Here are the companies making headlines in midday trading. Quantum computing stocks – A slate of quantum computing plays slid Wednesday as investors cashed out after shares rallied in the prior session. Rigetti Computing lost 10%, D-Wave Quantum fell 7%, and IonQ fell 4%. IBM , which recently announced plans to invest more than $10 billion toward quantum computing, lost more than 7% and weighed on...
Here are the companies making headlines in midday trading. Quantum computing stocks – A slate of quantum computing plays slid Wednesday as investors cashed out after shares rallied in the prior session. Rigetti Computing lost 10%, D-Wave Quantum fell 7%, and IonQ fell 4%. IBM , which recently announced plans to invest more than $10 billion toward quantum computing, lost more than 7% and weighed on the Dow Industrials. GameStop — Shares of the brick-and-mortar video games retailer gained 6%. GameStop reported first-quarter revenue of $835.3 million, reflecting a 14% gain from a year earlier. The company's board also approved a $2 billion share repurchase authorization. Lumentum , Coherent – Investors sold off the photonics stocks after two consecutive winning days. In the prior session, Coherent rose 17% and Lumentum gained nearly 14% on optimism around artificial intelligence and data center infrastructure. Coherent was last down almost 3% and Lumentum was off more than 8%. Energy stocks – Oil prices rose, lifting the energy sector of the S & P 500. West Texas Intermediate futures were last up nearly 2% after Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNBC that the country and the U.S. are ready to attack Iran again if necessary. Exxon Mobil and Marathon Petroleum rose 3%, and APA Corp was last up 2%. Private equity firms — The group fell after Bloomberg News reported Partners Group, a Swiss-based private equity firm, capped withdrawals from one of its private equity funds. Blackstone and KKR tumbled more than 4%. Blue Owl Capital was off 3%. Palo Alto Networks — The cybersecurity stock fell almost 6%. Palo Alto posted stronger-than-expected revenue guidance for its current quarter and lifted its full-year revenue guidance. The company also posted fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings of 85 cents per share on $3 billion in revenue, beating the earnings of 80 cents and $2.94 billion in revenue that analysts had expected, per LSEG. GitLab — Shares lost 2% after th...
Earnings Call Insights: Macy’s, Inc. (M) Q1 2026 Management View "I'm pleased with the strong start to the year. Our Bold New Chapter initiatives continue to gain momentum." (CEO & Chairman Antony Spring) "In the first quarter, we delivered enterprise-wide growth, better-than-expected performance across all key metrics and our best comparable sales in four years with all nameplates and channels po...
Earnings Call Insights: Macy’s, Inc. (M) Q1 2026 Management View "I'm pleased with the strong start to the year. Our Bold New Chapter initiatives continue to gain momentum." (CEO & Chairman Antony Spring) "In the first quarter, we delivered enterprise-wide growth, better-than-expected performance across all key metrics and our best comparable sales in four years with all nameplates and channels positive." (CEO & Chairman Spring) "Macy's nameplate delivered its fourth consecutive quarter of positive comps and led by our Reimagine 200 locations." (CEO & Chairman Spring) "During the quarter, we introduced Ask Macy's, our new AI-powered conversational shopping assistant... Although early days, initial response has been favorable." (CEO & Chairman Spring) "We did see some softer trends including big-ticket home, especially furniture and our plus-size business." (CEO & Chairman Spring) "Net sales grew 1.8% to $4.7 billion... Comparable sales on a reported basis rose 3%." (COO & CFO Thomas Edwards) Outlook "We are pleased with our second quarter performance to date and are raising our full year outlook." (CEO & Chairman Spring) "For the full year, we now expect net sales of approximately $21.5 billion to $21.75 billion... Comparable sales to be approximately up 0.5% to up 1.2%... adjusted diluted EPS of $2 to $2.20." (COO & CFO Edwards) "Looking at second quarter guidance, we expect net sales of approximately $4.75 billion to $4.8 billion... Comparable sales to be approximately flat to up 1%... adjusted diluted EPS of $0.29 to $0.34." (COO & CFO Edwards) "Recognizing macroeconomic and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, guidance provides flexibility to respond to potential changes in the competitive landscape and consumer demand." (CEO & Chairman Spring) "The estimated impact of lower tariffs and higher fuel costs is net neutral for the fiscal year... Regarding tariff refunds, while we are seeking refunds, the timing and amounts remain uncertain. As such, any potential benef...
Within the utilities sector ( XLU ), short interest as of the end of May was spread broadly across the sector, with no single industry emerging as a clear standout or dominating in terms of positioning. VivoPower ( VIVO ) recorded the highest short interest among utilities stocks with a market capitalization of up to $2B, with short interest at 18.24% of shares outstanding, followed by Cadiz ( CDZ...
Within the utilities sector ( XLU ), short interest as of the end of May was spread broadly across the sector, with no single industry emerging as a clear standout or dominating in terms of positioning. VivoPower ( VIVO ) recorded the highest short interest among utilities stocks with a market capitalization of up to $2B, with short interest at 18.24% of shares outstanding, followed by Cadiz ( CDZI ) at 8.73%, reflecting elevated bearish positioning in both stocks. At the other end of the spectrum, Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. Common Units ( SPH ) and RGC Resources ( RGCO ) were among the least shorted utilities stocks, with short interest of 0.60% and 0.66%, respectively. The five most shorted utilities stocks with market capitalizations of up to $2 billion (as a percentage of shares outstanding): VivoPower ( VIVO ) 18.24% short interest Cadiz ( CDZI ) 8.73% Hallador Energy Company ( HNRG ) 6.20% Spruce Power Holding ( SPRU ) 4.58% Middlesex Water Company ( MSEX ) 4.43% The five least shorted utilities stocks with market capitalizations of up to $2 billion (as a percentage of shares outstanding): AleAnna ( ANNA ) 1.17% short interest Artesian Resources ( ARTNA ) 0.83% Montauk Renewables ( MNTK ) 0.71% RGC Resources ( RGCO ) 0.66% Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. Common Units ( SPH ) 0.60% More on State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF XLU: Power Demand Boom Meets A New Utility Playbook XLU: Why I Am Upgrading S&P 500 Utilities Finding The Opportunities After The Selloff And End Of The War American States Water, AEP, Entergy among top utilities EPS revision names Weekly ETFs: Five of 11 sectors record outflows; consumer discretionary leads inflows
Akamai Technologies (NasdaqGS:AKAM) is expanding its partnership with NVIDIA to embed Zero Trust security directly into NVIDIA Vera BlueField-4 STX. The collaboration integrates Akamai Guardicore Segmentation to address security needs for advanced AI workloads and AI infrastructure. This move targets hardware-level protection for AI factories as companies scale AI driven environments. Akamai is fo...
Akamai Technologies (NasdaqGS:AKAM) is expanding its partnership with NVIDIA to embed Zero Trust security directly into NVIDIA Vera BlueField-4 STX. The collaboration integrates Akamai Guardicore Segmentation to address security needs for advanced AI workloads and AI infrastructure. This move targets hardware-level protection for AI factories as companies scale AI driven environments. Akamai is focusing more on AI infrastructure security at a time when its stock sits at $160.32, with shares...
BUDAPEST, Hungary, June 03, 2026--Cognitum One™, Inc. today announced the formation of its founding advisory team, bringing together three of the most respected leaders in enterprise software, infrastructure, and silicon. The announcement coincides with a keynote at the CRAFT Conference in Budapest by Cognitum One Founder and Chief AI Officer Reuven Cohen, on the shift to agentic AI and what it me...
BUDAPEST, Hungary, June 03, 2026--Cognitum One™, Inc. today announced the formation of its founding advisory team, bringing together three of the most respected leaders in enterprise software, infrastructure, and silicon. The announcement coincides with a keynote at the CRAFT Conference in Budapest by Cognitum One Founder and Chief AI Officer Reuven Cohen, on the shift to agentic AI and what it means to build intelligence directly into the systems enterprises already run, from the data center do
Shares of Palo Alto Networks are down over 4% Wednesday, despite the cybersecurity provider delivering strong quarterly results the prior evening. This next-day move may seem a bit odd, given the company not only exceeded expectations for the reported quarter, but also issued guidance ahead of expectations for the current three-month period. So, what is the culprit? It may have to do with Palo Alt...
Shares of Palo Alto Networks are down over 4% Wednesday, despite the cybersecurity provider delivering strong quarterly results the prior evening. This next-day move may seem a bit odd, given the company not only exceeded expectations for the reported quarter, but also issued guidance ahead of expectations for the current three-month period. So, what is the culprit? It may have to do with Palo Alto's longer-term outlook, coupled with the fact shares were scorching hot into the print — a setup that always raises the bar and increases the odds of a post-earnings pullback. On Tuesday night, Palo Alto did raise its outlook for hardware growth over the next few quarters — think firewall boxes installed at data centers, enterprise campuses and industrial environments. However, on the earnings call, the management team simply reiterated its guidance for fiscal 2030 next-generation security annual recurring revenue (NGS ARR) — a collection of businesses focused on subscriptions for its cloud-native services, and excluding hardware and legacy products. This metric is benefiting from Palo Alto's "platformization" push, with customers committing to use multiple types of products. Cyber is a historically fragmented industry, and the company is trying to bring about consolidation. "Moving forward, we remain confident in surpassing 4,000 platformizations by fiscal 2030, providing the primary momentum towards our $20 billion target for NGS ARR," CEO Nikesh Arora said. At the same time, during the question-and-answer session, Arora was asked about demand, and specifically what the team is seeing regarding AI-driven demand. As long-term investors, we generally liked what he had to say about an increase in the forever, or "terminal," value of the business. However, it probably wasn't music to the ears of the hot money, the short-term traders seeking out momentum names. They helped take this stock up about 86% in two months (and roughly 65% in the last month alone). It was a remarkabl...
If you are wondering whether Broadcom stock is priced attractively or already reflects high expectations, it helps to start with a clear view of how the current share price lines up against different valuation checks. The stock last closed at US$481.57, with returns of 14.1% over the past week, 14.3% over the past month, 38.5% year to date and 89.0% over the past year. These figures naturally rais...
If you are wondering whether Broadcom stock is priced attractively or already reflects high expectations, it helps to start with a clear view of how the current share price lines up against different valuation checks. The stock last closed at US$481.57, with returns of 14.1% over the past week, 14.3% over the past month, 38.5% year to date and 89.0% over the past year. These figures naturally raise questions about how much of the story is already in the price. Recent headlines have focused...
Fritz Jorgensen Meta Platforms ( META ) is expanding its Business Agent platform and is now offering an AI-powered agent for businesses of all sizes that can answer customer questions, make product recommendations, book appointments, and qualify incoming leads. The AI agent can also search through chats and compile a “morning brief” that provides insight into relevant threads. Meta ( META ) is sta...
Fritz Jorgensen Meta Platforms ( META ) is expanding its Business Agent platform and is now offering an AI-powered agent for businesses of all sizes that can answer customer questions, make product recommendations, book appointments, and qualify incoming leads. The AI agent can also search through chats and compile a “morning brief” that provides insight into relevant threads. Meta ( META ) is starting with a select number of businesses on the WhatsApp Business app, Instagram Pro, Messenger, and Meta Business Suite, and will eventually expand its capabilities to complete tasks such as market research, product insights, and to provide “competitive intelligence.” Meta ( META ) also introduced the Meta Business Agent Platform, an agentic platform that enables businesses to build, customize, and deploy their Business Agent at scale. Finally, a search engine powered by Meta Business Agent directly on WhatsApp will make it easier for people to find businesses by searching by business name, phone number, or contact name. Source More on Meta Meta Platforms: The Market Is Missing What Nvidia Just Confirmed Meta: The 'Zuckerberg Discount' May Soon Turn Into A Premium Meta: From Social Media To Superintelligence EchoStar tops communications services stocks in short interest; Alphabet sees the lowest exposure Meta secures mixed EU court ruling over gatekeeper status
Fritz Jorgensen Meta Platforms ( META ) is expanding its Business Agent platform and is now offering an AI-powered agent for businesses of all sizes that can answer customer questions, make product recommendations, book appointments, and qualify incoming leads. The AI agent can also search through chats and compile a “morning brief” that provides insight into relevant threads. Meta ( META ) is sta...
Fritz Jorgensen Meta Platforms ( META ) is expanding its Business Agent platform and is now offering an AI-powered agent for businesses of all sizes that can answer customer questions, make product recommendations, book appointments, and qualify incoming leads. The AI agent can also search through chats and compile a “morning brief” that provides insight into relevant threads. Meta ( META ) is starting with a select number of businesses on the WhatsApp Business app, Instagram Pro, Messenger, and Meta Business Suite, and will eventually expand its capabilities to complete tasks such as market research, product insights, and to provide “competitive intelligence.” Meta ( META ) also introduced the Meta Business Agent Platform, an agentic platform that enables businesses to build, customize, and deploy their Business Agent at scale. Finally, a search engine powered by Meta Business Agent directly on WhatsApp will make it easier for people to find businesses by searching by business name, phone number, or contact name. Source More on Meta Meta Platforms: The Market Is Missing What Nvidia Just Confirmed Meta: The 'Zuckerberg Discount' May Soon Turn Into A Premium Meta: From Social Media To Superintelligence EchoStar tops communications services stocks in short interest; Alphabet sees the lowest exposure Meta secures mixed EU court ruling over gatekeeper status
lcva2/iStock Editorial via Getty Images My Previous Coverages I have discussed Microsoft Corporation ( MSFT ) before several times. In the first 4 of my articles, I was bullish on MSFT. You can see the history of my coverage here: link to coverage history . But I decided to put it on Hold in July 2025. I was concerned with MSFT's valuation then. And I'm happy I did that. Since then, MSFT's stock p...
lcva2/iStock Editorial via Getty Images My Previous Coverages I have discussed Microsoft Corporation ( MSFT ) before several times. In the first 4 of my articles, I was bullish on MSFT. You can see the history of my coverage here: link to coverage history . But I decided to put it on Hold in July 2025. I was concerned with MSFT's valuation then. And I'm happy I did that. Since then, MSFT's stock price has decreased to as low as below $400 per share. But I started buying more of MSFT's shares at ~$416 per share. That's when I published my last article. I declared MSFT a Buy . And since then, its stock price has increased by ~10.7%. Seeking Alpha Now, I decided to prepare a follow-up coverage. Because I have MSFT's data for Q3 2026 (fiscal). And because I want to comment on the change in its valuation. But I can say right from the get-go: MSFT is still a buy for me. I think the opportunity is still there. And I expect double-digit total returns from MSFT. I will start with the review of recent business data. MSFT Scored A Great Quarter As Always, MSFT Keeps Growing and Upholding High Profitability I see that the growth ( 18% on y/o/y basis , which I'm very happy about) is still driven by the cloud segment. But the main (historically) segment, Productivity and Business Processes, keeps scoring double-digit growth rates. Which I find very reassuring in MSFT's ability to develop its business. But what I like the most about MSFT is the profitability. With high double-digit margins, I believe MSFT is one of the most profitable businesses out there. And that's especially impressive to me given its scale and growth rate. To me, that's evidence of MSFT's top-tier quality. MSFT's Investor Presentation I listened to the last Earnings Call of the Company. And I saw that the management was very satisfied with MSFT's performance. As the CEO mentioned: It was a record third quarter powered by the continued strength of Microsoft Cloud, which exceeded $54 billion in revenue, up 29% y...
lcva2/iStock Editorial via Getty Images My Previous Coverages I have discussed Microsoft Corporation ( MSFT ) before several times. In the first 4 of my articles, I was bullish on MSFT. You can see the history of my coverage here: link to coverage history . But I decided to put it on Hold in July 2025. I was concerned with MSFT's valuation then. And I'm happy I did that. Since then, MSFT's stock p...
lcva2/iStock Editorial via Getty Images My Previous Coverages I have discussed Microsoft Corporation ( MSFT ) before several times. In the first 4 of my articles, I was bullish on MSFT. You can see the history of my coverage here: link to coverage history . But I decided to put it on Hold in July 2025. I was concerned with MSFT's valuation then. And I'm happy I did that. Since then, MSFT's stock price has decreased to as low as below $400 per share. But I started buying more of MSFT's shares at ~$416 per share. That's when I published my last article. I declared MSFT a Buy . And since then, its stock price has increased by ~10.7%. Seeking Alpha Now, I decided to prepare a follow-up coverage. Because I have MSFT's data for Q3 2026 (fiscal). And because I want to comment on the change in its valuation. But I can say right from the get-go: MSFT is still a buy for me. I think the opportunity is still there. And I expect double-digit total returns from MSFT. I will start with the review of recent business data. MSFT Scored A Great Quarter As Always, MSFT Keeps Growing and Upholding High Profitability I see that the growth ( 18% on y/o/y basis , which I'm very happy about) is still driven by the cloud segment. But the main (historically) segment, Productivity and Business Processes, keeps scoring double-digit growth rates. Which I find very reassuring in MSFT's ability to develop its business. But what I like the most about MSFT is the profitability. With high double-digit margins, I believe MSFT is one of the most profitable businesses out there. And that's especially impressive to me given its scale and growth rate. To me, that's evidence of MSFT's top-tier quality. MSFT's Investor Presentation I listened to the last Earnings Call of the Company. And I saw that the management was very satisfied with MSFT's performance. As the CEO mentioned: It was a record third quarter powered by the continued strength of Microsoft Cloud, which exceeded $54 billion in revenue, up 29% y...
Oil price rising leading to higher stock market prices PhonlamaiPhoto/iStock via Getty Images Every time oil starts moving toward $100 a barrel, investors begin comparing Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) , Chevron ( CVX ) , Shell ( SHEL ) , BP ( BP ) , and ConocoPhillips ( COP ) , trying to determine which oil company offers the greatest advantage. At $100 oil, they generate free cash flow at a level that fund...
Oil price rising leading to higher stock market prices PhonlamaiPhoto/iStock via Getty Images Every time oil starts moving toward $100 a barrel, investors begin comparing Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) , Chevron ( CVX ) , Shell ( SHEL ) , BP ( BP ) , and ConocoPhillips ( COP ) , trying to determine which oil company offers the greatest advantage. At $100 oil, they generate free cash flow at a level that funds buybacks, dividends, and further investment, but I'm not here to argue about buying an oil company. History tells us that expensive oil creates another group of winners. The 1970s produced this pattern. I think we're in the early stages of repeating it, but this time there's also AI which wasn't there in 1979. Under these conditions, there are a number of sectors and companies that are making comebacks. This article points to some of them. The 1970s and Now People recall the 1970s as a bad time of gas lines, stagflation price controls, and worse. But between 1975 and 2000, energy productivity improvements accelerated . BTUs consumed per dollar of real GDP fell about 40% in the U.S.; Europe did even better, and so did Japan. Public policies were only part of the story. When energy got expensive, the economics were different. For instance, companies that assisted in the process of making energy use more efficient benefited. Today, besides high-energy prices associated with the Iran war, the demand for AI infrastructure is creating huge demand . Microsoft ( MSFT ), Google ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ), Amazon ( AMZN ), and Meta ( META ) are spending vast amounts on data centers. The Electric Power Research Institute projects data centers will account for 4.6 to 9.9% of total U.S. electricity consumption by 2030, up from roughly 2% today. That changes the economics not only for oil. Oil Plus Nuclear Power The oil majors are an obvious first bet. XOM is probably the best bet among them. Its $60 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources added roughly 1.3 million barrels per day of ...
SpaceX is planning to offer shares at $135 apiece to raise $75 billion in its initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter, as Elon Musk rejects another Wall Street convention by setting a fixed price ahead of the marketing phase of the deal. The rocket, satellite and artificial intelligence company aims to sell 555.6 million shares in the offering, the people said. De...
SpaceX is planning to offer shares at $135 apiece to raise $75 billion in its initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter, as Elon Musk rejects another Wall Street convention by setting a fixed price ahead of the marketing phase of the deal. The rocket, satellite and artificial intelligence company aims to sell 555.6 million shares in the offering, the people said. Deliberations are ongoing and details of the IPO could still change before the terms are disclosed as soon as Wednesday, or even during the marketing process, they said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. The move adds to the unconventional aspects of a deal that’s set to be the biggest ever listing. We get reaction from George Ferguson, Senior Aerospace Analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. (Source: Bloomberg)