Asking for a Trend Host Josh Lipton previews several of the biggest stories to come tomorrow, Thursday, April 23, including earnings results from American Express (AXP), Intel (INTC), and American Airlines (AAL), alongside the latest reading on US mortgage rates.
Asking for a Trend Host Josh Lipton previews several of the biggest stories to come tomorrow, Thursday, April 23, including earnings results from American Express (AXP), Intel (INTC), and American Airlines (AAL), alongside the latest reading on US mortgage rates.
Air miles are becoming a precious commodity as uncertainty grows about the outlook for ticket prices and the availability of flights. Frequent flyers are increasingly using their miles to hedge against global travel chaos by making overlapping bookings across different routes per trip, according to travel experts. Because award tickets typically carry minimal cancellation fees, if at all, compared...
Air miles are becoming a precious commodity as uncertainty grows about the outlook for ticket prices and the availability of flights. Frequent flyers are increasingly using their miles to hedge against global travel chaos by making overlapping bookings across different routes per trip, according to travel experts. Because award tickets typically carry minimal cancellation fees, if at all, compared with bookings paid in cash, passengers can simply ditch the extra bookings at the last minute, they said. That’s resulting in plane seats, particularly those set aside for redemptions, running out fast, exacerbating an already challenging environment for travelers. With no end in sight to high airfares — fuel tankers are still stuck in the Strait of Hormuz despite a ceasefire — ghost bookings are unlikely to drop anytime soon unless carriers step up efforts to crack down on the practice. “Volatility is the new norm and risk mitigation is key,” said Leigh Rowan, founder of Savanti Travel, a high-end travel agency. “We consider miles an asset class.” Read More: Flying Blind: The Airline Rewards Game Is Getting Tougher to Win Rowan, formerly chief operating officer at the Points Guy, a website focused on maximizing miles and credit card rewards , is urging clients to use their miles to book multiple flights to the same destination so they can shield themselves against soaring airfares and flight cancellations. That way, his clients increase the odds of getting to their destinations. They would also be able to cancel the award bookings and pay cash if prices fall, preserving their miles while locking in a cheaper fare. As travelers look for flexibility, interest in mile redemptions has been soaring. Roame, which tracks the availability of award seats across more than two dozen airlines, has seen searches jump 44% in the month after the late-February closures. Rival PointsYeah, which processes millions of monthly queries, said searches for U.S.-to-Asia routes have surged as muc...
Explore the exciting world of MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI) with our contributing expert analysts in this Motley Fool Scoreboard episode. Check out the video below to gain valuable insights into market trends and potential investment opportunities! *Stock prices used were the prices of March 4, 2026. The video was published on April 22, 2026. Continue reading
Explore the exciting world of MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI) with our contributing expert analysts in this Motley Fool Scoreboard episode. Check out the video below to gain valuable insights into market trends and potential investment opportunities! *Stock prices used were the prices of March 4, 2026. The video was published on April 22, 2026. Continue reading
The Iran war’s fallout has made the Philippine central bank’s next policy move a tough call: tighten to tame price pressures from the energy crunch, or stand pat to support a fragile economy. Thirty economists in a Bloomberg survey are evenly split on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas ’ decision on Thursday, with half expecting the target reverse repurchase rate to stay at 4.25%. The other half fore...
The Iran war’s fallout has made the Philippine central bank’s next policy move a tough call: tighten to tame price pressures from the energy crunch, or stand pat to support a fragile economy. Thirty economists in a Bloomberg survey are evenly split on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas ’ decision on Thursday, with half expecting the target reverse repurchase rate to stay at 4.25%. The other half forecast a rate hike by 25 basis points to 4.5%. BSP Governor Eli Remolona said last week that there’s room for monetary policy tightening as the war’s spillover effects on inflation emerge. This week, he said the central bank is ready to act “in a measured, timely, and data-driven manner” to address second-order price pressures and the risk of de-anchoring inflation expectations. But a rate hike could aggravate the Philippines’ economic slump , giving monetary authorities reason to hold fire. The dual risks of rising energy costs due to the Iran war and declining public investment because of a corruption scandal prompted Fitch Ratings to cut its credit rating outlook for the nation on Monday. That follows a similar move from S&P Global Ratings earlier this month. “The Philippines faces a potential stagflationary shock this year, with growth witnessing a weak handover from last year, while inflation comes off a low base,” said DBS Bank Ltd. senior economist Radhika Rao , who’s expecting a pause. Here are things to watch for in the BSP’s policy announcement at 2:30 p.m., followed by a media briefing at 3:00 p.m.: Inflationary Pressures On one side of the BSP’s delicate balancing act is inflation, which shot up to a 20-month high in March and exceeded the central bank’s 2%-4% target as costlier oil triggered higher prices for transport, food, and utilities. The Philippines is highly vulnerable to the energy crunch, as it imports almost all of its oil needs from the Middle East. While the government has been trying to cushion the impact of higher fuel prices on consumers through s...
A SK Hynix flag (R) and a South Korean national flag (L) flutter outside the company's Bundang office in Seongnam on Jan. 26, 2024. Jung Yeon-je | Afp | Getty Images South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix posted yet another quarter of record profit and revenue on Thursday, as prices for its products continue to surge amid strong AI demand. Here are SK Hynix's first-quarter results versus LSEG sma...
A SK Hynix flag (R) and a South Korean national flag (L) flutter outside the company's Bundang office in Seongnam on Jan. 26, 2024. Jung Yeon-je | Afp | Getty Images South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix posted yet another quarter of record profit and revenue on Thursday, as prices for its products continue to surge amid strong AI demand. Here are SK Hynix's first-quarter results versus LSEG smart estimates, which are weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate: Revenue: 52.58 trillion won ($35.53 billion) vs. 53.55 trillion won Operating profit: 37.61 trillion won vs. 37.92 trillion won Revenue surpassed 50 trillion won for the first time on a quarterly basis in the March quarter, while operating profit nearly doubled from the previous quarter. SK Hynix makes memory chips used to store data, which are found in everything from servers to smartphones and laptops. The company has benefited from a boom in artificial intelligence demand as the world's leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, used in AI datacenters. "SK hynix noted that despite the fact that first quarter is typically a seasonal downturn, strong demand persisted due to expanded investments in AI infrastructure," SK Hynix said in its earnings release. HBM falls into the broader category of dynamic random access memory, or DRAM — a type of semiconductor memory used to store data and program code that can be found in PCs, workstations and servers. SK Hynix had gained an edge over rivals like Micron and Samsung in the DRAM market, thanks to its early lead in HBM and its role as a key supplier to the world's leading AI processor maker Nvidia. However, Samsung reclaimed the top spot in DRAM revenue in the last three months of the year, according to data from Counterpoint Research. Meanwhile, SK Hynix continued to dominate in HBM with a 57% market share. Counterpoint added that the DRAM market has recorded 30% quarter-over-quarter growth for two consecutive quarters du...
Forward subbed after scoring winner against Celta Vigo PSG stay in Ligue 1 title hunt with victory over Nantes Barcelona moved closer to retaining their La Liga title with a 1-0 victory over Celta Vigo on Wednesday, but the win was overshadowed by an injury to Lamine Yamal, who scored the first-half spot kick that settled the match. With six games remaining, Barcelona lead the standings on 82 poin...
Forward subbed after scoring winner against Celta Vigo PSG stay in Ligue 1 title hunt with victory over Nantes Barcelona moved closer to retaining their La Liga title with a 1-0 victory over Celta Vigo on Wednesday, but the win was overshadowed by an injury to Lamine Yamal, who scored the first-half spot kick that settled the match. With six games remaining, Barcelona lead the standings on 82 points, nine clear of Real Madrid on 73. The result keeps the champions firmly in control of the title race, though concern now surrounds Lamine Yamal with a Clasico looming in two weeks and the World Cup less than 50 days away. Continue reading...
CGinspiration/E+ via Getty Images YPF ( YPF ) investors who saw their $16B U.S. judgment against Argentina thrown out on appeal last month have told the trial judge that they plan to pursue arbitration while continuing to contest the appeals court ruling, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. A U.S. District Court awarded the plaintiffs the judgment in 2023, ruling that Argentina's government violated the...
CGinspiration/E+ via Getty Images YPF ( YPF ) investors who saw their $16B U.S. judgment against Argentina thrown out on appeal last month have told the trial judge that they plan to pursue arbitration while continuing to contest the appeals court ruling, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. A U.S. District Court awarded the plaintiffs the judgment in 2023, ruling that Argentina's government violated their rights in its 2012 nationalization of oil company YPF ( YPF ), but the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the judgment on March 27 , saying she misinterpreted Argentine law. Litigation funder Burford Capital ( BUR ), which has been financing the lawsuit and would have taken a large share of the award, said after the ruling it could take the case to arbitration as well as appeal the case to the full Second Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court. Burford ( BUR ) shares plunged after last month's ruling and have since lost ~40%. More on YPF Sociedad Anónima and Burford Capital YPF Sociedad Anonima: Re-Rating Has More Behind It Than Oil Burford Capital: We'll Have To See How Bad This Gets Burford Capital Q4 2025 Earnings Call Presentation
designer491/iStock via Getty Images Shares of Travel + Leisure Co. ( TNL ) have been a strong performer over the past year, gaining over 50% as the company has aggressively repurchased stock thanks to strong free cash flow. However, mixed results sent the stock plunging 13% on Wednesday. While the company delivered an EPS beat, there was disappointment it did not raise guidance, and concerns about...
designer491/iStock via Getty Images Shares of Travel + Leisure Co. ( TNL ) have been a strong performer over the past year, gaining over 50% as the company has aggressively repurchased stock thanks to strong free cash flow. However, mixed results sent the stock plunging 13% on Wednesday. While the company delivered an EPS beat, there was disappointment it did not raise guidance, and concerns about credit quality have resurfaced. I last covered shares in February , when I retained them as a “ B uy” even as they eclipsed my original $70 price target. In hindsight, I got greedy pressing a winning trade, and shares are down 12% since then. With updated financials, now is a good time to revisit TNL. Seeking Alpha In the company’s first quarter , Travel + Leisure earned $1.45 per share, which beat estimates by $0.14 as revenue grew 3% to $961 million. Vacation ownership EBITDA grew 20% to $191 million as revenue grew 6%, which is strong and not something usually associated with a plunge in the stock. Volume per guest (“VPG”) was up 3% to $3,321 as tours increased by 5%, and net vacation ownership (“VOI”) sales were up 11%. Gross sales were up 7%, but the company set aside less for defaults, which made net sales growth stronger. Shares fell in a large part because investors are doubting that trend can be sustained. Early-Stage Delinquencies Were A Negative Surprise On the earnings call , management called out that early-stage delinquencies are starting to rise, especially in recent vintages. While not altering its loan loss provision guidance for this year, provisions could rise if this delinquency trend is sustained or more of these delinquencies extend out towards 90 days. Most of these loans were originated “over the last several quarters.” Later in the call, it said the issue arose from loans specifically in the past three quarters, and there was no particular attribute (i.e., income band or FICO score) driving it. TNL has maintained fairly conservative underwriting st...
Tesla (TSLA) reported first quarter results on Wednesday after the closing bell. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $0.41 (compared to analyst estimates of $0.34), and revenue came in at $22.39 billion (compared to analyst estimates of $22.19 billion). On the earnings call, CEO Elon Musk projects that Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot will become the "biggest product ever," with production ...
Tesla (TSLA) reported first quarter results on Wednesday after the closing bell. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $0.41 (compared to analyst estimates of $0.34), and revenue came in at $22.39 billion (compared to analyst estimates of $22.19 billion). On the earnings call, CEO Elon Musk projects that Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot will become the "biggest product ever," with production starting in Fremont later this year and expanding to Giga Texas by summer 2027.
Earnings Call Insights: AMERISAFE, Inc. (AMSF) Q1 2026 Management View "We are pleased with our solid start to 2026, marked by continued growth, disciplined execution and attractive underwriting performance." (President, CEO, Principal Accounting & Financial Officer and Director G. Frost) "During the quarter, we grew net premiums earned by 9%. We also delivered a combined ratio of 93.2% and produc...
Earnings Call Insights: AMERISAFE, Inc. (AMSF) Q1 2026 Management View "We are pleased with our solid start to 2026, marked by continued growth, disciplined execution and attractive underwriting performance." (President, CEO, Principal Accounting & Financial Officer and Director G. Frost) "During the quarter, we grew net premiums earned by 9%. We also delivered a combined ratio of 93.2% and produced operating earnings of $0.50 per share." (President and CEO Frost) "The workers' compensation market remains competitive and continues to operate in a prolonged soft pricing environment amid persistent industry headwinds, such as claims severity and economic uncertainty." (President and CEO Frost) "Retention for policies for which we offered renewal was 92.4% in the quarter, and pricing remains strong, helping offset continued downward pressure in filed loss costs." (Executive VP & Chief Risk Officer Vincent Gagliano) "Net investment income decreased 0.8% to $6.6 million due to lower average investable assets." (President and CEO Frost) "Next quarter, I'll have the pleasure of passing the financial remarks off to Guillermo Ramos, our new CFO." (President and CEO Frost) Outlook "We continue to see positive wage growth in our targeted classes of business, coming in at 4.5% for the quarter, while headcount change was essentially flat." (Executive VP Gagliano) "We believe continued payroll growth across our targeted industries indicates relatively healthy business activity despite ongoing economic uncertainty." (Executive VP Gagliano) "We're still looking at mid-single-digit decreases for the year" on loss costs, with filings in AMERISAFE’s five biggest states ranging "from down almost 9% to down 1.2%." (Executive VP Gagliano) "Is it linear? No. But we're shooting for that mid-single-digit range, and we've been hitting that." (President and CEO Frost) Financial Results "Gross premiums written were $88.5 million" and "net earned premiums were $75.1 million in the quarter." (Ex...
It's not often that retail investors get to participate in hot initial public offerings (IPOs), but it looks like they will get the opportunity with SpaceX . However, before you go rushing in to buy shares, here's everything you 100% need to know before you do. This is all going to come down to who your broker is, as not all brokers have access to every IPO . While retail brokers will sometimes ge...
It's not often that retail investors get to participate in hot initial public offerings (IPOs), but it looks like they will get the opportunity with SpaceX . However, before you go rushing in to buy shares, here's everything you 100% need to know before you do. This is all going to come down to who your broker is, as not all brokers have access to every IPO . While retail brokers will sometimes get IPO allocations, they generally tend to be a very small percentage, around 5% to 10% of the offering. Full-service brokers typically receive the bulk of these allocations, and they are generally offered to their best clients. If an online broker gets an allocation, you'll often have to go into a lottery to get shares, as generally demand exceeds supply. Continue reading
In this article NOW Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT watch now VIDEO 1:18 01:18 ServiceNow CEO downplays impact of Iran war and AI Mad Money with Jim Cramer ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott on Wednesday downplayed concerns that the Iran war is materially disrupting the company's business, even as the software provider's first-quarter results were dented by delays in the Middle East. "E...
In this article NOW Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT watch now VIDEO 1:18 01:18 ServiceNow CEO downplays impact of Iran war and AI Mad Money with Jim Cramer ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott on Wednesday downplayed concerns that the Iran war is materially disrupting the company's business, even as the software provider's first-quarter results were dented by delays in the Middle East. "Everything is fine. The Middle East is opening up in talks again," McDermott told CNBC's Jim Cramer on " Mad Money " on Wednesday. ServiceNow's subscription revenue grew 19% on a constant currency basis in the quarter, including a 75 basis point headwind tied to delayed on-premise deal closings in the Middle East. However, McDermott said the impact is largely about timing, rather than demand deterioration stemming from the war. "You're dealing with sovereign clouds in the Middle East," he said. "When there's a delay ... it has an immediate impact." McDermott's comments aired Wednesday night as ServiceNow shares slid 13% in after-hours trading, even though the company beat Wall Street expectations on both total revenue and earnings. Beyond geopolitical concerns, ServiceNow shares have been under pressure for months, down roughly 30% this year, as investors grew concerned that artificial intelligence will disrupt their businesses and make them less valuable down the road. McDermott pushed back on that skepticism, arguing that AI is ultimately a "tailwind" for the company rather than a threat. ServiceNow's software is commonly used by IT and human resources departments to automate workflows and handle tasks such as ordering devices for new employees. "The more AI that happens … everything runs through ServiceNow," he said. "It thinks, but workflow acts, and that's where we come in." He added that demand trends remain strong, pointing to continued expansion in the company's user base and accelerating AI-related adoption. "Our business is doing great," McDermott said. "And it's a...
Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), a leading memory and storage producer, closed Wednesday at $487.48, up 8.48%. The stock moved higher amid broader confidence in artificial intelligence (AI) memory demand and news of a ceasefire in Iran.
Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), a leading memory and storage producer, closed Wednesday at $487.48, up 8.48%. The stock moved higher amid broader confidence in artificial intelligence (AI) memory demand and news of a ceasefire in Iran.