241 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles over concerns related to loss of steering control.

Together, the strong delivery numbers and regulatory developments provided Tesla with a series of positive headlines as the company continues balancing a recovering automotive business with ambitious investments in artificial intelligence, autonomy, and robotics.

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Signal Or Noise? Deciphering The Fed's New Direction.

Stock Market Skids As Trump Makes This Trade Call; Jobs Report Due Describing itself as a "technology company known for developing innovations that enable next-generation solutions for the semiconductor and media industries," Adeia (ADEA) does not make physical products or sell consumer software. Rather, its business strategy is to invent, patent and license foundational technologies. Adeia maintains long-standing relationships with global tech, semiconductor and media giants. Partners include the likes of Google-parent…

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Intesa Sanpaolo logo is seen in this illustration taken December 3, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

MILAN, July 2 (Reuters) - Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI), opens new tab on Thursday said it had completed the cloud migration of its core IT systems, ​joining a handful of European banks that have managed to ‌move away from legacy technology.

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Replacing existing core IT infrastructure, known as mainframes, with cloud technology poses a major challenge to traditional banks.

Legacy systems, often comprising ​multiple software stacks accumulated over time due to mergers, ​put high-street banks at a disadvantage versus cloud-native, challenger banks.

Under ⁠a multi-billion-euro cloud transition project, Intesa launched cloud-based digital bank ​Isybank in 2023, partnering with British tech firm Thought Machine. By ​migrating millions of customers, it used Isybank as a testing ground for a full cloud shift.

The move places Intesa among a small number of European banks ​that have pursued large-scale cloud migration: Denmark's Danske Bank (DABA.CO), opens new tab, Britain's Lloyds (LLOY.L), opens new tab, ​HSBC (HSBA.L), opens new tab, and, within the euro zone, Spain's Santander (SAN.MC), opens new tab and BBVA (BBVA.MC), opens new tab.

Intesa, Google Cloud and ‌TIM ⁠said in a joint statement the shift had relied on the two Italian Google Cloud regions in Turin and Milan, hosted by TIM's data centres.

"More than 800 applications were successfully migrated to Google ​Cloud infrastructure, and ​an equal number ⁠were decommissioned within the bank's physical headquarters," the companies said.

"Massive" amounts of data were transferred with "high ​security standards, speed, and minimum latency between cloud environments ​and ⁠legacy systems," they said.

"The cloud infrastructure successfully absorbed massive workload volumes, ensuring business continuity without recording any major incidents during the migration phases."

Euro ⁠zone banks' ​IT capabilities are a key focus ​for European Central Bank supervisors, who have repeatedly warned that weaknesses in legacy systems ​can increase operational and cyber risks.

Reporting by Valentina Za Editing by Keith Weir

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

Google logo is seen on a building during the opening of Google new office space in Krakow, Poland on June 22, 2026. Located in Tertium Business Park building, the offICE is a second location for Google in the city. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

NurPhoto via Getty Images

This article was written by Doug Nathman, with research by his team at Trefis.

Behind the "AI" excitement lies the underlying narrative: a growing order book that indicates demand is surpassing the company's capabilities.

Alphabet (GOOGL) shares have exhibited outstanding performance, achieving a gain of 104% over the last year. Following such a notable increase, a crucial inquiry arises regarding what could facilitate further advancement. The straightforward answer is "AI," but that has morphed into a catchphrase. The genuine story is more detailed, more concrete, and it comes with a significant figure attached.

Where Is The Expansion Concealed? In A $462 Billion Order Book.Beyond the lofty assertions of artificial intelligence, it is beneficial to examine the foundational infrastructure. Alphabet's genuine engine of surprise currently is Google Cloud. In the most recent quarter, Cloud revenue surged to a 63% increase, surpassing $20 billion for the first time. This stands impressive by itself. Yet the real narrative lies within the backlog, the quantity of future business commitments made by customers. It nearly doubled within a single quarter, soaring to $462 billion. For reference, that exceeds the company's total revenue from the past year. This is not mere hype; it reflects a substantial backlog of signed agreements, driven by what management identifies as their "primary growth driver for cloud for the first time": enterprise AI solutions.

But Is This A Beneficial Issue Or Just A Dilemma?Despite all this growth, management made a significant acknowledgment: "we are compute constrained in the near term." They noted that "cloud revenue would have been higher had we been able to meet the demand." In essence, demand is so robust that they are unable to fulfill it all at present. This type of challenge is a dream for most companies. It affirms the exceedingly strong demand but also introduces a vital tension: the company must now enhance its capacity before this remarkable demand becomes a limiting ceiling on growth.

Why The Investment Surge Is The Bull Scenario.Alphabet's countermeasure is to expand. Rapidly. The company is projecting $180 billion to $190 billion in capital expenditures for 2026 and anticipates a "significant increase" in spending for 2027 from that point onward. This expenditure is not aimless spending. It represents a direct, calculated endeavor to develop the capacity necessary to cater to the $462 billion backlog and seize the demand that is currently being overlooked. They are laying foundations and installing servers with a clear vision of who will finance it.

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The market has valued Alphabet for its advancements in AI. However, the sheer, contractual volume of activities within Google Cloud indicates that the upcoming chapter may focus less on clever demonstrations and more on the straightforward economics of fulfilling an extraordinary influx of orders. The demand is no longer a projection; it is a reality, firmly displayed in the backlog. Investors should now observe how swiftly that capital expenditure is translated into recognized Cloud revenue.

Where Should You Look For The Next Narrative Like This?An opportunity of this nature only becomes significant once it manifests in the numbers, and the first solid indication appears in management’s guidance. Once a company can genuinely foresee the new revenue, it elevates its forecast, and an improved forecast that the market is already rewarding represents one of the clearest pieces of evidence that such a story is materializing. F5 (FFIV), Flex (FLEX), and Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT) are currently signaling precisely that. Our Guidance Momentum screen monitors every S&P 500 entity where a rising forecast correlates with real price momentum, allowing you to seek out the next opportunity like this one while it is still in its infancy. Additionally, if you prefer to invest in the entire theme rather than wager on a single entity, a communication services ETF such as XLC encompasses the full spectrum.

Where Should A Stock Like This Reside In Your Portfolio?A compelling growth narrative is an excellent beginning. A well-organized collection of such narratives forms a strategy. An engine like this is important because it can continue to compound subtly over the years, and a stock that compounds is worthwhile to own, but focusing on any single entity is where well-conceived ideas can be penalized. A diversified assortment of equally well-researched stocks mitigates the risk associated with single-stock concentration. The challenging aspect is determining which stories truly deliver, and that ranking forms the core of the Trefis methodology.

The Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio assesses the overall quality across thousands of equities, not just one catalyst, incorporates the 30 strongest stocks, and rebalances them with rigor. It has a proven record of surpassing a benchmark that merges the three major indices – the S&P 500, S&P Mid-cap, and Russell 2000.

July 02, 2026 08:00 ET  | Source: authID Inc.

Certified Integration Delivers High-Assurance, Privacy-Preserving Identity Verification at Scale Across the Microsoft Ecosystem 

DENVER, CO, July 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- authID® (Nasdaq: AUID), a leading provider of biometric identity verification and authentication solutions, today announced its inclusion in the Microsoft Entra Verified ID partner ecosystem as an Entra Verified ID Identity Verification (IDV) Partner. This milestone expands authID’s potential reach across the global Microsoft customer base and strengthens its partnership momentum with MajorKey Technologies, an Elite Microsoft Partner.

Microsoft Entra is the identity and access management platform used by hundreds of thousands of enterprises worldwide. Certification means that authID’s solution has been rigorously vetted by Microsoft for security, interoperability, and compliance standards, entailing instant credibility with enterprise buyers already leveraging the Microsoft ecosystem. authID sees the potential for strong pipeline growth from being part of that ecosystem, as it allows them to easily deliver their IDV solution to the majority of global enterprise customers.

Through Microsoft Entra Verified ID, organizations can issue verifiable credentials to enable secure, privacy-first digital interactions across workforce, customer, and partner ecosystems. By integrating authID’s biometric identity verification capabilities, enterprises can validate that a digital identity is tied to a real, present individual, defending against deepfakes while eliminating the reliance on passwords, knowledge-based verification, easily spoofed credentials, or commonly stolen or compromised devices.

 Microsoft-certified solutions integrate directly with Entra's identity workflows, including Conditional Access policies, verified ID credentials, and external authentication providers. This means customers can incorporate authID into their existing identity stack without custom development or security exceptions.

“I am very proud of our team for their efforts in achieving this milestone,” said Rhon Daguro, CEO of authID. “Microsoft certification does not come quickly or easily, so we put in the preparation and effort needed over time to make this happen. We also appreciate the guidance of our partner MajorKey, a principal player in the Microsoft arena.”

Addressing the Expanding Digital Identity Ecosystem

The certification comes at a critical time for enterprise security and digital onboarding. The growth of identities managed by Microsoft coincides with a global surge in fraudulent identities and identity-based attacks fueled by AI and deepfake technology: 

Microsoft Entra services over 800,000 organizations globally, supporting over 1 billion monthly active users, and processing over 8 billion authentications daily.At the same time, reported losses from job scam fraud jumped from $90 million in 2020 to over $501 million in 2024, a 457% increase in four years, according to the FTC. Gartner projects that one in four candidate profiles globally could be fraudulent by 2028, underscoring the accelerating scale of AI-driven identity fraud targeting enterprise hiring and onboarding workflows. As enterprises accelerate digital transformation and remote work initiatives, identity verification has become a foundational requirement across hiring, onboarding, account recovery, and privileged access workflows, especially when leveraging the Microsoft identity platform.

Expanding authID’s Reach Across the Microsoft Ecosystem 

authID’s inclusion as an IDV partner significantly broadens its addressable market by enabling access to the growing base of Microsoft Entra customers deploying Zero Trust architectures. Achieving certification required meeting strict technical and security requirements, while providing pre-built trust with IT decision-makers, procurement officers, and compliance reviewers. It can also serve as an important competitive differentiator in enterprise RFPs as the list of certified vendors is small and limited.

With the addition of Microsoft Entra Verified ID support, authID is doubling down on its channel-first strategy. MajorKey Technologies is bringing authID-powered identity verification to enterprise customers through its Microsoft Entra-focused solutions and services and IDProof+ solution, built around authID Proof™. This partnership enables authID to scale through Microsoft’s ecosystem of global system integrators, resellers, and enterprise customers, creating a repeatable, partner-led revenue model. 

Delivering Privacy-First, High-Assurance Identity Verification 

authID’s technology uniquely combines high-assurance biometric verification with a privacy-first architecture:

Sub-second identity verification with industry-leading accuracy Zero biometric data storage, reducing enterprise liability and regulatory exposure Liveness detection and deepfake protection to ensure the real user is presentSeamless integration with Microsoft Entra Verified ID APIs and credential flows   By combining authID Proof™ with Microsoft’s decentralized identity platform, organizations can establish trust at every digital interaction while preserving user privacy. 

“Identity has become the new security perimeter, and verifying the real person behind every digital interaction is mission-critical,” added Daguro. “Our inclusion in the Microsoft Entra Verified ID ecosystem, a designation not shared by many of our competitors, allows us to bring high-assurance, privacy-preserving identity verification to enterprises at scale, while accelerating our partner-led growth with Microsoft-focused system integrators.” 

About authID
 
authID (Nasdaq: AUID) ensures enterprises “Know Who's Behind the Device™” for every customer or employee login and transaction through its easy-to-integrate, patented, biometric identity platform. authID quickly and accurately verifies a user's identity, leveraging a 1-in-1-billion False Positive Rate for the highest level of assurance, coupled with industry-leading speed and privacy-preserving technology. Our IDX platform secures the distributed workforce of employees and contractors, while enforcing authorization and accountability for AI agents. By creating a biometric root of trust for each user, authID stops fraud at onboarding, prevents account takeover, detects and stops deepfakes, eliminates password risks and costs, and provides the fastest, frictionless, and most accurate user identity experience in the industry.  

For more information, visit www.authID.ai or
https://developer.authid.ai/docs/proof-and-entra-verified-id.  

Investor Relations Contacts

[email protected] 

Microsoft® and Entra® are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

Microsoft is investing $2.5 billion into a new group focused on assisting clients with AI implementations, becoming the latest tech company to commit hefty resources to helping businesses understand and adopt emerging artificial intelligence technologies.

With the new venture, called Microsoft Frontier Co., the software vendor said Thursday that 6,000 employees will be embedded with clients, in a practice that's become known as forward deployed engineering. The division will contain existing Microsoft FDEs, technical consultants, support staffers and salespeople with experience in specific industries. Rodrigo Kede Lima, who's been leading Microsoft's Asia business, will be its president.

The announcement comes two days after cloud rival Amazon said it was putting $1 billion behind an FDE initiative to support fast-paced AI engagements. Leading AI labs Anthropic and OpenAI both established FDE groups in May, partnering with private equity firms, banks and consulting firms.

Alongside its technology peers, Microsoft has sunk tens of billions of dollars into building data centers that run generative AI models. Microsoft has also released a variety of AI services, with mixed results. The Microsoft 365 Copilot AI assistant has yet to gain anything approaching ubiquity in the business world, and the GitHub Copilot coding agent has ceded market share to newer players.

Microsoft's stock has slumped 21% this year, by far the worst performance among the mega-cap tech companies. One concern on Wall Street is that AI models that quickly compose code might threaten mature software companies.

Judson Althoff, CEO of Microsoft's commercial business, said the FDE effort stems from the realization that "customers are in very different places right now, and trying to really figure out AI."

"Do they snap to one model from OpenAI or one model from Anthropic, or a family of models?" Althoff said in an interview. "Do they take it from a technology first mindset? How do they look at their existing business processes and operations?"

Althoff credits data analytics software vendor Palantir with popularizing the FDE job title. The U.S. military, which keeps forward deployed forces abroad, has long relied on Palantir software, and the company sent FDEs to U.S. bases in Afghanistan, according to the prospectus for its 2020 direct listing.

Earlier this year, Accenture and EY both touted plans to ally with Microsoft on AI-centric FDE programs.

Relative to Palantir, Microsoft supports "more models, we support more connectors to data, more integrations with open systems of record," Althoff said.

Microsoft has for years provided support and implementation services to customers. The company generated about $2.1 billion in revenue from enterprise and partner services in the March quarter, up 2.5% from a year earlier.

Althoff said the company has had the most success when it takes a "very methodical approach towards working with customers to build out an intelligence platform" that protects their intellectual property and allows them to take advantage of "any model in the ecosystem."

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Satya Nadella says the industry shouldn’t “cede value to a few models that eat everything they see.” (GeekWire File Photo / Kevin Lisota) Microsoft is launching a new AI “company.” It won’t be a separate legal entity, and most of its 6,000 people already work at Microsoft. But the $2.5 billion behind it is real, and the stakes are big, given how many of its AI partners and rivals are racing to do basically the same thing. 

The tech giant on Thursday announced “The Microsoft Frontier Company,” which will embed engineers inside customers to build and run AI systems. It will be led by Rodrigo Kede Lima, a longtime Microsoft sales and enterprise leader, most recently president of Microsoft Asia.

This practice is known in the industry as forward-deployed engineering, in which a company sends its own technical employees to work inside a customer’s operations to design, build, deploy and operate AI systems on-site rather than selling a tool and walking away. 

The model was pioneered two decades ago by Palantir, but in recent months the approach has become the hot new thing in enterprise AI. Amazon committed $1 billion to its own forward-deployed engineering initiative just two days ago. (Some inside Microsoft suspect that its rival may have caught wind of what it was planning and moved to announce first.) 

Anthropic and OpenAI launched rival ventures in May to put engineers inside enterprise customers. Unlike Microsoft’s initiative, the OpenAI Deployment Company, as the ChatGPT maker’s venture is known, is an actual standalone entity — majority-owned by OpenAI but backed by more than $4 billion from a partnership led by the private-equity firm TPG. 

Similarly, Anthropic teamed with Goldman Sachs, Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman on a $1.5 billion venture — not yet named — to embed engineers inside mid-sized companies, starting with the investment firms’ own portfolio businesses.

Microsoft is attempting to one-up them all. 

“This goes beyond what has been labeled as Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) and will be the largest, most capable, outcome-driven engineering organization in the industry,” wrote Judson Althoff, CEO of Microsoft’s commercial business, in a post announcing the new initiative Thursday morning.

Responding to questions from GeekWire, a Microsoft spokesperson called the new initiative “a purpose-built company with its own leadership and financial accountability” but stopped short of calling it a separate legal entity or standalone company.

The spokesperson said the organization “brings together more than 6,000 industry, engineering and AI professionals, drawn primarily from Microsoft’s existing engineering and forward-deployed teams,” noting that it will “grow through a combination of internal talent and external hiring across engineering, AI, and industry roles.”

Separately, some consulting roles are among those expected to be impacted by the round of layoffs anticipated next week.

Microsoft wouldn’t say whether the $2.5 billion is new spending or repurposed from existing budgets, or over what period it’s being spent. The company also hasn’t yet spelled out what the new organization means for the future of its existing consulting and services units.

Across the industry, this is happening now because the payoff from AI has proven harder to capture than many companies expected. Businesses across the economy have adopted tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot, only to find that impressive demos don’t automatically translate into results. The technology is powerful, but deploying it can be difficult inside a real company, with its own data, rules and entrenched ways of working.

So the AI providers have started sending their own engineers to work inside those companies, figuring out where the AI can actually help, then building it into their operations.

“Having the model alone doesn’t change your workflows or how you operate,” said Marc Nachmann, Goldman Sachs’ global head of asset and wealth management, in an interview with CNBC about the Anthropic partnership. “You need people who can combine the technology with what’s actually happening in the business and implement those changes.” 

The big AI providers have multiple reasons to do this. Each of them wants to get more businesses using its AI platform at higher volumes. All of them are looking to drive long-term demand for the AI capacity they’re collectively spending hundreds of billions of dollars to build.

Another big reason: AI models are becoming commodities, getting cheaper and more similar by the month. The big money for the likes of Microsoft is in selling the services needed to make AI pay off inside a company, which is a far bigger market than just selling the models themselves.

Microsoft is pitching privacy and trust as a selling point. Its promise is that a customer’s data and hard-won knowledge stay the customer’s alone. Microsoft says it won’t feed them into training its AI models in ways that would hand the same advantages to the customer’s rivals. 

It’s also promising choice: customers can run whichever AI model fits the job, from OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, or open-source providers, not locked into using one.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has argued that a company should be able to exchange one AI model for another without losing all the institutional knowledge it has built up. 

That’s his test, as he put it, for whether a business still controls its own future.

“The last thing any of us want is a world where every company across every sector is ceding value to a few models that eat everything they see,” Nadella wrote in a June 14 essay. “If all the value is accrued by only a few models, the political economy will simply not tolerate it. There is no societal permission for an AI future that hollows out entire industries.”

Whether that vision of swappable AI models becomes a reality remains to be seen. There’s actually a risk for customers that the opposite will happen in the forward deployed engineering approach. Even if they can theoretically swap in a competitor’s AI model, working with Microsoft’s engineers means their systems naturally end up running on Microsoft’s cloud platform and related technologies, making it very difficult to jump ship.

It’s also not clear how new all of this really is for the company. Microsoft already runs a large in-house delivery arm — Industry Solutions Delivery, the group that absorbed what used to be called Microsoft Consulting Services — with thousands of consultants and engineers building and deploying technology inside customer organizations. 

Microsoft also has programs like FastTrack to help customers roll out its software, and over the past year it has been rolling out “forward-deployed engineering” teams with partners, including a dedicated practice with Accenture and a $1 billion, five-year alliance with EY.

So ultimately the Microsoft Frontier Company is less a new company than a new push behind work the actual company was already doing, albeit bigger and better-branded than before.

Venu Krishna went on CNBC’s Closing Bell Overtime on June 30 and argued that the money fleeing Big Tech is running the wrong direction. His pitch: a PEG ratio below 1 for the Mag 7 excluding Tesla, roughly 30% earnings growth in Q1, and multiples that have already been marked down. “Everybody, when they think about rotation, is moving away from them. And those are precisely the areas which we continue to like.”

Krishna’s team lifted its S&P 500 target to 7,800, built on 21% earnings growth this year decelerating to 15-16% next year, with multiples deliberately cut 5-10% across buckets. He is calling the Big Tech setup “fantastic” because you have earnings compounding fast while the multiple has taken a four-handle haircut. For chip stocks, he sees 18 months of earnings visibility from hyperscaler spending with “no sign of reducing,” projecting hyperscaler capex reaching $1.2 trillion in 2028, roughly $250 billion above consensus.

Where the “under 1” math actually lives The argument lands hardest at Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL | GOOGL Price Prediction), which trades at a P/E of 16x after Q1 revenue of $109.9 billion (+21.8% YoY) and Google Cloud growth of 63% with backlog nearly doubling quarter-over-quarter to over $460 billion, per the company’s Q1 2026 earnings release. That is a growth stock at industrial prices.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) sits at a P/E of 20x with Q1 revenue growth of 33.1%. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is at 27x with an AI run rate that hit $37 billion, up 123% year-over-year. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is at 33x with AWS growing 28%, its fastest in 15 quarters. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is the outlier at 38x on 16.6% revenue growth, which is why the PEG story looks better without it. And NVIDIA is the chip half of Krishna’s thesis, with Q1 FY27 revenue up 85.2% and Data Center revenue of $75.25 billion, +92%.

Then look at what the tape has done. Microsoft is down 22.53% year-to-date and 17.15% over the last month. Meta is down 14.52% YTD. Amazon shed 11.93% in the past month. Meanwhile the Invesco QQQ Trust is up 19.87% YTD. The dispersion is the whole point. Money has crowded into the chip side while selling the platforms that fund the chip side.

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.

The rate risk that could kill the trade Krishna flags rates as the primary equity risk, because AI capex is itself feeding inflation through higher memory, server, and storage costs. That makes Fed cuts unlikely. His base case: no hikes this year, potentially one next year. The 10-year Treasury yield sits at 4.38%, in the 76th percentile of the last 12 months, and Core PCE is running in the 90.9th percentile of its trailing year. Higher discount rates compress the value of distant AI earnings, which is why the “fantastic” setup only stays fantastic if rates behave.

The capex numbers back Krishna’s chip case. Microsoft’s quarterly capex hit $30.88 billion (+84%), Alphabet’s $35.67 billion (+107%), and Meta guided full-year capex up to $125-145 billion. Amazon committed roughly 2 gigawatts of Trainium capacity to OpenAI and up to 5 gigawatts to Anthropic. That spend is already contracted.

What the crowd is actually doing The uncomfortable part of Krishna’s call is that you are buying what everyone else is selling. But if hyperscaler capex really is a durable runway, then sellers of Alphabet near 16x earnings and Meta near 20x are handing away growth stocks at cyclical multiples. The rotation trade assumes AI monetization has topped out at the platform layer. Q1 revenue prints across the group make that a hard argument to defend.

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.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Nike (NKE +2.18%) stock fell 11% in June, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Investors were feeling negative about it as it got closer to earnings, especially since competitor Lululemon Athletica reported disappointing results early in the month. But it's already bouncing back.

No fast turnaround Nike has gotten into a quagmire as several headwinds converged on it at the same time. It started with some internal decisions that didn't turn out as expected, including curtailing wholesale partnerships in favor of its direct-to-consumer business and devoting resources to its long-term franchises in place of innovating in sport. As these actions dragged on sales, inflation soared, hurting it further, and tariff changes put tremendous pressure on profits.

Image source: Nike.

It's taken meaningful action to get back on track, starting with getting a new CEO. It has reversed the wholesale mess and restructured operations to get back into the innovative spirit, with a commitment to speed in getting new products to market. The inflation piece is still in place, but it's lapping the tariff changes and also getting a refund for some of it.

Nike released its fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter (ended May 31) report this past week, which was mixed. Full-year revenue was flat, while fourth-quarter revenue was down 1%. Wholesale revenue increased 4% year over year in the quarter, while direct-to-consumer revenue fell 7%. The bright spot was gross margin, which increased 8.9 percentage points to 49.2% with the refunded tariffs, and earnings per share of $0.72, including a $0.52 benefit for the same reason, up from $0.14 last year.

Investors are hopeful Nike stock fell after the report, but it made a full recovery and is on the rise again. While there were some severely negative updates, led by a 17% sales decrease in China in the fourth quarter from last year and the lowering of near-term guidance, there were several more positive updates.

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The company beat on both the top and bottom line, and the easing of the tariff issue was a relief for the market. For the full year, wholesale revenue increased double-digit in North America. And while sales guidance was lowered due to unexpected changes in global shopping behaviors related to the Iran war, the company is responding by tightening inventory, and it expects further improvement in the gross margin.

In other words, while the recovery has been hampered, it appears to be in progress, and Nike stock is up 4% since the report.

Jennifer Saibil has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nike. The Motley Fool recommends Lululemon Athletica Inc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

AT&T (T - Free Report) has recently been on Zacks.com's list of the most searched stocks. Therefore, you might want to consider some of the key factors that could influence the stock's performance in the near future.

Over the past month, shares of this telecommunications company have returned -13%, compared to the Zacks S&P 500 composite's -1.4% change. During this period, the Zacks Wireless National industry, which AT&T falls in, has lost 12.1%. The key question now is: What could be the stock's future direction?

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

Earnings Estimate RevisionsHere at Zacks, we prioritize appraising the change in the projection of a company's future earnings over anything else. That's because we believe the present value of its future stream of earnings is what determines the fair value for its stock.

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

AT&T is expected to post earnings of $0.59 per share for the current quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +9.3%. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged.

The consensus earnings estimate of $2.3 for the current fiscal year indicates a year-over-year change of +8.5%. This estimate has remained unchanged over the last 30 days.

For the next fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $2.52 indicates a change of +9.6% from what AT&T is expected to report a year ago. Over the past month, the estimate has remained unchanged.

Having a strong externally audited track record, our proprietary stock rating tool, the Zacks Rank, offers a more conclusive picture of a stock's price direction in the near term, since it effectively harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions. Due to the size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, AT&T is rated Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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

12 Month EPS

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

In the case of AT&T, the consensus sales estimate of $31.99 billion for the current quarter points to a year-over-year change of +3.7%. The $129.79 billion and $133.53 billion estimates for the current and next fiscal years indicate changes of +3.3% and +2.9%, respectively.

Last Reported Results and Surprise HistoryAT&T reported revenues of $31.51 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +2.9%. EPS of $0.57 for the same period compares with $0.51 a year ago.

Compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $31.19 billion, the reported revenues represent a surprise of +1.01%. The EPS surprise was +3.64%.

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

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

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

The Zacks Value Style Score (part of the Zacks Style Scores system), which pays close attention to both traditional and unconventional valuation metrics to grade stocks from A to F (an A is better than a B; a B is better than a C; and so on), is pretty helpful in identifying whether a stock is overvalued, rightly valued, or temporarily undervalued.

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

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

Wall Street watches a company's quarterly report closely to understand as much as possible about its recent performance and what to expect going forward. Of course, one figure often stands out among the rest: earnings.

Life and the stock market are both about expectations, and rising above what is expected is often rewarded, while falling short can come with negative consequences. Investors might want to try to capture stronger returns by finding positive earnings surprises.

Hunting for 'earnings whispers' or companies poised to beat their quarterly earnings estimates is a somewhat common practice. But that doesn't make it easy. One way that has been proven to work is by using the Zacks Earnings ESP tool.

The Zacks Earnings ESP, ExplainedThe Zacks Expected Surprise Prediction, or ESP, works by locking in on the most up-to-date analyst earnings revisions because they can be more accurate than estimates from weeks or even months before the actual release date. The thinking is pretty straightforward: analysts who provide earnings estimates closer to the report are likely to have more information.

With this in mind, the Expected Surprise Prediction compares the Most Accurate Estimate (being the most recent) against the overall Zacks Consensus Estimate. The percentage difference provides the ESP figure. The system also utilizes our core Zacks Rank to provide a stronger system for identifying stocks that might beat their next quarterly earnings estimate and possibly see the stock price climb.

Bringing together a positive earnings ESP alongside a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better has helped stocks report a positive earnings surprise 70% of the time. Furthermore, by using these parameters, investors have seen 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest.

Stocks with a ranking of #3 (Hold), or 60% of all stocks covered by the Zacks Rank, are expected to perform in-line with the broader market. Stocks with rankings of #2 (Buy) and #1 (Strong Buy), or the top 15% and top 5% of stocks, respectively, should outperform the market; Strong Buy stocks should outperform more than any other rank.

Should You Consider MasterCard?The last thing we will do today, now that we have a grasp on the ESP and how powerful of a tool it can be, is to quickly look at a qualifying stock. MasterCard (MA - Free Report) holds a #3 (Hold) at the moment and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $4.84 a share 28 days away from its upcoming earnings release on July 30, 2026.

MasterCard's Earnings ESP sits at +1.87%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $4.84 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.75. MA is also part of a large group of stocks that boast a positive ESP. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.

MA is part of a big group of Business Services stocks that boast a positive ESP, and investors may want to take a look at Visa (V - Free Report) as well.

Slated to report earnings on August 4, 2026, Visa holds a #2 (Buy) ranking on the Zacks Rank, and its Most Accurate Estimate is $3.23 a share 33 days from its next quarterly update.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Visa is $3.22, and when you take the percentage difference between that number and its Most Accurate Estimate, you get the Earnings ESP figure of +0.29%.

MA and V's positive ESP figures tell us that both stocks have a good chance at beating analyst expectations in their next earnings report.

Find Stocks to Buy or Sell Before They're ReportedUse the Zacks Earnings ESP Filter to turn up stocks with the highest probability of positively, or negatively, surprising to buy or sell before they're reported for profitable earnings season trading. Check it out here >>

NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / July 2, 2026 / Emerging Growth Research today announced the release of its Fiscal Q4 2026 Quarterly Update on Virtuix Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:VTIX), reiterating its Buy-Emerging rating and 12-month price target of $9.00 per share, representing approximately 177% upside from the Company's July 1, 2026 closing price of $3.25.

The quarterly update highlights what Emerging Growth Research believes was a transformational fiscal year for Virtuix. While the Company continued investing aggressively in future growth, Virtuix exceeded expectations on both revenue and earnings during the quarter while continuing to execute its long-term strategy across both the consumer virtual reality and defense markets.

Emerging Growth Research believes Virtuix remains one of the most compelling long-term growth opportunities in the emerging virtual reality sector, supported by its market-leading, patent-protected technology platform, expanding recurring software revenue, growing defense opportunities, and recently announced strategic partnership with Meta.

Key Highlights from the Quarterly Update

Transformational Fiscal 2026 Performance

Fiscal 2026 marked an important milestone for Virtuix as the Company continued executing its long-term growth strategy. Fourth quarter revenue increased 32% sequentially, reflecting continued customer adoption despite challenging year-over-year comparisons related to fulfillment of a large preorder backlog in the prior year. Emerging Growth Research believes current financial results establish a strong foundation for accelerating growth in fiscal 2027 and beyond.

Consumer and Defense Growth Strategy Continues to Expand

Virtuix continues building a diversified growth platform across both consumer entertainment and defense applications. During the quarter, the Company expanded its distribution through a new partnership with Meta, providing access to approximately 20 million Meta Quest headset owners while also growing its presence in Europe and Canada. On the defense side, Virtuix continues advancing its AI-powered Virtual Terrain Walk platform following selection by the U.S. Air Force SBIR program, while management is evaluating strategic defense acquisitions to accelerate government contracting opportunities.

Long-Term Revenue Inflection Remains Intact

Emerging Growth Research continues to forecast approximately 15% revenue growth during fiscal 2027 followed by nearly 290% growth during fiscal 2028 as consumer adoption accelerates and defense opportunities begin contributing meaningfully to results. The research firm believes Virtuix remains positioned for a potential "hockey stick" revenue trajectory beginning in calendar 2027.

Shares Continue to Trade at a Significant Valuation Discount

Despite improving business fundamentals, Emerging Growth Research believes VTIX shares remain substantially undervalued based on both discounted cash flow analysis and peer valuation multiples. The firm's blended valuation methodology continues to support a $9.00 per share price target, representing significant upside from current trading levels.

Near-Term Risks Remain Manageable

While the report notes several near-term considerations - including the July 27, 2026 expiration of the IPO lock-up period, continued investment spending, and the timing of defense contract awards - Emerging Growth Research believes these factors are outweighed by the Company's substantial long-term growth opportunity and strengthening competitive position.

The report concludes that Virtuix's unique combination of proprietary technology, expanding addressable markets, recurring software revenue, and emerging defense business creates a compelling long-term investment opportunity for investors seeking exposure to next-generation immersive technologies.

For a copy of the full Fiscal Q4 2026 Quarterly Update, please visit:

https://emerginggrowth.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VTIX_FYQ4.26-Quarterly-Update-7.2.26.pdf

or

https://emerginggrowth.com/profile/vtix/ (Quarterly Update available on the Company profile page on the right as you scroll down)

About Virtuix Holdings Inc.

Virtuix Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:VTIX) develops and manufactures AI-driven, full-body virtual reality systems for consumer and defense markets. Its flagship Omni platform enables users to walk and run naturally inside immersive virtual environments for gaming, fitness, and military training applications. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Virtuix has established itself as a leader in omni-directional virtual reality technology through its vertically integrated platform and extensive intellectual property portfolio.

About Emerging Growth Research

Emerging Growth Research is an independent equity research firm focused on providing institutional-quality analysis on emerging and growth-stage companies. Through its comprehensive research platform, Emerging Growth Research delivers objective investment analysis designed to enhance transparency, improve investor understanding, and broaden market awareness. The firm provides ongoing research coverage for companies presenting on the Emerging Growth Conference platform.

Contact:
Emerging Growth Research
[email protected]
www.EmergingGrowth.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning business operations, financial performance, revenue projections, defense contracting opportunities, merger and acquisition prospects, valuation estimates, and future growth expectations. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied. Important risk factors include, but are not limited to, consumer adoption rates, defense contract timing and procurement delays, geopolitical and tariff exposure, potential share dilution, the expiration of the IPO lock-up period, and the Company's ability to successfully execute its growth strategy across both consumer and defense markets.

SOURCE: Virtuix Holdings Inc.

DETROIT — Ford Motor on Thursday reported a 10.3% decline in its second-quarter U.S. new vehicle sales as the company battled a supplier issue for its F-Series pickup trucks and a significant decline in all-electric vehicles.

The Detroit automaker said its pure EV sales fell by 40.7% during the quarter compared with a year earlier. Sales of its F-Series trucks, including the F-150, fell 11% as Ford began ramping up production after its top aluminum supplier restarted production following two fires late last year.

"Although customer demand remains high, first-half F-Series sales reflect a retiming of commercial production following last year's aluminum supply shortages. Ford expects supply to recover more fully in the second half of the year," Ford said in a release.

Ford sold 549,200 vehicles during the second quarter compared to 612,095 units a year earlier. While that's among the largest expected industry declines, the results slightly beat Cox Automotive's expectations for Ford sales to fall 11.5%.

Read more CNBC auto newsFord CEO wants level playing field with Toyota, GM imports as USMCA trade talks reopenTesla reports 480,126 vehicle deliveries for second quarter, topping expectationAutomakers report mixed U.S. sales results as hybrid vehicles drive marketU.S. auto industry faces increased uncertainty without extension of USMCA trade dealThe automaker has sold 1 million vehicles year-to-date through June, down 9.6% from 1.1 million during the first half of last year.

Ford noted that despite the declines, the F-Series remained America's top-selling truck. The company also estimates its U.S. retail market share to end the quarter was up 0.2 percent points compared with a year earlier, to 12.3%.

Ford's sales come a day after most major automakers reported second-quarter numbers that were better than expected, largely driven by increased demand for hybrid vehicles. Cross-town rival General Motors saw its sales fall 4.2%, however, as its EV sales dropped.

Automotive data firm Motor Intelligence on Wednesday estimated U.S. industry sales for June were up 7.5% compared to a year ago, leading to a monthly adjusted selling pace of 16.67 million units, which was higher than many forecasters had expected.

As of last week, Cox Automotive expected U.S. auto sales to be down 2.9% to 15.8 million vehicles, including a 3.4% decline in retail sales. That included a 16.1 adjusted selling rate forecast for June.