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Eli Lilly & Co. provided an upbeat sales forecast for the year Wednesday as strong demand for its weight loss drug cemented its position at the top of the obesity market. The guidance was a sharp contrast to rival Novo Nordisk A/S, which warned investors Tuesday that its sales could drop as much as 13% this year on intensifying price competition in the weight loss market. Lilly, on the other hand, expects its sales to grow as much as 27% this year. Bloomberg's Sam Fazeli reports. (Source: Bloomberg)

Elon Musk just made his boldest corporate move yet — merging SpaceX with artificial intelligence (AI) firm xAI in a deal that values the combined entity at $1.25 trillion. The merger, announced on Feb. 2, shifts the balance of power within Musk's business empire and raises a critical question for investors: Is Tesla stock a buy, or has CEO Elon Musk moved on? The Merger Reshapes Musk's Empire SpaceX now represents the crown jewel of Musk's portfolio. The rocket maker's $1.25 trillion valuation puts it just 21% below Tesla's $1.58 trillion market capitalization. More importantly, Musk owns an estimated 43% of SpaceX compared to just 13% of Tesla. That means SpaceX now accounts for more than half of Musk's $852 billion net worth, per Forbes. The deal follows xAI's earlier acquisition of X (formerly Twitter) in a stock transaction last year. Together, these moves create what fans and investors call the "Muskonomy" — an interconnected web of companies sharing resources, technology, and capital. Why Musk Combined SpaceX and xAI Musk said SpaceX acquired xAI to develop data centers in space, avoiding what he views as energy constraints on Earth. To that end, SpaceX has filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking permission to launch up to 1 million satellites for orbital computing infrastructure. But analysts at Moffett Nathanson warn that the capital requirements are "simply enormous." The technical challenges are daunting. Engineers would need to solve problems with radiation shielding and cooling systems in space that don't yet exist, while also incurring the massive costs of launching and assembling heavy equipment. Still, the strategic logic is clear: xAI could benefit from computing capacity provided by SpaceX's orbital data centers. Tesla's energy storage systems could also help power those data centers using solar energy in space. Tesla's EV Business Is Struggling Tesla just posted its first annual revenue decline on record. Full-year revenue fe...

Tesla just posted its first annual revenue decline on record. Full-year revenue fell 3% to $94.8 billion in 2025, with automotive revenue — still about 70% of the business — falling 10%. Vehicle deliveries plunged 16% in the fourth quarter and 9% for the full year. Still, the strategic logic is clear: xAI could benefit from computing capacity provided by SpaceX's orbital data centers. Tesla's energy storage systems could also help power those data centers using solar energy in space. The technical challenges are daunting. Engineers would need to solve problems with radiation shielding and cooling systems in space that don't yet exist, while also incurring the massive costs of launching and assembling heavy equipment. Musk said SpaceX acquired xAI to develop data centers in space, avoiding what he views as energy constraints on Earth. To that end, SpaceX has filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking permission to launch up to 1 million satellites for orbital computing infrastructure. But analysts at Moffett Nathanson warn that the capital requirements are "simply enormous." The deal follows xAI's earlier acquisition of X (formerly Twitter) in a stock transaction last year. Together, these moves create what fans and investors call the "Muskonomy" — an interconnected web of companies sharing resources, technology, and capital. SpaceX now represents the crown jewel of Musk's portfolio. The rocket maker's $1.25 trillion valuation puts it just 21% below Tesla's $1.58 trillion market capitalization. More importantly, Musk owns an estimated 43% of SpaceX compared to just 13% of Tesla. That means SpaceX now accounts for more than half of Musk's $852 billion net worth, per Forbes . Elon Musk just made his boldest corporate move yet — merging SpaceX with artificial intelligence (AI) firm xAI in a deal that values the combined entity at $1.25 trillion. The merger, announced on Feb. 2, shifts the balance of power within Musk's business empire and raises a cr...

Key Points ExxonMobil and Chevron are financially strong integrated energy companies. Chevron's story isn't quite as good as Exxon's, but that doesn't give Exxon enough of an edge. 10 stocks we like better than Chevron › Chevron (NYSE: CVX) is just a little behind ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) most of the time. If investing in stocks were a marathon, it would be a bad thing because Exxon would win. But it's a good thing for Chevron that being slightly behind can still make a stock a great investment opportunity. Here's why you'll probably prefer Chevron over Exxon if you're a dividend investor. Is Exxon the winner? Exxon and Chevron are both integrated energy companies with globally diversified asset portfolios. However, Exxon is the larger business, with a market cap of nearly $600 billion. Chevron's market cap is roughly $350 billion. That said, both are among the world's largest energy companies. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks » Exxon's return on capital employed (ROCE), a measure of how well a company invests its capital for shareholders, is higher than that of Chevron. Chevron sometimes jumps into the lead, but it normally lags just a little. Still, their ROCE trends are very similar, rising and falling at roughly the same times. And Chevron's ROCE is typically within the normal range of the peer group, noting that Exxon isn't the current industry leader on this metric. Exxon has the strongest balance sheet among its peers, with a debt-to-equity ratio of around 0.17x. Chevron's leverage is the second lowest at around 0.22x. Exxon is clearly in a better financial position, but both companies have rock-solid balance sheets. And both have the leeway to take on debt during market downturns to support their businesses and dividends until energy prices recover. Exxon's business strength has shone through in its streak of 43 consecutive ann...

AMD shares plunge 16.7%, triggering intraday rebalance of ETPs Investing.com

财联社2月5日讯（编辑 史正丞） 在刚刚结束的欧盘交易时段，近年来命运多舛的欧洲化工板块迎来近4年最大单日涨幅。影响全球股市的“板块轮动”浪潮，以及有关欧盟放宽碳排放政策的传闻，共同构成大涨背后的推手。 截至欧股收盘， 欧洲斯托克600化工指数大涨4.79% 。个股层面，巴斯夫涨4.98%、法国液化空气集团涨5.71%、荷兰特种化学品制造商IMCD涨9.92%，比利时阿泽雷斯集团收涨9.53%。 （欧洲斯托克600化工指数日线图，来源：TradingView） 作为点燃行情的推手，日内有市场传闻称， 欧盟计划延长向能源密集型行业免费发放碳排放配额的期限 。 根据欧盟“碳排放交易体系”规则，如果企业在清洁技术上的投资不足，就必须购买碳排放配额。一些公司会获得免费分配，但欧委会原计划从今年起大幅减少免费配额分配，并到2034年对部分行业完全停止免费分配。欧盟也在考虑 放缓配额下降的速度，让欧洲的制造业可以排放更多二氧化碳 。 花旗的欧洲化工板块分析师塞巴斯蒂安·萨茨解读称，碳排放配额的逐步减少“助长了该行业的看空叙事”，而这一趋势的逆转将缓解行业的“重大财务负担”。 周三的大涨也有另一个重要变量： 投资者大举撤出科技巨头和受到AI冲击的股票，转而买入更加传统、过去几年表现不佳的股票。 前“欧洲股王”，上周刚经历暴跌的德国软件巨头SAP日内一度触及近两年低点。而除了化工外，电信和汽车板块也位列欧股周三表现最佳的板块。 面对最新一轮抛售，摩根大通欧洲软件行业分析师Toby Ogg感慨称：“在我们目前所处的市场环境下，该板块不仅面临‘有罪推定’，甚至遭遇了‘未审先判’。对于软件公司来说，仅凭优于预期的业绩已不足以打动市场。”

Bloomberg Intelligence: AMD Suffers Worst Rout Since 2018 on Disappointing Forecast Bloomberg.com

The S&P 500 Index ($SPX) (SPY) today is down -0.11%, the Dow Jones Industrials Index ($DOWI) (DIA) is up +0.69%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX) (QQQ) is down -1.05%. March E-mini S&P futures (ESH26) are down -0.16%, and March E-mini Nasdaq futures (NQH26) are down -1.10%. Stock indexes are mixed today, with the Nasdaq 100 falling to a 2-week low. Investor rotation out of high-flying chipmakers and AI-infrastructure stocks today is weighing on the broader market. Corporate earnings results today are mixed for stocks. Super Micro Computer is up more than +13% after forecasting Q3 net sales well above expectations. However, Advanced Micro Devices is down more than -15% after analysts said the company’s Q1 sales forecast was seen as weak. Join 200K+ Subscribers: Today’s US economic news was mixed for stocks. The Jan ADP employment change rose by +22,000, below expectations of +45,000. Conversely, the Jan ISM services index was unchanged at 53.8, stronger than expectations of a decline to 53.5. Market sentiment improved today, following the end of the partial US government shutdown after President Trump signed a deal late Tuesday to fund the government. The funding package only funds the Department of Homeland Security through February 13, while the rest of the government is funded through September 30, the end of the fiscal year. The Treasury today announced that next week’s quarterly refunding will total $125 billion in sales of T-notes and T-bonds, right on expectations, and said it anticipates keeping auction sizes unchanged for nominal notes, bonds, and floating-rate notes “for at least the next several quarters.” US MBA mortgage applications fell -8.9% in the week ended January 30, with the purchase mortgage sub-index down -14.4% and the refinancing sub-index down -4.7%. The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell -3 bp to 6.21% from 6.24% in the prior week. The markets this week will focus on earnings and economic news. On Thursday, initial weekly unemployment ...

It would be hard to think of a scandal more perfectly designed to turbocharge the disaffected populism — a defining feature of current politics across the West — than the one dominating the news in the UK now. Jeffrey Epstein was a paedophile with remarkable levels of access to senior figures in a socks-and-loafers wearing Establishment, even after his conviction. The anti-system parties in Britain are having their case made for them by this scandal, while it destabilises the prime minister and threatens a return to political volatility. Keir Starmer today said at Prime Minister’s Questions today that Peter Mandelson had “lied throughout” the vetting process before becoming US ambassador about the extent of his relationship with Epstein. In September, the government said that what Mandelson told Starmer’s team about the depth and extent of their relationship was “materially different” to emails revealed in a Bloomberg exclusive — which followed the publication of Mandelson’s toe-curling birthday notes to the financier by US authorities. At that point, the prime minister had to accept there was more to this than what the then-US ambassador was telling him. Even though that led to his sacking, there was worse to come, which has led to him being progressively removed from almost all there is to remove him from. Starmer will know this story has cut through. This last weekend in my household, my 12-year-old son and his friends asked for it to be explained, and were bewildered and disgusted by even my vanilla (ish) explanations. It’s also reaping damage across America — Bloomberg reporters have also found correspondence between Epstein and Goldman Sachs’ general counsel Kathy Ruemmler , who accepted tens of thousands of dollars of gifts from him and called him “Uncle Jeffrey.” In the UK, the prime minister will worry that the damage to him could yet get worse. Today he acquiesced to parliamentary pressure and agreed to release the deliberations around Mandelson’s ambassad...

Apple Inc. is trading in the opposite direction of technology stocks and the broader market as investors increasingly view it as an oasis of safety amid fears of artificial intelligence disruption. The iPhone maker’s shares were up 1.8% at around 12:30 p.m. in New York on Wednesday, compared with a 2.4% decline in the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index . That means Apple is outperforming by its widest degree since early 2025. The move extends a recent trend, with Apple up nearly 6% to start this month, while the index is down 3.3%. The gain has resulted in a market capitalization of just over $4 trillion for Apple, allowing it to squeak past Alphabet Inc. for the title for the second-largest company in the world, after Nvidia Corp. “It doesn’t seem like the AI disruption theme is extending to hardware, which is certainly a positive at a time when the market has made the decision that AI is going to eat the entire software space,” said Dan Eye , chief investment officer at Fort Pitt Capital Group, which holds Apple shares in multiple portfolios. Read more: ‘Get Me Out’: Traders Dump Software Stocks as AI Fears Erupt (4) The divergence reflects both positive trends at Apple and growing uncertainty in much of the tech sector. Results from Apple last week featured record quarterly sales and a better-than-anticipated forecast. At the same time, new AI tools from Alphabet Inc. and the startup Anthropic have spurred widespread selling of tech stocks, as investors fret that AI services will eat into growth. “Apple isn’t a value name, but it isn’t high-risk either,” Eye said. The company is expected to be a beneficiary of AI adoption, as hardware like the iPhone is expected to be a central place where users access AI services. Last month, Alphabet’s Google entered a multiyear deal to power Apple’s AI technology, including the Siri voice assistant. Meanwhile, Software stocks have come under broad pressure , with a popular exchange-traded fund tracking the group down 2.7% and on trac...

Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg Apple Inc. is trading in the opposite direction of technology stocks and the broader market as investors increasingly view it as an oasis of safety amid fears of artificial intelligence disruption. The iPhone maker’s shares were up 1.8% at around 12:30 p.m. in New York on Wednesday, compared with a 2.4% decline in the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index. That means Apple is outperforming by its widest degree since early 2025. The move extends a recent trend, with Apple up nearly 6% to start this month, while the index is down 3.3%. Most Read from Bloomberg The gain has resulted in a market capitalization of just over $4 trillion for Apple, allowing it to squeak past Alphabet Inc. for the title for the second-largest company in the world, after Nvidia Corp. “It doesn’t seem like the AI disruption theme is extending to hardware, which is certainly a positive at a time when the market has made the decision that AI is going to eat the entire software space,” said Dan Eye, chief investment officer at Fort Pitt Capital Group, which holds Apple shares in multiple portfolios. The divergence reflects both positive trends at Apple and growing uncertainty in much of the tech sector. Results from Apple last week featured record quarterly sales and a better-than-anticipated forecast. At the same time, new AI tools from Alphabet Inc. and the startup Anthropic have spurred widespread selling of tech stocks, as investors fret that AI services will eat into growth. “Apple isn’t a value name, but it isn’t high-risk either,” Eye said. The company is expected to be a beneficiary of AI adoption, as hardware like the iPhone is expected to be a central place where users access AI services. Last month, Alphabet’s Google entered a multiyear deal to power Apple’s AI technology, including the Siri voice assistant. Meanwhile, Software stocks have come under broad pressure, with a popular exchange-traded fund tracking the group down 2.7% and on track for a seventh ...

格隆汇2月5日｜伊朗高级官员：美国执意就“非核”问题进行讨论，这可能会危及在阿曼举行的会谈。德黑兰“已做好充分准备，只就核问题与美国举行会谈”。

Source: Bloomberg, 0:00

在刚刚结束的欧盘交易时段，近年来命运多舛的欧洲化工（850102）板块迎来近4年最大单日涨幅。影响全球股市的“板块轮动”浪潮，以及有关欧盟放宽碳排放政策的传闻，共同构成大涨背后的推手。截至欧股收盘，欧洲斯托克600化工（850102）指数大涨4.79%。个股层面，巴斯夫涨4.98%、法国液化空气集团涨5.71%、荷兰特种化学品制造商IMCD涨9.92%，比利时阿泽雷斯集团收涨9.53%。(财联社)

Never miss an episode. Follow The Big Take daily podcast today. AI anxiety is coursing through the stock market right now. From Tuesday’s global sell-off in software and technology stocks to last week’s $381 billion Microsoft rout, investors are skittish over any sign of an AI bubble. On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg Big Tech editor Sarah Frier joins host Sarah Holder to discuss the coming AI reckoning and why pressure is building on tech companies to prove all their AI investments will pay off big — and soon. Listen and follow The Big Take on Apple Podcasts , Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Terminal clients: click here to subscribe. This episode was produced by: David Fox; Editors: Tracey Samuelson; Fact-checker: Rachael Lewis-Krisky and Eleanor Harrison-Dengate; Sound Design/Engineer: Katie McMurran and Alex Sugiura; Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Senior Editor: Elisabeth Ponsot; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver; Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

中環大館明晚起，舉行立體光雕投影匯演。 今年「綻放大館」作品《流光幻夢》，由跨媒介團體The Collective創作，透過霓虹閃爍的街道、舞獅對決，以及七十年代荷里活經典電影等元素，呈現的士高於亞洲大放異彩的黃金時代，並首次引入可實時互動的裝置，將觀眾的身體動作實時投影到營房大樓上。 匯演明日起至本月22日，每晚6時半至9時在大館檢閱廣場及營房大樓的外牆上演。現場亦會設以的士高為主題的特調雞尾酒。

伊朗最高领袖阿里・哈梅内伊现身德黑兰。 据Axios报道，两名美方官员透露，美国于周三告知伊朗，不会同意伊方提出的变更原定于周五举行的核谈判地点及会谈形式的要求。 美伊双方原本商定，于周五在伊斯坦布尔举行会谈，其他中东国家将以观察员身份参与。 但伊朗方面于周二提出，希望将会谈地点改至阿曼，并采用双边会谈形式，旨在确保会谈仅聚焦核问题，不涉及美方及地区各国重点关注的导弹等其他议题。美方官员曾对伊方的地点变更请求进行考量，最终于周三决定予以拒绝。 一名美国高级官员表示：“我们已明确告知对方，要么按原计划进行，要么取消会谈，而伊朗方面的回应是‘那那就取消吧’。” 该官员称，若伊朗愿意恢复原定会谈形式，美方随时准备在本周或下周举行会谈。这位高级官员还称：“我们希望尽快达成一份切实的协议，否则美方将考虑其他选项。” 此番言论暗指特朗普此前多次发出的军事行动威胁。 伊朗常驻联合国代表团目前尚未就此事回应置评请求。 后续美方官员表示，白宫特使史蒂夫・维特科夫以及特朗普的女婿兼高级顾问贾里德・库什纳，预计将于周四前往卡塔尔，与卡塔尔首相就伊朗问题举行会谈。 按当前计划，二人结束卡塔尔的行程后将直接返回迈阿密，而非前往原定地点与伊朗方面会面。 责任编辑：丁文武

The Shenzhen Hospital affiliated to the University of Hong Kong. Photo: VCG A viral post about a 26-year-old British woman who traveled to China for stomach treatment — an ailment she said was resolved in 13 days for about 300 pounds ($409) after a long wait in the U.K. — has stirred fresh debate online about China’s appeal as a destination for medical care. Some hospitals say they are seeing more overseas patients. Industry experts, however, say China’s medical-tourism business remains small and faces hurdles that keep it far behind regional rivals.

即將迎來馬年，以擅長畫馬著稱的已故國畫大師徐悲鴻的代表作《六駿圖》為藍本的版畫最近在本港展出，徐悲鴻女兒希望傳承父親的藝術精神。 奔騰疾馳但形態各異的六匹馬，鬃和尾巴用粗筆濃墨快速揮灑，賦予動感與力度，馬的表情擬人化。 這幅以國畫大師徐悲鴻的代表作《六駿圖》為藍本的版畫，近日在本港商場展出。徐悲鴻與第三任太太廖靜文的女兒、現任徐悲鴻藝術委員會總顧問徐芳芳來港出席開幕典禮。 徐悲鴻女兒徐芳芳說︰「群馬形成的一種無堅不摧的力量。徐悲鴻通過畫馬，來表現他自己的悲傷與愉快及他對祖國光明未來的期望。所以這個馬就像人物一樣，它是擬人，它是有寄情託性的含義。徐悲鴻的奔馬就成為了一種勇往直前，在抗日戰爭時期奔向勝利的象徵。」 徐悲鴻1895年出生，曾赴法國留學。受現實主義畫派啟發，提倡「國畫改革」，以中國水墨為根基，融合西方寫實素描的光影結構等。 徐悲鴻的畫作，不但重塑中國現代美術觀，亦對國際美術界影響深遠。 徐芳芳稱︰「他是中國文化的使者，他所代表的是中國優秀的文化藝術遺產。馬年當然是一個大好時機，希望這個展覽能夠鼓勵也傳承，把徐悲鴻奔騰駿馬精神能夠傳承給香港年輕的一代，鼓勵他們像徐悲鴻一樣，很熱誠地追求他們的藝術目標，能夠創造出感人的作品。」 徐芳芳本身是著名鋼琴家。她説未來希望在本港舉行音樂會，將音樂跟徐悲鴻畫作交融，向更多人展示徐悲鴻的藝術思想。

Valve's Steam Machine Is Still Coming In Early 2026, According To AMD GameSpot

Brookfield CEO Bruce Flatt discusses his future role at the company, his big bet on AI infrastructure and nuclear power, and his strategy for investing in the credit market. Brookfield Asset Management named Connor Teskey CEO, freeing up Flatt to focus on his plan to turn parent company Brookfield Corp. into an investment-led insurer. He speaks with Dani Burger on the debut episode of "Bloomberg Deals." (Source: Bloomberg)

Check if you're off the hook with state and federal taxes. Most Americans spend their careers paying into the Social Security system through payroll taxes; it's primarily funded that way. Unfortunately, when you begin receiving benefits in retirement, they're treated like other forms of income and may be subject to taxes. On the bright side, most states have eliminated their Social Security tax. On the not-so-bright side, eight states still tax Social Security benefits. Read on to see which side your state falls on. What states still tax Social Security? The eight states that do tax Social Security benefits are: Colorado Connecticut Minnesota Montana New Mexico Rhode Island Utah Vermont The specific rules vary by state, with some being more retiree-friendly than others. For example, Utah offers a nonrefundable tax credit that can offset all or part of the tax, while others, like Connecticut and New Mexico, exempt the tax for lower-income retirees. You can't forget about federal taxes Most Americans have their income taxed at the state and federal levels, and in some cases, the local levels. Luckily, your Social Security benefit is free from local taxes and potentially free from state taxes, but unfortunately, you may still pay federal taxes on it. How much you pay in federal taxes depends on your "combined income." This is the combination of half of your annual Social Security benefit, your adjusted gross income (AGI), and any nontaxable interest you may receive (such as certain bonds). If you're single and your combined income is under $25,000, you're free from federal taxes. If it's between $25,000 and $34,000, up to 50% could be taxed. If it's more than $34,000, up to 85% could be taxed. If you're married and filing jointly and your combined income is under $32,000, you're free from federal taxes. If it's between $32,000 and $44,000, up to 50% could be taxed. If it's more than $44,000, up to 85% could be taxed. Seeing federal taxes in action Let's assume you rece...

A 13-year-old boy who drove his family’s Volkswagen campervan on a 70mph road in the middle of the night for a joyride in Dorset has been given penalty points for a future licence, a court heard. The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was spotted by other motorists driving the 2.5-litre silver van on the A35, a busy dual carriageway in Poole. His father told the judge at Poole magistrates court his son would be “washing cars for the next year” to pay off his debt. When asked by district judge Orla Austin why he had taken the vehicle, the boy, now 14, said he was “not sure” but admitted it was not the first time he had taken the vehicle. The boy, who was given six penalty points on his driving licence, which he will not be eligible to receive for another two years, told the court: “I’m really sorry and I won’t do it again.” The court also ordered his parents to pay £105 in court costs. Charles Nightingale, representing the prosecution, said the incident occurred at 1.50am on 23 August last year. He said: “Sergeant Chris Brolan was given information by members of the public that there was a juvenile driving a VW campervan on the Upton bypass, westbound. “It is a national speed limit dual carriageway. [Brolan] observed the vehicle. There was nothing remarkable about the driving at all.” Nightingale added: “The defendant then pulled into the side of the road without the officer even putting the blue lights on.” Austin asked the schoolboy: “What were you doing driving that campervan? You haven’t got a proper licence or any insurance, you can’t drive vehicles because you put everybody else at risk. “I have to put points on your driving record even though you haven’t actually got a licence. So when you apply for a provisional licence there will be six points on it. You are very young and you don’t want to end up before the court again, so I hope this is going to be the end of it.” The teenager admitted charges of driving with no licence or insurance and was a...

In this article CI Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT In this photo illustration, the Cigna Healthcare logo is displayed on a smartphone screen. Rafael Henrique | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images Cigna Corp's Express Scripts has settled the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's claims its insulin pricing practices violated antitrust and consumer protection laws, and agreed to changes aimed at lowering costs for patients, insurers and small pharmacies, according to a copy of the settlement seen by Reuters. The Trump administration has taken aim at high drug costs, and secured agreements with pharmaceutical companies to slash prices. The settlement fits with that goal, and allows the FTC to pare down a case brought by the former Biden administration against Cigna's Express Scripts, UnitedHealth Group Inc's Optum unit and CVS Health Corp's CVS Caremark. The case against Optum and Caremark is ongoing. Pharmacy benefit managers, which set how drugs are covered by health insurance, have faced a decade of scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers over pricing practices. While the industry has already made reforms, the settlement gives the FTC power to enforce broader changes at Express Scripts. The 10-year agreement restricts Express Scripts' ability to engage in practices critics say contribute to high costs, like pocketing rebate payments from drugmakers based on the list price of drugs. The FTC estimates the agreement could save patients as much as $7 billion over a decade, a senior official at the agency said. While Express Scripts last year announced a shift away from rebates, the settlement legally binds the company and puts the company under a three-year monitorship of its compliance. The FTC has accused the largest pharmacy benefit managers of steering insurers and patients to higher-priced drugs over lower-priced options to maximize profits. In 2024, the FTC sued Express Scripts, Optum and CVS Caremark accusing them of unfairly excluding lower-cost ins...

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Documents detailing technical aspects of what's thought to be its next-gen Zen 6 CPUs have been posted on AMD's website. The most significant covers AMD's adoption of Intel's so-called 'FRED' interrupt handling. It's a change that implies that Zen 6 could be a major architectural overhaul as opposed to a relatively minor revision. FRED stands for Flexible Return and Event Delivery. At least, that's what it stands for now. No lesser an authority than Linux creator Linus Torvalds has something to say about that, more on which in a moment. It's a replacement for the decades-old IDT or Interrupt Descriptor Table that dates way back to the Intel 286 processor circa 1982. Both FRED and IDT are instructions for how to handle system events, such as a mouse input or the arrival of a network data packet, also known as interrupts. The technicalities are complicated. But to aggressively simplify the subject, with IDT, the smooth handling of these system events requires software developers to manually manage interrupts over several steps to minimise the risk of multiple interrupts conflicting with each other. FRED ditches IDT's multiple manually-implemented instructions in favour of a single, optimised operation. The upshot should be fewer CPU cycles spent on event handling and potentially more performance. Of course, the fact that FRED is an Intel technology ratified by the x86 Ecosystem Advisory Board and being adopted by AMD implies that the latter's CPUs won't be the only ones to enjoy any performance gains. That's probably true. As it happens, Intel's new Panther Lake chip is its first CPU to support FRED. Panther Lake is certainly a very nice mobile CPU. But it doesn't bring really dramatic per-core CPU performance gains, albeit any uplift from FRED may not automatically be present in legacy software. In other words, the benefits of FRED may not be visible benchmarking existing software as opposed to code compiled explicitly to support FRED. The biggest gaming news, review...

Monty Rakusen Baird Equity Research on Wednesday downgraded TransDigm Group Inc. ( TDG ) to Neutral from a previous investment rating of Outperform, arguing that a shift in business mix toward lower-margin original equipment manufacturer volumes and elevated leverage could cap profit expansion over the next year. In a research note dated Feb. 4, analyst Peter Arment cut the price target for TransDigm’s ( TDG ) stock to $1,400 from $1,650, reflecting expectations that margins have reached a near-term peak. While TransDigm ( TDG ) continues to generate industry-leading profitability driven by its sole-source aftermarket model, Baird said faster growth in OEM volumes relative to aftermarket sales is likely to weigh on margins in fiscal 2026. Baird noted that aftermarket activity still provides the majority of earnings, accounting for more than 75% of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, but growth in that segment has normalized following the post-pandemic rebound. At the same time, OEM revenue is expanding at roughly twice the pace of aftermarket sales, increasing exposure to lower-margin production programs at Boeing and Airbus. The analysts also highlighted balance-sheet constraints. Net leverage is expected to exceed 6 times ebitda once three pending acquisitions close, limiting TransDigm’s ( TDG ) flexibility for additional dealmaking in the near term. Baird said the higher leverage profile reduces optionality at a time when margin expansion opportunities appear limited. Despite the downgrade, Baird raised its fiscal 2026 earnings outlook modestly following updated company guidance. The firm said TransDigm ( TDG ) lifted its revenue and adjusted ebitda outlook, with margins still expected to remain above 50%, though down about 150 basis points year over year. Adjusted earnings per share growth is projected to be flat to modestly higher in fiscal 2026. Baird said it continues to view TransDigm’s ( TDG ) long-term business model as highly a...

We are selling 50 shares of Home Depot at roughly $390 and 20 shares of Honeywell at $236. Following the trades, Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust will own 330 shares of HD, decreasing its weighting to about 3.25% from about 3.75%, and 390 shares of HON, decreasing its weighting to about 2.35% from about 2.45%. We're raising some extra cash by trimming two Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks that have significantly outperformed the broader market this year. Home Depot and Honeywell stocks struggled in 2025, but our patience paid off with double-digit percentage gains to start 2026. Existing home sales are the primary driver of Home Depot's business, but this market has been stuck at multidecade lows because many homeowners don't want to give up their low single-digit mortgage rates. That's why the company's same-store-sales growth has been muted, limiting Home Depot's earnings growth. But the home improvement retailer has finally benefited from optimism that the Trump Administration will make home buying more affordable and revive the housing market through various programs, such as directing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds to push down rates. Home Depot could rally more if the 30-year mortgage rate falls below 6% and stays there, but a setback in this momentum could cause HD shares to pull back, too. With shares up 14% since we last added to our position in November, when the stock was down 4% as investors overreacted to its earnings report , we're trimming our position and downgrading our rating to a 2. As for Honeywell, we're locking in gains for the second time this year. When the stock rose by more than 4% last Thursday in response to its strong quarterly results , Jim said he wouldn't sell any shares, expecting the planned aerospace separation in the third quarter of this year to unlock additional value. We continue to believe this, and the rise to new all-time highs in Honeywell and DuPont since their splits in late 2025 is a vali...