SeanPavonePhoto/iStock via Getty Images Southern Company ( SO ) offers a low-volatility source of utility-scale income for income investors looking to add exposure to the AI boom. I am seeking total returns from the aggregate of its ongoing dividend yield and EPS expansion over the next few years, as electric load growth in the U.S. Southeast is set for significant growth through to the end of the...
SeanPavonePhoto/iStock via Getty Images Southern Company ( SO ) offers a low-volatility source of utility-scale income for income investors looking to add exposure to the AI boom. I am seeking total returns from the aggregate of its ongoing dividend yield and EPS expansion over the next few years, as electric load growth in the U.S. Southeast is set for significant growth through to the end of the decade. This is coming as hyperscalers, neoclouds, and data center-focused REITs look to tap into the growing demand for compute for AI applications. The electric utility last declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.74 per share , unchanged sequentially, and $2.96 per share annualized for a 3.14% dividend yield. I expect dividend hikes in the low-to-mid single digits annually on the back of the company's annual growth guidance. I last covered SO with a Buy rating in September, with the ticker up 4% on a total return basis since. Data by YCharts The utility has raised its dividend by a 2.95% compound annual growth rate over the last 5 years, with the last dividend raise at 2.8% in April last year. This was its 24th consecutive year of a dividend raise. Hence, SO is almost certainly going to raise its dividend again in two months. This would place the company into the dividend aristocrat status and vault the utility into the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index , with billions of dollars tracking it. This represents further upside for the common shares, as the relevant ETFs will be buying once this milestone is reached. However, bears would be right to flag that SO's dividend yield currently provides a negative 95 basis points spread to the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield ( US10Y ) of 4.09% and is lower than its four-year average yield . 8% Annual Growth And AI-Driven Multiple Expansion Data by YCharts SO's relationship with long-term U.S. Treasuries previously had its shareholders earning a level of income that was in excess of this risk-free rate. This changed in 2022 when the ...
Richard Drury London ( UKX ) -0.08% to 10,678. Germany ( DAX:IND ) -0.64% to 25,101. France ( CAC:IND ) -0.19% to 8,499. In other parts of Europe, Switzerland’s producer and import prices dropped by 2.2% Y/Y in January. The pan-European Stoxx 600 ( STOXX ) moved 0.18% lower to 629.4, as renewed tariff uncertainty dampened risk appetite. Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would l...
Richard Drury London ( UKX ) -0.08% to 10,678. Germany ( DAX:IND ) -0.64% to 25,101. France ( CAC:IND ) -0.19% to 8,499. In other parts of Europe, Switzerland’s producer and import prices dropped by 2.2% Y/Y in January. The pan-European Stoxx 600 ( STOXX ) moved 0.18% lower to 629.4, as renewed tariff uncertainty dampened risk appetite. Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would lift the 10% global levy announced a day earlier to 15%, following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to strike down his sweeping reciprocal tariffs. The European Commission said on Sunday that the U.S. must stick to trade terms reached last year, following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that invalidated earlier global tariffs. In the bond market , the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was almost flat at 4.08%. Germany's 10-year yield was flat at 2.73%. The UK's 10-year yield was down 3 basis points to 4.34%. Currencies: ( EUR:USD ) ( GBP:USD ) ( CHF:USD ) ETFs: (NYSEARCA: EWG ), (NYSE: GF ), (NYSEARCA: EWI ), (NYSEARCA: EWQ ), (NASDAQ: FGM ), (NASDAQ: DAX ), (NYSEARCA: FLGR ), (NYSEARCA: FXB ), (NYSEARCA: EWU ), (NASDAQ: FKU ), (BATS: EWUS ), (NYSEARCA: FLGB ), (NYSEARCA: GREK ) More on Europe GBP/USD Breaks Trendline; Is A 470-Odd Pip Decline On The Way? (Technical Analysis) U.K. GDP Underwhelms With 0.1% Growth In Q4, FTSE 100 Slips And GBP/USD Advances Beyond The Rate Hold: Examining The ECB's Path Forward Amidst Euro Strength U.S. dollar slips, precious metals rebound on fresh tariff fears ‘A deal is a deal’: EU says it won’t accept increase in U.S. tariffs
Key PointsThe S&P 500 has underperformed the global stock market by 9 percentage points year to date and 25 percentage points since President Trump took office.
Key PointsThe S&P 500 has underperformed the global stock market by 9 percentage points year to date and 25 percentage points since President Trump took office.
Investors await quarterly earnings from Nvidia, a bellwether for the broader artificial-intelligence trade. They will also assess consumer-confidence data and earnings from home-improvement retailers Home Depot and Lowe’s.
Investors await quarterly earnings from Nvidia, a bellwether for the broader artificial-intelligence trade. They will also assess consumer-confidence data and earnings from home-improvement retailers Home Depot and Lowe’s.
Concerns about the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) abound. At the end of last year, uncertainty over the monetisation of AI was the dominant theme in stock markets. Many investors are worried about the mismatch between the vast sums of money being spent on computing power and the relatively meagre revenues from AI companies and services. While monetisation remains a major concern...
Concerns about the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) abound. At the end of last year, uncertainty over the monetisation of AI was the dominant theme in stock markets. Many investors are worried about the mismatch between the vast sums of money being spent on computing power and the relatively meagre revenues from AI companies and services. While monetisation remains a major concern among investors, fears about AI tools undermining the viability of established business models have...
During the past three years, the stock market has been on an absolute tear. The broad-based S&P 500 has gained 73%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is up 99% (as of this writing). That's well ahead of the average stock return of 10% annually. Most experts agree that artificial intelligence (AI) has played a pivotal role in the market's ascent. In recent months, many software-as-a-service (Sa...
During the past three years, the stock market has been on an absolute tear. The broad-based S&P 500 has gained 73%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is up 99% (as of this writing). That's well ahead of the average stock return of 10% annually. Most experts agree that artificial intelligence (AI) has played a pivotal role in the market's ascent. In recent months, many software-as-a-service (SaaS) stocks have been in freefall. Recently released AI tools have sparked fears that they could displace many existing accounting, legal, or sales software offerings, prompting some investors to abandon ship. Two critical financial reports will be released after the market close on Wednesday, offering crucial insight into the current state of the AI revolution and its implications for the future -- so Thursday could be a big day for the stock market. Continue reading
The Baltic States Plan To Form Their Own "Military Schengen" Authored by Andrew Korybko, This will one day link with the existing “military Schengen” between the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland, which Belgium and France plan to join, for creating a contiguous zone of free military movement between the Pyrenees and the approach to St. Petersburg. The Baltic States’ Defense Ministers signed a state...
The Baltic States Plan To Form Their Own "Military Schengen" Authored by Andrew Korybko, This will one day link with the existing “military Schengen” between the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland, which Belgium and France plan to join, for creating a contiguous zone of free military movement between the Pyrenees and the approach to St. Petersburg. The Baltic States’ Defense Ministers signed a statement of intent in late January for forming their own “ military Schengen ”, which refers to the agreement signed two years ago in January 2024 between the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland for expediting the flow of troops and equipment. Belgium and France are also expected to join the original “military Schengen”, whose members aim to slash to 3-5 days the estimated 45 days that it currently takes to send the aforesaid from the Atlantic to the Eastern Flank. Upon their modernization, both in terms of infrastructure and legal coordination, the two “military Schengens” will form a contiguous zone of free military movement between the Pyrenees and the approach to St. Petersburg. To be sure, this is a work in progress that won’t be completed anytime soon, especially its Baltic portion. Poland only just opened the portion of the “ Via Baltica ” highway between itself and Lithuania, while the “Rail Baltica” between them and Estonia is even further behind schedule . Nevertheless, the unmistakable trend is that NATO is optimizing its military logistics, particularly along its Eastern Flank whose members agreed to turbocharge their militarization during mid-December’s inaugural summit . In connection with that, readers also shouldn’t forget that the Baltic States and Poland are building something called the “ EU Defense Line ”, which combines the first’s “Baltic Defense Line” and the second’s “East Shield” into what’s de facto a new Iron Curtain that’ll include anti-personnel mines . This Baltic Front of the New Cold War between NATO and Russia relies heavily on Poland, which alread...
zanskar/iStock via Getty Images LightPath Technologies ( LPTH ) is an integrated, end-to-end designer and manufacturer of next-gen optics and imaging systems for defense, aerospace, and industrial applications. Their product line includes precision optics, infrared imaging technologies, and chalcogenide glass lenses. Their fiscal Q2 2026 results , posted February 11th, showed record revenue of $16...
zanskar/iStock via Getty Images LightPath Technologies ( LPTH ) is an integrated, end-to-end designer and manufacturer of next-gen optics and imaging systems for defense, aerospace, and industrial applications. Their product line includes precision optics, infrared imaging technologies, and chalcogenide glass lenses. Their fiscal Q2 2026 results , posted February 11th, showed record revenue of $16.4M, up 120% YoY, with gross profit of $6.0M and a nearly $100M backlog that management is treating as the bridge to significant increases in revenue. The stock gained roughly 20% the following session. Recent trends in the stock and the company's latest quarterly results have piqued our interest. While the company has generated a lot of interest from investors, there are still several hurdles that need to be overcome. Primarily, the company lacks consistent profitability. The stock valuation is now high enough that there is little margin for error. The bull case relies on a nearly $100M backlog, a domestic manufacturing build-out, a supply chain that meets DoD guidelines, and a cleaner balance sheet. In order to achieve these milestones, the company will require near-perfect execution on its short-term goals. Even so, there are significant external factors, outside of the company's control, such as political and economic conditions, that can quickly become stumbling blocks. In our view, the bear case is equally straightforward: execution slips, GAAP results stay volatile from post-acquisition obligations, and the potential risk of their thermal imaging business softening as oil and gas clients cut costs. Despite the downsides, there are enticing macro trends working in LightPath's favor, and while we remain hesitant to issue a buy rating at the current price, a sell rating seems overly pessimistic. Therefore, based on our research, a hold rating seems prudent at this time. Data by YCharts Overview Starting with the Macro view, the US defense supply chain is moving from sou...