Here are the stocks making headlines in midday trading. Rockwell Automation — The manufacturing giant rallied 10% on the back of better-than-expected results for its fiscal second quarter. Rockwell earned $3.30 per share, after adjustments, on revenue of $2.24 billion. Analysts expected a profit of $2.88 per share on revenue of $2.16 billion. The company also lifted its fiscal 2026 profit outlook. Huntington Ingalls — Shares of the shipbuilding company dropped 11%. The company reaffirmed its free cash flow projections for the full year, calling for $500 million to $600 million, versus the FactSet consensus forecast of $569.7 million. Huntington Ingalls beat expectations on the top and bottom lines in the first quarter. Fiserv — The financial technology provider tumbled 9% after first-quarter earnings per share declined 29% from the same period a year ago, while revenue dropped 2%. Bullish — Shares of the crypto exchange Bullish surged about 12% after it announced plans to buy transfer agent Equiniti in a deal valued at $4.2 billion . The deal gives crypto platform access to a regulated transfer agent, which is responsible for maintaining records of registered shareholders for stock-issuing companies, strengthening its operations. Shopify — The maker of e-commerce tools slid almost 15% after saying it expects second-quarter revenue growth to slow to a "high-twenties percentage rate" from 34% in the first quarter, and gross profit dollars to expand at a mid-twenties percentage rate, down from more than 32% in the first quarter. DuPont — Shares of the chemicals company jumped nearly 8%. DuPont lifted its full-year guidance, calling for adjusted earnings of $2.35 to $2.40 per share on revenue of $7.16 billion to $7.22 billion. First-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue surpassed the FactSet consensus. DuPont also announced a $275 million accelerated share repurchase program. Cytokinetics — The biopharmaceutical stock surged 17% on the back of positive results from its ...

Earnings Call Insights: CPI Card Group (PMTS) Q1 2026 Management View “Overall, we are off to a solid start in 2026 and are on track to achieve our full year outlook,” said CEO John Lowe (President, CEO & Director), adding the company is “executing on our initiatives to deliver on our strategy of growing and diversifying the business.” Lowe highlighted Q1 demand drivers in Secure Card Solutions, saying results “reflected another strong contribution from Arroweye” and “strong performance from our contactless solutions, led by continued strength of contactless metal,” alongside “increased sales of personalization services.” On segment pacing, Lowe said, “As expected, our Prepaid solutions segment had a slow start to the years, but we continue to anticipate growth for the full year,” and added, “Integrated Paytech grew only slightly due to comparisons with a strong prior year quarter, and we continue to expect the segment to grow more than 15% for the full year.” Interim CFO Terra Grantham (Senior VP of Enterprise Strategy & Growth and Interim CFO) tied Q1 performance to Arroweye and mix, stating, “First quarter revenue increased 20% to $147 million,” and “Secure Card Solutions revenue increased 35%, which included a $16 million contribution from Arroweye.” Grantham detailed profitability and integration impacts: “First quarter net income declined by 57% to $2.1 million, primarily affected by $3 million of pretax integration costs,” while “adjusted EBITDA increased 9%.” Outlook Grantham said, “We are affirming the full year outlook provided in March,” specifying “high single-digit revenue growth, low to mid-single-digit adjusted EBITDA growth, free cash flow conversion at similar levels to 2025 and a year-end net leverage ratio between 2.5x and 3x.” For near-term cadence, Grantham said, “We expect Q2 revenue to be similar to Q1 levels,” and “adjusted EBITDA [is] expected to be slightly lower than prior year due to timing of investment spending, including some spending ...

Earnings Call Insights: Sphere Entertainment Co. (SPHR) Q1 2026 Management View “We remain focused on maximizing the model's full potential in Las Vegas, while executing on our long-term vision for a global network of Sphere venues.” (Executive Chairman & CEO James Dolan) Dolan said Abu Dhabi has been “minimally impacted to date by the conflict in the wider region,” and added that “early-stage procurement work with contractors and vendors is now taking place,” with the venue site selected by the Department of Culture and Tourism and to be announced later. (Executive Chairman & CEO Dolan) On the planned National Harbor venue, Dolan said “financing discussions for this 6,000 feet Sphere are progressing as planned,” the company is “finalizing the venue design,” and it is “working together with the state and the county on the various legislative approvals and incentives,” adding, “We continue to believe the venue could be open in 4 years or less.” (Executive Chairman & CEO Dolan) “For the March quarter, we generated total company revenues of $386.4 million and adjusted operating income of $110 million.” (Executive VP, CFO & Treasurer Robert Langer) Koester described demand resilience in Las Vegas: “we're not overly concerned at this point,” and said “we've seen a shift and return to growth in visitation in February and March,” while citing strong residency demand including “Phish just completed 9 sold-out shows,” “Backstreet Boys is returning this summer for another 21 nights,” and “Metallica sold out 24 nights after initially announcing only 8.” (President & COO Jennifer Koester) Outlook The call did not include formal EPS or revenue guidance for upcoming quarters; forward-looking remarks centered on venue expansion timing and continued content/event demand. “We continue to believe the venue could be open in 4 years or less.” (Executive Chairman & CEO Dolan) Compared with the prior quarter, management’s expansion messaging remained centered on National Harbor and Abu D...

The premise makes enough sense. There was a time, in fact, when defensive sectors such as consumer staples and healthcare reliably outperformed cyclical growth industries -- like technology -- in challenging economic environments. Assuming we're nearer the end of an expansion cycle than the beginning of one right now, you may be tempted to own a little less tech going forward, and more of something along the lines of the State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEMKT: XLP) or the Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (NYSEMKT: VDC) . The fact is, however, the market doesn't quite work like this anymore. Responses to economic weakness are quick, and investors are aggressively predictive. Most nation's economies are also so intrinsically linked to the rest of the world that it's entirely possible a company can overcome a domestic economic headwind, or be dragged down by worldwide economic weakness. Continue reading

格隆汇5月6日｜美联储在固定利率逆回购操作中总计接纳了6个对手方的11.22亿美元。

Analyst warns of a peak in Micron stock: find out more CryptoRank

Talaj/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis Among the record numbers that Sandisk Corporation ( SNDK ) reported in last week's quarterly earnings tape was a surprising twist in its business model, which is expected to account for a growing portion of Sandisk’s business over the next year. The wide gap between Sandisk’s manufacturing capacity and runaway spot prices for NAND made Sandisk & its peers overnight AI beneficiaries. And so far, Sandisk continues to be an outright beneficiary of the exponentially rising prices of NAND flash. But memory/storage companies have been here before, and Sandisk wants to protect itself in case NAND prices crash. This is why Sandisk wants to focus on NBMs, the company’s answer to conducting business uninterruptedly even if NAND prices get volatile. The question I have is why now? I continue to expect an extended period of digestion in Sandisk's share price as markets, customers, and investors process the diversified focus on Sandisk's business, and I remain neutral on Sandisk as explained below. Sandisk’s NBM: Misunderstood For A Reason So far, markets have praised Sandisk for its outstanding performance in the Q3 FY26 ER from last week. The storage company broke expectations by reporting Q3 revenues of ~$6B, beating expectations by 26% or $1.2B. The performance was even more reverberating if seen from the lens of earnings, which jumped 278% sequentially to $23.41 per share, beating expectations by a whopping 60% or $8.75 per share. Gross margins expanded by ~3.5x y/y, or 27.4 percentage points sequentially, to 78.35% in Q3. No denying that those are stellar results for Sandisk that ended Q3 in March this year. Sandisk was able to deliver those results mostly due to the astronomical surge in NAND flash spot prices between June of last year and March of this year, as seen below. Exhibit A: Astronomical jumps in the spot prices of NAND Flash wafers have benefitted Sandisk. (TrendForce) But through late March and April, NAND prices...

SUSQUEHANNA ADVISORS GROUP, INC.'s Meta Platforms Inc(META) Holding History GuruFocus

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) is the headline name in every AI portfolio chatroom, and after a 143% one-year run that carried the world’s most valuable chipmaker to a $2.1 trillion market cap, the reasons are obvious. But here’s what you should actually be watching. The Crowded Trade Is Already Priced TSMC delivered $35.90 billion in ... Everyone’s Talking About TSMC’s AI Boom. Smart Money Is Watching UMC Instead

Everyone’s Talking About TSMC’s AI Boom. Smart Money Is Watching UMC Instead 24/7 Wall St.

Key PointsThe contracted backlog hit $553 billion in the most recent quarter, up 325% from a year earlier.

Apple Shares Jump On Report Next iOS Will Allow Users To Choose Rival AI Models Having appeared to be behind the game on its AI offerings for months, Apple will reportedly allow users choose from a range of outside artificial intelligence services to power features across its software , building on a strategy to turn its devices into a comprehensive AI platform. Bloomberg reports that, according to people with knowledge of the matter, Users will be able to select from multiple third-party AI models for tasks like generating and editing text and images, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The change is slated for iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 this fall, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. The iOS update will let users choose from AI model providers that opt in by adding support through their App Store apps. So far, Apple has been testing integrations internally with at least Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Anthropic PBC, according to the people with knowledge of the matter. Inside iOS 27, Apple refers to the capability as “Extensions.” It lets users select which AI services they want to power Apple Intelligence features via the Settings app. Apple shares extended gains on the report... Bloomberg adds that the Apple Intelligence platform, introduced in 2024, currently offers ChatGPT as the only third-party option in features like Siri, Writing Tools and Image Playground. It’s all part of Apple’s bid to gain an edge in the artificial intelligence market - with a twist. Rather than building the best AI software and services itself, the company is looking to make it easy for customers to find a wide range of options on its devices. Certainly seems a lot cheaper than dropping all that unprecented CapEx on the data centers and building their own (though at what 'other' cost to the platform)? Read more here... Tyler Durden Tue, 05/05/2026 - 13:30

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) is one of the utility stocks riding the 2026 “Reliability Shock.” The latest relevant development came on April 29, 2026, when Reuters reported that Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) increased its four-year capital spending plan by about 33% to $57 billion, largely to expand energy infrastructure for Meta’s data centers. The agreement includes seven […]

Micron Technology Huge, Unusual Put Option Activity - a Bullish Signal as MU Rises 12% Barchart.com

Micron Technology stock has been on a tear. It's up 100% since a recent trough on March 30. It's up 12% today, and put option premiums in MU are sky high with unusual options activity, a bullish signal.

Micron Technology Huge, Unusual Put Option Activity - a Bullish Signal as MU Rises 12% Yahoo Finance

Richard Drury/DigitalVision via Getty Images The Geopolitical Dilemma: Iran Gone Wrong It has been a volatile and unsettling period in the Middle East. Following more than a month of continuous bombing in Iran, the United States reached a tenuous ceasefire. While the active conflict has paused, the U.S. continues to maintain a financially crippling blockade against the Iranian regime. If that geopolitical stress isn’t enough, oil prices remain elevated at $105 per barrel (WTI), roughly 57% above levels seen before the bombings began. Furthermore, gasoline prices hovering around the $4.40 per gallon threshold are acting like a brake that is slowing down global economic activity. On the surface, this negative narrative sounds like a disastrous backdrop for financial markets. Yet, last month’s stock market performance tells a completely different story: S&P 500: +10.4% NASDAQ: +15.3% Dow Jones Industrial Average: +7.1% Why the Disconnect? Followers of my firm, Sidoxia Capital Management, and my blog, Investing Caffeine , know that geopolitics are rarely the primary drivers of long-term stock performance. Instead, we look to the “four legs of the Sidoxia stool”: profits, interest rates, valuations, and sentiments. For a deeper dive, check out my article : Don’t Be a Fool, Follow the Stool . The vital leg supporting the recent move in stocks has been soaring profits. As illustrated by data from Yardeni.com , S&P 500 profits (red line) are accelerating at a much steeper pace than those of the S&P 400 MidCap (blue line) and S&P 600 SmallCap (green line). Source: Yardeni.com A major contributor to this profit expansion is rising profit margins. Today, companies are earning a profit of approximately 11 cents per dollar of sales, compared to just 5.5 cents during the 1970s and 1980s. The chart below highlights this phenomenon. Source: Calafia Beach Pundit The AI Productivity Revolution What is driving much of this margin expansion? You guessed it: Artificial Intelligence. We ...

Diageo (NYSE: DEO) , one of the world's biggest producers of alcoholic beverages, was once a stable blue chip consumer staples stock. But over the past 12 months, its stock has declined nearly 30%. Over the past five years, its stock has been cut in half. Let's see why Diageo's stock plummeted -- and whether it's worth buying as the bulls look the other way. Diageo sells more than 200 brands of spirits, beers , and non-alcoholic drinks across nearly 180 countries. Its top brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Casamigos, Smirnoff, Don Julio, and Guinness. Its biggest and most important market is the United States, which accounted for 29% of its top line in fiscal 2025 (which ended last June). Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading

Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) new voluntary buyout program could trim costs, reshape its workforce, and test how far it can streamline without hurting innovation. Watch the video below to see what this move might mean for investors and employees. *This video was published on April 24, 2026. Continue reading

The Dow Jones index rose Tuesday amid rising U.S.-Iran tensions. Palantir stock sold off on earnings.

simonkr/iStock via Getty Images I don’t know whether students in the U.S. are familiar with the fables of Jean de La Fontaine, but I grew up with them in France. One of them always stuck with me—a story about a frog trying to grow as big as an ox. The conclusion was the following: wanting to grow too fast can come at a cost. In insurance, I used to believe that size was everything—that scale, brand, and market presence were the ultimate drivers of success, whether in the U.S., Europe, or elsewhere. But insurance is not a growth industry in the way tech is. The key KPI is not growth—it is discipline. It comes down to how you manage claims, how you control expenses, and whether you can grow without harming your underwriting margin. Get that right, and you end up like Chubb Limited ( CB ), Progressive Corporation ( PGR ), Travelers Companies ( TRV ), or Cincinnati Financial ( CINF ). Get it wrong, and growth becomes a liability rather than an asset. Insurance is often perceived as an old-fashioned industry, closed to new entrants. That perception is simply wrong. Over the years, I have come across many insurers that successfully expanded from a niche market—from Trisura Group ( TSU:CA ) in Canada, with the surety and fronting business, to Palomar Holdings ( PLMR ) with the earthquake insurance segment, or even regional players such as HCI Group ( HCI ) and Universal Insurance Holdings ( UVE ). Lemonade Inc. ( LMND ) is not unique because it is new. What makes it different is something else entirely. The main difference between Lemonade and other new insurers is the story behind the business. When Lemonade entered the insurance market and went public, the message was clear: it wanted to revolutionize insurance through AI. I already mentioned in my latest—and first—article on Lemonade : Lemonade isn’t simply slapping P2P technology atop existing insurance companies. Insurance has remained fundamentally unchanged for centuries, so an insurance product for today’s consumer...

Talen Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:TLN) is one of the utility stocks riding the 2026 “Reliability Shock.” The latest investor-relevant update came on April 17, 2026, when Talen Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:TLN) priced $4.0 billion of senior notes, with proceeds intended partly to fund its previously announced acquisition of 2,451 megawatts of additional capacity across the Lawrenceburg Power […]

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) is one of the utility stocks riding the 2026 “Reliability Shock.” The latest useful company update came on April 8, 2026, when Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) priced a $4.0 billion private offering of senior notes. The financing was mainly aimed at refinancing existing debt and general corporate purposes, but it came shortly after […]

Constellation Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:CEG) is one of the utility stocks riding the 2026 “Reliability Shock.” On April 21, 2026, Reuters reported that Constellation Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:CEG) is pursuing 1 gigawatt of nuclear uprates over the next decade, including 135 megawatts at the Braidwood and Byron Clean Energy Centers in Illinois. Reuters said the company is […]

From economic woes to concerns that war could break out again at any moment, underlying worries run deep In the weeks since the fragile ceasefire with the US and Israel took hold, life in Tehran has – on the surface at least – largely returned to something like pre-war normality. Many security checkpoints have been taken down, coffee shops are bustling, parks are full of people gathering for picnics, musicians are playing again in the streets, highways are jammed with traffic and the metro - free to use since the war - runs packed. But underlying worries run deep, and many Iranians fear the war could return at any moment. The uncertainty was underlined on Monday when the US and Iran launched fresh attacks in the Gulf as the two sides continue to blockade of the strait of Hormuz. The war’s economic toll has been severe too. Many people have lost their jobs and inflation is surging. The International Monetary Fund estimates it could reach 70% this year . Continue reading...

Dougal Waters/DigitalVision via Getty Images After mitigating an impact of broader market selloff in the first quarter, Invesco Large Cap Growth ETF’s ( PWB ) latest portfolio rebalance positions it to exploit the potential tech-driven uptrend in the quarters ahead. Its strategy of identifying 50 stocks with the strongest growth characteristics boosts its potential to beat the large-cap growth indices by a significant percentage. Furthermore, PWB’s quarterly rebalance creates a room for portfolio realignment based on the market conditions. Given an average annual price return of 45% in the trailing three years, PWB seems to be an attractive investment vehicle to earn lofty returns than traditional growth indices. I initiate coverage of PWB with a buy rating. PWB Price Appreciation and Portfolio Construction Strategy PWB price performance versus peers three years (Seeking Alpha) Invesco Large Cap Growth ETF has successfully been achieving its objective of delivering robust capital appreciation for shareholders. For example, in the trailing three years, PWB’s price return of 120% was greater than other index-focused ETFs. These ETFs include the First Trust Large Cap Gr AlphaDEX® ETF ( FTC ), Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF ( VOOG ), Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF ( MGK ), Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF ( QQQM ), and Fidelity Enhanced Large Cap Growth ETF ( FELG ). PWB price performance versus peers twelve months (Seeking Alpha) Similarly, in the last twelve months, its share price rallied 45%, the largest increase in its peer group. What's more, PWB has outshone its peers during the first quarter selloff while delivering the fastest surge so far in the second quarter. Since bottoming in late March, the fund’s share price soared nearly 19%. The fund’s robust price performance is attributed to a combination of dynamic portfolio construction strategy and quarterly rebalance. PWB tracks the performance of the Dynamic Large Cap Growth Intellidex Index using a full replication technique....

(RTTNews) - Italy-based hearing aid retailer Amplifon S.p.A. (AMP.MI, AMFPF) on Tuesday reported lower first-quarter net profit, hurt largely by one-off charges related to divestitures, which offset stable revenues.