Image source: The Motley Fool. Wednesday, August 6, 2025 at 9 a.m. ET CALL PARTICIPANTS President and Chief Executive Officer — Joseph C. Bartolacci Chief Financial Officer — Steven F. Nicola TAKEAWAYS Consolidated Sales -- $349 million, down from $428 million, with the primary driver being the SGK divestiture which reduced sales by $80.2 million in the period. -- $349 million, down from $428 mill...
Image source: The Motley Fool. Wednesday, August 6, 2025 at 9 a.m. ET CALL PARTICIPANTS President and Chief Executive Officer — Joseph C. Bartolacci Chief Financial Officer — Steven F. Nicola TAKEAWAYS Consolidated Sales -- $349 million, down from $428 million, with the primary driver being the SGK divestiture which reduced sales by $80.2 million in the period. -- $349 million, down from $428 million, with the primary driver being the SGK divestiture which reduced sales by $80.2 million in the period. Net Income -- $15.4 million, or $0.49 per share, up from $1.8 million, or $0.06 per share, mainly reflecting a gain from the SGK divestiture. -- $15.4 million, or $0.49 per share, up from $1.8 million, or $0.06 per share, mainly reflecting a gain from the SGK divestiture. Adjusted EBITDA -- $44.6 million, nearly flat from $44.7 million, as increases in Memorialization and Industrial Technologies segments offset the effects of the SGK sale and lower corporate costs. -- $44.6 million, nearly flat from $44.7 million, as increases in Memorialization and Industrial Technologies segments offset the effects of the SGK sale and lower corporate costs. Memorialization Segment Sales -- $203.7 million, compared to $202.7 million; acquisition of The Dodge Company contributed approximately $6 million in sales, countered by the sale of the European cremation business. -- $203.7 million, compared to $202.7 million; acquisition of The Dodge Company contributed approximately $6 million in sales, countered by the sale of the European cremation business. Memorialization EBITDA -- $42.8 million, up from $38.7 million, due to cost savings, pricing actions, Dodge acquisition, and exit from low-margin European cremation equipment. -- $42.8 million, up from $38.7 million, due to cost savings, pricing actions, Dodge acquisition, and exit from low-margin European cremation equipment. Dodge Company EBITDA Contribution -- $1 million in the quarter on $6 million in sales, with management projecting...
Shares in major UK and European software and IT services companies fell sharply this week, extending a broad sell-off across the sector as investors reassessed high valuations and rotated into other sectors. In London, several prominent FTSE firms recorded steep weekly declines. RELX (RELX), the analytics and information group, dropped more than 13%, marking one of its worst short-term performance...
Shares in major UK and European software and IT services companies fell sharply this week, extending a broad sell-off across the sector as investors reassessed high valuations and rotated into other sectors. In London, several prominent FTSE firms recorded steep weekly declines. RELX (RELX), the analytics and information group, dropped more than 13%, marking one of its worst short-term performances in recent years. RELX shares have now almost halved from their peak last February and on Tuesday suffered their biggest drop since 1988. Meanwhile, Sage Group (SGE.L), a major provider of accounting and business software, fell around 10%. Mid-cap technology stocks including Softcat (SCT.L), Kainos Group (KNOS.L) and Bytes Technology (BYIT.L) also trended lower over the week. The declines came as AI developer Anthropic launched plug-ins for its Claude Cowork agent on Friday that would automate tasks across legal, sales, marketing and data analysis. The move sparked concerns of an impending AI-fuelled disruption of the data and professional services industry, which were once seen as major beneficiaries of the AI era, according to analysts. The weakness was mirrored across continental Europe with shares in SAP (SAP.DE), Europe’s largest software company, tumbling around 15%, underperforming the wider DAX index. Other software and IT services groups, including Dassault Systèmes, Capgemini (CAP.PA) and Spain-based travel technology firm Amadeus IT Group, also came under pressure. Read more: Bitcoin price plunges to lowest since 2024 as investors pull out of crypto This also spread across the globe to the US and Asia, with market participants warning that the sell-off was sector-wide rather than driven by company-specific news. Enterprise software, data analytics and IT services stocks have been among the hardest hit, reflecting investor caution toward long-duration growth assets and concerns over corporate technology spending. Russell Shor, senior market analyst at Tradu, s...
There is a look of despair in Starmer’s eyes – and a feeling in the room that the endgame has begun It’s beginning to feel terminal. Not that there hasn’t been talk of Labour MPs wanting to remove Keir Starmer before. Just that this time there’s the sense of a tipping point being reached. No more second chances. No praying for a miracle that will never come in the May elections. A quantum shift of...
There is a look of despair in Starmer’s eyes – and a feeling in the room that the endgame has begun It’s beginning to feel terminal. Not that there hasn’t been talk of Labour MPs wanting to remove Keir Starmer before. Just that this time there’s the sense of a tipping point being reached. No more second chances. No praying for a miracle that will never come in the May elections. A quantum shift of collective despair. You can’t escape the irony. Starmer has always prided himself on being Mr Rules. It’s how he got elected. He might be a bit dull and lack charisma, but you can count on him to be reliable. To play by the rules. And now he has been undone by having given the prime Washington job to a man who was the epitome of Mr No Rules. And he had thought he had been so clever by acting out of character to make Peter Mandelson the US ambassador. Many in his cabinet had congratulated him, as had many Tories. A sleazy diplomat for a sleazy president. A match made in heaven. Continue reading...
Will 2026 be the year investors see the price they've dreamed of? Ethereum's (ETH 6.34%) $5,000 price level has, over the last couple of years, taken on a somewhat mythical prominence in the minds of many crypto investors. In August 2025, pretty much everyone thought that the coin was bound to cross that level. Instead, it rose to $4,946, just a hair past its prior all-time high near $4,815, set i...
Will 2026 be the year investors see the price they've dreamed of? Ethereum's (ETH 6.34%) $5,000 price level has, over the last couple of years, taken on a somewhat mythical prominence in the minds of many crypto investors. In August 2025, pretty much everyone thought that the coin was bound to cross that level. Instead, it rose to $4,946, just a hair past its prior all-time high near $4,815, set in late 2021. And then it began its long, unhappy trek back down to near $2,350, where it is today. Thus, Ethereum has never managed to be worth $5,000 per coin despite two closely followed attempts. But 2026 is one of the more plausible years for that number to finally be reached, assuming that a few different factors cooperate. Let's look at what needs to happen for the coin to grow by more than double and hit $5,000 this year. Upgrades are landing, and they need to pay off A big part of Ethereum's success story is a result of its strong technical leadership, which has consistently outlined and then developed and implemented major upgrades to the chain. Last year saw the launch of two such upgrades, Pectra and Fusaka, both of which were devoted to improving the chain's scaling-up and throughput capabilities, as well as adding a handful of new features for developers and users. Next up is "Glamsterdam," with a target window for launch in the second half of 2026. The two most important features associated with Glamsterdam are enshrined proposer-builder separation (ePBS) and block-level access lists (BALs). Don't worry too much about what both of those mean in technical terms. The point is that both of them will substantially reduce the gas fees paid by users as well as decentralized finance (deFi) applications while also enabling layer-2 (L2) blockchains built on top of Ethereum to push transactions to Ethereum for settlement with a higher throughput than before. Expand CRYPTO : ETH Ethereum Today's Change ( -6.34 %) $ -134.27 Current Price $ 1983.13 Key Data Points Market C...
For Immediate Release Chicago, IL – February 5, 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: NVIDIA Corp. NVDA and Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR. Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog: ...
For Immediate Release Chicago, IL – February 5, 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: NVIDIA Corp. NVDA and Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR. Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog: NVIDIA vs. Palantir: One AI Stock Is a Clear Buy Right Now The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has fueled explosive gains for both NVIDIA Corp. and Palantir Technologies Inc., making them some of the most sought-after stocks on Wall Street. Over the past year, Palantir's shares have even outperformed NVIDIA's (+54.6% vs +44%). But does this make Palantir the better investment now, or is there more beneath the surface? Let's take a closer look. The Bullish Case for NVDA Stock U.S.-China trade tensions appear to have eased somewhat. China has allowed leading tech companies, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) and ByteDance, to purchase NVIDIA's H200 AI chips. The U.S. government has cleared the shipment of these chips to China, which could bolster NVIDIA's sales. Soaring data center spending, projected by NVIDIA to reach between $3 trillion and $4 trillion annually by 2030, provides the Jensen Huang-led company with ample opportunities to sell its computing hardware and drive revenue growth. Additionally, strong demand for its cloud graphics processing units (GPUs) and cutting-edge Blackwell chips is likely to boost sales. NVIDIA now expects fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 revenues to hit almost $65 billion, with a plus or minus 2%, according to investor.nvidia.com. The company's third-quarter fiscal 2026 revenues jumped 62% year over year and 22% sequentially to $57 billion. The Bullish Case for PLTR Stock Palantir delivered strong quarterly results, largely fueled by rising demand for its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), which has seen growing adoption among ...
For Immediate Release Chicago, IL – February 5, 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: NVIDIA Corp. NVDA and Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR. Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog: ...
For Immediate Release Chicago, IL – February 5, 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: NVIDIA Corp. NVDA and Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR. Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog: NVIDIA vs. Palantir: One AI Stock Is a Clear Buy Right Now The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has fueled explosive gains for both NVIDIA Corp. and Palantir Technologies Inc., making them some of the most sought-after stocks on Wall Street. Over the past year, Palantir's shares have even outperformed NVIDIA's (+54.6% vs +44%). But does this make Palantir the better investment now, or is there more beneath the surface? Let's take a closer look. The Bullish Case for NVDA Stock U.S.-China trade tensions appear to have eased somewhat. China has allowed leading tech companies, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) and ByteDance, to purchase NVIDIA's H200 AI chips. The U.S. government has cleared the shipment of these chips to China, which could bolster NVIDIA's sales. Soaring data center spending, projected by NVIDIA to reach between $3 trillion and $4 trillion annually by 2030, provides the Jensen Huang-led company with ample opportunities to sell its computing hardware and drive revenue growth. Additionally, strong demand for its cloud graphics processing units (GPUs) and cutting-edge Blackwell chips is likely to boost sales. NVIDIA now expects fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 revenues to hit almost $65 billion, with a plus or minus 2%, according to investor.nvidia.com. The company's third-quarter fiscal 2026 revenues jumped 62% year over year and 22% sequentially to $57 billion. The Bullish Case for PLTR Stock Palantir delivered strong quarterly results, largely fueled by rising demand for its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), which has seen growing adoption among ...
For Immediate Release Chicago, IL – February 5, 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: NVIDIA Corp. NVDA and Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR. Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog: ...
For Immediate Release Chicago, IL – February 5, 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: NVIDIA Corp. NVDA and Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR. Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog: NVIDIA vs. Palantir: One AI Stock Is a Clear Buy Right Now The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has fueled explosive gains for both NVIDIA Corp. and Palantir Technologies Inc., making them some of the most sought-after stocks on Wall Street. Over the past year, Palantir's shares have even outperformed NVIDIA's (+54.6% vs +44%). But does this make Palantir the better investment now, or is there more beneath the surface? Let's take a closer look. The Bullish Case for NVDA Stock U.S.-China trade tensions appear to have eased somewhat. China has allowed leading tech companies, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) and ByteDance, to purchase NVIDIA's H200 AI chips. The U.S. government has cleared the shipment of these chips to China, which could bolster NVIDIA's sales. Soaring data center spending, projected by NVIDIA to reach between $3 trillion and $4 trillion annually by 2030, provides the Jensen Huang-led company with ample opportunities to sell its computing hardware and drive revenue growth. Additionally, strong demand for its cloud graphics processing units (GPUs) and cutting-edge Blackwell chips is likely to boost sales. NVIDIA now expects fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 revenues to hit almost $65 billion, with a plus or minus 2%, according to investor.nvidia.com. The company's third-quarter fiscal 2026 revenues jumped 62% year over year and 22% sequentially to $57 billion. The Bullish Case for PLTR Stock Palantir delivered strong quarterly results, largely fueled by rising demand for its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), which has seen growing adoption among ...
Bitcoin is no longer beating the big asset classes. Once pitched as “digital gold” and a higher-octane counterpart to the Nasdaq and S&P 500, the world’s largest cryptocurrency now lags all three over the past five years after its recent ferocious rout. Since early 2021, Bitcoin has returned roughly 73% — trailing gold at 164%, the Nasdaq 100 at 82% and the S&P 500 at 75%, and the Nasdaq 100 at 82...
Bitcoin is no longer beating the big asset classes. Once pitched as “digital gold” and a higher-octane counterpart to the Nasdaq and S&P 500, the world’s largest cryptocurrency now lags all three over the past five years after its recent ferocious rout. Since early 2021, Bitcoin has returned roughly 73% — trailing gold at 164%, the Nasdaq 100 at 82% and the S&P 500 at 75%, and the Nasdaq 100 at 82%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. On Thursday, Bitcoin was down about 7% as of 10:55 a.m. in New York, with year-to-date losses approaching 30%. While it’s not the first time in Bitcoin’s history that the token has lagged behind all three major benchmarks, the underperformance undercuts an enduring narrative of superior long-term returns. The data is especially stark given Bitcoin’s history of big swings and outlier rallies. For years, it retained a reputation as a “buy pain, earn outsize” asset: a volatile holding that rewarded believers through cycles and served as a hedge against other investments. Now that logic is under pressure as it faces selling from all sides, in what some the industry are dubbing a “ crisis of faith .” It hasn’t acted as a hedge, failing to rally alongside gold during geopolitical shocks and dollar weakness. It hasn’t delivered on momentum, with oversold technicals failing to spark sustained bounces. And while the arrival of spot ETFs initially drove record inflows, recent weeks have shown net outflows and fading demand. “Bitcoin’s claim as a store of value and portfolio hedge has been eroded,” said Joshua Lim, global co-head of markets at crypto prime broker FalconX. “Retail flows have been leaving crypto in favor of equities and metals on their historic parabolic run. Gold is the favored reserve asset for sovereign actors and even for crypto-native stockpilers like Tether.” Read More: Crypto’s ‘Digital Gold’ Myth Exposed as Traders Pivot to Metals For an asset once hyped as a ticket to life-changing wealth, the erosion of long-term out...
Key Takeaways Alphabet shares sank Thursday after the Google parent outlined a massive increase in its spending this year. The company's fourth-quarter results topped estimates as cloud revenue surged. Alphabet (GOOGL) shares slumped Thursday after the Google and YouTube parent laid out massive spending plans to support its AI ambitions. The shares were down over 5% in recent trading, after the co...
Key Takeaways Alphabet shares sank Thursday after the Google parent outlined a massive increase in its spending this year. The company's fourth-quarter results topped estimates as cloud revenue surged. Alphabet (GOOGL) shares slumped Thursday after the Google and YouTube parent laid out massive spending plans to support its AI ambitions. The shares were down over 5% in recent trading, after the company forecast $175 billion to $185 billion in capital expenditures this year as it builds out its AI infrastructure, roughly double the $91.45 billion Alphabet spent in 2025. With Thursday's move, Alphabet shed some $170 billion of its market value, pulling its market capitalization back below $4 trillion. Why This Matters to Investors Big Tech companies have faced increasing pressure in recent quarters to show their AI spending is paying off and convince investors to support further investment. Thursday's move could signal that investors are wary of Alphabet's massive spending plans. Some Wall Street analysts said they've only become more bullish about the stock after the company's latest results, however. Analysts from JPMorgan, Citi, and Wedbush lifted their price targets following Wednesday's earnings report, given what they viewed as strong signals of AI demand. "We acknowledge the concern around investments," Citi analysts wrote. "But given clear AI demand signals, we believe Google should be investing in product and in alleviating capacity challenges." The tech giant topped fourth-quarter estimates with $113.83 billion in revenue and $2.82 earnings per share, as cloud revenue soared 48% year-over-year to $17.7 billion. With Thursday's drop, Alphabet shares have erased most of their gains year-to-date, but are still up more than 60% in the last 12 months.
is features writer with five years of experience covering the companies that shape technology and the people who use their tools. Kamala Harris’ social media strategy in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election was filled with Gen Z dog whistles: viral branding based on pop music, memes, camo hats that were a double entendre. It was an effective way to get attention and news coverage, as well ...
is features writer with five years of experience covering the companies that shape technology and the people who use their tools. Kamala Harris’ social media strategy in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election was filled with Gen Z dog whistles: viral branding based on pop music, memes, camo hats that were a double entendre. It was an effective way to get attention and news coverage, as well as a mountain of user generated content online. But for months, the accounts have been dormant — until today. On X, Harris herself announced the rebranding of @KamalaHQ in a video message. The account is now @headquarters_67, “the new Gen-Z led progressive content hub,” as it’s described in a post. Harris describes it as “where you can go online to get basically the latest of what’s going on.” According to Chaotic Era, a politics and media newsletter, the accounts will share progressive news and politics content with a focus on the midterm elections this fall. Chaotic Era reports that Harris won’t have editorial control over the accounts and will serve as “chair emerita”; Luminary Strategies, a digital agency started by @KamalaHQ alums and the advocacy group People for the American Way, are partnering to run the accounts. The X account for Headquarters includes a link to a Substack newsletter that is empty, at least of this writing. (The Substack choice is an interesting one, given the platform’s history of hosting neo-Nazi newsletters.) The nature of algorithmic social media means that reaching audiences has never been harder for political campaigns. The Harris campaign managed to capture the (digital) attention of many young voters, and as I wrote shortly after the election, a Harris win felt all but certain for some of them — they were safely in the KamalaHQ algorithm niche. It’s not yet clear what issues the account will take on, but we already have a taste of the tone. Since Harris’ video message announcement, the Headquarters’ X account has tweeted four times, each ti...