Vodafone Group Plc grew more slowly than expected in Germany, its largest market, bucking expectations of stronger growth after bringing on 1&1 AG as a wholesale customer. Organic service revenue in Germany rose 0.7% for its fiscal third quarter to €2.7 billion ($3.2 billion), the UK telecommunications operator said in a statement on Thursday. Analysts expected an improvement of 1.02%, according t...
Vodafone Group Plc grew more slowly than expected in Germany, its largest market, bucking expectations of stronger growth after bringing on 1&1 AG as a wholesale customer. Organic service revenue in Germany rose 0.7% for its fiscal third quarter to €2.7 billion ($3.2 billion), the UK telecommunications operator said in a statement on Thursday. Analysts expected an improvement of 1.02%, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg, after 0.5% growth last quarter. Chief Executive Officer Margherita Della Valle is more than two years into an ambitious turnaround plan, with a focus on simplifying operations and selling off assets. She has divested businesses in Italy and Spain. Vodafone also merged with CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. ’s Three in its home market of the UK. Della Valle has won praise from analysts for re-focusing the company on fewer key markets. Still, in Germany, fierce competition and a regulatory change cost millions of customers and has been a drag on revenues. The impact of that change, which saw Germany bar housing associations from bundling TV packages with rent, is largely over. And an agreement with smaller operator 1&1 is boosting sales.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is one of the 10 Buzzing AI Stocks on Market Radar. On February 2, Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani reiterated an Outperform rating on the stock with a $330.00 price target. The firm noted Apple’s App Store revenues for January growing 7% year-over-year, a modest acceleration from 6% the previous month. Gaming revenues posted a third consecutive month of year-over-year ...
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is one of the 10 Buzzing AI Stocks on Market Radar. On February 2, Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani reiterated an Outperform rating on the stock with a $330.00 price target. The firm noted Apple’s App Store revenues for January growing 7% year-over-year, a modest acceleration from 6% the previous month. Gaming revenues posted a third consecutive month of year-over-year declines, pressured by broad-based weakness across major markets such as China, Japan, US, and South Korea. Notably, the year-over-year compare was tough here, with Jan. 2025 revenues growing +9%, though moving forward, Gaming revs will see easier comps through the rest of H1:CY26. In contrast, the firm noted how revenues in other five categories that it tracks grew double-digits, led by music, photo and video, social networking, and entertainment. This helped to offset the softness in gaming, which remains the largest segment. Gaming remains the largest category of App Store revenues at 45%, though excluding it from January data, remaining aggregate revenues would’ve grown +17% y/y. By region, US App Store revenues grew an estimated 3% year-over-year, while App Store revenues in the second and third largest geos, China and Japan, declined 1% year-over-year. Overall. App Store revenue grew modestly month-on-month, rising 7%. 10 Smartphones with the Best Cameras and Battery Life Meanwhile, gaming continues to remain a headwind to sales due to tougher year-on-year comparisons, but the firm has highlighted robust growth in other major categories that it tracks (remaining aggregate revs up +17% y/y). We expect AAPL to continue to benefit from faster growing areas (Apple Pay, iCloud, Licensing, etc.), helping to offset <10% growth in App Store revs. Maintain OP and $330 target. Apple is a technology company known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. While we acknowledge the potential of AAPL as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside pot...
Shell press release ( SHEL ): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.57 misses by $0.72 . Revenue of $64.09B (-3.3% Y/Y) misses by $1.73B . Q4 2025 Adjusted Earnings1 of $3.3 billion and CFFO of $9.4 billion. Cash flow from operating activities for the fourth quarter 2025 was $9.4 billion and primarily driven by Adjusted EBITDA, working capital inflows of $1.3 billion and dividends (net of profits) from joint vent...
Shell press release ( SHEL ): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.57 misses by $0.72 . Revenue of $64.09B (-3.3% Y/Y) misses by $1.73B . Q4 2025 Adjusted Earnings1 of $3.3 billion and CFFO of $9.4 billion. Cash flow from operating activities for the fourth quarter 2025 was $9.4 billion and primarily driven by Adjusted EBITDA, working capital inflows of $1.3 billion and dividends (net of profits) from joint ventures and associates of $0.9 billion. OUTLOOK FOR THE FIRST QUARTER 2026 "Full year 2025 cash capital expenditure was $21 billion. Our cash capital expenditure for the full year 2026 is expected to be $20 - $22 billion." Integrated Gas production is expected to be approximately 920 - 980 thousand boe/d. LNG liquefaction volumes are expected to be approximately 7.4 - 8.0 million tonnes. Upstream production is expected to be approximately 1,700 - 1,900 thousand boe/d. Marketing sales volumes are expected to be approximately 2,550 - 2,750 thousand b/d. Refinery utilisation is expected to be approximately 90% - 98%. Chemicals manufacturing plant utilisation is expected to be approximately 79% - 87%. Corporate Adjusted Earnings were a net expense of $567 million for the fourth quarter 2025. Corporate Adjusted Earnings are expected to be a net expense of approximately $400 - $600 million in the first quarter 2026. More on Shell Shell: When The 'European Discount' Becomes An Opportunity Shell: Continued Investment And Incredibly Strong FCF Shell's Green Hydrogen Projects: An Investment In Yet Another Failing EU Green Initiative Shell Q4 preview: Earnings seen rising 9%, shareholder returns in focus Shell plans £4.5M-plus annual pay hike for CEO Sawan - Sky News
aimintang/iStock via Getty Images Shares of Provident Financial Services ( PFS ) have been an excellent performer over the past year, gaining about 24%. The regional bank is seeing increased benefits from past M&A as it realizes targeted synergies, and loan growth is perking up. While credit quality is strong and the company has a solid capital position, these strengths appear reflected in shares,...
aimintang/iStock via Getty Images Shares of Provident Financial Services ( PFS ) have been an excellent performer over the past year, gaining about 24%. The regional bank is seeing increased benefits from past M&A as it realizes targeted synergies, and loan growth is perking up. While credit quality is strong and the company has a solid capital position, these strengths appear reflected in shares, and I view PFS as a “ H old” after their strong recent rally. Seeking Alpha In the company’s fourth quarter , Provident earned $0.55 per share, which missed expectations by a penny. However, on an operating basis, it earned $0.64, which was $0.08 ahead and a better indicator of underlying results (accounting impacts of past M&A continue to impact GAAP results). As you can see below, the company is a regional bank that primarily operates in Central and northern New Jersey. In 2024, Provident acquired Lakeland Bank, and the company has now completed all integration efforts, achieving all targeted synergies. Provident Financial Services Provident ended Q4 with $19.3 billion of deposits, up about 3.5% from last year. This is a solid performance in what has been a challenging environment for deposit growth. The company added $260 million of core deposits, representing over 6% sequential growth. Noninterest-bearing (“NIB”) performance has been a bit weaker than some peers, with balances down 2% from last year. In general, I believe these balances have bottomed for the industry after years of pressure, but PFS may be underperforming here a bit. I expect balances to be flattish in 2026. Provident Financial Services Loans grew $182 million sequentially to $19.5 billion, up 4.5% from last year. Loan originations passed $1 billion, and after very timid demand in H1, momentum is building given a more certain macro backdrop. Business lending has driven much of the growth, with balances up 9% from last year. We are also seeing a pick-up in multifamily loans, and rents in the NJ area hav...
NVDA, MU are Monolithic Power Systems’s peers in Semiconductors industry that have: 1) Lower valuation (P/OpInc) compared to Monolithic Power Systems stock 2) But higher revenue and operating income growth This disconnect between valuation and performance could mean that you are better off buying NVDA, MU stocks vs. MPWR stock Stock-picking thrills fade fast when volatility hits. Smart financial a...
NVDA, MU are Monolithic Power Systems’s peers in Semiconductors industry that have: 1) Lower valuation (P/OpInc) compared to Monolithic Power Systems stock 2) But higher revenue and operating income growth This disconnect between valuation and performance could mean that you are better off buying NVDA, MU stocks vs. MPWR stock Stock-picking thrills fade fast when volatility hits. Smart financial advisors stay ahead by combining insights with action, channeling client capital into diversified portfolios that perform across cycles. Key Metrics Compared Metric MPWR NVDA MU P/OpInc* 78.7x 38.5x 31.0x LTM OpInc Growth 42.5% 55.0% 198.9% 3Y Avg OpInc Growth 16.0% 160.8% 59.8% LTM Revenue Growth 30.5% 65.2% 45.4% 3Y Avg Revenue Growth 17.2% 91.6% 28.3% OpInc = Operating Income, P/OpInc = Price To Operating Income Ratio But do these numbers tell the full story? Read Buy or Sell MPWR Stock to see if Monolithic Power Systems still has an edge that holds up under the hood. As a quick background, Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR) provides DC-to-DC integrated circuits for voltage conversion and control in electronic systems, distributed through third-party distributors and value-added resellers. This is just one approach to evaluate investments. Trefis High Quality Portfolio evaluates much more, and is designed to reduce stock-specific risk while giving upside exposure Is The Mismatch In Stock Price Temporary One way to check if Monolithic Power Systems stock is expensive now versus the other tickers would be to see how these metrics compared across companies exactly a year ago. Specifically, if there has been a marked reversal in the trend for Monolithic Power Systems in the last 12 months, then there is a chance that the current mismatch is likely to reverse. On the other hand, a persistent underperformance in revenue and operating income growth for Monolithic Power Systems would reinforce the conclusion that the stock is expensive compared to its peers, but may not revert soon ...
Artificial intelligence is the greatest investment opportunity of our lifetime. The time to invest in groundbreaking AI is now, and this stock is a steal! AI is eating the world—and the machines behind it are ravenous. Each ChatGPT query, each model update, each robotic breakthrough consumes massive amounts of energy. In fact, AI is already pushing global power grids to the brink. Wall Street is p...
Artificial intelligence is the greatest investment opportunity of our lifetime. The time to invest in groundbreaking AI is now, and this stock is a steal! AI is eating the world—and the machines behind it are ravenous. Each ChatGPT query, each model update, each robotic breakthrough consumes massive amounts of energy. In fact, AI is already pushing global power grids to the brink. Wall Street is pouring hundreds of billions into artificial intelligence—training smarter chatbots, automating industries, and building the digital future. But there’s one urgent question few are asking: Where will all of that energy come from? AI is the most electricity-hungry technology ever invented. Each data center powering large language models like ChatGPT consumes as much energy as a small city. And it’s about to get worse. Even Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, issued a stark warning: “The future of AI depends on an energy breakthrough.” Elon Musk was even more blunt: “AI will run out of electricity by next year.” As the world chases faster, smarter machines, a hidden crisis is emerging behind the scenes. Power grids are strained. Electricity prices are rising. Utilities are scrambling to expand capacity. And that’s where the real opportunity lies… One little-known company—almost entirely overlooked by most AI investors—could be the ultimate backdoor play. It’s not a chipmaker. It’s not a cloud platform. But it might be the most important AI stock in the US owns critical energy infrastructure assets positioned to feed the coming AI energy spike. As demand from AI data centers explodes, this company is gearing up to profit from the most valuable commodity in the digital age: electricity. The “Toll Booth” Operator of the AI Energy Boom It owns critical nuclear energy infrastructure assets , positioning it at the heart of America’s next-generation power strategy. , positioning it at the heart of America’s next-generation power strategy. It’s one of the only global companies capable ...
Artificial intelligence is the greatest investment opportunity of our lifetime. The time to invest in groundbreaking AI is now, and this stock is a steal! AI is eating the world—and the machines behind it are ravenous. Each ChatGPT query, each model update, each robotic breakthrough consumes massive amounts of energy. In fact, AI is already pushing global power grids to the brink. Wall Street is p...
Artificial intelligence is the greatest investment opportunity of our lifetime. The time to invest in groundbreaking AI is now, and this stock is a steal! AI is eating the world—and the machines behind it are ravenous. Each ChatGPT query, each model update, each robotic breakthrough consumes massive amounts of energy. In fact, AI is already pushing global power grids to the brink. Wall Street is pouring hundreds of billions into artificial intelligence—training smarter chatbots, automating industries, and building the digital future. But there’s one urgent question few are asking: Where will all of that energy come from? AI is the most electricity-hungry technology ever invented. Each data center powering large language models like ChatGPT consumes as much energy as a small city. And it’s about to get worse. Even Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, issued a stark warning: “The future of AI depends on an energy breakthrough.” Elon Musk was even more blunt: “AI will run out of electricity by next year.” As the world chases faster, smarter machines, a hidden crisis is emerging behind the scenes. Power grids are strained. Electricity prices are rising. Utilities are scrambling to expand capacity. And that’s where the real opportunity lies… One little-known company—almost entirely overlooked by most AI investors—could be the ultimate backdoor play. It’s not a chipmaker. It’s not a cloud platform. But it might be the most important AI stock in the US owns critical energy infrastructure assets positioned to feed the coming AI energy spike. As demand from AI data centers explodes, this company is gearing up to profit from the most valuable commodity in the digital age: electricity. The “Toll Booth” Operator of the AI Energy Boom It owns critical nuclear energy infrastructure assets , positioning it at the heart of America’s next-generation power strategy. , positioning it at the heart of America’s next-generation power strategy. It’s one of the only global companies capable ...
Artificial intelligence is the greatest investment opportunity of our lifetime. The time to invest in groundbreaking AI is now, and this stock is a steal! AI is eating the world—and the machines behind it are ravenous. Each ChatGPT query, each model update, each robotic breakthrough consumes massive amounts of energy. In fact, AI is already pushing global power grids to the brink. Wall Street is p...
Artificial intelligence is the greatest investment opportunity of our lifetime. The time to invest in groundbreaking AI is now, and this stock is a steal! AI is eating the world—and the machines behind it are ravenous. Each ChatGPT query, each model update, each robotic breakthrough consumes massive amounts of energy. In fact, AI is already pushing global power grids to the brink. Wall Street is pouring hundreds of billions into artificial intelligence—training smarter chatbots, automating industries, and building the digital future. But there’s one urgent question few are asking: Where will all of that energy come from? AI is the most electricity-hungry technology ever invented. Each data center powering large language models like ChatGPT consumes as much energy as a small city. And it’s about to get worse. Even Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, issued a stark warning: “The future of AI depends on an energy breakthrough.” Elon Musk was even more blunt: “AI will run out of electricity by next year.” As the world chases faster, smarter machines, a hidden crisis is emerging behind the scenes. Power grids are strained. Electricity prices are rising. Utilities are scrambling to expand capacity. And that’s where the real opportunity lies… One little-known company—almost entirely overlooked by most AI investors—could be the ultimate backdoor play. It’s not a chipmaker. It’s not a cloud platform. But it might be the most important AI stock in the US owns critical energy infrastructure assets positioned to feed the coming AI energy spike. As demand from AI data centers explodes, this company is gearing up to profit from the most valuable commodity in the digital age: electricity. The “Toll Booth” Operator of the AI Energy Boom It owns critical nuclear energy infrastructure assets , positioning it at the heart of America’s next-generation power strategy. , positioning it at the heart of America’s next-generation power strategy. It’s one of the only global companies capable ...
Artificial intelligence is the greatest investment opportunity of our lifetime. The time to invest in groundbreaking AI is now, and this stock is a steal! AI is eating the world—and the machines behind it are ravenous. Each ChatGPT query, each model update, each robotic breakthrough consumes massive amounts of energy. In fact, AI is already pushing global power grids to the brink. Wall Street is p...
Artificial intelligence is the greatest investment opportunity of our lifetime. The time to invest in groundbreaking AI is now, and this stock is a steal! AI is eating the world—and the machines behind it are ravenous. Each ChatGPT query, each model update, each robotic breakthrough consumes massive amounts of energy. In fact, AI is already pushing global power grids to the brink. Wall Street is pouring hundreds of billions into artificial intelligence—training smarter chatbots, automating industries, and building the digital future. But there’s one urgent question few are asking: Where will all of that energy come from? AI is the most electricity-hungry technology ever invented. Each data center powering large language models like ChatGPT consumes as much energy as a small city. And it’s about to get worse. Even Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, issued a stark warning: “The future of AI depends on an energy breakthrough.” Elon Musk was even more blunt: “AI will run out of electricity by next year.” As the world chases faster, smarter machines, a hidden crisis is emerging behind the scenes. Power grids are strained. Electricity prices are rising. Utilities are scrambling to expand capacity. And that’s where the real opportunity lies… One little-known company—almost entirely overlooked by most AI investors—could be the ultimate backdoor play. It’s not a chipmaker. It’s not a cloud platform. But it might be the most important AI stock in the US owns critical energy infrastructure assets positioned to feed the coming AI energy spike. As demand from AI data centers explodes, this company is gearing up to profit from the most valuable commodity in the digital age: electricity. The “Toll Booth” Operator of the AI Energy Boom It owns critical nuclear energy infrastructure assets , positioning it at the heart of America’s next-generation power strategy. , positioning it at the heart of America’s next-generation power strategy. It’s one of the only global companies capable ...
Neste Oyj press release ( NTOIF ): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of €0.15. Revenue of €4.95B (+88768.9% Y/Y). Comparable EBITDA totaled EUR 601 (168) million ● EBITDA totaled EUR 545 (143) million Renewable Products' comparable sales margin was USD 479 (242)/ton Oil Products' total refining margin was USD 20.7 (11.8)/bbl Cash flow before financing activities was EUR 809 (462) million Outlook: Renewable Products...
Neste Oyj press release ( NTOIF ): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of €0.15. Revenue of €4.95B (+88768.9% Y/Y). Comparable EBITDA totaled EUR 601 (168) million ● EBITDA totaled EUR 545 (143) million Renewable Products' comparable sales margin was USD 479 (242)/ton Oil Products' total refining margin was USD 20.7 (11.8)/bbl Cash flow before financing activities was EUR 809 (462) million Outlook: Renewable Products' sales volumes in 2026 are expected to be approximately at the same level as in 2025. Oil Products' sales volumes in 2026 are expected to be lower than in 2025 due to the planned maintenance turnaround. More on Neste Oyj Neste: 2025's Tremendous Returns Are The Start Of Recovery Neste to scale back climate targets as required investments 'currently not realistic' Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Neste Oyj Historical earnings data for Neste Oyj Dividend scorecard for Neste Oyj
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is one of the 10 Buzzing AI Stocks on Market Radar. On February 3, Freedom Capital Markets analyst Saken Ismailov raised the price target on the stock to $825.00 (from $800.00) while maintaining a Buy rating. The rating affirmation follows Meta’s fourth-quarter 2025 results. The tech giant reported earnings that topped estimates and issued stronger-than-expected ...
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is one of the 10 Buzzing AI Stocks on Market Radar. On February 3, Freedom Capital Markets analyst Saken Ismailov raised the price target on the stock to $825.00 (from $800.00) while maintaining a Buy rating. The rating affirmation follows Meta’s fourth-quarter 2025 results. The tech giant reported earnings that topped estimates and issued stronger-than-expected sales guidance. The company exceeded consensus expectations across all key metrics, the firm noted. In particular, the company’s top-line growth was supported by record holiday-season demand and AI-driven improvements in ad efficiency. While AI infrastructure capital expenditure did significantly increase as well, Meta’s free cash flow generation was higher than market expectations. Looking ahead, company management offered optimistic guidance for the first quarter of 2026, reaffirming that absolute operating profit in 2026 will exceed 2025 levels. Copyright: dolgachov / 123RF Stock Photo The firm particularly highlighted that investors have been reassured that rising capital expenditures are disciplined based on AI-enabled advertising strength and explicit profit targets. Advertising monetization is anticipated to drive returns over time. While we acknowledge the potential of META as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Nutthaseth Vanchaichana/iStock via Getty Images Performance within the Index was uneven, with meaningful dispersion among sectors as investor preferences shifted. - Earnest Partners LLC Market in Review The Russell 2500® Index (“Index”), representing the U.S. small/mid-cap market, experienced uneven performance during the fourth quarter, with meaningful dispersion among sectors as investor prefere...
Nutthaseth Vanchaichana/iStock via Getty Images Performance within the Index was uneven, with meaningful dispersion among sectors as investor preferences shifted. - Earnest Partners LLC Market in Review The Russell 2500® Index (“Index”), representing the U.S. small/mid-cap market, experienced uneven performance during the fourth quarter, with meaningful dispersion among sectors as investor preferences shifted. Health Care was the best-performing sector in the quarter, rising nearly 17% and outperforming Consumer Staples, the worst-performing sector, by over 2,300 basis points. Health Care gains, however, were largely driven by biotechnology, an industry characterized by highly speculative, binary outcomes tied to clinical and regulatory events. Biotechnology’s leadership in the period affirms that pockets of event-driven speculation remain, despite signals that a return to earnings discipline is occurring. Information Technology also contributed positively to Index returns, reflecting a rotation toward technology companies with stronger balance sheets and more established earnings profiles, in contrast to speculative, early growth technology companies. Materials performed well during the quarter as commodity-linked and industrial resource names benefited from sustained demand for base and precious metals, inflation concerns, and optimism surrounding infrastructure investment and energy transition spending. Consumer Staples, Consumer Discretionary, and Real Estate were among the weakest-performing sectors, pressured by margin compression from elevated input costs, cautious consumer spending, and ongoing challenges within commercial real estate markets, respectively. Portfolio Performance In the fourth quarter of 2025, the Harbor SMID Cap Core ETF returned 1.13% (NAV), underperforming its benchmark, the Russell 2500® Index, which returned 2.22%. Relative results were largely driven by an underweight to Health Care, specifically the biotech industry. Biotech was the st...
(RTTNews) - FMC Corporation (FMC), an agricultural sciences company, reported a net loss from continuing operations of $1.688 billion, or $13.48 per share, for the fourth quarter, compared with a profit of $29.3 million, or $0.23 per share, in the same quarter a year ago. The loss was driven primarily by a non-cash goodwill impairment triggered by the decline in the company's stock price. Addition...
(RTTNews) - FMC Corporation (FMC), an agricultural sciences company, reported a net loss from continuing operations of $1.688 billion, or $13.48 per share, for the fourth quarter, compared with a profit of $29.3 million, or $0.23 per share, in the same quarter a year ago. The loss was driven primarily by a non-cash goodwill impairment triggered by the decline in the company's stock price. Additionally, FMC said its board has authorized to explore strategic options, including a potential sale. Excluding one-time items, FMC posted adjusted earnings of $1.20 per share, down 33% from a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter fell to $1.083 billion from $1.224 billion in the prior-year period. For the first quarter, the company expects revenue of $725 million to $775 million, representing a decline of about 5% at the midpoint from a year earlier. FMC forecast an adjusted loss per share in the range of $0.44 to $0.32 for the quarter. For the full year, FMC projected revenue between $3.60 billion and $3.80 billion, also reflecting a decline of roughly 5% at the midpoint. The company expects adjusted earnings per share of $1.63 to $1.89. FMC shares fell more than 2% after hours, after closing at $16.99. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
Dubai’s financial hub saw a record annual rise in company registrations last year, driven by an influx of hedge funds and wealth managers that has prompted an expansion plan to more than double its size by 2040. The Dubai International Financial Centre reported a 28% increase in registrations in 2025 compared to the same period last year, with 1,924 new companies setting up in the hub, according t...
Dubai’s financial hub saw a record annual rise in company registrations last year, driven by an influx of hedge funds and wealth managers that has prompted an expansion plan to more than double its size by 2040. The Dubai International Financial Centre reported a 28% increase in registrations in 2025 compared to the same period last year, with 1,924 new companies setting up in the hub, according to a statement on Thursday. The DIFC is now home to 8,844 active registered companies and employs more than 50,000 people. The hub’s growth is likely to stay on the same trajectory in 2026, with the first month of the year showing continuity, DIFC Governor Essa Kazim told reporters on Thursday. Dubai is planning projects worth more than 100 billion dirhams ($27 billion) to expand the DIFC amid an influx of foreign firms that continued to come despite geopolitical tensions and tariff uncertainty in 2025. The next phase, DIFC Zabeel District, would more than double the size of the DIFC as new firms pushed occupancy to its limits and left global firms struggling to find space. Read More: Dubai to Expand Financial Hub With $27 Billion in New Projects Construction on an additional area across the road from the hub, which first opened in 2004, have started and will add 17.7 million square feet to the 110-hectare (11.8 million square foot) hub. The completion of the six upcoming phases is slated for 2040, Bloomberg News reported in January. When completed, DIFC Zabeel District will help expand its capacity to 42,000 companies and will help accommodate 125,000 people working in the hub. The expansion will be financed with DIFC’s own capital, as well as bank loans if needed, Kazim said. Even as it expands, Dubai contends with rising competition from nearby Abu Dhabi and Riyadh. Abu Dhabi’s financial center — called ADGM - has been aided by access to the emirate’s $1.8 trillion in sovereign wealth. Meanwhile, Riyadh — home to Saudi Arabia’s $1 trillion Public Investment Fund — is also...