Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Growth investors focus on stocks that are seeing above-average financial growth, as this feature helps these securities garner the market's attention and deliver solid returns. However, it isn't easy to find a great growth stock.

That's because, these stocks usually carry above-average risk and volatility. In fact, betting on a stock for which the growth story is actually over or nearing its end could lead to significant loss.

However, the Zacks Growth Style Score (part of the Zacks Style Scores system), which looks beyond the traditional growth attributes to analyze a company's real growth prospects, makes it pretty easy to find cutting-edge growth stocks.

Ralph Lauren (RL - Free Report) is one such stock that our proprietary system currently recommends. The company not only has a favorable Growth Score, but also carries a top Zacks Rank.

Studies have shown that stocks with the best growth features consistently outperform the market. And returns are even better for stocks that possess the combination of a Growth Score of A or B and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy).

Here are three of the most important factors that make the stock of this upscale clothing company a great growth pick right now.

Earnings GrowthEarnings growth is arguably the most important factor, as stocks exhibiting exceptionally surging profit levels tend to attract the attention of most investors. For growth investors, double-digit earnings growth is highly preferable, as it is often perceived as an indication of strong prospects (and stock price gains) for the company under consideration.

While the historical EPS growth rate for Ralph Lauren is 20.5%, investors should actually focus on the projected growth. The company's EPS is expected to grow 10.5% this year, crushing the industry average, which calls for EPS growth of 5.5%.

Cash Flow GrowthCash is the lifeblood of any business, but higher-than-average cash flow growth is more beneficial and important for growth-oriented companies than for mature companies. That's because, high cash accumulation enables these companies to undertake new projects without raising expensive outside funds.

Right now, year-over-year cash flow growth for Ralph Lauren is 25.6%, which is higher than many of its peers. In fact, the rate compares to the industry average of 13.6%.

While investors should actually consider the current cash flow growth, it's worth taking a look at the historical rate too for putting the current reading into proper perspective. The company's annualized cash flow growth rate has been 27.6% over the past 3-5 years versus the industry average of 14.1%.

Promising Earnings Estimate RevisionsBeyond the metrics outlined above, investors should consider the trend in earnings estimate revisions. A positive trend is a plus here. Empirical research shows that there is a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

The current-year earnings estimates for Ralph Lauren have been revising upward. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has surged 0.2% over the past month.

Bottom LineWhile the overall earnings estimate revisions have made Ralph Lauren a Zacks Rank #2 stock, it has earned itself a Growth Score of B based on a number of factors, including the ones discussed above.

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

This combination indicates that Ralph Lauren is a potential outperformer and a solid choice for growth investors.

HomeDividends AnalysisDividend Quick Picks

SummaryIn this article series, I summarize dividend announcements of the past week. Thirteen companies in my database (including 7 banks) announced dividend increases.JPMorgan Chase stands out with a 10% dividend hike, an A+ safety grade, and a new $50B buyback, and trades only 3.35% above fair value.Matson is the week's high-quality non-bank, boasting a 7.34 quality score, 9.4 safety score, and a conservative 10% payout ratio.Caution is warranted for The First Bancorp and John Wiley & Sons due to weaker quality scores, modest increases, and potential dividend safety concerns despite long payout streaks. Eoneren/E+ via Getty Images

I monitor dividend announcements for 700+ dividend growth stocks in my database and report on them in this weekly article series.

Celebrating increases for the stocks I own is satisfying, but a dividend increase carries a

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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

Hims & Hers Health shares HIMS surged 9% on Wednesday after Canaccord Genuity raised its price target on the telehealth company, citing improving sales trends, momentum in its weight-loss business, and growing optimism around its peptide opportunity.

Canaccord analyst Maria Ripps maintained a Buy rating on the stock while increasing her price target to $40 from $32, implying additional upside from current levels.

The upgrade comes after a strong second quarter for Hims & Hers, with the stock gaining approximately 67% during the period.

Ripps said Hims & Hers continues to benefit from stronger credit card spending data and the rollout of branded weight-loss medications.

The analyst noted that Hims has become one of Novo Nordisk's largest telehealth partners for weight-loss drugs.

The company also expanded its international presence by launching generic semaglutide in Canada in late May and completed its acquisition of Eucalyptus in early June.

According to Canaccord, credit card spending data showed adjusted year-over-year sales growth improving throughout the quarter, rising from the mid-to-high single digits in April to the high teens by June.

The company generated $2.37 billion in revenue over the last 12 months while posting 33% revenue growth and a 73% gross profit margin.

Canaccord also said improving sentiment around Hims' peptide strategy has become another positive catalyst for investors.

Investor attention is now turning to the US Food and Drug Administration's Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee meeting scheduled for July 23-24.

The committee is expected to review seven peptides after FDA staff recommended against allowing compounding pharmacies to manufacture them, citing limited evidence supporting their use and unresolved safety concerns.

The peptides under review include BPC-157, Emideltide, Epitalon, KPV, MOTS-c, Semax and TB-500.

FDA scientists said available evidence was insufficient to support compounding and noted that potential safety risks could not be ruled out.

Former advisory committee member Dr. Anita Gupta said earlier reviews identified concerns over immune responses.

"At the time, the FDA presented a lot of adverse event data that showed there was a risk of immunogenicity — immune reactions — and that raised some red flags for the committee."

She also warned about product quality issues, saying some peptide products have shown "heavy metals," "microbial contamination" or mislabeling.

Despite the FDA staff recommendation, Ripps remains optimistic about the longer-term opportunity, noting that the advisory committee's current membership appears more supportive of peptides.

Hims has already positioned itself for a potential expansion into peptide therapies.

Earlier this year, the company acquired a California-based peptide manufacturing facility to strengthen its domestic supply chain and support future work in preventive health, metabolic optimization, cognitive performance and recovery science.

Several analysts believe the peptide market could represent a multibillion-dollar revenue opportunity if regulations become more favorable.

Needham analyst Ryan MacDonald described the FDA staff recommendation as unexpected but said it does not represent the final outcome.

"This is not the end of the conversation," he told the Hims House investor community on X, adding that approval odds may be "slightly less," but he is "still operating under the assumption that they will get approved."

MacDonald noted that the advisory committee must still review scientific evidence, hear stakeholder feedback, and make its recommendation before the FDA issues a final decision.

He also said FDA leadership ultimately determines the outcome, while the Department of Health and Human Services oversees the agency, with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. having publicly expressed support for peptide deregulation.

For the second time this year, one of Bloom Energy’s (BE 2.11%) strategic partners has significantly expanded its partnership less than a year after forming the initial collaboration. This time, it’s Brookfield Asset Management (BAM +1.34%). The global alternative asset manager is expanding its AI infrastructure partnership to $25 billion, a five-fold increase since forming the initial partnership last October. That follows Oracle’s (ORCL 1.62%) decision to significantly expand its strategic partnership after Bloom Energy delivered a fully operational fuel system to the cloud giant more than a month ahead of the anticipated deployment schedule.

Here’s what investors need to know about this expanded partnership.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Quintupling its investmentBrookfield sees a massive opportunity to invest in AI infrastructure. The global alternative investment firm estimates that total spending on AI-related infrastructure will exceed $1 trillion this decade and $7 trillion over the next 10 years. The company wants to capitalize on this once-in-a-generation opportunity to build the digital infrastructure backbone of the future. That led it to launch the inaugural Brookfield AI Infrastructure Fund late last year, which aims to acquire up to $100 billion of AI infrastructure assets.

One of Brookfield’s first seed investments in that fund was its initial $5 billion partnership with Bloom Energy. As part of that partnership, Brookfield would deploy up to 1 GW of Bloom Energy’s advanced fuel cells to power data centers and AI factories (specialized AI data centers). The two companies are also collaborating on the design and delivery of AI factories.

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Brookfield is now boosting its investment commitment to $25 billion due to strong, sustained demand from hyperscalers and AI infrastructure developers for fast, reliable, and community-friendly power. The expanded partnership brings together Brookfield’s leadership in developing AI infrastructure, access to capital, and operating scale with Bloom’s rapidly deployable on-site power solution. The companies believe this partnership will help them advance a new model for AI factory development that integrates power, compute, data center infrastructure, and capital.

The standard for on-site powerBloom Energy founder and CEO KR Sridhar believes the company is “ushering in the era of digital power for the digital age” as it’s “rapidly becoming the standard and 'go-to choice' for on-site power.” The expanded partnerships with Brookfield and Oracle show the truth behind that bold statement.

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Oracle selected Bloom Energy to deploy its fuel cell technology at selects data centers last year because these fast-to-deploy power solutions could meet the high demands of AI workloads. Bloom delivered its first system in 55 days, well ahead of the 90-day target. That convinced Oracle to expand its agreement to acquire up to 2.8 GW of Bloom’s fuel cell systems, including the 1.2 GW it has already contracted. Brookfield and its clients are also seeing the benefits of deploying Bloom’s fuel cells to power data centers. The rapid deployment is huge, as securing and building power infrastructure has proven to be a major bottleneck in slowing AI data center development.

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The growing popularity of Bloom’s fuel cell systems is powering rapid growth for the hydrogen company. Bloom’s revenue rocketed 130% in the first quarter to $750 million, while its operating income surged $91.3 million to $72.2 million. Bloom currently expects to book between $3.4 billion and $3.8 billion of revenue this year, up 80% from last year (an acceleration from the 60% growth it initially expected). With Brookfield now following Oracle in significantly expanding its order, Bloom’s revenue should continue surging.

Bloom might not be as expensive as it looksBloom’s accelerating revenue and expanding strategic partnerships have sent its stock soaring by more than 1,100% over the past year. As a result, the fuel cell company trades at over 30 times sales and more than 135 times forward earnings. While Bloom is growing exceptionally fast, that’s a hefty premium. However, the expanded Brookfield deal alone is now worth nearly a third of Bloom’s entire market cap (recently $83 billion). With the potential for more large-scale partnerships in the future, Bloom might not be as expensive as it seems. It's becoming the go-to stock to play the AI power boom.

Matt DiLallo has positions in Brookfield Asset Management and has the following options: short August 2026 $150 puts on Bloom Energy. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bloom Energy, Brookfield Asset Management, and Oracle. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Nasdaq-100 inclusion triggered passive ETF inflows from over $200 billion in benchmarked assets. Meta's cloud compute expansion signals over $100 billion in annual AI capex, reinforcing sustained GPU overbuild rather than demand saturation. Meta's $27 billion framework reinforces the overbuild cycle, signaling persistent AI compute scarcity globally.

© forplayday / iStock via Getty Images

SpaceX is dominating financial headlines with a record-breaking IPO, a rumored $2 trillion valuation, and a Starlink/Starship hype loop that has retirement-focused investors scrambling for pre-IPO access. The more compelling opportunity sits in plain sight on the public market.

The SpaceX trade fails the retirement portfolio test on arithmetic alone. Retail buyers cannot touch the shares directly, secondary-market vehicles charge punitive premiums, and the offering is priced at a dangerous, highly speculative revenue multiple that leaves retail buyers with zero margin of safety ahead of its August lock-up expiration. Insiders exit, retail holds the bag. That movie has run before.

The better ticker is already public, already profitable, and already selling the data a launch business cannot monetize. Planet Labs (NYSE:PL) runs the picks-and-shovels layer of the space economy: an Earth-observation satellite fleet plus an AI-enabled geospatial data subscription business.

1. A high-margin subscription model that funds itself Planet Labs is a software business wrapped inside a satellite operator. In Q1 FY2027, revenue hit a record $94.15 million, up 42% YoY, with GAAP gross margin at 54% and non-GAAP gross margin at 56%. About 99% of annual contract value is recurring. Non-GAAP EPS came in at -$0.03, with the reported GAAP loss distorted by a $106.47 million non-cash warrant revaluation that is now behind the company.

2. A backlog that reads like a defense contractor Forward visibility is the number retirement investors should care about. Planet exited the quarter with backlog above $906 million, up 72% YoY, and remaining performance obligations of $816.01 million, up 81% YoY. The customer roster includes a €240 million German government deal, Sweden’s first sovereign reconnaissance satellite, NATO expansions, NGA, NRO, and the U.S. Navy. Signed contracts backed by government budgets carry different risk than IPO speculation.

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

3. AI optionality built into the data layer CEO Will Marshall summarized the strategy in the most recent quarter: “By investing in AI, we are positioning Planet at the forefront of the industry and pioneering ways to make planetary-scale insights available and actionable to more users than ever before.” The company has an R&D partnership with Google on Project Suncatcher data centers in space, a natural-language query beta, SuperRes AI upscaling, and Pelican satellites moving toward 30cm-class imagery. Every rocket the launch industry puts in orbit ultimately feeds a data layer this business already owns.

The profitability inflection closes the case. FY2026 delivered $52.87 million in free cash flow and $15.49 million of adjusted EBITDA profit, the first full year of both. FY2027 guidance calls for $425 million to $441 million in revenue and up to $10 million of adjusted EBITDA profit.

The obvious pushback is BlackSky Technology (NYSE:BKSY), the smaller pure-play competitor. BlackSky’s Q1 2026 revenue was $20.77 million, down 29.7% YoY, missing expectations by 23.8%, with EPS of -$0.82 against a consensus of -$0.40. Roughly one-tenth Planet Labs’ $10.64 billion market cap, negative operating cash flow at -$2.36 million, and revenue moving the wrong direction.

For investors weighing the SpaceX pre-IPO scramble, Planet Labs belongs on the research short list.

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

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

-Ethereum Institutional se lanza como una organización independiente sin ánimo de lucro para llevar las finanzas institucionales a la cadena de bloques a gran escala.

Bitmine, Sharplink y Joe Lubin financian una nueva organización dedicada a la comercialización, creada por exmiembros de la Fundación Ethereum

, /PRNewswire/ -- Ethereum Institutional, una organización independiente sin ánimo de lucro, anunció hoy su lanzamiento público como la principal plataforma institucional para el ecosistema Ethereum. Esta organización consolida un año de trabajo de captación institucional liderado por el equipo de comercialización de la Fundación Ethereum, integrándolo en una organización independiente con una misión más definida, mayor alcance geográfico y financiación a largo plazo. Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: BMNR), Sharplink, Inc. (NASDAQ: SBET) y el cofundador de Ethereum, Joe Lubin, son los principales inversores, junto con decenas de contribuyentes individuales e institucionales.

Ethereum Institutional Ethereum Institutional existe para que, a medida que las mayores instituciones financieras del mundo toman decisiones fundamentales y de larga duración sobre su plataforma en materia de tokenización, stablecoins e infraestructura de mercado en cadena, interactúen con Ethereum a través de una contraparte creíble y neutral. Ethereum no impone una configuración rígida, sino que permite a las instituciones elegir el enfoque que mejor se adapte a cada caso de uso, al tiempo que obtienen seguridad de la capa de liquidación de activos digitales más robusta y fiable del mundo.

Este lanzamiento representa la segunda organización independiente de gestión del ecosistema Ethereum que se presenta la semana pasada, tras el anuncio de Ethlabs, un laboratorio de investigación y desarrollo también fundado por antiguos líderes de la Fundación Ethereum. Juntos, Ethlabs y Ethereum Institutional constituyen pilares complementarios del próximo capítulo de Ethereum: uno impulsa la innovación en la capa de protocolo y la infraestructura central, y el otro garantiza que las instituciones cuenten con una contraparte creíble y dedicada que las guíe desde la evaluación hasta la implementación a gran escala. Ethereum Institutional aporta experiencia en el ecosistema y conocimientos especializados imparciales a las mayores instituciones financieras del mundo.

El momento de la adopción institucional ha llegado. Ethereum alberga actualmente alrededor de 180 mil millones de dólares en stablecoins en su red principal, lo que representa aproximadamente el 60 % del suministro total de stablecoins y cerca de dos tercios de todos los activos tokenizados del mundo real. Las principales instituciones financieras de gestión de activos, banca, pagos, custodia e infraestructura de mercado están desarrollando activamente soluciones en la red. Mientras tanto, los ecosistemas de la competencia han convertido la adopción institucional en su prioridad comercial, con organizaciones de desarrollo de negocio bien financiadas y con mandatos específicos para lograr implementaciones institucionales.

Las decisiones que las instituciones tomen sobre la plataforma en los próximos 12 a 24 meses definirán la topología de las finanzas en cadena durante décadas. Una representación coordinada y creíble unifica el debate y respalda la expansión de la sólida red de Ethereum, lo que beneficia a sus usuarios actuales y futuros.

Ethereum Institutional se lanza con una trayectoria comprobada y un impulso ya consolidado: el equipo ha forjado más de 500 relaciones institucionales que abarcan el universo global de bancos de primer nivel, gestoras de activos líderes, instituciones soberanas, custodios y proveedores de infraestructura de mercado. El equipo ha creado un foro de líderes de opinión a través del Institutional Ethereum Forum, que reunió a más de 150 altos ejecutivos y responsables de activos digitales de instituciones que representan aproximadamente 250 billones de dólares en activos gestionados.

Desde el primer día, Ethereum Institutional operará en torno a cinco áreas clave: Educación y Participación Institucional, Inteligencia Institucional, Marketing de ETH y del Ecosistema, Estándares y Mejores Prácticas, y Eventos Institucionales. Su cobertura geográfica se extenderá desde Nueva York, Londres, Hong Kong y Singapur a otros centros financieros importantes como Zúrich, Frankfurt, Tokio y Abu Dabi, con responsables institucionales dedicados en cada región que operarán bajo un mandato común de imparcialidad y credibilidad.

Thomas "Tom" Lee, presidente de Bitmine. "Las instituciones financieras están tomando hoy decisiones sobre infraestructura que moldearán los mercados de capitales durante décadas, y Ethereum ocupa un lugar cada vez más central en esos debates. Ethereum Institutional llega en el momento preciso, creando un entorno fiable e independiente donde las instituciones pueden interactuar con el ecosistema, desarrollar estándares y acelerar su adopción. Es un paso importante para convertir a Ethereum en la columna vertebral de la próxima generación de infraestructura financiera global."

Joseph Chalom, consejero delegado de Sharplink. "Dediqué dos décadas a ayudar a las instituciones más grandes del mundo a adoptar nuevas tecnologías, y rara vez he visto que las condiciones se alinearan como lo han hecho para Ethereum. Estas instituciones están pasando del interés a la acción en lo que respecta a la tokenización, las stablecoins y una nueva infraestructura de mercado financiero. Ethereum Institutional se creó para satisfacer sus necesidades precisamente en este momento."

Joe Lubin, cofundador de Ethereum y consejero delegado de Consensys. " Ethereum se ha convertido en la infraestructura principal para la confianza descentralizada, verificable y programable. Durante más de una década, los investigadores, desarrolladores y el ecosistema se han centrado en realizar el trabajo arduo sin atajos: hacer que la red sea más escalable, más asequible y más usable, y proteger la neutralidad creíble y la resistencia a la censura mediante una descentralización progresiva y rigurosa. Por eso ha sido la primera y predominante opción para la mayoría de las actividades de stablecoins, activos tokenizados, DeFi y otras infraestructuras financieras en cadena. Las finanzas tradicionales ya se están integrando a la infraestructura descentralizada de Ethereum. Ethereum Institutional ayudará a acelerar este próximo capítulo importante, permitiendo que las instituciones participen a gran escala, promoviendo la apertura y la innovación sin restricciones que hacen que la red sea excepcionalmente poderosa y valiosa".

Para concluir, David Walsh, director ejecutivo de Ethereum Institutional, afirmó: "La neutralidad creíble de Ethereum es una de sus mayores fortalezas, pero la neutralidad sin representación a menudo puede interpretarse como silencio. El ecosistema de Ethereum necesita una contraparte creíble e independiente con la que las instituciones puedan interactuar directamente. Alguien a quien los líderes financieros puedan llamar, con quien puedan informar a su junta directiva y confiar en que les brindará respuestas honestas. Ethereum Institutional existe para ser ese socio especializado. Nuestro trabajo es traducir los requisitos institucionales en implementaciones escalables y, en última instancia, convertir a Ethereum en la capa fundamental de las finanzas institucionales".

Lee, Chalom y Walsh serán los miembros de la Junta Directiva.

Acerca de Bitmine 
Bitmine (NYSE: BMNR) es una minera de Bitcoin con operaciones en Estados Unidos. La compañía está destinando su capital excedente a convertirse en la principal empresa de tesorería de Ethereum del mundo, implementando una estrategia innovadora de activos digitales para inversores institucionales y participantes del mercado público. Guiada por su filosofía de "la alquimia del 5%", la compañía está comprometida con ETH como su principal activo de reserva de tesorería, aprovechando actividades nativas a nivel de protocolo, incluyendo el staking y mecanismos de finanzas descentralizadas. La compañía lanzó MAVAN (Made-in America Validator Network), una infraestructura de staking dedicada a los activos de Bitmine, en 2026.

Acerca de Sharplink

Sharplink (NASDAQ: SBET) es una plataforma líder de tesorería Ethereum de nivel institucional diseñada para proporcionar a los inversores del mercado público una exposición más inteligente y productiva a ETH. Ethereum sustenta la mayoría de las stablecoins globales, los activos del mundo real tokenizados y la liquidación de finanzas descentralizadas. Sharplink se fundó en 2019 y tiene su sede en Miami, Florida. Obtenga más información en sharplink.com.

Acerca de Ethereum Institutional 

Ethereum Institutional es una organización independiente sin ánimo de lucro dedicada a la adopción institucional de Ethereum. La organización actúa como puerta de entrada neutral para que las instituciones accedan al ecosistema Ethereum, trabajando directamente con bancos, gestores de activos, custodios, infraestructuras de mercado, empresas fintech e instituciones soberanas para traducir sus requisitos en implementaciones en la cadena de bloques. La organización se centra en cinco áreas: Educación y Participación Institucional, Inteligencia Institucional, Marketing de ETH y del Ecosistema, Descubrimiento de la Industria y Requisitos, y Eventos Institucionales. Obtenga más información en ethereuminstitutional.org.

Declaraciones prospectivas

Este comunicado de prensa contiene declaraciones sobre el interés institucional previsto en Ethereum, el enfoque de la investigación y las hojas de ruta, los acuerdos de gobernanza, la disponibilidad de financiación y la escalabilidad del programa. Estas declaraciones se basan en las expectativas actuales e implican riesgos e incertidumbres que podrían causar que los resultados reales difieran sustancialmente, incluyendo las condiciones del mercado de activos digitales, los cambios regulatorios, los desarrollos a nivel de protocolo, el calendario de las implementaciones institucionales, la disponibilidad de financiación y las condiciones económicas generales. Las declaraciones prospectivas se refieren únicamente a la fecha de este comunicado y no constituyen garantías. Ethereum Institutional y sus financiadores no asumen ninguna obligación de actualizarlas, salvo que lo exija la ley. Este comunicado de prensa tiene fines meramente informativos.

Sandisk (SNDK 10.50%) stock is sinking in Wednesday's trading. The company's share price was down 11% as of 2 p.m. ET amid a 0.1% gain for the S&P 500 and a 0.2% decline for the Nasdaq Composite.

Sandisk stock is heading lower today as investors sell out of artificial intelligence chip stocks and buy back into top AI software names. While the stock is getting hit with a big pullback today, Sandisk actually got a big price-target increase from a leading investment firm.

Image source: Getty Images.

AI investment rotation is weighing on Sandisk stock today Sandisk stock has been a massive winner this year, with its share price up 759% year to date as of this writing even after some recent pullbacks. Bullish momentum for AI semiconductor stocks has been incredibly strong this year, and leading memory chip stocks have been especially strong performers. Sandisk has been one of the market's biggest winners, but it's seeing some bearish pressures today as investors take profits and reallocate some of their investment dollars into AI software plays.

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This top investment firm just gave Sandisk a massive price target hike Before the market opened this morning, Bank of America's investment wing published new coverage on Sandisk stock and issued a huge price target increase. The firm maintained a buy rating on Sandisk and raised its one-year price target from $2,100 per share to $2,500 per share.

B of A's analysts see Sandisk benefiting from a "strong for longer" dynamic when it comes to supply and-demand trends and pricing for NAND memory chips. The firm sees demand for NAND memory chips remaining very strong for 2027, which should translate to more strong sales and earnings growth for Sandisk.

Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Takeaways NANO Nuclear is developing compact microreactors for reliable, carbon-free, off-grid power.NNE could benefit as AI and hyperscale data centers seek dedicated 24/7 clean electricity.NRC review of KRONOS MMR permits, policy support and clean power demand aid NNE's prospects. NANO Nuclear Energy (NNE - Free Report) is an emerging advanced nuclear technology company developing compact microreactors designed to deliver reliable, carbon-free electricity. Unlike traditional nuclear plants, its portable reactor designs target remote communities, industrial facilities, military installations and other critical infrastructure that require dependable off-grid power. Beyond reactor development, the company is expanding into nuclear fuel transportation, fuel services and consulting, creating a broader platform to support growth across the nuclear energy ecosystem.

NANO Nuclear's microreactor technology is well positioned to benefit from rising electricity demand driven by decarbonization and electrification. These small modular reactors can provide continuous baseload power with a limited land footprint while complementing renewable energy sources. Their modular design also has the potential to shorten construction timelines and lower deployment costs, making them an attractive clean energy solution.

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence and hyperscale data centers represents a significant long-term opportunity. AI infrastructure requires large amounts of uninterrupted electricity, prompting technology companies to seek reliable, carbon-free power sources. NANO Nuclear's microreactors could provide dedicated, around-the-clock electricity for data centers, easing pressure on aging power grids while supporting corporate sustainability goals.

Although still in the development stage, the company has made encouraging regulatory progress. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has begun formal review activities for the KRONOS MMR construction permit application, with environmental and safety reviews scheduled through 2027. Combined with supportive government policies, increasing investment in advanced nuclear technology and growing demand for zero-emission power, this regulatory momentum strengthens NANO Nuclear's long-term commercialization prospects.

Can Microreactors Meet Rising Clean Energy Demand?Surging electricity demand from artificial intelligence, hyperscale data centers and broader electrification trends is driving renewed interest in advanced nuclear energy. Microreactors provide dependable, carbon-free, 24/7 power with flexible deployment, positioning developers to benefit from the rising need for scalable, resilient and clean energy infrastructure.

In addition to NANO Nuclear Energy, Oklo Inc. (OKLO - Free Report) and GE Vernova (GEV - Free Report) are developing advanced microreactor solutions to meet future energy needs. With AI, hyperscale data centers and electrification fueling rapid electricity demand growth, both companies stand to benefit by delivering dependable, carbon-free baseload power that supports grid reliability and the clean energy transition.

NNE’s Earnings Estimates Moving NorthThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for NNE’s 2026 and 2027 earnings per share has increased 32.14% and 17.96%, respectively, in the past 60 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

NNE’s Earnings Surprise HistoryNANO Nuclear’s earnings beat estimates in each of the last four reported quarters, resulting in an average surprise of 43.8%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Price PerformanceNANO Nuclear’s shares have declined 1.2% in the last three months against the industry’s rally of 8.2%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

NNE's Zacks RankNNE currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The sleek, handset-like prototype was designed to integrate AI technology from SpaceX's xAI.

Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX 7.71%) is undeniably a category leader. The company's rocket-launching services dominate the market, and its satellite internet and mobile services are also clear-cut frontrunners in markets with significant long-term growth potential. In addition to those very promising positions, the company is also a compelling player in the artificial intelligence (AI) processing market and is ramping up investments to become a top competitor in the category.

And yet, I'm not ready to buy the stock. Here's why.

SpaceX undeniably has a lot of promise SpaceX provides bleeding-edge technologies across multiple categories. The company revolutionized rocketry by developing launch-and-land rockets that can be reused for subsequent missions. Thanks to these capabilities, the company has been able to provide launch services to third-party customers at very cost-effective price points. The company accounted for roughly 51% of total global orbital launches last year and 85% of total satellite launches.

Image source: Getty Images.

The company's launch capabilities also give it huge advantages in the satellite-based mobile and internet services space. SpaceX's Starlink platform is a leading provider in these categories, and the company's strengths in launch technologies mean it can get communications satellites into space at prices that competitors will likely struggle to match for a long time.

Along with its rocket launch and satellite communication technologies, SpaceX is also rapidly expanding its position in the AI processing market. Of the $28.5 trillion total addressable market (TAM) outlined in the company's initial public offering (IPO) prospectus, management estimates that $26.5 trillion of that TAM comes from AI technologies and services. SpaceX's goal of building a massive constellation of orbital data centers looks highly ambitious and comes with a range of technological challenges, but the company that solved the challenges involved with reusable rockets is arguably the one best positioned to make large-scale, space-based AI processing a reality.

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SpaceX's tech is incredible, but that doesn't mean the stock is right now SpaceX has already delivered revolutionary technologies, and I think there's a good chance its capabilities will play a significant role in advancing key tech trends through the next decade and beyond. The company has achieved laudable breakthroughs and scaling initiatives, and I think it would be a mistake to bet against it continuing to advance its forefront positions at the edges of highly influential tech trends. On the other hand, there is still the question of valuation.

With a market capitalization of roughly $2.07 trillion, the company is valued at roughly 111 times the $18.7 billion in revenue it recorded last year. Admittedly, SpaceX will likely see a meaningful acceleration for its sales growth this year -- with major AI compute deals with Alphabet and other customers aiding its revenue expansion, and strong support for its Starlink and rocket launching businesses also adding to growth.

On the other hand, spending also looks poised to ramp dramatically going forward -- and I think risks related to interest rates and the overall macroeconomic backdrop make SpaceX's valuation profile too risky in the current environment.

Key Takeaways SpaceX's stock has seen volatility since the company's IPO nearly three weeks ago, but analysts project significant long-term growth.Analysts highlight the Starship reusable rocket as a pillar of the company's future success, and point to growing AI revenue and the potential for acquisitions as additional reasons for optimism.Risks include high cash burn and reliance on aggressive growth assumptions for future success. Get personalized, AI-powered answers built on 27+ years of trusted expertise.

Wall Street is starting to size up SpaceX (SPCX), and the stock is getting stellar reviews.

Analysts who have launched coverage of the stock since the company's IPO have said SpaceX stands to become "a major hyperscaler" and "the largest communications, cloud and AI company in the world." That positivity isn't translating into gains today—the stock was down 7% at $159 in recent trading—but Wall Street sees plenty of room for gains.

The average price target from three firms that have initiated coverage of the stock recently stands at $203. While well below the $225 all-time high hit two weeks ago, it's more than 25% above current levels, and 35% higher than the opening price for SpaceX shares when they began trading on June 12.

WHY THIS MATTERS TO YOU Elon Musk's space exploration, connectivity and AI company is now a part of major benchmark indexes and the funds that track them, and will be joining some more, which means the stock's performance is likely represented in your retirement account.

The latest bullish view was delivered Tuesday by analysts at Wedbush led by Dan Ives, who initiated coverage of SpaceX with an "outperform" rating and a price target of $190.1 That target is derived from revenue estimates for 2028, which is expected to be the first year that all three of SpaceX's businesses scale.

They view SpaceX's spacecraft and rocket called Starship as "the essential layer" driving the company's success. Its reusability is a strategic advantage from a cost perspective, but also generates a "feedback loop" through which the company can improve its flight rates without driving up capital expenditures, according to Ives and his team. They add that without it, the company's broadband business Starlink would not have reached the scale it has so far, and that SpaceX's ambitions to build orbital data centers would otherwise not be "feasible."

Oppenheimer's Timothy Horan started coverage on the stock on June 11, prior to the company's IPO, with an "Outperform" rating and a $190 price target. A week later, the firm raised the target to $250 following SpaceX's acquisition of AI startup Cursor.2 Horan's models suggest that Cursor revenue will hit $6 billion by the end of this year, raising SpaceX's AI business revenue by 84% to $8.75 billion in the fourth quarter.

Horan expects more acquisitions. SpaceX could, for example, partner with a large language model company such as Anthropic, with the existing lease for the AI shop to use the company's Colossus data center representing the "seed of a deeper relationship." He also thinks the company could buy additional power or data centers on earth, and even acquire its way into becoming a mobile operator given its existing broadband business.

The main risk to SpaceX's otherwise rosy future is that it runs out of money before it reaches its ambitious goals. "Cash burn means the thesis can expire," Ives and his team said in the report. "The bull case requires conviction that the burn converts into a durable franchise before the capital runs ahead of the proof."

Susquehanna Investment Group's Charles Minervino started coverage on June 23 with a "Neutral" rating, and a price target of $170.3 Though the analyst acknowledged the company's dominance in launching rockets, Starlink's "significant runway," its AI offering, and a "proven operator" in Musk, he also said that the company stock—which was then trading around $150—required "premium multiples on very aggressive revenue and EBITDA growth assumptions."

"With some of the markets that SPCX operates in being relatively unproven, we believe a wide range of outcomes exist," Minervino wrote. "This introduces quite a bit of risk into future expectations and therefore would recommend waiting for a better entry point on the stock."

An Apple logo is seen at the entrance of an Apple Store in downtown Brussels, Belgium March 10, 2016. REUTERS/Yves Herman Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

CompaniesMOSCOW, July 1 (Reuters) - Russia's anti-monopoly watchdog has ​issued a warning to ‌iPhone maker Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab, urging the company ​to address what ​it described as discriminatory ⁠practices against Russian ​search engines and ​software.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service said Apple must ensure Russian ​software, including ​search engines and messenger Max, ‌is ⁠pre-installed on its devices.

The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.

If the company fails to remedy ​the violations ​by ⁠July 15, it could face ​a fine ​of ⁠up to 4 billion roubles ($51.6 million).

($1 = ⁠77.4955 ​roubles)

Reporting by ​Anastasia Lyrchikova; Writing by Maxim Rodionov; ​Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise

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

Meta is powering into the AI trade once again. But there are biggest issues to grapple with.

Investors are bailing on CoreWeave CRWV shares on July 1 following news that Meta Platforms (META) is building an internal cloud infrastructure business dubbed “Meta Compute”.

The sell-off stems mostly from fears that a resourceful name like Meta may soon become a CRWV rival, but a deeper dive suggests it overlooks several operational and market realities.

There’s a strong case to be made that CoreWeave stock is overreacting to the Meta Compute news, and the pullback is actually an opportunity for long-term investors to load up on a quality name at a discount.

For starters, Meta is reportedly only looking at external sales as a safety valve if it overbuilds. The firm’s core business remains driving engagement, ad revenue, and its own consumer AI tools (like Muse Spark).

Meta Platforms will always prioritize its own sprawling training workloads; the moment a massive new internal model needs training, it will reclaim its compute.

And serious enterprise clients and AI firms can’t build stable, long-term products on spare capacity that could be throttled or pulled back whenever Meta’s internal needs spike.

CoreWeave Inc – by contrast – offers dedicated, SLA-backed, contractually guaranteed sovereign infrastructure.

In short, META’s intent is monetizing excess capacity, not becoming a pure-play neocloud, which makes CRWV shares’ dip worth buying on Wednesday.

CoreWeave shares are being sold off today as if Meta is about to pull its business from the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure firm.

But in reality, the $21 billion deal it signed in April runs through 2032. These hyperscale data center contracts are notorious for their ironclad, take-or-pay structures.

Even if META builds its own cloud commercialization business, they are “legally” and financially obligated to fulfill its multi-billion-dollar commitments to CRWV.

Simply put, the Nasdaq-listed firm’s near-to-mid-term revenue visibility from Meta remains rather intact.

Wall Street remains bullish on CoreWeave IncInvestors should also note that renting out raw GPUs requires an entirely different software stack, enterprise sales force, and compliance infrastructure than running a consumer social network.

Fortune 500 companies are incredibly sensitive about data privacy. So they may not be comfortable hosting proprietary data or training confidential models on the infrastructure of an ad-tech titan like Meta.

In contrast, CoreWeave has spent years perfecting its “proprietary” orchestration software, custom networking topologies, and bare-metal performance optimized strictly for artificial intelligence.

Meta Platforms has a world-class infrastructure team, but turning an internal network into a secure, multi-tenant enterprise public cloud takes years of friction. This further suggests CRWV stock is attractive to load up on the pullback today.

Note that Wall Street analysts also have a consensus “Overweight” rating on CoreWeave Inc at the time of writing.  

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Meta is planning a cloud infrastructure business that will sell AI computing power/model access.

That’s according to a report Wednesday (July 1) by Bloomberg News, which says this move would put Meta in greater competition with cloud leaders such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure.

Already scrambling to secure the infrastructure for its own artificial intelligence (AI) projects, Meta is now forming a business to derive revenue from surplus computing power sold to outside customers, sources familiar with matter told Bloomberg.

PYMNTS has contacted Meta for comment but has not yet gotten a reply.

According to the Bloomberg report, the sources say one possible plan would involve offering access to various AI models hosted on Meta’s existing AI infrastructure, similar to what AWS does with its Bedrock. Meta would run the data centers and chips powering the models, charging developers to access them.

In addition, Meta is also weighing a plan to sell access to “raw” computing capacity, similar to what “neocloud businesses” like CoreWeave offer, the sources said. The project falls under the umbrella of Meta Compute, an in-house initiative to develop and oversee the company’s AI infrastructure efforts, one of the sources said.

In other artificial intelligence news, PYMNTS wrote last about the price adjustments Meta and other tech giants are making amid slowing consumer and enterprise usage.

“The consumer price cuts sit alongside a structural problem. Anthropic’s $200 Claude Code plan gives developers 20 times the usage of its base tier,” that report said.

“Power users on that plan can consume the equivalent of $600 to $1,500 worth of API-priced compute for a flat monthly fee …” PYMNTS added. “AI companies are cutting prices at the consumer level while absorbing the cost of heavy usage at the same time.”

Meta’s decision to start offering paid subscriptions “sharpens the competitive picture,” that report added. The Facebook owner has spent decades expanding on an ad-supported, free-access model. Testing a paid AI tier indicates that even it sees limits to what advertising can fund on its own. As covered here, Meta is also considering a $199.99 premium tier for its Hatch AI agent, which would place it directly alongside Anthropic and OpenAI at the peak of the market.

Research from PYMNTS Intelligence shows that more than 60% of American consumers used dedicated AI platforms in the past year. Among Gen Z and power users, use of dedicated AI platforms as a first stop for everyday tasks climbed 36% and 28% in one month.

“That acceleration in usage is exactly what makes flat-rate consumer pricing difficult to sustain,” PYMNTS wrote.

© PamelaJoeMcFarlane / iStock via Getty Images

I keep buying Meta. Every paycheck, every dip, every time the crowd convinces itself the AI buildout has gone too far, I add more to Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META | META Price Prediction), and I have not slowed down at $550.25.

The reason is plain. Mark Zuckerberg has built the most profitable attention machine in modern business, and he is about to bolt a prediction market on top of it. Zuckerberg has ordered senior executives to explore partnerships with Polymarket and Kalshi while Meta quietly test-builds a competing standalone app codenamed Arena, designed around a video-game-style points system targeting the 18-to-34 demographic. Combined prediction market trading volume has scaled past $130 billion this year. Meta sits on 3.56 billion daily active people across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads. Pairing those two facts is what keeps my finger on the buy button.

The Data Behind the Conviction Start with the core business. Q1 2026 revenue hit $56.31 billion, up 33.1% YoY, with EPS of $10.44 against a $6.66 consensus, a 56.79% beat and the fifth straight quarter Meta cleared the bar. Ad impressions rose 19% YoY and average price per ad rose 12%, which tells me advertisers are paying more for inventory that is also expanding. That is a pricing engine working in both directions at once.

The profitability stack is rare. Gross margin sits at 81.99%, operating margin at 41.44%, return on equity at 30.24%, and return on invested capital at 20.69%. Debt-to-equity is 0.39 and interest coverage is 71.48x. This is a fortress paying a $0.53 quarterly dividend while generating $32.23 billion of operating cash flow in a single quarter.

Then there is the price. META trades at a P/E of 20 with shares down 16.5% year-to-date and 23.97% over one year from $723.76. The 52-week high was $793.65. For a company guiding Q2 2026 revenue to $58 to $61 billion, paying 20 times earnings looks like a gift the market handed me because it is squeamish about capex.

The Risk I Actually Lose Sleep Over Capex. Full-year 2026 capex was raised to $125 to $145 billion, up from prior guidance of $115 to $135 billion, to feed Meta Superintelligence Labs. Reality Labs lost $4.03 billion in Q1 alone and $19.2 billion across 2025. If AI returns arrive late or the EU and U.S. youth litigation lands hard in 2026 trials, free cash flow compresses and the stock gets punished again.

I have weighed it. Operating cash flow ran $115.80 billion in 2025, buybacks hit $26.25 billion, and management still guides 2026 operating income above 2025 levels. Zuckerberg called Q1 a milestone tied to “the release of our first model from Meta Superintelligence Labs” and said the company is “on track to deliver personal superintelligence to billions of people.” I would rather own the company funding the next decade than one defending the last one.

Why the Buy Button Stays Active Three and a half billion daily users. A 41% operating margin. A 20 P/E on five straight earnings beats. A dividend that just started compounding. And a founder-CEO preparing to wire prediction markets into the same feed that already prints $55.02 billion of quarterly ad revenue. Bears can keep arguing about capex while I keep buying the cash machine paying for it.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Have you been searching for a stock that might be well-positioned to maintain its earnings-beat streak in its upcoming report? It is worth considering Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) , which belongs to the Zacks Automotive - Domestic industry.

When looking at the last two reports, this electric car maker has recorded a strong streak of surpassing earnings estimates. The company has topped estimates by 12.50%, on average, in the last two quarters.

For the last reported quarter, Tesla came out with earnings of $0.41 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.36 per share, representing a surprise of 13.89%. For the previous quarter, the company was expected to post earnings of $0.45 per share and it actually produced earnings of $0.5 per share, delivering a surprise of 11.11%.

Price and EPS Surprise

For Tesla, estimates have been trending higher, thanks in part to this earnings surprise history. And when you look at the stock's positive Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction), it's a great indicator of a future earnings beat, especially when combined with its solid Zacks Rank.

Our research shows that stocks with the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time. In other words, if you have 10 stocks with this combination, the number of stocks that beat the consensus estimate could be as high as seven.

The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is related to change. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.

Tesla has an Earnings ESP of +2.99% at the moment, suggesting that analysts have grown bullish on its near-term earnings potential. When you combine this positive Earnings ESP with the stock's Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), it shows that another beat is possibly around the corner.

When the Earnings ESP comes up negative, investors should note that this will reduce the predictive power of the metric. But, a negative value is not indicative of a stock's earnings miss.

Many companies end up beating the consensus EPS estimate, but that may not be the sole basis for their stocks moving higher. On the other hand, some stocks may hold their ground even if they end up missing the consensus estimate.

Because of this, it's really important to check a company's Earnings ESP ahead of its quarterly release to increase the odds of success. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.

© 2024 Getty Images / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA | TSLA Price Prediction) and Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) both posted Q1 2026 results that beat Wall Street estimates, yet the businesses underneath are on opposite ends of the EV maturity curve.

Tesla flexed margin expansion and AI ambition. Rivian leaned on partnerships and a fresh product launch to bridge to profitability. Comparing them now, with R2 shipping and Robotaxi rides live in Texas, finally feels useful.

Margins Carry Tesla. R2 Carries Rivian. Tesla pulled in $22.387 billion in revenue, up 15.78% YoY, with automotive gross margin expanding to 21.1% from 16.2%. Lower material costs, a higher average selling price, and a roughly $0.9 billion FX tailwind did the heavy lifting. Services and Other revenue jumped 42% as active FSD subscriptions hit 1.28 million, up 51%. Software is becoming a real, material line item.

Rivian delivered 10,365 vehicles, a 20% jump, and revenue of $1.381 billion. The catch: the automotive segment swung to a $62 million gross loss from a $92 million profit a year earlier, hurt by a $100 million drop in regulatory credits and a heavier commercial van mix.

Software and Services climbed 49% to $473 million, almost entirely thanks to the Volkswagen joint venture work. CEO RJ Scaringe framed the quarter around the R2 launch and the $4.5 billion DOE loan for the Georgia plant.

Self-Funded Empire vs. Partnership-Funded Bet Lens Tesla Rivian Cash on hand $44.74B $4.83B (with committed funding) Q1 Free Cash Flow +$1.44B -$1.08B Autonomy bet FSD + Robotaxi in Dallas/Houston Up to 50,000 R2 robotaxis for Uber Robotics bet Optimus (1M/yr Fremont line) Mind Robotics (deconsolidated) Tesla is building its own semiconductor fab with SpaceX and ramping LFP cells in Nevada.

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.

Rivian is leaning on a $1 billion VW equity check, a $1.25 billion Uber commitment through 2031, and a DOE loan that does not start drawing until early 2027. Two very different risk profiles.

The Next Test Is R2 Volume and FSD Conversion Rivian guided to 62,000 to 67,000 deliveries and adjusted EBITDA between -$2.10 billion and -$1.80 billion. The R2 bill of materials is expected to land at roughly 50% of R1, which is the entire profitability thesis.

Tesla offered no formal guidance, but Cybercab pilot production, Megapack 3, and the EU rollout of FSD are the catalysts I am tracking. Prediction markets currently skew toward a strong Q2 delivery print.

Why I Lean Tesla for Compounding, Rivian for the Lottery Ticket Personally, I find Tesla’s setup more defensible. A 345 trailing P/E is uncomfortable, and the stock is down 8.42% year to date, but the combination of expanding auto margins, growing FSD subscriptions, and a self-funded AI roadmap is hard to replicate.

Rivian intrigues me as a turnaround. Shares trade near $16.81, and if R2 hits its cost targets, the upside is large. I would still want one clean quarter of automotive gross profit before sizing it as anything more than a speculative slice. If input costs spike or EV credits get cut, I would step back from both.

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.

As the clichéd disclaimer reminds us, past performance is no guarantee of future results. Past performance is, however, a pretty good indication of what to reasonably expect in the future, particularly when the underlying reasons for that performance are likely to remain in place for a while.

Enter beverage behemoth Coca-Cola (KO 0.22%), which has performed very well all year long, and outright defied recent market weakness. Year to date, Coke's stock is up nearly 20% versus the S&P 500's (^GSPC +0.02%) meager gain of 8%.

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Don't be surprised to see a similar performance disparity during the latter half of the year, either.

Resilience in the brewing storm Coca-Cola owns Sprite, Powerade, Dasani, and, of course, its well-loved namesake carbonated beverage, just to name a few of its brands. In addition to being a brilliant marketing machine, it's also just a big company, able to leverage this size to get its products placed prominently on store shelves, and then drive consumers to those shelves in droves. That's a big part of the reason this ticker's been such a reliable long-term performer.

Perhaps the (far) more important reason Coca-Cola shares are crushing the broad market this year, however, is the kind of stock -- and company -- it is compared to most of the other names that have dominated headlines for a while now. That's artificial intelligence stocks, of course, and their close cousins. Although they've been all the rage since 2023, the market's finally starting to question their value and the spending by their underlying companies. Analysts are drawing parallels to the dot-com crash of 2000, and reasonably so. Investors are slowly but surely shifting from offense to defense, and Coca-Cola fits the bill perfectly.

Image source: Getty Images.

This makes sense, of course. Although persistent inflation is making money tight for everyone, consumers' favorite beverages remain an affordable, familiar comfort when other treats may be priced out of reach. To this end, Coca-Cola's Q1 sales volume grew 3% year over year, producing a 10% improvement in revenue that affirms its pricing power is stronger than the impact of inflation. Profit margins widened, too. And analysts are looking for similar progress through the remainder of this year and next.

Arguably more than anything else right now, however, a stake in Coca-Cola provides certainty in a market environment that offers little of it. In February, the company announced its 64th consecutive annual dividend increase, suggesting it's going to bring at least some cash-driven value to the table even if most of the major tech stocks continue losing ground. Newcomers will be plugging into a forward-looking dividend yield of 2.6%.

Lower risk, respectable reward There are no performance guarantees, of course. The broad market might begin rallying again. Coca-Cola shares might weaken if that happens, as investors readopt a "risk on" mindset.

More realistically, though, a growing number of investors are starting to sense that the advent of artificial intelligence isn't quite living up to the initial hype, potentially weighing on stocks. Moreover, as we move into the later stages of an economic boom, it's time for more defensive value stocks to shine. Few are better equipped than Coca-Cola to do so. The stock's recent gains say most investors agree.

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Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG | GOOG Price Prediction) is one of the cleanest bull setups in mega-cap tech right now. Cloud is compounding at 63%, operating margins are expanding, and management just committed to nearly doubling AI infrastructure spend. The stock trades at $353.33 after a 6.08% pullback over the past month, and I see that dip as an entry point.

Our 24/7 Wall St. price target for Alphabet is $425.86, implying 20.53% upside over the next 12 months. My recommendation is buy, with 90% confidence.

24/7 Wall St. Price Target Summary Metric Value Current Price $353.33 24/7 Wall St. Price Target $425.86 Upside 20.53% Recommendation BUY Confidence Level 90% A Blowout Quarter, Then a June Pullback Alphabet has nearly doubled in a year, up 99.75% over 12 months and 12.74% year to date. The stock now sits 6% below its 52-week high of $404.23 after a June cooling.

The Q1 2026 report on April 29, 2026 was the catalyst. Revenue hit $109.90 billion, up 21.8% year over year, and EPS came in at $5.11 versus a $2.63 consensus.

Google Cloud grew 63% to $20.03 billion, with backlog nearly doubling quarter over quarter to $462 billion. Recent retail sentiment took a hit on news of two top AI researchers departing to OpenAI and Anthropic, but the stock has stabilized.

Why Bulls See a Breakout Ahead The bull thesis rests on three pillars. First, cloud momentum is undeniable. Cloud operating margin expanded from 17.8% to 32.9% year over year, and revenue from products built on Gemini grew nearly 800% year over year.

Second, search is thriving. Query volume is at an all-time high, with Search revenue up 19%. Third, the ecosystem monetizes. Paid subscriptions hit 350 million, and Waymo now runs over 500,000 autonomous rides weekly.

The Street backs this up. GOOG carries 14 Strong Buy and 44 Buy ratings against zero Sells. If cloud continues to compound at 60%+ and AI monetization inflects in search, a bull case toward $443 becomes readily defensible.

The Risks Worth Watching The bear case starts with capital intensity. Alphabet raised 2026 CapEx guidance to $180 billion to $190 billion, and CFO Anat Ashkenazi said “We expect our 2027 CapEx to significantly increase compared to 2026.” Q1 free cash flow already fell 46.63% year over year.

Bulls counter that this reflects deliberate investment against unprecedented internal and external demand for AI compute resources, not deteriorating unit economics.

Other watch items: a $3.5 billion European Commission fine in Q3 2025, competitive pressure from OpenAI and Anthropic, and Q1 net income padded by $36.91 billion in unrealized equity gains that will not recur. A bearish scenario points to $344.91, roughly flat from here.

Alphabet Price Prediction 2026-2030 My 24/7 Wall St. price target of $425.86 is a buy with 90% confidence. The tipping factor is Google Cloud’s $462 billion backlog, which locks in growth visibility that no other Alphabet segment has offered before.

I’d be a buyer here if you believe cloud can sustain 40%+ growth into 2027. I’d stay sidelined if you think 2026 CapEx of $190 billion permanently caps free cash flow generation. On balance, the risk/reward favors owning it.

Year 24/7 Wall St. Price Target 2026 $425.86 2027 $478 2028 $535 2029 $580 2030 $624 These projections assume Alphabet continues executing on cloud, search, and AI monetization. Significant upside or downside could result from Waymo commercialization, regulatory action, or shifts in AI competitive positioning.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

The artificial intelligence (AI) investing space has taken a bit of a hit recently. Several stocks are selling off, and a handful of them appear to be flashing buying signals. My top AI stock pick has been Nvidia (NVDA 0.14%), and it's flashing a rare "double down" signal. What's a double down? It's when you double your initial investment because the deal has gotten so good.

I think that's what a lot of investors should do with Nvidia's stock, as it hasn't been this cheap this late in the year for a long time.

Image source: Getty Images.

Nvidia has major growth coming again next year One of the biggest concerns in the market right now has to do with AI data center spending. This is a fair concern, as hundreds of billions of dollars are being poured into this build-out. At the start of 2026, the four major AI hyperscalers said they expected to spend about $650 billion on their combined capital expenditures in 2026. However, next year, Nvidia projects that sum will rise to $1 trillion. While some investors may be tempted to brush off that projection, the reality is that Nvidia likely can make that forecast with confidence based on the orders it already has booked for next year. Hyperscalers have already offered some support for this prediction: Alphabet (GOOG +0.96%) (GOOGL +0.64%), for instance, has told investors to expect "significantly" higher capital expenditures in 2027 compared to 2026.

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That gives Nvidia investors reasons to feel optimistic about the stock, as long as all of that expected growth hasn't been priced into it already. Considering where it's valued, I think it's pretty clear that it hasn't been priced in, and that's where I found my buying signal.

From a forward earnings perspective, Nvidia now trades at the same valuation as the S&P 500 (^GSPC +0.06%): about 21.5 times forward earnings.

NVDA PE Ratio (Forward 1y) data by YCharts.

While Nvidia tends to start the year off with a fairly low forward earnings ratio, it usually gets far higher by the time July rolls around -- but not this year. Furthermore, investors know more growth is coming in 2027, and based on those projections, the stock trades at a mere 15 times 1-year forward earnings. That's a pretty compelling buying signal, and I think investors should take advantage of it. The AI sector's momentum will come back eventually, and with the next set of earnings results starting to roll out over the next few weeks, "eventually" could be fairly soon. I think that earnings season could be the catalyst that jump-starts Nvidia stock, making it a smart buy right now.

Keithen Drury has positions in Alphabet and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

BENSALEM, Pa., July 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Law Offices of Howard G. Smith reminds investors that class action lawsuits have been filed on behalf of shareholders of the following publicly-traded companies. Investors have until the deadlines listed below to file a lead plaintiff motion.

Investors suffering losses on their investments are encouraged to contact the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith to discuss their legal rights in these class actions at (215) 638-4847 or by email to [email protected].

Erasca, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERAS)
Class Period: January 14, 2025 – April 26, 2026
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: August 10, 2026

The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period the defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) ERAS-0015’s preclinical data was based on improper comparisons to RevMed and placed Erasca at risk of violating patent and trade secret protections; and (2) as a result, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.

Nano-X Imaging Ltd. (NASDAQ: NNOX)
Class Period: March 31, 2025 – April 17, 2026
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: August 11, 2026

The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period the defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Defendants overstated purported efficiency gains achieved in Nano-X’s operations, as well as the purported increased demand for its products; (2) in reality, Nano-X’s production and manufacturing operations were poorly aligned with demand for the Company’s products; (3) as a result, Nano-X was experiencing significantly increased operating expenses and cash burn; (4) the foregoing significantly increased the likelihood that Nano-X would be forced to take disruptive remedial measures with respect to its manufacturing operations, entailing significant restructuring and impairment charges; and (5) as a result, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Class Period: May 1, 2025 – January 28, 2026
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: August 11, 2026

The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period the defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose: (1) that Microsoft’s Copilot family of products had experienced significant brand positioning, user experience, usage, data siloing, computational capacity, organizational, and interoperability problems; (2) that Microsoft’s flagship proprietary AI model ranked well below competitors on a number of benchmark tests; (3) that Microsoft needed to increase by billions of dollars its capital expenditures and divert GPU and CPU capacity away from fulfilling demand for its profitable Azure services in order to improve the competitive positioning of its critical Copilot family of products and increase its AI-related R&D; (4) that, as a result of the foregoing, Microsoft had failed to convert a significant percentage of its commercial Microsoft 365 users to paid Copilot subscriptions and the Company’s Copilot offerings had lost market share to rival products, a trend that was increasing; and (5) as a result, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.

Black Rock Coffee Bar, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCB)
Class Period: September 12, 2025 – May 12, 2026
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: August 17, 2026

The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period the defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose: (1) Black Rock Coffee’s new store openings were leading to a cannibalization of its existing services and revenue; (2) Black Rock Coffee overstated the manner in which its expansion strategy was tailored to avoid “sales transfer”; (3) as a result of “sales transfer,” the Company’s financial results were materially impacted; and (4) that, 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.

To be a member of these class actions, you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action. If you wish to learn more about these class actions, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020, by telephone at (215) 638-4847 or by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

Contacts
Law Offices of Howard G. Smith
Howard G. Smith, Esquire
215-638-4847
888-638-4847
[email protected]
www.howardsmithlaw.com

Microsoft MSFT shares rose 4% on Wednesday after consumer health company Haleon announced a new five-year agreement to expand its use of Microsoft's artificial intelligence, cloud, and data technologies across its global operations.

The partnership strengthens Microsoft's position in enterprise AI adoption while the company also faces reports that it is preparing another round of job cuts as it continues to invest heavily in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Microsoft currently trades at a forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52 times.

Under the five-year agreement, Haleon will expand its use of Microsoft 365 Copilot, Azure cloud services, and Microsoft's AI systems throughout its business.

The consumer healthcare company said the technology will help automate routine tasks, improve collaboration, strengthen security, and enhance identity protection across its AI systems.

The companies also plan to jointly develop AI tools for consumer research, product development, supply chain management, and broader business operations.

Haleon said these capabilities are intended to help employees make faster decisions and accelerate the delivery of products to consumers.

The agreement builds on Haleon's existing relationship with Microsoft and supports the company's goal of reaching one billion more consumers by 2030.

For Microsoft, the deal represents another large enterprise customer adopting its AI platform, further expanding the commercial deployment of its artificial intelligence offerings.

The AI expansion comes as Microsoft is reportedly preparing to reduce its workforce.

According to a Business Insider report, the company could announce thousands of job cuts as early as next week.

The layoffs are expected to affect fewer than 2.5% of Microsoft's approximately 228,000 full-time employees.

The reported reductions would be smaller than the company's previous round of layoffs, when Microsoft eliminated roughly 4% of its workforce.

While job reductions within the Xbox division had been widely anticipated following ongoing pressure on the gaming business, the report said sales and consulting roles could also be affected.

Microsoft has not officially confirmed the reported layoffs.

The timing coincides with the end of Microsoft's fiscal year on June 30, a period when the company has historically reviewed budgets, staffing levels, and strategic priorities.

The reported workforce reductions also reflect a broader trend across the technology industry, where companies continue to trim headcount while increasing investment in AI infrastructure.

Valuation and analyst outlook remain favorableDespite falling 23% during the first half of 2026, Microsoft is increasingly being viewed as a value stock because of its earnings profile and expected revenue growth.

According to MarketWatch contributor Mark Hulbert, historical data dating back to 1947 shows that value stocks have generally outperformed growth stocks during periods of rising inflation, similar to the current economic environment.

Microsoft is expected to grow revenue at more than twice the pace of the S&P 500 through 2028, according to a MarketWatch report.

Wall Street analysts also remain broadly optimistic on the company's outlook.

According to TipRanks, 35 of 36 analysts covering Microsoft rate the stock a Buy, while one recommends Hold. None have a Sell rating.

The average 12-month price target stands at $562.10, implying about 38% upside from current levels, reflecting continued confidence in Microsoft's long-term AI strategy and enterprise software business.

Key Takeaways AMD launched Versal Premium Gen 2 MoP SoCs with up to 32GB LPDDR5X memory in one package.The devices deliver up to 288GB/s bandwidth and cut board space requirements by as much as 60%.Versal Premium Gen 2 MoP devices are expected to begin sampling by the end of 2026. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD - Free Report) recently introduced Versal Premium Gen 2 Memory on Package (MoP) adaptive system-on-chips (SoCs), integrating up to 32GB of LPDDR5X memory into a single package to deliver up to 288GB/s bandwidth while reducing board space requirements by as much as 60%. The new architecture eliminates the complexity of board-level memory design, enabling compact, high-performance systems for AI, networking, aerospace and defense, test and measurement, and professional video applications.

The new devices support PCIe 6.0, CXL 3.1 and LPDDR5X speeds of up to 9,000Mb/s, allowing seamless pairing with AMD EPYC processors and access to CXL memory expansion for data-intensive workloads. The launch of Versal Premium Gen 2 Memory on Package (MoP) adaptive SoCs strengthens AMD’s position in the fast-growing AI infrastructure market by addressing one of the biggest challenges in edge AI, networking, aerospace and defense systems, delivering higher memory bandwidth in compact, power-efficient designs. The latest solution expands AMD’s opportunities beyond hyperscale AI servers into embedded AI, telecom, defense and industrial markets.

The new MoP devices further complement AMD’s EPYC server processors through native PCIe 6.0 and CXL 3.1 connectivity, enabling customers to build scalable, memory-intensive AI platforms. This reinforces AMD’s strategy of providing a broad compute portfolio that delivers the best performance and total cost of ownership across different workloads. This brings a competitive advantage to AMD against the likes of NVIDIA (NVDA - Free Report) and Broadcom ((AVGO - Free Report) ). The EPYC processor is playing a significant role in driving AMD’s data center momentum. CEO Lisa Su noted that first-quarter data center revenues surged 57% year over year, fueled by strong EPYC and Instinct sales, while server CPU revenues climbed more than 50%.

AMD expects server CPU revenues to grow more than 70% in the second quarter, supported by rising adoption of EPYC processors. AMD is on track to launch sixth-gen EPYC Venice later in 2026, with more customers validating platforms than prior generations. AMD now aims to accelerate customer time-to-market by providing a pre-validated in-package memory interface compatible with existing Vivado and Vitis design tools. Versal Premium Gen 2 MoP devices are expected to begin sampling by the end of 2026, while standard Versal Premium Series Gen 2 devices are already shipping.

Tough Competition Hurts AMD’s ProspectsAMD’s prospects suffer from stiff competition. NVIDIA and Broadcom are major competitors in the Data Center space.

NVIDIA is at the center of AI computing, with its products widely used across data centers, gaming and autonomous vehicles. The company’s newer Hopper 200 and Blackwell GPU platforms are being adopted quickly as customers work to grow their AI infrastructure. Data Center revenues reached $75.2 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, up 92% from a year ago and up 21% sequentially, driven by the ramp-up of Blackwell 300 products and demand for InfiniBand, Spectrum-X Ethernet and NVLink solutions. NVIDIA remains AMD's primary rival in GPU-accelerated supercomputing.

Broadcom is benefiting from strong demand for its networking products and custom AI accelerators. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, AI semiconductor revenues reached a record $10.8 billion, up 143% year over year and above management’s outlook. Broadcom expects AI semiconductor revenues to reach $16 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, up more than 200% year over year. For fiscal 2026, management expects AI semiconductor revenues of $56 billion, up approximately 180% from fiscal 2025. Broadcom also reiterated that AI semiconductor revenues are expected to exceed $100 billion in fiscal 2027.

AMD’s Share Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesAMD shares have jumped 142.7% year to date, outperforming the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s growth of 15%.

AMD Stock’s Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

AMD stock is overvalued, with a forward 12-month price/sales of 15.88X compared with the broader sector’s 6.49X. AMD has a Value Score of F.

AMD Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter 2026 earnings is pegged at $1.60 per share, unchanged over the past 30 days, suggesting 233.3% year-over-year growth.

AMD currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.