A broad surge in metals markets has boosted BHP Group Ltd. shares, helping the miner unseat Commonwealth Bank of Australia as the nation’s most valuable company. The world’s biggest miner gained as much as 3.4% on Tuesday, taking its market capitalization to over A$253 billion ($175 billion). It now makes up 9.3% of the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index , while CBA’s weighting has slipped below that lev...
A broad surge in metals markets has boosted BHP Group Ltd. shares, helping the miner unseat Commonwealth Bank of Australia as the nation’s most valuable company. The world’s biggest miner gained as much as 3.4% on Tuesday, taking its market capitalization to over A$253 billion ($175 billion). It now makes up 9.3% of the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index , while CBA’s weighting has slipped below that level. The bank had held on to the top spot since October 2024. Soaring prices in metals like copper, which accounted for almost half of BHP’s revenue as at the end of the financial year, have bolstered mining stocks globally. In Australia, the potential for higher interest rates has also driven a rotation into materials from banks. A sub-gauge of miners on the nation’s equity benchmark has soared 42% in the past 12 months, while its financial counterpart is up just 2% over the same period. Meantime, concerns over margin pressure and equity valuations have weighed on CBA’s shares in recent months. The lender still trades at about 25 times forward earnings, making it among the world’s most expensive banking stocks.
Key Points Palantir is an expensive stock by just about any valuation metric. Rising revenue growth rates likely influenced the stock price gains. 10 stocks we like better than Palantir Technologies › Perhaps no company has more successfully leveraged generative artificial intelligence (AI) than Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR), which released its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) in 2023. Once they e...
Key Points Palantir is an expensive stock by just about any valuation metric. Rising revenue growth rates likely influenced the stock price gains. 10 stocks we like better than Palantir Technologies › Perhaps no company has more successfully leveraged generative artificial intelligence (AI) than Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR), which released its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) in 2023. Once they experienced the platform in Palantir's boot camps, clients from a variety of industries walked away with eye-popping productivity gains. Moreover, Palantir stock investors benefited from the massive rise in the stock price. Since its low in December 2022, the stock is up nearly 2,700%, exceeding the 1,200% gain in Nvidia over the same time frame. That led to growth in its valuation metrics, meaning the question now is whether Palantir can still justify its multiples. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » Palantir and its valuation Unfortunately for investors on the sidelines, Palantir comes with a massive premium no matter how you perceive the stock. Investors who might otherwise dismiss concerns about the 388 price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio may balk when they learn the forward P/E ratio of 164. Furthermore, the price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 108 and the price-to-book ratio of 60 are unlikely to bring comfort. With these possible "bubble" valuations, some investors may dismiss the stock, even after seeing the gains of the last three years. However, growth investors may pay the premium if they believe the company's rate of expansion can justify it, and indeed, the growth is notable. In the third quarter of 2025, its revenue of almost $1.2 billion grew by 63% year over year, including a 77% rise in U.S. revenue. Considering the 48% yearly increase in Q2 2025 and 39% annual rise in Q1 2025, revenue growth is in an uptrend. Additionally, profit growth is on fire. In Q3, the net income a...
政制局署理局長胡健民:會與同事盡心工作 沒直接回應何時知悉曾國衞患病 To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 【有線新聞】政制及內地事務局政治助理及常任秘書長目前同時出缺,其中常秘接任人選短期內公布,署理局長胡健民說會...
政制局署理局長胡健民:會與同事盡心工作 沒直接回應何時知悉曾國衞患病 To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 【有線新聞】政制及內地事務局政治助理及常任秘書長目前同時出缺,其中常秘接任人選短期內公布,署理局長胡健民說會與同事盡心工作,沒有直接回應甚麼時候知道曾國衞患病。 胡健民:「今早國務院作出公布後,大家都看到行政長官及局長已經見過記者及交代,我沒有補充。(有信心能夠處理好工作?)我們與政制及內地事務局所有同事上上下下,一定會盡心盡力做好我們工作。(會做到本屆政府任期完?)我要去開會。」公務員事務局局長楊何蓓茵:「我們已物色合適人選填補空缺,我相信候任人很快便會到政制及內地事務局上任,我們會很快處理。」
Earnings Call Insights: South Plains Financial (SPFI) Q4 2025 Management View Curtis Griffith, Chairman & CEO, highlighted a 17.8% increase in diluted earnings per share for the full year, loan growth in line with guidance, 33 basis points of net interest margin (NIM) expansion to 4% for the quarter, and tangible book value per share growth of more than 14% to $29.05. Griffith emphasized the defin...
Earnings Call Insights: South Plains Financial (SPFI) Q4 2025 Management View Curtis Griffith, Chairman & CEO, highlighted a 17.8% increase in diluted earnings per share for the full year, loan growth in line with guidance, 33 basis points of net interest margin (NIM) expansion to 4% for the quarter, and tangible book value per share growth of more than 14% to $29.05. Griffith emphasized the definitive agreement to acquire BOH Holdings and its banking subsidiary, Bank of Houston, stating, "we expect it to be approximately 11% accretive to our earnings in 2027 with an attractive tangible book value earn back of less than 3 years." He also noted, "we expect our loan growth to accelerate to a mid- to high single-digit growth rate in 2026 which should also drive a nice acceleration to the earning power of South Plains." Griffith announced, "our Board of Directors authorized a $0.17 per share quarterly dividend which will be our 27th consecutive dividend." Cory Newsom, President & Director, stated, "Our loans held for investment increased by $91 million to $3.14 billion in the fourth quarter as compared to the linked quarter... primarily due to organic loan growth in multifamily property loans, direct energy loans and other commercial loans." Newsom also explained, "We ended the year having completed about 50% of our expected hiring occurring across our Dallas, Houston and Midland markets." Steven Crockett, CFO & Treasurer, reported, "For the fourth quarter, diluted earnings per share were $0.90 compared to $0.96 from the linked quarter. This decrease was primarily a result of a larger provision for credit losses as we experienced strong loan growth in the quarter, though the majority of those new loans funded later in December, coupled with the onetime interest income items in the linked quarter." Outlook Griffith stated the company expects "loan growth to accelerate to a mid- to high single-digit growth rate in 2026." Newsom indicated, "we do still expect some headwind...
Key Points It published the preliminary figures for its final quarter of 2025. It's anticipating a fairly deep loss on the bottom line. 10 stocks we like better than Cvr Energy › Petroleum refining and fertilizer production company CVR Energy (NYSE: CVI) had a Monday to forget on the stock exchange. Its shares lost nearly 10% of their value after the company announced preliminary quarterly and ful...
Key Points It published the preliminary figures for its final quarter of 2025. It's anticipating a fairly deep loss on the bottom line. 10 stocks we like better than Cvr Energy › Petroleum refining and fertilizer production company CVR Energy (NYSE: CVI) had a Monday to forget on the stock exchange. Its shares lost nearly 10% of their value after the company announced preliminary quarterly and full-year results that investors clearly found unimpressive. Fourth-quarter flop? Well before market open, in what seems like a rip-the-bandage-off-quickly move, CVR released those figures. According to the energy company's calculations, its net loss attributable to shareholders for the fourth quarter of 2025 will fall between $105 million and $125 million. That's on the back of total refining throughput of 210,000 to 220,000 barrels per day (bpd). Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » The bottom-line forecast compares quite unfavorably to CVR's performance in the same period of 2024. In that quarter, the specialty energy company posted a headline net profit attributable to shareholders of $28 million. Meanwhile, its refining throughput was 214,000 bpd. Worse, CVR is estimating that its ammonia utilization rate (a key indicator for the fertilization production business of its publicly traded subsidiary, CVR Partners) had fallen precipitously to 60% to 65% in the recently completed quarter. However, the year-ago period's utilization rate was far higher, at 96%. A costly delay Last year, CVR had to contend with operational challenges and delays at Coffeyville, one of its two fertilizer plants. These led to a maintenance shutdown lasting several months and negatively affected production. While the company has worked through Coffeyville's issues, its overall business doesn't seem to be in tip-top shape. Considering that, I would probably avoid its stock for now. Should you buy stock in...