A decline in Russian steel consumption accelerated in the first quarter as the economy slowed, according to Severstal PJSC, one of the country’s top steelmakers. “The situation in the sector remains challenging,” Chief Executive Officer Alexander Shevelev said in a statement Tuesday. “Steel demand in Russia continues to decline, with consumption down 15% year-on-year in the first three months of 2...
A decline in Russian steel consumption accelerated in the first quarter as the economy slowed, according to Severstal PJSC, one of the country’s top steelmakers. “The situation in the sector remains challenging,” Chief Executive Officer Alexander Shevelev said in a statement Tuesday. “Steel demand in Russia continues to decline, with consumption down 15% year-on-year in the first three months of 2026.” That surpasses the 14% drop for the whole of 2025. The situation in Russia’s steel industry reflects a broader cooling in the economy, which slowed last year for the first time since 2022, when the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine. The central bank has kept interest rates elevated to curb inflation, which has weighed on businesses. Weak demand, sagging under the effect of tight monetary policy, has pushed domestic prices lower. The cost of hot-rolled steel, a key product, fell 7% year-on-year in the first quarter, Severstal said. At the same time, export prices showed some growth, supported by lower Chinese shipments and rising freight costs. Read More: Russian Steel Is Kremlin’s New Headache as Top Group Idles Units Severstal’s revenue dropped 19% year on year to 145.3 billion rubles ($1.9 billion) due to lower demand and weaker average selling prices, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell 54% to 17.9 billion rubles. Ebitda margin fell to 12%, one of the lowest levels on record for Severstal. Although Severstal said in March it cut capital spending, labor costs and maintenance outlays, it’s still in better shape than many of its Russian peers, with production running at full capacity. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works PJSC, one of its top competitors, said last month it was idling underused assets, curbing investment and cutting some management jobs.
CharlieChesvick/iStock via Getty Images Engie ( ENGIY ) is in talks with the Trump administration to surrender U.S. offshore wind leases, CEO Catherine MacGregor said. “Discussions are ongoing, and we’ll see if an agreement is possible,” MacGregor told the Association des Journalistes Economiques et Financiers in Paris on Tuesday, as per Bloomberg News. The news comes a month after French oil majo...
CharlieChesvick/iStock via Getty Images Engie ( ENGIY ) is in talks with the Trump administration to surrender U.S. offshore wind leases, CEO Catherine MacGregor said. “Discussions are ongoing, and we’ll see if an agreement is possible,” MacGregor told the Association des Journalistes Economiques et Financiers in Paris on Tuesday, as per Bloomberg News. The news comes a month after French oil major TotalEnergies SE ( TTE ) signed an agreement with the Trump administration to end its offshore wind projects in the U.S. in exchange for a reimbursement of almost $1B in lease fees. The buyback approach has been used before to extricate the US government from leases, particularly after litigation. Engie ( ENGIY ) and Portuguese utility EDP Renováveis SA, which develop offshore wind projects worldwide through their Ocean Winds joint venture, have paused three U.S. projects and booked impairments since Trump returned to the White house last year. “It will will complicated to develop offshore wind in the US, whatever the administration,” MacGregor said. “One must be able to say that energy policy is stable enough whatever the political color of the government” to keep investing such projects, she said, according to the report. More on ENGIE SA Engie SA (ENGIY) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Engie SA 2025 Q4 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation Engie: 94% Returns Since 2025; Looking At 2026E (Rating Downgrade) Engie jumps on raised guidance after $14.2B deal for UK Power Networks Engie to expand British footprint in $14.2B deal for U.K. Power Networks
*Other Operating Data Consensus Source: Bloomberg More on UnitedHealth Buy UnitedHealth Ahead Of Earnings (Preview) UnitedHealth Group: Poised To Challenge The $360 Resistance UnitedHealth: Buy Before Earnings Confirm Margin Recovery UnitedHealth Non-GAAP EPS of $7.23 beats by $0.63, revenue of $111.72B beats by $2.06B UnitedHealth ends prior authorization, speeds payments for rural providers
*Other Operating Data Consensus Source: Bloomberg More on UnitedHealth Buy UnitedHealth Ahead Of Earnings (Preview) UnitedHealth Group: Poised To Challenge The $360 Resistance UnitedHealth: Buy Before Earnings Confirm Margin Recovery UnitedHealth Non-GAAP EPS of $7.23 beats by $0.63, revenue of $111.72B beats by $2.06B UnitedHealth ends prior authorization, speeds payments for rural providers
jetcityimage/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Shares of managed care organizations rose in the premarket on Tuesday after UnitedHealth ( UNH ), the industry bellwether for the earnings season, reported better-than-expected Q1 2026 results and increased its full-year earnings outlook. While UnitedHealth ( UNH ) added ~7%, its peers, including Humana ( HUM ), CVS Health ( CVS ), Cigna ( CI ), Clove...
jetcityimage/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Shares of managed care organizations rose in the premarket on Tuesday after UnitedHealth ( UNH ), the industry bellwether for the earnings season, reported better-than-expected Q1 2026 results and increased its full-year earnings outlook. While UnitedHealth ( UNH ) added ~7%, its peers, including Humana ( HUM ), CVS Health ( CVS ), Cigna ( CI ), Clover Health ( CLOV ), and Alignment Healthcare ( ALHC ), also traded higher. Minnesota-based UnitedHealth ( UNH ) reported $111.7B in revenue for the quarter with ~2% YoY growth, and its non-GAAP earnings per share reached $7.23, largely unchanged from the prior year period but exceeding the consensus by $2.10 and $0.63, respectively. Jonathan Weber , Seeking Alpha Investing Group Leader for Cash Flow Club, welcomed UNH’s “double beat," noting that “it is always welcome news.” “Especially the earnings per share beat was sizeable, so it looks like profitability headwinds are becoming less of an issue,” Weber wrote. The analyst also pointed to the company’s guidance raise for the year, citing that it also exceeded the consensus. “While UNH is still below the peak profitability levels seen a couple of years ago, it looks like the turnaround is progressing reasonably well,” Weber wrote. More on UnitedHealth Buy UnitedHealth Ahead Of Earnings (Preview) UnitedHealth Group: Poised To Challenge The $360 Resistance UnitedHealth: Buy Before Earnings Confirm Margin Recovery UnitedHealth Non-GAAP EPS of $7.23 beats by $0.63, revenue of $111.72B beats by $2.06B UnitedHealth ends prior authorization, speeds payments for rural providers
Commerce Bancshares press release ( CBSH ): Q1 GAAP EPS of $0.96 beats by $0.14 . Revenue of $475.69M (+11.1% Y/Y) in-line. Assets under administration grew $14.9 billion, or 19.5%, over the same period last year. Total average deposits increased $2.1 billion, or 8.2%, over the prior quarter to $27.7 billion. The ratio of annualized net loan charge-offs to average loans was .30% in the current qua...
Commerce Bancshares press release ( CBSH ): Q1 GAAP EPS of $0.96 beats by $0.14 . Revenue of $475.69M (+11.1% Y/Y) in-line. Assets under administration grew $14.9 billion, or 19.5%, over the same period last year. Total average deposits increased $2.1 billion, or 8.2%, over the prior quarter to $27.7 billion. The ratio of annualized net loan charge-offs to average loans was .30% in the current quarter compared to .22% in the prior quarter. Average loan balances totaled $20.3 billion, an increase of $2.7 billion, or 15.2%, over the prior quarter.Total average available for sale debt securities decreased $269.0 million from the prior quarter to $8.9 billion, at fair value. The allowance for credit losses on loans increased $19.1 million during the first quarter of 2026 to $198.6 million, and the ratio of the allowance for credit losses on loans to total loans was .97% at March 31, 2026, compared to 1.01% at December 31, 2025. More on Commerce Bancshares Commerce Bancshares: Valuation, Not Quality, Is The Problem Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (CBSH) Presents at Bank of America Financial Services Conference 2026 Transcript Commerce Bancshares: Excess Capital Makes Shares Attractive Bottom 10 mid-cap stocks with lowest dividend safety grade Commerce Bancshares GAAP EPS of $1.01 beats by $0.02, revenue of $449.36M beats by $6.74M
petrovv/iStock via Getty Images The first quarter of 2026 was so volatile that reviewing headline index performance sheds little light on economic fundamentals or market leadership. U.S. public equities declined by 3.9%[1]. Developed market (DM) equities fared little better, shrinking by a more modest 0.8%[2], underperforming their emerging markets (EM) brethren, which were flat[3]. Small caps out...
petrovv/iStock via Getty Images The first quarter of 2026 was so volatile that reviewing headline index performance sheds little light on economic fundamentals or market leadership. U.S. public equities declined by 3.9%[1]. Developed market (DM) equities fared little better, shrinking by a more modest 0.8%[2], underperforming their emerging markets (EM) brethren, which were flat[3]. Small caps outperformed large caps[4], and global fixed income slumped[5]. Heading into 2026, we expected the continued focus on gaining geostrategic autonomy - fueled by the proliferation of AI technologies - to power equity markets around the world. Our central thesis of “ the revenge of the tangibles ” focuses on next-generation defense, the electric tech stack, robotics, autonomous transport, and AI infrastructure buildout to drive economic growth and investment returns. Investing in “the revenge of the tangibles” delivered outsized gains in the first quarter. Companies that derive at least 20% of their revenue from the abovementioned end-markets yield a universe of just under 2,000 names, which outperformed the broad MSCI All Country World Index ( ACWI )[6] by more than 10% in the opening months of this year. Relative Q1 Performance: Revenge of the Tangibles vs. MSCI ACWI IMI Source: Bloomberg, FactSet, and William Blair analysis, as of March 31, 2026. Relative performance measures the return of the “revenge of the tangibles” universe vs. the MSCI ACWI IMI over the same period. Global Strength Meets AI Repricing Global equities posted double-digit returns in the first two months of the year, while U.S. markets were busy digesting the implications of the unfolding AI rollout on existing software businesses. For a decade, “capital-light good, capital-heavy bad” has been close to gospel: zero marginal cost, network effects, scaling laws, and high incremental margins. Some of this remains true, with new intangible models coming into view. Yet the transition inevitably involves outright ...
While it may sound like a silly question, whether wraps can help save Sweetgreen 's (NYSE: SG) struggling stock, the introduction of new items at quick-service and fast-casual restaurants can actually have a huge impact on sales and a stock's price. We don't even have to look too far back to see this type of dynamic in action. Cava (NYSE: CAVA) is a great recent example of a restaurant operator in...
While it may sound like a silly question, whether wraps can help save Sweetgreen 's (NYSE: SG) struggling stock, the introduction of new items at quick-service and fast-casual restaurants can actually have a huge impact on sales and a stock's price. We don't even have to look too far back to see this type of dynamic in action. Cava (NYSE: CAVA) is a great recent example of a restaurant operator introducing a new menu item that drove huge sales. When the Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant owner launched its grilled steak option in the second quarter of 2024, it led to a significant increase in sales and traffic for the company over the next year. That quarter, Cava saw its same-store sales increase from just 2.3% in the fiscal first quarter to 14.4% in fiscal Q2. That was followed by comparable-restaurant sales growth of 18.1%, 21.2%, and 10.8%, respectively, over the next three quarters. Meanwhile, its average unit volume (the average revenue per restaurant) climbed 12% from $2.6 million to $2.9 million in fiscal Q1 of 2025. Continue reading