Zerbor/iStock via Getty Images Intuitive Surgical ( ISRG ) added ~7%, on track to what could be its biggest intraday gain since October, as Wall Street cheered the company's decision to hike its 2026 outlook after reporting better-than- expected Q1 results. Financials The maker of da Vinci Surgical Systems reported $2.50 of adjusted earnings per share for the quarter on $2.8B in revenue, which ind...
Zerbor/iStock via Getty Images Intuitive Surgical ( ISRG ) added ~7%, on track to what could be its biggest intraday gain since October, as Wall Street cheered the company's decision to hike its 2026 outlook after reporting better-than- expected Q1 results. Financials The maker of da Vinci Surgical Systems reported $2.50 of adjusted earnings per share for the quarter on $2.8B in revenue, which indicated a ~23% YoY rise, exceeding the consensus by $0.39 and $150M, respectively. Its instruments and accessories unit drove the top-line beat, adding $1.7B in revenue with ~23% YoY growth compared to $1.6B in the consensus, according to Bloomberg data. Meanwhile, its systems revenue jumped ~24% YoY to $650.7M, exceeding $602.7M in the consensus. The Sunnyvale, California-based MedTech’s non-GAAP gross profit margin improved to ~68% during the quarter compared to ~66% in the prior-year period, while its non-GAAP net income rose ~36% YoY to $901M. Looking ahead, the company projected its full-year da Vinci procedures to grow 13.5% YoY - 15.5% YoY globally and adjusted gross margin to reach 67.5% - 68.5%, compared to 13% YoY - 15% YoY and 67% - 68% in the prior forecasts, respectively. Analyst reaction According to Bloomberg, Citi analyst Joanne Wuensch, with a Buy recommendation and a $590 per share target on ISRG, wrote that the company “delivered 1Q26 revenue and earnings that beat estimates." Jefferies analyst Matthew Taylor, who has a Buy rating on the stock, agreed. The guidance hike was driven by “solid utilization and procedure trends," Taylor added, adjusting his price target on ISRG to $515 from $560 per share. Meanwhile, despite the company’s consensus-beating results, Seeking Alpha analyst StockBros Research issued a Hold rating on the stock, citing concerns over its valuation. “I think there are other high-quality stocks out there that have better valuations relative to their growth potential,” the analyst added. More on Intuitive Surgical Intuitive Surgical Q1 E...
There’s been a lot of talk about how ETFs are slowly cannibalizing the mutual fund industry. In some cases, it’s happening through outright conversions. In others, it’s happening through ETF share classes becoming more common in 2026. But one area that has remained surprisingly resilient is money market mutual funds. These funds invest in ultra short-term, ... Tired of money market funds? Check ou...
There’s been a lot of talk about how ETFs are slowly cannibalizing the mutual fund industry. In some cases, it’s happening through outright conversions. In others, it’s happening through ETF share classes becoming more common in 2026. But one area that has remained surprisingly resilient is money market mutual funds. These funds invest in ultra short-term, ... Tired of money market funds? Check out this weekly paying low-risk ETF
Sunoco LP ( SUN ) declares $0.9899/share quarterly dividend , 6.2% increase from prior dividend of $0.9317. Forward yield 6.07% Payable May 20; for shareholders of record May 8; ex-div May 8. See SUN Dividend Scorecard, Yield Chart, & Dividend Growth. More on Sunoco LP I Own The Gas Pump With 6% Yields And 5% Dividend Growth: Sunoco Sunoco: Set For Distribution Growth Despite IDR Headwinds Sunoco ...
Sunoco LP ( SUN ) declares $0.9899/share quarterly dividend , 6.2% increase from prior dividend of $0.9317. Forward yield 6.07% Payable May 20; for shareholders of record May 8; ex-div May 8. See SUN Dividend Scorecard, Yield Chart, & Dividend Growth. More on Sunoco LP I Own The Gas Pump With 6% Yields And 5% Dividend Growth: Sunoco Sunoco: Set For Distribution Growth Despite IDR Headwinds Sunoco After Earnings: New All-Time Highs Within Reach (Upgrade) Sunoco prices upsized $1.2B senior notes Sunoco LP to offer $1 billion in senior notes due 2031 and 2034
Target is starting to look like a recovery story just as the macro backdrop may be turning more favorable for the consumer discretionary sector. Yesterday's March PPI report showed producer inflation rising far less than expected with pressure driven heavily by energy, while services were unchanged and core goods ex-food and energy rose just 0.2%. That matters because it suggests the inflation sho...
Target is starting to look like a recovery story just as the macro backdrop may be turning more favorable for the consumer discretionary sector. Yesterday's March PPI report showed producer inflation rising far less than expected with pressure driven heavily by energy, while services were unchanged and core goods ex-food and energy rose just 0.2%. That matters because it suggests the inflation shock hitting markets is more about oil than a broad-based reacceleration in underlying inflation. For retailers like Target, that distinction is important. If geopolitical tensions continue to ease and crude remains below its recent war spike, the market can begin to price in a better environment for freight, supply chain costs, and consumer purchasing power. That would be a meaningful shift from the stagflation fears that have pressured discretionary spending over the past several weeks. That is where Target becomes interesting. The stock is already showing improving relative strength, and management has outlined a 2026 plan built around sales stabilization and margin recovery. With the shares trading roughly in line with the defensive peer group despite better-than-industry margins, the setup looks attractive if the consumer backdrop simply stops getting worse. Trade timing & outlook Target has been building a constructive recovery as investors begin to price in a better second half of 2026. The stock has outperformed the S & P 500 by over 18.5% the past three months, while the stock itself is up, signaling improving institutional accumulation. The key takeaway is that this no longer looks like a broken chart. It looks like a stock that has already absorbed a multi-quarter revenue slowdown and is now beginning to stabilize as expectations reset higher. Fundamentals Target's valuation looks reasonable for a retailer entering a potential margin recovery phase: Forward P/E: ~15.2x vs. industry ~15.2x Expected EPS growth: ~7.0% vs. industry ~9.1% Expected revenue growth: ~2.5% ...
Soybeans prices are 1 to 4 cents so far on Wednesday. Futures were in rally mode on Tuesday, with bean oil continuing to pull the market higher, up 6 ¾ to 9 1/4 cents on the beans. Open interest was down 2,142 contracts on Tuesday, mostly in the front months,...
Soybeans prices are 1 to 4 cents so far on Wednesday. Futures were in rally mode on Tuesday, with bean oil continuing to pull the market higher, up 6 ¾ to 9 1/4 cents on the beans. Open interest was down 2,142 contracts on Tuesday, mostly in the front months,...
The Strait of Hormuz stayed at a near standstill Wednesday as Iranian forces opened fire on — and seized — commercial ships. State television reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized the MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas , accusing them of attempting to secretly exit the strait. The Wall Street Journal reported that a third was also attacked. Meanwhile, at least two Iranian super...
The Strait of Hormuz stayed at a near standstill Wednesday as Iranian forces opened fire on — and seized — commercial ships. State television reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized the MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas , accusing them of attempting to secretly exit the strait. The Wall Street Journal reported that a third was also attacked. Meanwhile, at least two Iranian supertankers tested a US blockade that Tehran says impedes peace talks. Just one liquefied petroleum gas carrier with Iranian ties completed an outbound journey earlier in the day, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Inbound traffic remained equally thin. Analytics firm Vortexa reported that Iran had moved its own oil supertankers , the Hero II and Hedy , into the Arabian Sea, an area where the US has sought to enforce a blockade on Iranian shipping. Meanwhile, the US Navy demonstrated its reach by seizing an Iran-linked cargo ship and boarding a sanctioned oil tanker near Sri Lanka. Even as tensions persist, President Donald Trump has moved to extend the ceasefire , signaling restraint despite stalled negotiations and continued friction at sea. The vessels transiting Hormuz with active Automatic Identification System signals during the past day were confined to a narrow northern lane near the Iranian islands of Larak and Qeshm, the route approved by Tehran. The blockades may encourage ships to switch off their tracking signals to avoid detection, making it harder to get an accurate picture of what’s going through. This means transit figures will sometimes be revised higher, when vessels pop up far way from the riskiest waters. NOTES: Because vessels can move without transmitting their location until they’re well away from Hormuz, automated positioning signals were compiled over a large area covering the Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea to detect those that may have departed or entered the Persian Gulf. When potential transits are identified, sign...
Getty Images Victor was recently a guest on CNBC and Bloomberg TV to give our view on whether index fund investors should be worried about a recent change in rules at Nasdaq and other index providers that will allow large IPOs to enter the indexes more quickly than in the past. Elon Musk has reportedly been pushing index providers to fast-track the inclusion of newly public companies, and index fu...
Getty Images Victor was recently a guest on CNBC and Bloomberg TV to give our view on whether index fund investors should be worried about a recent change in rules at Nasdaq and other index providers that will allow large IPOs to enter the indexes more quickly than in the past. Elon Musk has reportedly been pushing index providers to fast-track the inclusion of newly public companies, and index fund investors are right to ask whether what’s good for IPO issuers and their early backers is also good for them. After all, recently IPO’d stocks have historically performed poorly relative to the overall market and to stocks with similar characteristics. Jay Ritter of the University of Florida, one of the most prolific researchers in this area, has found that over the five years following their IPO, these companies underperformed the market by 3% to 5% per year. 1 Most investors don’t need to read Professor Ritter’s research to have a feel for the dangers of holding “hot” IPOs beyond the initial post-IPO pop. Many will recall the dismal performance of the huge wave of IPOs in 2020 and the even larger, SPAC-dominated vintage of 2021. So it is understandable that investors are feeling nervous staring down the large volume of IPOs expected to come to market in the next year or two. 2 Elm Wealth/Gemini Observers forecast the combined market valuation of just the four largest and most well-known private companies – SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Stripe – to be in the vicinity of $3 trillion, representing about 5% of total US stock market capitalization. SpaceX alone is rumored to be looking to raise $75 to $125 billion of capital in its IPO, which by itself would be larger than all IPOs in 2025 combined. That this is within the realm of possibility is suggested by the recent $125 billion private capital raise completed by OpenAI. Why the impact on index funds is likely to be small Some observers are warning that “the pending OpenAI and SpaceX IPO wave is an ‘existential risk’ t...
A Petrobras board member appointed by non-controlling shareholders is warning that the state-controlled producer is losing billions from below-market fuel sales and risks reputational damage. Petrobras has accumulated between $2 billion and $3 billion in losses from selling diesel below international prices since the Iran war began, according to estimates from Francisco Petros, who was elected for...
A Petrobras board member appointed by non-controlling shareholders is warning that the state-controlled producer is losing billions from below-market fuel sales and risks reputational damage. Petrobras has accumulated between $2 billion and $3 billion in losses from selling diesel below international prices since the Iran war began, according to estimates from Francisco Petros, who was elected for a fifth term on April 16. Petrobras’s pricing policy calls for the company to shield consumers from short-term volatility. Petros’s stance, while not shared by a majority of the board, reflects concern among investors that Petrobras may again be absorbing losses to hold down fuel costs — a politically sensitive issue in Brazil that has historically weighed on the company’s balance sheet. His views carry weight because he represents a sizable bloc of non-controlling investors and can act as a counterweight to the government’s majority on the board. “Unfortunately, a problem that is structurally economic could be used for political purposes,” Petros said in an interview. Petrobras declined to comment. Petrobras has raised wholesale diesel prices once since the conflict sent them soaring, while wholesale gasoline prices have gone unchanged and are about 30% below international levels, he calculates. Petros, a lawyer and economist, warned Petrobras that postponing adjustments could undermine compliance with its own policy — a key market concern given the company’s history of subsidy-driven debt. “Gasoline has a more direct impact on the government’s popularity. So it seems to me that this restraint may ultimately serve some other interest,” he said. “Demonstrating that this is not the case has to be concrete — which means raising prices.” While Petros doesn’t see the same “strict political interference” in Petrobras’s fuel prices like in the past, he said the company should begin gradually adjusting them to show its independence. The war-fueled energy inflation puts Chief Exec...
laddawan punna/iStock via Getty Images Market Overview The March quarter started off well as January and February were strong opening months for the U.S. equity market. Key drivers of the market were favorable, including: strong economic growth, robust earnings (especially for small caps), the Federal Reserve's rate cutting cycle, tax cuts (as the so called Big Beautiful Bill became effective in 2...
laddawan punna/iStock via Getty Images Market Overview The March quarter started off well as January and February were strong opening months for the U.S. equity market. Key drivers of the market were favorable, including: strong economic growth, robust earnings (especially for small caps), the Federal Reserve's rate cutting cycle, tax cuts (as the so called Big Beautiful Bill became effective in 2026), expanded deregulation, the ISM PMI Manufacturing index entering expansion territory (above 50), and inflation gradually easing along with long-term interest rates. These positives outweighed negatives such as the stalled labor market and growing concerns about private credit. As a result, through February, equities were up for the year, market breadth expanded and small caps outperformed large caps. Then on February 28th, the US & Israel launched strikes on Iran, initiating the Iran War. This was in response to growing potential threats by the Iranian regime and the recent brutal attacks on its own people. The Iran War The Iran War has dramatically changed the equity market environment for the time being. Equities fell sharply in the month of March as the price of crude oil nearly doubled, interest rates rose, the US dollar rallied, economic uncertainty spiked and investor sentiment plunged. WTI crude oil increased from $65 two days before the war to over $100 by the end of March just over a month later. Other key global crude oil benchmarks, such as, Brent, Oman, and Dubai were even higher. On most individual trading days in March, the price of crude oil was the critical factor. Favorable war headlines caused the price of crude oil to fall and equities to rally in an inverse relationship. However, the opposite was true on most days, where negative war headlines and higher crude prices caused equity multiples to compress. Overall, the fog of war remains thick. As of one week into April, the US and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire. The ceasefire is a clear posi...
Toronto-Dominion Bank ( TD ) is exploring the use of a rare kind of significant risk transfer (SRT) to hedge current and future data center exposure as tech companies' investments in artificial intelligence surge. The reference portfolio would start at ~$1B but could then increase the SRT over time through a forward-flow arrangement, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter....
Toronto-Dominion Bank ( TD ) is exploring the use of a rare kind of significant risk transfer (SRT) to hedge current and future data center exposure as tech companies' investments in artificial intelligence surge. The reference portfolio would start at ~$1B but could then increase the SRT over time through a forward-flow arrangement, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The bank would be able to add data center debt it originates over a predetermined period instead of in a one-shot deal. The tentative transaction is still in its early stages, and terms could change significantly in the issuance process, the people told Bloomberg. The rush to build data centers has some investors worried that an AI bubble will eventually pop, casting doubt on whether loans used to finance the expansion will be paid back. Four of the biggest U.S. tech companies plan ~$650B of capital spending this year for new data centers and related infrastructure, the article said. Other banks that are weighing risk transfers to hedge data center financing are Société Générale ( SCGLF ) and Morgan Stanley ( MS ), Bloomberg said. More on Toronto-Dominion Bank The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD:CA) Shareholder/Analyst Call Transcript The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD:CA) Presents at 24th Annual Financial Services Conference Transcript Toronto-Dominion Bank Is Still Fundamentally Resilient But Almost Fully Priced Toronto Dominion Bank Q1 earnings driven by Canadian P&C, Wholesale Banking fee growth
Corn price action is up 2 to 3 cents in most contracts. Futures closed the Tuesday trade with contracts 1 ½ to 3 cents higher on the session. Preliminary open interest was down 3,986 contracts, mostly rolling out of May, down 28,957. May options expire on Friday. The CmdtyView national...
Corn price action is up 2 to 3 cents in most contracts. Futures closed the Tuesday trade with contracts 1 ½ to 3 cents higher on the session. Preliminary open interest was down 3,986 contracts, mostly rolling out of May, down 28,957. May options expire on Friday. The CmdtyView national...