syahrir maulana/iStock via Getty Images Market and portfolio review US equity markets posted positive returns once again in Q4 with the Russell 2000 Index returning 2.19%, roughly even with the Russell 1000 Index return of 2.41% for the quarter. Interestingly, the smallest end of the market cap range fared even better during the quarter, with the Russell Microcap Index increasing 6.25%. From a sec...
syahrir maulana/iStock via Getty Images Market and portfolio review US equity markets posted positive returns once again in Q4 with the Russell 2000 Index returning 2.19%, roughly even with the Russell 1000 Index return of 2.41% for the quarter. Interestingly, the smallest end of the market cap range fared even better during the quarter, with the Russell Microcap Index increasing 6.25%. From a sector perspective, health care (+18.6%) was by far the best-performing sector in the Russell 2000 Index, propelled by strength in both biotech and pharmaceuticals. In a distant second, materials were +5.0% as metals and mining-related stocks continued to perform well. Consumer staples (-4.6%), information technology (-4.5%) and consumer discretionary (-4.1%) were the worst-performing sectors. Heightened uncertainty, increased headline and geopolitical risk, and a corresponding backdrop of volatility seemed to be the name of the game in 2025, and Q4 continued to fit that pattern. The momentum-driven, low-quality rally that took off in earnest in early August continued for most of the quarter, but the euphoric sentiment hit the brakes a bit in December. This appeared to be driven by a combination of greater investor scrutiny around AI beneficiaries, increased discussion of market bubbles, and mixed signals around labor and the consumer. Despite posting a slightly negative return in December, the Russell 2000 Index finished the year up 12.81%. Several factors continue to support the case for potential ongoing strength heading into 2026, including a solid US macro backdrop, lower interest rates and increased investor optimism around the near-term impact of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act. While we expect news flow and volatility are likely to remain elevated, we continue to focus on owning resilient businesses that are built with the ability to take advantage of as well as endure through ongoing uncertainty. We continue to see opportunity among businesses with exposure to indust...
NoDerog/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide ( VAC ) have been a poor performer over the past year, losing about a third of their value. The timeshare, or “vacation ownership interest” (“VOI”), company has struggled with weak sales as cautious consumers have been reluctant to make new VOI purchases. I last covered shares in September , when I made the poor deci...
NoDerog/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide ( VAC ) have been a poor performer over the past year, losing about a third of their value. The timeshare, or “vacation ownership interest” (“VOI”), company has struggled with weak sales as cautious consumers have been reluctant to make new VOI purchases. I last covered shares in September , when I made the poor decision to upgrade the stock to a “buy” after a period of underperformance. Since then, the stock has lost a further 18% given weak sales and management turnover, though VAC rallied over 8% on Q4 results that were not as bad as feared. With updated financials, now is a good time to revisit VAC to determine if shares can turn around or if they should be avoided. Seeking Alpha New Leadership Refocuses the Business In the company’s fourth quarter , Marriott Vacation earned $1.86, which was $0.15 ahead of expectations as revenue fell modestly to $1.3 billion. VAC generated $186 million of adjusted EBITDA at the high-end of its prior guidance. I would note these results exclude certain one-time items. During the quarter, the company took a $546 million impairment. There were three components of this write-down. It took a $175 million loss on projects it no longer expects to build, given relatively weak demand, a $160 million write-down on properties it is in the process of selling, and a $184 reduction in goodwill. These impairments come after management change. Shortly after reporting weak Q3 results, the company announced the departure of its CEO and appointment of an interim CEO from its board, speaking to a messy transition. In February , VAC announced Matthew Avril would remain in place as the permanent CEO while retaining his seat on the board. The decision to abandon some projects and write-down assets reflects new management “clearing the deck” to refocus the business on higher-performing locations and curtail excessive growth given the fairly lackluster demand environment....
(RTTNews) - Adtran Holdings, Inc. (ADTN), a Huntsville, Alabama-based technology company, on Thursday reported its net loss narrowed in the fourth quarter due to higher revenue compared with the previous year.
(RTTNews) - Adtran Holdings, Inc. (ADTN), a Huntsville, Alabama-based technology company, on Thursday reported its net loss narrowed in the fourth quarter due to higher revenue compared with the previous year.
India heads into 2026 with major trade deals and returning inflows, but markets aren’t exactly celebrating. We asked four experts where to invest ₹10 lakh right now. Here’s what they said. (Source: Bloomberg)
India heads into 2026 with major trade deals and returning inflows, but markets aren’t exactly celebrating. We asked four experts where to invest ₹10 lakh right now. Here’s what they said. (Source: Bloomberg)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz lands in Beijing on Feb. 25. Photo: VCG German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for transparent communication channels with Beijing as he arrived for his first official visit to China, attempting to balance deep economic ties with growing concerns over trade imbalances. “Berlin and Beijing are nearly 7,500 kilometers apart. For many years, we have been happy to bri...
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz lands in Beijing on Feb. 25. Photo: VCG German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for transparent communication channels with Beijing as he arrived for his first official visit to China, attempting to balance deep economic ties with growing concerns over trade imbalances. “Berlin and Beijing are nearly 7,500 kilometers apart. For many years, we have been happy to bridge this distance. For me, it is very important to maintain and deepen our diplomatic and economic relations. To achieve this goal, we need open channels of dialogue,” Merz wrote in a post on the social media platform X in Chinese Wednesday.
Nvidia's shares fell on Thursday as investors looked past strong earnings, wary that the chip designer continues to channel capital into expanding the AI ecosystem, the payoffs for which are still unclear, rather than boosting shareholder returns. Its shares slid 4% to $187.6 and dragged other chip stocks including Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices lower. The bearish reaction reflects growing ...
Nvidia's shares fell on Thursday as investors looked past strong earnings, wary that the chip designer continues to channel capital into expanding the AI ecosystem, the payoffs for which are still unclear, rather than boosting shareholder returns. Its shares slid 4% to $187.6 and dragged other chip stocks including Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices lower. The bearish reaction reflects growing concerns about whether Nvidia's record-setting momentum can hold as rivals push new AI accelerators, hyperscalers invest in custom silicon and the broader AI spending cycle becomes more uneven.
据七名知情人士透露，在私下对一项由白宫支持、旨在打击明尼苏达州索马里移民社区所谓欺诈行为的计划提出异议后，一名特朗普政府财政部高级官员正准备离职。 John Hurley是美国总统特朗普的捐助者，现任美国财政部负责恐怖主义和金融情报事务的副部长。知情人士称，Hurley近几周已向身边人表示将离开现职。他最近曾向财政部长贝森特转达自己对一项计划的担忧。该计划旨在加强对明尼阿波利斯地区国际汇款的联邦监...
Stellantis press release ( STLA ): FY Non-GAAP EPS of -€0.42. Revenue of €153.51M (-2.1% Y/Y). Industrial free cash flows (4) were negative €4.5 billion. Adjusted operating loss of €842 million with AOI margin of (0.5)%. Industrial available liquidity (9) was €46 billion at the end of 2025. 2026 Financial Guidance Affirmed . Company expects to progressively improve Net revenues, AOI margin and Ind...
Stellantis press release ( STLA ): FY Non-GAAP EPS of -€0.42. Revenue of €153.51M (-2.1% Y/Y). Industrial free cash flows (4) were negative €4.5 billion. Adjusted operating loss of €842 million with AOI margin of (0.5)%. Industrial available liquidity (9) was €46 billion at the end of 2025. 2026 Financial Guidance Affirmed . Company expects to progressively improve Net revenues, AOI margin and Industrial free cash flows in 2026, and to see progressive improvements from H1 2026 to H2 2026. The company expects to see a mid-single-digit percent increase in Net revenues, a low-single-digit AOI margin, and improved Industrial free cash flow generation year over year. Sequential improvement is also expected from the first half to the second half of the year. More on Stellantis Stellantis Earnings Preview: Deep Value Or Deep Trouble? Stellantis: Strategic Reset Needs To Show Results (Rating Downgrade) I Was Wrong About BMW And Stellantis Stellantis FY 2025 Earnings Preview Self-driving startup Wayve raises $1.2B from Microsoft, Nvidia, Uber at $8.6B valuation
BING-JHEN HONG/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Introduction & Investment Thesis I last covered Costco ( COST ) over a year ago, where I rated the stock a "sell." Since the time of my writing, Costco has indeed underperformed the market, growing 1.11%, compared to the 14% gain in the S&P 500 index. However, on a YTD basis in 2026 thus far, Costco stock is up 15%, significantly outperforming the S...
BING-JHEN HONG/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Introduction & Investment Thesis I last covered Costco ( COST ) over a year ago, where I rated the stock a "sell." Since the time of my writing, Costco has indeed underperformed the market, growing 1.11%, compared to the 14% gain in the S&P 500 index. However, on a YTD basis in 2026 thus far, Costco stock is up 15%, significantly outperforming the S&P 500’s 0.5% gain so far. This is the case as investors are aggressively rotating away from growth/AI names that face ROI concerns over surging capex towards defensive businesses with predictable revenues and earnings. In this case, Costco’s revenues continue to grow at a steady rate, driven by both its Net Sales and Membership Fee Income. When it comes to Net Sales, International comparable sales are growing at a faster rate than those of the US, while digitally enabled sales are picking up momentum. Meanwhile, Membership Fee Income continues to benefit from the price hikes in fees last year, along with a growing penetration of Executive members as part of total paid membership. For the full year FY26, management has guided for capex to grow 18% YoY, but as a percentage of projected revenues, it is just 2.1%. This is compared to Amazon’s ( AMZN ) 25% capex to revenue in FY26. In this post, I will explain why Costco trading at 2x Amazon’s premium is not necessarily as irrational as what most investors often think. I will also upgrade my rating on the stock to a “buy,” as the uncertainty around the AI trade will likely continue to linger through all of 2026. International Momentum & Digital Sales Led to Steady Growth in Costco’s Net Sales in Q1 Costco reported its Q1 FY26 earnings in December last year, where it beat both revenue and earnings by 0.29% and 5.44%, respectively. On the revenue front, Costco generated $67.3B in total revenue, growing at 8.3% YoY, up from 8.10% in Q4 FY25. Out of the $67.3B in revenue, Net sales (Merchandise) grew at 8.1% YoY to $65.9B, contribu...
Axa SA Chief Executive Officer Thomas Buberl acknowledged widespread worries about private credit while seeking to reassure investors about his firm’s investments in the asset class. Markets are concerned “that when things don’t go well in the economy, there could be some fallout from private credit,” Buberl said Thursday on Bloomberg TV. Buberl also said that Axa’s exposure to the asset class is ...
Axa SA Chief Executive Officer Thomas Buberl acknowledged widespread worries about private credit while seeking to reassure investors about his firm’s investments in the asset class. Markets are concerned “that when things don’t go well in the economy, there could be some fallout from private credit,” Buberl said Thursday on Bloomberg TV. Buberl also said that Axa’s exposure to the asset class is “far below” that of the competition, without giving details. That’s because Axa was “very mindful in the past,” he said. Warnings about the $1.8 trillion private credit industry have been building in recent weeks, partly triggered by Blue Owl Capital Inc. ’s decision to shut the gates on one of its funds. The market has also been hit by worries about overspending on artificial intelligence, the technology’s disruptive power and lending standards more broadly. Read More: Blue Owl Anxiety Rattles $1.8 Trillion Private Credit Market Axa Group Chief Investment Officer Jean-Baptiste Tricot said in an interview in December that the company’s private and structured credit allocation represents around 14% of the total. About 84% of the private credit portfolio is investment grade, he said. “I’m spending a lot of time on private credit,” Buberl said when asked about it during the Thursday interview. “We analyze our exposure all the time.”
Getty Images The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday invalidated tariffs that President Donald Trump had imposed under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Most of the administration’s 2025 tariffs will therefore be rolled back, and importers should eventually receive refunds. Over time, however, tariff levels are likely to climb back up to roughly where they stood prior to the r...
Getty Images The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday invalidated tariffs that President Donald Trump had imposed under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Most of the administration’s 2025 tariffs will therefore be rolled back, and importers should eventually receive refunds. Over time, however, tariff levels are likely to climb back up to roughly where they stood prior to the ruling; the Trump administration is pursuing other more legally durable avenues to rebuild the tariff regime. We don’t expect these tariff developments to have much of a direct net impact on the U.S. economy. The court’s 6–3 ruling does have important implications for U.S. policy volatility, even if higher tariff rates are here to stay. In the near term, trade policy uncertainty is likely to remain high, as the details of the new trade regime become finalized. Eventually, the ruling should help alleviate the policy unpredictability that delayed investment and hiring decisions in 2025. Trump’s ability to quickly and flexibly threaten tariffs ahead of foreign policy negotiations for wide-ranging reasons is now more limited. Implementing more legally durable tariffs is also more process-laden. Those process constraints should eventually benefit both the U.S. and global economies. Tariffs in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling The Supreme Court broadly upheld the separation of powers as delineated under the Constitution – that the White House executes the laws, but it is Congress that creates them – and reinforced that the power of the purse, specifically the power of taxation, rests with Congress. By invalidating emergency tariff powers, the Supreme Court prompted a recalibration of U.S. trade policy and executive authority. Specifically, the ruling invalidated Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which he had imposed on approximately 65 countries, tariffs on non-USMCA-compliant goods from Canada and Mexico (USMCA is the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement), and additional tariffs on China (b...