Earnings Call Insights: Core Molding Technologies (CMT) Q4 2025 Management View David Duvall, President, CEO & Director, stated that the company has "implemented more robust operating systems, expanded margins, strengthened the balance sheet, created a deep and capable leadership team, and established a performance-driven culture." He confirmed his retirement at the end of May, with Eric Palomaki ...
Earnings Call Insights: Core Molding Technologies (CMT) Q4 2025 Management View David Duvall, President, CEO & Director, stated that the company has "implemented more robust operating systems, expanded margins, strengthened the balance sheet, created a deep and capable leadership team, and established a performance-driven culture." He confirmed his retirement at the end of May, with Eric Palomaki to succeed him as CEO, and will remain as an executive advisor through 2027. Eric Palomaki, Chief Operating Officer, highlighted that the "Invest For Growth initiative generated $63 million in business wins, successfully executing our must-win battle for 2025." He noted, "the majority of these new wins support our strategic diversification strategy, expanding beyond truck and powersports end markets and strengthening the resilience of our portfolio." Palomaki also pointed to early signs of recovery in powersports and the successful launch of new SMC compound sales, with $12 million in annual SMC revenue in Q4 and $21 million for the full year. He stated, "Once fully ramped, this capacity is expected to support up to approximately $20 million in annual SMC molded and assembled sleeper roof product revenue." Alex Panda, Executive VP, Secretary, Treasurer & CFO, reported that "fiscal 2025 revenues declined 9.5%, driven primarily by the continued weakness in the truck sector, which represented 44% of Core's product sales for the year." Panda added, "despite lower volumes and pressure on operating leverage, we delivered gross margins of 17.4%, reflecting solid margin stability." He confirmed $19 million of cash flow from operations for the year and highlighted the company's strong liquidity position of $88.1 million as of December 31. Outlook The company expects total sales for 2026 to be "flat to up approximately 5%, with tooling revenue again weighted more heavily toward the fourth quarter." Panda said, "the majority of the $63 million in new wins will impact results during th...
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Shares of Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) fell on Tuesday trading after Bank of America (BAC) resumed coverage of the semiconductor company with a cautious outlook, citing modest growth expectations and rising competitive pressure across key markets. Bank of America analyst Vivek Arya assigned an Underperform rating to Qualcomm and set a $145 price target, which im...
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Shares of Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) fell on Tuesday trading after Bank of America (BAC) resumed coverage of the semiconductor company with a cautious outlook, citing modest growth expectations and rising competitive pressure across key markets. Bank of America analyst Vivek Arya assigned an Underperform rating to Qualcomm and set a $145 price target, which implies roughly 5% upside from the stock's previous close. The analyst projected compound annual growth of about 2% for revenue and 1% for earnings per share from 2025 through 2028, trailing broader semiconductor industry estimates. Arya said Qualcomm remains a leading supplier of smartphone processors, though the handset market appears relatively mature. He noted potential headwinds from increasing component costs and the anticipated reduction of modem orders from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), which is expected to transition to internally designed chips in iPhones by 2027. The analyst also pointed to rising in-house chip development among key customers. Samsung Electronics may lower Qualcomm's processor share in Galaxy devices to around 75%, while Xiaomi has committed about $7 billion toward developing proprietary silicon. Qualcomm shares fell about 4% in morning trading following the analyst update.
"Every single one of those days was agony, made worse by having a role in public life that meant that the mental health consequences of my trauma were played out in public, with the event that led to my eventual sectioning for my own safety still being something that I receive regular social media abuse from strangers about to this day.
"Every single one of those days was agony, made worse by having a role in public life that meant that the mental health consequences of my trauma were played out in public, with the event that led to my eventual sectioning for my own safety still being something that I receive regular social media abuse from strangers about to this day.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) is scheduled to report fiscal third-quarter results after the market closes Today. Investors and analysts are focusing on the performance of its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) unit and overall revenue growth. ORCL stock has fallen about 23% year-to-date, weighed by concerns over AI disruption, high debt levels, and exposure to OpenAI....
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) is scheduled to report fiscal third-quarter results after the market closes Today. Investors and analysts are focusing on the performance of its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) unit and overall revenue growth. ORCL stock has fallen about 23% year-to-date, weighed by concerns over AI disruption, high debt levels, and exposure to OpenAI. Options data indicate the stock could move roughly 12% in either direction following the earnings report, slightly below its average post-earnings move of 14% over the past four quarters. Wall Street expects Q3 FY26 earnings per share of $1.71, up about 16% year-over-year, with revenue projected near $16.9 billion, a 20% increase. Analysts will also monitor Oracle's remaining performance obligations (RPO), which jumped 438% in Q2 FY26 to $523 billion, signaling potential future revenue. Some analysts remain cautious over debt and financing risks. RBC Capital's Rishi Jaluria reiterated a Hold rating, citing more than $100 billion in total debt and off-balance-sheet obligations. In contrast, Piper Sandler's Billy Fitzsimmons maintains a Buy rating, noting strong OCI growth of 68% in Q2 FY26.
Computer engineers and programmers have long relied on reverse engineering as a way to copy the functionality of a computer program without copying that program's copyright-protected code directly. Now, AI coding tools are raising new issues with how that "clean room" rewrite process plays out both legally, ethically, and practically. Those issues came to the forefront last week with the release o...
Computer engineers and programmers have long relied on reverse engineering as a way to copy the functionality of a computer program without copying that program's copyright-protected code directly. Now, AI coding tools are raising new issues with how that "clean room" rewrite process plays out both legally, ethically, and practically. Those issues came to the forefront last week with the release of a new version of chardet , a popular open source python library for automatically detecting character encoding. The repository was originally written by coder Mark Pilgrim in 2006 and released under an LGPL license that placed strict limits on how it could be reused and redistributed. Dan Blanchard took over maintenance of the repository in 2012 but waded into some controversy with the release of version 7.0 of chardet last week. Blanchard described that overhaul as "a ground-up, MIT-licensed rewrite" of the entire library built with the help of Claude Code to be "much faster and more accurate" than what came before. Read full article Comments
'I just want to be able to sleep': Attacks in Iran rock cities and cut power Iranians in Tehran and Karaj tell the BBC they are exhausted and struggling to sleep after 10 days of Israeli and US attacks.
'I just want to be able to sleep': Attacks in Iran rock cities and cut power Iranians in Tehran and Karaj tell the BBC they are exhausted and struggling to sleep after 10 days of Israeli and US attacks.
hirun/iStock via Getty Images Thesis Fluent, Inc. ( FLNT ) is a microcap that works in digital advertising and customer acquisition. In simple terms, the company acts like a middleman between businesses that want new customers and people online who might be interested in their products. Over time, Fluent's built a large database of first-party consumer data. This means they have profiles of millio...
hirun/iStock via Getty Images Thesis Fluent, Inc. ( FLNT ) is a microcap that works in digital advertising and customer acquisition. In simple terms, the company acts like a middleman between businesses that want new customers and people online who might be interested in their products. Over time, Fluent's built a large database of first-party consumer data. This means they have profiles of millions of people who've opted in to see or interact with promotional offers and ads. This data helps them match the right brands with the right potential customers. It's my understanding that the company usually only gets paid when something actually happens. Meaning, for example, its services have to lead to some kind of conversion, like someone signing up for a credit card, requesting an insurance quote, installing an app, or starting a subscription. They also have another piece of business that runs social media advertising campaigns for brands. After going over its latest earnings , I'm leaning neutral on the shares, as the company’s strategic shift is beginning to show promise but still carries execution risk. Fluent Inc.’s Q4 Results: My Take Q4 2025 Commerce Media Revenue: $34.7M (+101% YoY) Commerce Media Revenue Mix: Q4 2023: 10%, Q4 2024: 26%, Q4 2025: 56% Commerce Media Annual Run Rate: $105M (Dec 31, 2025) FY 2025 Commerce Media Revenue: $82.3M (+99% YoY). Looking at Fluent’s latest quarterly performance , a few key points jut out on how the company's continuing to change its business. Company leadership says their faster move into commerce media solutions is proof that strategic decisions they made several years ago are now starting to pay off. Seeking Alpha After an absolutely brutal share performance, management thinks those earlier decisions are starting to pay off now, pointing to new partners coming in and deeper integrations with the ones already on board. This segment is taking up a bigger share of Fluent’s revenue, the result of targeted investments aimed a...
fatido/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Long the banks was a popular trade coming into 2026. And why not? The S&P 500 Financials sector has helped lead equities ever since the bear market began. The largest component in the index is JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ). CEO Jamie Dimon has been outspoken of late, calling out potential “cockroaches” in the private debt market, along with macro " skunks " poten...
fatido/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Long the banks was a popular trade coming into 2026. And why not? The S&P 500 Financials sector has helped lead equities ever since the bear market began. The largest component in the index is JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ). CEO Jamie Dimon has been outspoken of late, calling out potential “cockroaches” in the private debt market, along with macro " skunks " potentially peeking out into the open. Indeed, market-wide volatility has increased, and questions grow regarding the health of the labor market —just as geopolitical risk heats up this month. I had a "B uy" rating on JPM back in June 2023 . Shares have more than doubled since then, and today I’m downgrading shares of the bank to a "H old." Yes, the company boasts a fortress balance sheet, but the valuation is also elevated. What’s more, the technicals don’t paint a rosy picture with just a few weeks left in Q1. JPM Has Given Back Significant Gains, Still Beating XLF, SPY YoY StockCharts.com Back in January, JPM reported a solid set of quarterly results. Q4 non-GAAP EPS of $5.23 beat the Wall Street consensus forecast of $4.86, while revenue of $46.8 billion (up 7% from the same period a year earlier) was a material $520 million beat. The bank tallied total assets under management of $4.8 trillion, a strong 18% increase from Q4 2024 (though it missed on Investment Banking revenue). Its book value per share increased 9% YoY to $126.99, leaving its equity more than 2x book. Shares fell 4.2% in the session that followed, however, marking the third straight post-earnings slump. Looking ahead to the April Q1 report, the options market prices in a somewhat elevated 4.2% earnings-related stock price swing based on the at-the-money straddle expiring soonest after the April 14 reporting date. That’s the most expensive straddle going back to April 2025 (immediately after Liberation Day), according to data from Option Research & Technology Services. Implied volatility is near 30% today. Lo...
spawns/iStock via Getty Images Written by Nick Ackerman, co-produced by Stanford Chemist Western Asset Premier Bond Fund ( WEA ) is a closed-end fund that provides investors with exposure to a diversified pool of fixed-income bonds. It provides a more balanced approach to both below- and above-investment-grade credit qualities. The hybrid approach mostly favors BBB overall and provides relative sa...
spawns/iStock via Getty Images Written by Nick Ackerman, co-produced by Stanford Chemist Western Asset Premier Bond Fund ( WEA ) is a closed-end fund that provides investors with exposure to a diversified pool of fixed-income bonds. It provides a more balanced approach to both below- and above-investment-grade credit qualities. The hybrid approach mostly favors BBB overall and provides relative safety when compared to all high-yield bond funds. The fund has also been seeing downward pressure recently. The NAV has been falling a bit, but its share price has been falling even faster. This has opened up a more meaningful discount compared to when we last gave the fund a look. WEA Basics 1-Year Z-score: -2.95. Discount/Premium: -6.45%. Distribution Yield: 7.83%. Expense Ratio: 1.02%. Leverage: 29.22%. Managed Assets: $201.9 million. Structure: Perpetual. WEA's investment objective is to "seek current income and capital appreciation." To achieve those objectives, the fund will invest in a "diversified portfolio of primarily investment-grade bonds." They also "emphasize team management and extensive credit research expertise to identify attractively priced securities." Given that the fund is leveraged, that increases overall risk due to greater volatility. That's on top of the discount/premium mechanic due to the CEF structure. It also adds to expenses due to the financing charges. With those included, the fund's total expense ratio comes in at 3.55%. Performance: Discount Becomes Attractive Given the widening discount amid some overall greater market volatility, the fund has seen negative total returns since our last update . WEA Performance Since Prior Update (Seeking Alpha) That said, it is primarily the widening discount that pressured the total share price returns. The actual underlying portfolio, represented by total NAV returns, was positive during this period. Albeit, it has seen a bit of a downturn more recently. YCharts The S&P 500 Index has also provided a nega...