Fabrice Cabaud Wall Street’s major market averages traded lower on Friday as the January wholesale inflation report came in hotter than expected. The blue-chip Dow ( DJI ) was last lower by 1.5%, while the benchmark S&P 500 ( SP500 ) was -0.9%. At the same time, the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite was -1.1%. From a sector standpoint, six of the S&P 500’s 11 segments were in positive trading territor...
Fabrice Cabaud Wall Street’s major market averages traded lower on Friday as the January wholesale inflation report came in hotter than expected. The blue-chip Dow ( DJI ) was last lower by 1.5%, while the benchmark S&P 500 ( SP500 ) was -0.9%. At the same time, the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite was -1.1%. From a sector standpoint, six of the S&P 500’s 11 segments were in positive trading territory, with consumer staples leading the way. At the other end of the spectrum, financials have suffered the most so far. Treasury yields also moved lower. The benchmark U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield ( US10Y ) slipped to 3.97%, falling below the 4% threshold for the first time in three months. Furthermore, the shorter-end U.S. 2-year Treasury yield ( US2Y ) fell to 3.40%, while the U.S. 30-year Treasury yield ( US30Y ) declined to 4.64%. On the economic front, the January U.S. Producer Price Index came in at +0.5% M/M versus the +0.3% consensus and +0.5% prior figure. Also, core PPI (excluding food and energy) came in at +0.8% M/M compared to the +0.3% consensus and +0.7% prior readings. Additionally, the Chicago PMI print increased to 57.7 in February, beating the 52.5 consensus number. As for stocks that were on the move, shares of Block ( XYZ ) climbed 15.6%, and shares of Zscaler ( ZS ) came down by 13.9%. More on markets Dividend Roundup: Home Depot, UnitedHealth, Cigna, Nvidia, and more ETF impact: Block’s 40% workforce cut fuels 20% rally and these funds are taking notice US10Y slips below 4% for the first time in three months as investors purchase bonds Dividend strength meets energy sector surge: Top 10 performers to watch Value or Growth? These 15 stocks are offering both
OpenAI has closed another round of funding , totalling $110 billion being newly committed to the maker of ChatGPT, which it says has more than 900 million weekly active users and over 50 million consumer subscribers. Amazon is investing $50 billion and striking a deal that includes plans for custom models and more. Nvidia and SoftBank are each contributing $30 billion, as well, even as the Wall St...
OpenAI has closed another round of funding , totalling $110 billion being newly committed to the maker of ChatGPT, which it says has more than 900 million weekly active users and over 50 million consumer subscribers. Amazon is investing $50 billion and striking a deal that includes plans for custom models and more. Nvidia and SoftBank are each contributing $30 billion, as well, even as the Wall Street Journal notes that Nvidia's previous $100 billion investment plan is "on ice." This marks another massive influx of cash for the company that's now valued at $730 billion, and previously closed a $40 billion round in 2025. At the time, it was th … Read the full story at The Verge.
(RTTNews) - Guardian Metal Resources plc (GMTL) on Friday announced that it has filed a registration statement on Form F-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of American Depositary Shares in the United States.
(RTTNews) - Guardian Metal Resources plc (GMTL) on Friday announced that it has filed a registration statement on Form F-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of American Depositary Shares in the United States.
Nisian Hughes/DigitalVision via Getty Images Service Corporation ( SCI ) is a company that we have owned for over a decade and a bit of a hidden gem. The stock has fewer than 10k followers on SA, company information is sparse and it is not a business many investors would think of as an investment opportunity. This is part of its beauty. The business model will never be disrupted, the demand will a...
Nisian Hughes/DigitalVision via Getty Images Service Corporation ( SCI ) is a company that we have owned for over a decade and a bit of a hidden gem. The stock has fewer than 10k followers on SA, company information is sparse and it is not a business many investors would think of as an investment opportunity. This is part of its beauty. The business model will never be disrupted, the demand will always be there and it will stand the test of time. Service Corporation is North America’s leading provider of funeral, cremation and cemetery services. To understand what shaped this company, low key profile and conservative business model, we first need to take a look at it from a historical lens. Historical Viewpoint The death scare in 1999 In the late 1990s, the SCI’s founder, Robert Waltrip , pursued a hyper-aggressive growth strategy . The company acquired thousands of family operated funeral homes and cemeteries globally to consolidate them under SCI. To fund its expansion, SCI took on large amounts of debt and accepted lower returns on capital, just to sustain its growth momentum. Even in a predictable business like this, mortality rates can and will fluctuate over time. 1999 marked the tipping point for the company where slightly lower mortality rates combined with high leverage created ripple effects. In October that year, the company published a quarterly report that greatly disappointed investors and the stock plummeted over 50%, in one day. This sell-off created a market panic and SCI was no longer able to sell shares to fund acquisitions needed to keep the growth going. With interest payments that needed to be serviced, the company started a fire-sale of its assets and pulled out from the international markets. SCI managed by a thin margin to stabilize and recover over time. SCI stopped trying to take over the world and focused on becoming a lean, North American cash-flow machine. Today, the company is managed in a conservative fashion. The mindset was forged d...
flyparade/iStock via Getty Images Nexstar Media Group ( NXST ) had a rather good Thursday, beating revenue estimates in Q4 earnings and once again approaching all-time highs on stock prices, despite the EPS figures being rather moderate because of the lack of an election cycle during that quarter. I initiated my coverage on Nexstar back in August, rating it a hold because the planned acquisition o...
flyparade/iStock via Getty Images Nexstar Media Group ( NXST ) had a rather good Thursday, beating revenue estimates in Q4 earnings and once again approaching all-time highs on stock prices, despite the EPS figures being rather moderate because of the lack of an election cycle during that quarter. I initiated my coverage on Nexstar back in August, rating it a hold because the planned acquisition of Tegna ( TGNA ), while potentially offering them some synergies, also faces strong regulatory hurdles before approval. The stock price has continued to rise in recent months, though that acquisition still isn’t approved, and now we’re brushing up on record highs for Nexstar. Is that warranted? My August take was that these levels are possibly warranted if the Tegna deal was approved, but that has yet to happen, and six months later we’ve got full year numbers to review, so I thought it was worth dipping into Nexstar’s financials again to asking whether there is real value to be had in owning and operating TV stations in 2026. Progress in 2025, But Earnings Were Soft Nexstar showed some progress in their business through 2025, and a testament to that is that they capped off Q4 ahead of estimates on revenue. The CW Network grew into the 10 th most watched network in the US, though at the same time, 2025 was not an election year, so advertising revenue was necessarily weaker than it would’ve been in an even-numbered year. All told, the final results aren’t a disaster, but the nature of 2025 prevents them from being a runaway success. 2024 2025 Revenue $5.4 billion $4.9 billion Operating Income $1.27 billion $849 million Interest Expenses ($444 million) ($379 million) Net Income $722 million $109 million GAAP EPS $21.73 $3.04 Click to enlarge (source: press release from Q4 earnings) You can see here where revenue fell off because of the lack of an election in the year, so even while The CW continued to grow, it’s not so big as to be able to lift all boats for a company the siz...
Lone Star Stock/iStock via Getty Images Portillo's Inc.'s ( PTLO ) numbers haven't been great, but the recent earnings call brought up some strategic changes that caught my attention. And no, I'm not just talking about the slowdown in new openings and the interruption of clustering in the Sunbelt, especially in markets with very high DMAs. As I mentioned in my last article , the first re-rating ha...
Lone Star Stock/iStock via Getty Images Portillo's Inc.'s ( PTLO ) numbers haven't been great, but the recent earnings call brought up some strategic changes that caught my attention. And no, I'm not just talking about the slowdown in new openings and the interruption of clustering in the Sunbelt, especially in markets with very high DMAs. As I mentioned in my last article , the first re-rating has already happened. Portillo's no longer looks like a traditional growth story, but it's trading more like a turnaround, which historically has been a decent OCF generator. Berkshire Partners —the "terror" of long-term holders and one of the biggest culprits in Portillo's disastrous expansion—finally sold almost all of its stake (currently they hold ~1.4% without board representation). Berkshire Partners' percentage of ownership in Portillo's (Fintel) They also just named a new CEO. Brett Patterson seems to bring more hands-on restaurant experience than Michael Osanloo, with time spent at Darden ( DRI ), Ruby Tuesday, Outback ( BLMN ), and Miller’s Ale House. No fast-casual or fast-food chains on this list, which worries me a bit. Outback was also the loser of the " Battle of the Steakhouses ," and if they push LTO strategies based on Portillo's Perks as well, I think that would be a bad thing. In my opinion, Brett should focus on the core business, push daily value like Potbelly did in the fast-casual space last year (remember that the "Skinny Combo" generated many incremental transactions), and have a firm hand on pricing. A kind of fast-casual with the efficiency of fast food. It's difficult, I know, but it's possible. And when I say I liked what I heard on the earnings call, I'm referring to a few strategic tweaks. I'll list them for you: The end of clustering high-DMA markets, which was cannibalizing traffic in some regions : The pattern was one of strong entry into new markets (~$250,000 in weekly sales), such as in Arizona (the Phoenix market, for example, has 8 rest...
Acerinox, S.A. press release ( ANIOY ): Q4 Revenue of €1.87B. Q4 2025 EBIT: €87 million. 2025 net profit: €156 million. More on Acerinox, S.A. Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Acerinox, S.A. Historical earnings data for Acerinox, S.A. Dividend scorecard for Acerinox, S.A. Financial information for Acerinox, S.A.
Acerinox, S.A. press release ( ANIOY ): Q4 Revenue of €1.87B. Q4 2025 EBIT: €87 million. 2025 net profit: €156 million. More on Acerinox, S.A. Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Acerinox, S.A. Historical earnings data for Acerinox, S.A. Dividend scorecard for Acerinox, S.A. Financial information for Acerinox, S.A.
Técnicas Reunidas, S.A. press release (TNISF ): Q4 Revenue of €1.87B. Q4 2025 EBIT: €87 million. 2025 Net Profit: €156 million. More on Bank Of N.T. Butterfield & Son: An Offshore Moat Yielding Massive Capital Returns After A Stellar 2025 MBIA Inc. (MBI) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Ambev: Let's Cheers To More Upside Ambarella cascades due to GoPro's patent victory despite posting solid Q4 res...
Técnicas Reunidas, S.A. press release (TNISF ): Q4 Revenue of €1.87B. Q4 2025 EBIT: €87 million. 2025 Net Profit: €156 million. More on Bank Of N.T. Butterfield & Son: An Offshore Moat Yielding Massive Capital Returns After A Stellar 2025 MBIA Inc. (MBI) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Ambev: Let's Cheers To More Upside Ambarella cascades due to GoPro's patent victory despite posting solid Q4 results: analysts Las Vegas Strip gaming revenue tumbles amid international tourism slump, high pricing
US stocks opened lower as risk-off sentiment swept through markets and fintech Block Inc. ’s massive layoffs fanned angst that artificial-intelligence is poised to upend broad sections of the economy. A larger-than-forecast 0.5% increase in producer prices last month, fueled by services, also weighed on equities by signaling inflationary pressures that may keep the Federal Reserve from cutting int...
US stocks opened lower as risk-off sentiment swept through markets and fintech Block Inc. ’s massive layoffs fanned angst that artificial-intelligence is poised to upend broad sections of the economy. A larger-than-forecast 0.5% increase in producer prices last month, fueled by services, also weighed on equities by signaling inflationary pressures that may keep the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates. Nvidia Corp. , the heaviest-weighted stock in the S&P 500, extended its post-earnings decline. The S&P 500 Index 0.9% at 9:45 a.m. in New York. The Nasdaq 100 Index fell 0.7%. Nvidia shares shed 2.3% . The Vix Index rose to 21.33 . Nvidia’s two-day drop came despite rising revenue and a better-than-expected first-quarter outlook , undescoring concerns about the high valuations of stocks that have surged on the back of the AI boom. The “positive earnings surprises weren’t on the scale of what markets got used to in 2023-2024, and arrived amidst growing scepticism about the AI trade in general,” Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid wrote in a Friday morning note. Even as investors fret over whether the AI boom has pushed up some stocks too far, the steady rollout of AI programs has caused them pull back from industries that look likely to be upended by the technology. That risk was fanned on Thursday when Jack Dorsey ’s Block said it was cutting 4,000 employees, reducing its workforce by nearly half, in a bet that AI can increase productivity. Block surged 15% . Meantime, OpenAI will raise $110 billion in new investment at a $730 billion pre-money valuation. Investment includes $30 billion from Nvidia, $30 billion from SoftBank and $50 billion from Amazon.com Inc. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he doesn’t think his company’s fundraising deals look “circular” as long as revenue keeps growing. Amazon shares slipped 0.78% . In deal news, Netflix Inc. jumped 8.9% after dropping out of the fight to buy Warner Bros . Discovery, clearing the way for rival bidder Paramount Skyd...
Some creditors of Market Financial Solutions Ltd. , the failed UK mortgage firm backed by Wall Street lenders including Barclays Plc , warned there may be a £930 million ($1.3 billion) shortfall in collateral backing their loans. Zircon Bridging Ltd. and Amber Bridging Ltd., the companies that forced MFS into a UK form of insolvency this week, accused the London-based firm of using the same assets...
Some creditors of Market Financial Solutions Ltd. , the failed UK mortgage firm backed by Wall Street lenders including Barclays Plc , warned there may be a £930 million ($1.3 billion) shortfall in collateral backing their loans. Zircon Bridging Ltd. and Amber Bridging Ltd., the companies that forced MFS into a UK form of insolvency this week, accused the London-based firm of using the same assets as collateral for multiple loans. This practice, known as double pledging, may have led to an “unaccounted-for deficiency” of more than 80% on £1.2 billion of debts, according to documents from their claim obtained by Bloomberg. The collapse of MFS, which also attracted backing from Apollo Group Inc. ’s Atlas SP Partners unit and Jefferies Financial Group Inc. , is the latest crisis to hit both banks and direct lenders, and puts a spotlight on asset-based financing. Accusations of double pledging also emerged in the collapses last year of US auto parts supplier First Brands Group and sub-prime auto lender Tricolor Holdings . Read More: Barclays, Apollo’s Atlas Among Lenders to Failed UK Firm MFS Paresh Raja, the owner and chief executive officer of MFS, didn’t respond to requests for comment through his LinkedIn profile. Zircon had made £520 million of loans yet there was only £110 million of “true value” in its collateral account, according to the claim. Amber had just £120 million of “true value” in its collateral account against £640 million of loans. Together that’s a “true value” of £230 million. Lenders typically provide mortgages for less than the value of the assets backing them, meaning the collateral is worth more than the debt issued. Angela Gallo, a lecturer in finance at Bayes Business School in London, said collateral in transactions such as those arranged by MFS tends to be worth between 105% and 120% of the loan. “To put it bluntly, having only £230 million against £1.2 billion in debt is catastrophic,” said Gallo. “This definitely looks like a mess.” It’s ...