Earnings Call Insights: Affirm (AFRM) Q3 fiscal 2026 Management View Max Levchin opened with limited prepared remarks, calling the period a record quarter and telling investors, "Fiscal Q3 was another one for the record books." (Founder, CEO & Chairman Max Levchin) On credit, Levchin said the company is not seeing deterioration in its underwritten customer set: "we are not seeing deterioration. We...
Earnings Call Insights: Affirm (AFRM) Q3 fiscal 2026 Management View Max Levchin opened with limited prepared remarks, calling the period a record quarter and telling investors, "Fiscal Q3 was another one for the record books." (Founder, CEO & Chairman Max Levchin) On credit, Levchin said the company is not seeing deterioration in its underwritten customer set: "we are not seeing deterioration. We're not seeing any disturbances in the course." (Founder, CEO & Chairman Levchin) On funding, Michael Linford described strong demand across channels: "The funding market broadly remains exceptionally constructive for us" and highlighted "reducing spreads" and "significant oversubscription." (Chief Operating Officer Michael Linford) Robert O'Hare pointed to Pay-in-X momentum continuing into Q4 and attributed the quarter’s acceleration to a specific program change and Shopify: "We do expect that trend to continue into fiscal Q4" and "we did have one very large program move to having an evergreen 0% via Pay in 4 offer." (Chief Financial Officer Robert O'Hare) Outlook Management did not provide EPS or revenue guidance on the call; commentary focused on directional momentum and near-term drivers discussed in Q&A. O’Hare said the company is "incrementally more positive on the Q4 growth rate in the updated guide," while noting a comparison headwind tied to a prior merchant exit: "we did sunset a top 3 merchant in Q1 of this year" and the prior-year comp creates "a few points of growth" headwind. (Chief Financial Officer O'Hare) Levchin reiterated that international expansion investment is underway but would not provide FY 2027 guidance: "I'll stop short of giving any sort of outlook or guidance for '27 today" and said early new-market ramp could mean "a small drag" on revenue less transaction costs that should be "pretty minimal." (Founder, CEO & Chairman Levchin) Financial Results The transcript did not include specific quarterly revenue, EPS, or margin figures. Linford tied qua...
Earnings Call Insights: ZipRecruiter (ZIP) Q1 2026 Management View "ZipRecruiter opened 2026 with a strong first quarter, delivering revenue of $107.5 million and beating the midpoint of our guidance." (Co-Founder, CEO & Chairman of the Board Ian Siegel) "Net loss was $4.7 million, and adjusted EBITDA came in above the high end of our guidance range at $9.7 million." (CEO Siegel) "First, we launch...
Earnings Call Insights: ZipRecruiter (ZIP) Q1 2026 Management View "ZipRecruiter opened 2026 with a strong first quarter, delivering revenue of $107.5 million and beating the midpoint of our guidance." (Co-Founder, CEO & Chairman of the Board Ian Siegel) "Net loss was $4.7 million, and adjusted EBITDA came in above the high end of our guidance range at $9.7 million." (CEO Siegel) "First, we launched our next-generation search and matching AI engine in Q1." (CEO Siegel) "Application volume increased by 37% for job seekers using the new engine." (CEO Siegel) "While only live for a subset of job seekers, we expect a full rollout by the end of Q2." (CEO Siegel) "We also created significant momentum with Be Seen First... Adoption is scaling fast." (CEO Siegel) "Over half of our paid employers now receive Be Seen First responses on their postings." (CEO Siegel) "In Q1, 12% of all applicants chose to be seen first." (CEO Siegel) "Be Seen First candidates are nearly 2 times more likely to receive a message from an employer than those using traditional applications." (CEO Siegel) "In March, we launched the ZipRecruiter app for ChatGPT, extending our reach directly into the AI tools job seekers are increasingly adopting." (President & Interim CFO David Travers) "We see this as an early step in broadening our presence across Generative AI platforms, and we'll look to expand our integrations over time." (Interim CFO Travers) "After investing over $1 billion over the past 15 years to achieve over 80% aided brand awareness... we are now leveraging our branding expertise to empower our customers to tell their own stories with multimedia branding." (Interim CFO Travers) "In Q1, we rolled out integrated branded pages for our employer listings on ZipRecruiter, powered by Breakroom." (Interim CFO Travers) Outlook Management provided Q2 guidance but did not provide EPS guidance in the prepared remarks. The analysts-estimates JSON used non-standard quarter formatting (integer quarters r...
Akamai CEO Tom Leighton joined Bloomberg Open Interest to break down a massive $1.8B AI cloud deal. He explains why it signals a shift away from big tech hyperscalers and how edge computing is becoming essential for stopping AI-powered cyberattacks, cutting costs, and delivering faster performance. (Source: Bloomberg)
Akamai CEO Tom Leighton joined Bloomberg Open Interest to break down a massive $1.8B AI cloud deal. He explains why it signals a shift away from big tech hyperscalers and how edge computing is becoming essential for stopping AI-powered cyberattacks, cutting costs, and delivering faster performance. (Source: Bloomberg)
Native Instruments' suite of music production software and gear, including Traktor and Kontakt, will soon live under the inMusic umbrella alongside other music tech brands like Akai Professional and Moog Music. As MusicRadar reports, Native Instruments CEO Nick Williams said the company was looking for a buyer in March , following news it had entered bankruptcy proceedings in Germany. In a blog po...
Native Instruments' suite of music production software and gear, including Traktor and Kontakt, will soon live under the inMusic umbrella alongside other music tech brands like Akai Professional and Moog Music. As MusicRadar reports, Native Instruments CEO Nick Williams said the company was looking for a buyer in March , following news it had entered bankruptcy proceedings in Germany. In a blog post announcing the deal, Williams called the acquisition a "fresh start," meaning that for the company's brands, "Native Instruments, iZotope, Plugin Alliance, Brainworx - all of it continues." The two companies have collaborated in the past, as in … Read the full story at The Verge.
BlakeDavidTaylor Pernod Ricard's ( PDRDF ) ( PRNDY ) deal talks with Brown-Forman ( BF.A ) ( BF.B ) fell apart over control issues, not price. The spirits firms couldn't agree on how much each of the combined company they would control, according to a Semafor report on Thursday, which cited people familiar with the matter. Pernod's controlling shareholder, the Ricard family, is open to reengaging ...
BlakeDavidTaylor Pernod Ricard's ( PDRDF ) ( PRNDY ) deal talks with Brown-Forman ( BF.A ) ( BF.B ) fell apart over control issues, not price. The spirits firms couldn't agree on how much each of the combined company they would control, according to a Semafor report on Thursday, which cited people familiar with the matter. Pernod's controlling shareholder, the Ricard family, is open to reengaging with Brown-Forman ( BF.B ) if the Brown family is willing to open talks on the control issue. Brown-Forman ( BF.B ) is slightly smaller than Pernod Ricard ( PDRDF ), but its family wanted to have an ownership in the combined entity that was larger than the Picard family, according to the report. The Semafor item comes after a Betaville report on Thursday indicated that Pernod Ricard ( PDRDF ) may have tried to restart talks and indicated that it may be willing to pay around $32 in cash. Brown-Forman ( BF.B ) and Pernod Ricard ( PDRDF ) weren't far apart on price, according to the Semafor report. Brown-Forman is still in talks with Sazerac about a possible deal. Sazerac is controlled by the Goldring family. Brown-Forman and Pernod Ricard declined to comment to Semafor. "The deal collapse is near term negative for BF/B as it removes the premium associated with a competitive dual-bidder process; however, the confirmation that Sazerac discussions remain active prevents a full unwind of the takeout premium," Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Piccolo wrote in a note. "The governance impasse (rather than price) is actually constructive for shareholders, as it suggests the Brown family is negotiating from a position of valuation confidence." "We would watch for any indication the Brown family is willing to cede control, which would immediately reopen the RI pathway and reignite competitive dynamics," Piccolo added. More on Brown-Forman Brown-Forman: A Failed Deal With Pernod Ricard Is Just The Beginning Brown-Forman: Stuck In The Middle Of A Potential Buyout And Rising Macro Press...
The S&P 500 Index ($SPX ) (SPY ) today is up +0.79%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DOWI ) (DIA ) is up +0.14%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX ) (QQQ ) is up +1.74%. June E-mini S&P futures (ESM26 ) are up +0.77%, and June E-mini Nasdaq futures...
The S&P 500 Index ($SPX ) (SPY ) today is up +0.79%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DOWI ) (DIA ) is up +0.14%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX ) (QQQ ) is up +1.74%. June E-mini S&P futures (ESM26 ) are up +0.77%, and June E-mini Nasdaq futures...
MF3d/E+ via Getty Images Okta, Inc. ( OKTA ) surprisingly popped up on my phone as it triggered a price alert I forgot I set back in January of 2024, when I first covered it, so I thought it would be a good time to revisit the thesis and see if there is an opportunity here. It quickly recovered from the April lows, and I didn’t make it on time to start a position as I was focused on other companie...
MF3d/E+ via Getty Images Okta, Inc. ( OKTA ) surprisingly popped up on my phone as it triggered a price alert I forgot I set back in January of 2024, when I first covered it, so I thought it would be a good time to revisit the thesis and see if there is an opportunity here. It quickly recovered from the April lows, and I didn’t make it on time to start a position as I was focused on other companies over the last month; however, I will be keeping a close eye out for a good entry point. Briefly On Performance Over the last two years, the company’s revenues have continued to trend upward. Every quarter in fiscal '26 came in at at least 11%-13% y/y growth. It’s a respectable growth, but certainly far from anything impressive. It looks like the company should be treated more as a mature company at this point, rather than a hyper-growth story. In the latest quarter, Q4 ’26 , the company’s revenues came in at $761m, up 11%, continuing that same trend. Remaining performance obligations, or RPO, grew 15% to $4.83B, while cRPO, which is the backlog that will be recognized over the next 12 months, came in at $2.5B, up 12% y/y. The company’s business model is predominantly subscription-based at this point, and I expect Professional services to continue to dwindle to nothing over time. Seeking Alpha Taking a look at the company’s profitability and efficiency over the same time period, we can see a very different picture compared to the last time I covered the company back in January of 2024. The company always had very healthy gross margins, as it is typical of a software company, but what impressed me the most was how much of an improvement in profitability it had in just two years. Back in January of 2024, the company’s operating margins and, of course, the bottom line were deep in the red. Fast forward to today, and they are way past breakeven. It seems to me that the swing came from a mix of revenue scale, cost discipline, and a deliberate shift toward higher-quality recurri...
Gen Z is redefining generosity according to GoFundMe. The CEO Tim Cadogan reveals that young people aren’t just talking about change—they’re giving more than any other generation, driven by social connection, identity, and digital sharing. And personal giving is actually boosting nonprofits, not hurting them. (Source: Bloomberg)
Gen Z is redefining generosity according to GoFundMe. The CEO Tim Cadogan reveals that young people aren’t just talking about change—they’re giving more than any other generation, driven by social connection, identity, and digital sharing. And personal giving is actually boosting nonprofits, not hurting them. (Source: Bloomberg)
Cost Of California's High-Speed Rail Goes Up Again Authored by Kerry Johnson via Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy , It was supposed to cost $33 billion when voters approved the train in 2008. It will now cost at least $126 billion. It was also supposed to be carrying 65.5 million to 96.5 million intercity riders a year by 2030. Yet now 2040 is the date for “ full service to start .” Sk...
Cost Of California's High-Speed Rail Goes Up Again Authored by Kerry Johnson via Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy , It was supposed to cost $33 billion when voters approved the train in 2008. It will now cost at least $126 billion. It was also supposed to be carrying 65.5 million to 96.5 million intercity riders a year by 2030. Yet now 2040 is the date for “ full service to start .” Skeptics don’t believe we’ll ever see the train run with paying customers aboard. “In my judgment, the Draft 2026 Business Plan describes a project that has reached a dead end,” says Louis S. Thompson, a 15-year member of the California High Speed Rail Peer Review Group that was established by legislation. In a letter to lawmakers, Thompson, who was also on the team that created Amtrak, said that after so many changes in the project—cost, design revisions, longer estimated trip times—it’s “not, not even remotely, the system the voters approved in Proposition 1A” in 2008. Early last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom, that “ Steel Driving Man ,” promised there soon would be some visible manifestation of the train’s “progress.” A few months later, HSRA CEO Ian Choudri promised, “ We are going to be laying high speed tracks next year .” The HSRA “expects to achieve several other procurement milestones in 2026,” but not track laying and there is no hard deadline for it to begin to be found in the plan. There is only a three-and-a-half-year timeline, which starts in July for the “Track & Systems Design & Construction” of the first section in the Central Valley. In other words, the HSRA has provided itself cover should it fall short of its 2026 promise. California’s perpetually unfolding mess has caught the attention of the editorial board of a newspaper one state over after a recent “60 Minutes” report “shined the spotlight on what has become the most embarrassing and costly government infrastructure boondoggle in US history.” “Has there ever been a greater fraud perpetrated on the taxpayers...
Globus Medical ( GMED ) erased its post-market gains on Friday as the stock plunged over 8% despite reporting better-than-expected first-quarter results. Shares of the firm were down 8.26% to $78.04 during early trading hours. GMED had jumped as much as 7% during aftermarket trading on Thursday. The Pennsylvania-based firm reported adjusted per share earnings of $1.12. GAAP net income for the peri...
Globus Medical ( GMED ) erased its post-market gains on Friday as the stock plunged over 8% despite reporting better-than-expected first-quarter results. Shares of the firm were down 8.26% to $78.04 during early trading hours. GMED had jumped as much as 7% during aftermarket trading on Thursday. The Pennsylvania-based firm reported adjusted per share earnings of $1.12. GAAP net income for the period rose 64.7% Y/Y to $124.3M. The increase in GAAP net income was primarily driven by higher sales of $161M, with the sales from the acquisition of Nevro contributing $82.7M, the company said. Revenue jumped 27% to $759.9M in the quarter. U.S. net sales for the first quarter increased by 25% year-on-year, while international net sales increased by 35.6%. “In the first quarter, US Spine continued to lead the way in growth for the organization, posting the third straight 10% growth quarter when compared to the same quarter of the prior year. This, paired with growth across all of our significant underlying businesses, drove record first quarter GAAP and non-GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share,” said Kyle Kline, chief financial officer. Globus raised its full-year GAAP EPS guidance to be in the range of $4.70 to $4.80. The firm reaffirmed its revenue guidance to be in the range of $3.18B to $3.22B. Adjusted gross profit margin is projected to fall in the range of 69% to 70% in 2026. The stock has logged losses for four sessions in a row. On Thursday, GMED closed 4.65% lower ahead of the release of its Q1 results. On a YTD basis, it has declined by over 9%. More on Globus Medical Globus Medical, Inc. (GMED) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript Globus Medical: Great Value, Momentum, And Earnings Growth Globus Medical, Inc. (GMED) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Globus Medical targets 2026 non-GAAP EPS of $4.70-$4.80 while reaffirming $3.18B-$3.22B revenue guidance Globus Medical Non-GAAP EPS of $1.12 beats by $0.20, revenue of $759.9M beats by $19.07M
P_Wei Blackrock ( BLK ) moved nearly $124.4M worth of Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) and Ethereum ( ETH-USD ) to wallets linked with Coinbase ( COIN ) on Friday. This institutional transfer came as the crypto market slipped deeper into a risk-off mood amid crypto ETF outflows, liquidation, and the ongoing US-Iran war. On-chain data from Arkham Intel and Onchain Lens showed BlackRock transferred 1.2K BTC wort...
P_Wei Blackrock ( BLK ) moved nearly $124.4M worth of Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) and Ethereum ( ETH-USD ) to wallets linked with Coinbase ( COIN ) on Friday. This institutional transfer came as the crypto market slipped deeper into a risk-off mood amid crypto ETF outflows, liquidation, and the ongoing US-Iran war. On-chain data from Arkham Intel and Onchain Lens showed BlackRock transferred 1.2K BTC worth around $98.2M and 11.5K ETH valued near $26.3M while BTC traded close to ~$80K and ETH near ~$2.29K. BlackRock moved BTC and ETH to Coinbase (Arkham Intelligence) The large exchange deposits immediately caught traders’ attention because such wallet movements are often considered a sign of potential selling pressure or OTC positioning by institutional investors. The timing became more important because the company has emerged as one of the biggest drivers of crypto ETF flows this year. In Q1, the company generated $130B in total net inflows , including a record $132B in ETF inflows led by strong demand for bond, equity, and active ETFs. The market weakness spread across crypto-linked equities, with MARA Holdings ( MARA ) down 2%, Coinbase ( COIN) falling 2%, Robinhood ( HOOD) slipping 1%, and Palantir Technologies ( PLTR) losing 1.45%. However, BlackRock maintained its Q1 earnings and revenue growth momentum as shares gained 1.16% to $1.08K. More on BlackRock, Bitcoin USD, etc. U.S. Dollar Debasement - What Our Assets Are Actually Worth Cryptoassets At A Crossroads: Volatility, Adoption, And Changing Investor Perspectives Bitcoin Price Outlook: Why A Close Above $82,133 Is Needed To Resume The Bull Run White House aims for July 4 passage of Clarity Act, crypto adviser says BlackRock Asia private credit fund at test after China loan turns sour - report
tiero/iStock via Getty Images Micron Technology, Inc. ( MU ) shares have gone absolutely vertical over the last month as AI stocks have rebounded sharply on optimism that data center build-outs are chugging along as planned. While MU has certainly already experienced its fair share of gains and then some, I think there's more gas left in the tank. Data by YCharts In my last piece on MU back on Apr...
tiero/iStock via Getty Images Micron Technology, Inc. ( MU ) shares have gone absolutely vertical over the last month as AI stocks have rebounded sharply on optimism that data center build-outs are chugging along as planned. While MU has certainly already experienced its fair share of gains and then some, I think there's more gas left in the tank. Data by YCharts In my last piece on MU back on April 1st, I discussed the stock's prospects in light of ongoing DRAM and NAND shortages and re-iterated a Buy rating in the wake of a 20% sell-off from highs. Shares have since gained 90% in just about a month relative to 12.6% for the S&P 500 ( SPY ). That article can be read here . First off, holy cow. MU is now up a whopping 660% over the last 12 months as AI demand for DRAM and SSDs has sent prices, and the stock, soaring with no end yet in sight. I've seen many folks pondering whether this is the peak and whether the time to sell is nigh. I've also seen folks lamenting that they didn't buy in earlier, but now it's too late because you can't possibly buy a stock that's gone up this much already... right? Well, I say that sentiment is silly—we should judge a stock based on its current merits regardless of previous recent price movements. The obvious question then becomes: is MU still worth buying? The answer to this, as it always does with memory, lies with supply and demand. The supply shortage that has rocked the market has sent average selling prices ("ASPs") through the roof, sold-out capacity through 2027 in some cases, and forced data center operators to dig deep to continue building out infrastructure. And it's only getting worse. As I mentioned in a previous article, it's not just the demand spike that's disrupting the market, but also the fact that we had just exited a severe memory downcycle that caused extremely low capacity utilization. So we basically had the most powerful secular demand trend in memory's history coupled with a minimal supply regime. Hence, su...
tiero/iStock via Getty Images Micron Technology, Inc. ( MU ) shares have gone absolutely vertical over the last month as AI stocks have rebounded sharply on optimism that data center build-outs are chugging along as planned. While MU has certainly already experienced its fair share of gains and then some, I think there's more gas left in the tank. Data by YCharts In my last piece on MU back on Apr...
tiero/iStock via Getty Images Micron Technology, Inc. ( MU ) shares have gone absolutely vertical over the last month as AI stocks have rebounded sharply on optimism that data center build-outs are chugging along as planned. While MU has certainly already experienced its fair share of gains and then some, I think there's more gas left in the tank. Data by YCharts In my last piece on MU back on April 1st, I discussed the stock's prospects in light of ongoing DRAM and NAND shortages and re-iterated a Buy rating in the wake of a 20% sell-off from highs. Shares have since gained 90% in just about a month relative to 12.6% for the S&P 500 ( SPY ). That article can be read here . First off, holy cow. MU is now up a whopping 660% over the last 12 months as AI demand for DRAM and SSDs has sent prices, and the stock, soaring with no end yet in sight. I've seen many folks pondering whether this is the peak and whether the time to sell is nigh. I've also seen folks lamenting that they didn't buy in earlier, but now it's too late because you can't possibly buy a stock that's gone up this much already... right? Well, I say that sentiment is silly—we should judge a stock based on its current merits regardless of previous recent price movements. The obvious question then becomes: is MU still worth buying? The answer to this, as it always does with memory, lies with supply and demand. The supply shortage that has rocked the market has sent average selling prices ("ASPs") through the roof, sold-out capacity through 2027 in some cases, and forced data center operators to dig deep to continue building out infrastructure. And it's only getting worse. As I mentioned in a previous article, it's not just the demand spike that's disrupting the market, but also the fact that we had just exited a severe memory downcycle that caused extremely low capacity utilization. So we basically had the most powerful secular demand trend in memory's history coupled with a minimal supply regime. Hence, su...
A new documentary at Cannes film festival looks at the French footballer’s five turbulent and triumphant seasons in Manchester – and the love story between him and manager Alex Ferguson It was 30 years ago this weekend that Eric Cantona struck an audacious volley from the edge of the penalty area to win the 1996 FA Cup final. For his team, Manchester United, it meant triumph over their fiercest ri...
A new documentary at Cannes film festival looks at the French footballer’s five turbulent and triumphant seasons in Manchester – and the love story between him and manager Alex Ferguson It was 30 years ago this weekend that Eric Cantona struck an audacious volley from the edge of the penalty area to win the 1996 FA Cup final. For his team, Manchester United, it meant triumph over their fiercest rivals Liverpool and an unprecedented second league and cup double. But for Cantona himself, it capped one of the most remarkable comeback stories in the history of the Premier League – one that has now been turned into a feature film set to take Cannes by storm. Cantona is directed by duo David Tryhorn and Ben Nicholas, the only British directors to be part of the prestigious film festival’s official selection this year. With cinematic flair, it paints a portrait of one of football’s most singular personalities through the lens of his five turbulent and triumphant seasons in Manchester. We are treated to his sublime goals and trademark philosophical quotes, as well as flashbacks to his tempestuous early career in France, in which he berated the national team manager as “incompetent”, faced suspension from his club Marseille and even quit the sport altogether for a time. Continue reading...
(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Friday, more than offsetting the pullback seen over the course of the previous session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq has led the way higher, reaching a new record intraday high along with the S&P 500.
(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Friday, more than offsetting the pullback seen over the course of the previous session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq has led the way higher, reaching a new record intraday high along with the S&P 500.