NetClass Technology ( NTCL ) said it expanded its AI-powered language assessment business through new school and university partnerships. The company said it signed a cooperation agreement with Shanghai Singapore International School to deploy its Classroom English Proficiency Assessment platform and launched a Portuguese proficiency assessment system. NetClass also signed an MOU with the Universi...
NetClass Technology ( NTCL ) said it expanded its AI-powered language assessment business through new school and university partnerships. The company said it signed a cooperation agreement with Shanghai Singapore International School to deploy its Classroom English Proficiency Assessment platform and launched a Portuguese proficiency assessment system. NetClass also signed an MOU with the University of Évora in Portugal covering AI education, smart healthcare research, academic exchanges, and joint innovation projects More on NETCLASS Technology Financial information for NETCLASS Technology
Duke Robotics ( DUKR ) announced on Thursday that Yiftach Kleinman will become CEO, with the transition expected to become effective by September 8, 2026. Kleinman will replace Yossef Balucka as CEO, while Balucka will remain president and focus on expanding the company's commercial business and civilian platforms globally. The leadership change comes after Duke Robotics' recent Nasdaq uplisting a...
Duke Robotics ( DUKR ) announced on Thursday that Yiftach Kleinman will become CEO, with the transition expected to become effective by September 8, 2026. Kleinman will replace Yossef Balucka as CEO, while Balucka will remain president and focus on expanding the company's commercial business and civilian platforms globally. The leadership change comes after Duke Robotics' recent Nasdaq uplisting and as the company enters its next growth phase. The company expects Kleinman's defense-industry experience and relationships to support a major expansion of its defense business and drive long-term shareholder value. Source: Press Release More on Duke Robotics Financial information for Duke Robotics
Eric Johnston/iStock via Getty Images Thesis First National Bank Alaska ( FBAK ) is a well-capitalized commercial bank with a firm footprint in the Alaskan economy. The bank has displayed strong return metrics over the prior eight quarters with both net interest margin and earnings per share compounding at compelling rates. Despite the attractive return metrics, the best rating I can give the firm...
Eric Johnston/iStock via Getty Images Thesis First National Bank Alaska ( FBAK ) is a well-capitalized commercial bank with a firm footprint in the Alaskan economy. The bank has displayed strong return metrics over the prior eight quarters with both net interest margin and earnings per share compounding at compelling rates. Despite the attractive return metrics, the best rating I can give the firm at this time is a hold for three reasons: 1) Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) have nearly tripled in the last 12 months; 2) the Alaskan economy is heavily tied to oil prices and the seafood industry, both of which can be volatile, threatening the deposit base and margins; and 3) the bank appears to be priced for perfection at current valuations, leaving little room for upside potential. Company Profile Headquartered in Anchorage, AK, First National Bank Alaska is a 103-year-old commercial bank operating 28 branches solely in Alaska. FBAK operates in an oligopolistic banking market where the market is dominated by a very small number of large players, meaning the bank does not have to compete as aggressively on pricing, leading to generally higher profit margins. FBAK holds the distinction of being recognized as a Minority Depository Institution by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, as it is owned primarily by women. The bank employs more than 600 Alaskans as of March 31st, 2026, and offers a full suite of banking services, including commercial and industrial loans, real estate construction and development loans, and multifamily residential real estate loans. Q1, 2026 Earnings Review FBAK delivered strong earnings results in its Q1 2026 earnings on May 6, 2026. Net income increased to $21.2 million from $17.7 million from the same period in 2025. The financial growth was driven by a stronger asset mix and expanding margins; net interest margin rose to 3.98%. These results helped push the bank past the historic $1 billion valuation mark for the first time. Total asset...
Olemedia/iStock via Getty Images NICE Ltd. ( NICE ) dropped 28.47% since my last buy call at $123.53. It’s at $88.36 now. The price looks like it’s way too negative on what NICE can actually earn over the next few years and where it fits in the industry. Shares have been cut in half from the $180.61 high of the past year. They’re sitting near their recent 52-week low of $84.38. But business perfor...
Olemedia/iStock via Getty Images NICE Ltd. ( NICE ) dropped 28.47% since my last buy call at $123.53. It’s at $88.36 now. The price looks like it’s way too negative on what NICE can actually earn over the next few years and where it fits in the industry. Shares have been cut in half from the $180.61 high of the past year. They’re sitting near their recent 52-week low of $84.38. But business performance hasn’t really fallen apart, operations are holding up. So I’m switching from a Buy to a Strong Buy. There’s a big gap showing up now between how NICE is running the business, the actual growth drivers in play, and just how cheap the stock has gotten. Right now, the market looks like it’s overreacting to short-term margin pressures and a weaker-than-expected second-quarter revenue outlook, even though full-year revenue guidance still points to about 8% growth. That kind of drop is what opens the door for people willing to go against the crowd. The steep fall in valuation after the last quarter isn’t really about NICE losing its long-term edge, cash flow, or place in the market. It looks more tied to near-term margin compression, the weaker Q2 revenue outlook and uncertainty about how quickly AI monetization flows through the model. Q1 Growth Last quarter, NICE brought in $768.6 million in revenue, up nearly 10% from a year ago. Cloud revenue climbed 14.6% to $603.4 million. AI & Self-Service annual recurring revenue jumped 66% to $345 million. AI was included in 100% of CXone enterprise deals. International sales did well too, up 30% outside North America. The real question is if NICE can keep turning its AI-focused platform and the Cognigy deal into steady cash flow and better returns on what it spends. Management is clear: AI remains a powerful growth driver, with AI ARR increasing 66% year over year and included in 100% of our CXone enterprise deals, highlighting the growing adoption of our AI solutions at scale. -Scott Russell, CEO It’s showing up in how clients ar...
Alphabet's Google is in talks with Samsung Electronics to manufacture part of its next-generation chip, codenamed "Icefish," The Information reported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the matter. Google plans for Taiwan's TSMC make the main part of the chip, while Samsung may produce a separate component that helps connect it to memory, the report said. Alphabet did not immed...
Alphabet's Google is in talks with Samsung Electronics to manufacture part of its next-generation chip, codenamed "Icefish," The Information reported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the matter. Google plans for Taiwan's TSMC make the main part of the chip, while Samsung may produce a separate component that helps connect it to memory, the report said. Alphabet did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Samsung shares have rallied 150% so far this year with Korea’s army of retail investors speculating on further gains as the supply=demand imbalance in memory chips shows no sign of abating.
Samsung shares have rallied 150% so far this year with Korea’s army of retail investors speculating on further gains as the supply=demand imbalance in memory chips shows no sign of abating.
Galeanu Mihai/iStock via Getty Images By Warren Patterson Falling Chinese oil imports offer relief to the oil market for now One wouldn’t think that the oil market is facing an unprecedented supply shock at the moment when looking at price action, with ICE Brent trading below $100/bbl. There has been little to no improvement in energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz, and for now, there is littl...
Galeanu Mihai/iStock via Getty Images By Warren Patterson Falling Chinese oil imports offer relief to the oil market for now One wouldn’t think that the oil market is facing an unprecedented supply shock at the moment when looking at price action, with ICE Brent trading below $100/bbl. There has been little to no improvement in energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz, and for now, there is little sign that we are going to see an imminent resumption in energy flows, with a deal still some way off. This means that the oil market will only continue to tighten and will eventually reach a point where the drawdown of buffers leaves the market increasingly vulnerable to significant upside. From an inventory perspective, we believe that the end of July could be an inflection point for the market if there is no improvement in energy flows from the Persian Gulf. This could see ICE Brent spike to $120-130/bbl, prompting increased pressure to come to a deal, which at least starts to see energy flows normalising. And failing a deal, one can’t rule out the possibility that we get to a point where energy-starved buyers are more willing to pay Iran tolls for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Our base case now assumes that we have to wait for this upward pressure before seeing some sort of deal and/or resumption of flows. Therefore, we are of the view that Strait of Hormuz flows will remain largely inhibited until the end of July. This leaves the market in deficit over the third quarter, which sees Brent averaging $110/bbl over 3Q26, before trending lower in 4Q26 and 2027 and flows recover. There are several factors which have helped to take some pressure off oil markets since the start of the war. First, China has stepped back from the oil market significantly. Crude oil imports in May 2026 fell 3.2m b/d year-on-year to 7.8m b/d – the weakest since October 2017. While China sits on significant inventories, it’s unclear how willing they would be to continue tapping reserv...
Microsoft's Build 2026 conference outlined its agentic AI strategy and gave investors three key dates to show if Copilot can justify the company's capex spend
Microsoft's Build 2026 conference outlined its agentic AI strategy and gave investors three key dates to show if Copilot can justify the company's capex spend
Sundry Photography A Korean subsidiary of Coupang ( CPNG ) was fined a little over $410M by the Korean Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) for the November 2025 data breach, a record fine from the Korean commission, though less than Wall Street feared. The fine included $278M for data breach violations and $132M for unlawfully collecting user data from other websites. While the breac...
Sundry Photography A Korean subsidiary of Coupang ( CPNG ) was fined a little over $410M by the Korean Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) for the November 2025 data breach, a record fine from the Korean commission, though less than Wall Street feared. The fine included $278M for data breach violations and $132M for unlawfully collecting user data from other websites. While the breach began in June, it continued undetected until mid-November when Coupang ( CPNG ) identified suspicious activity and notified regulators. The investigation uncovered a former Chinese software developer employed by Coupang ( CPNG ) retained an authentication key, which gave them unauthorized access for nearly a year. The incident affected roughly 70% of the Korean population. “This incident was caused not by sophisticated hacking techniques but by Coupang’s inadequate basic security management system and negligence,” PIPC Chairwoman Kyung Hee Song said in a statement regarding the decision. The fallout included a police raid on Coupang's ( CPNG ) South Korean headquarters, the resignation of its CEO, and a disappointing fourth quarter in which the company swung to a loss and missed profit expectations by 75%. Although the less-than-expected penalty is driving shares as much as 7% higher in Thursday’s premarket trading, the reverberations from the data breach have peeled 42% off the value of Coupang ( CPNG ) shares. More on Coupang Coupang: Nvidia Collaboration Sparks Excitement, But Don't Rush Out To Buy Just Yet Coupang: Worst Is Over, Data Breach Quantified Coupang, Inc. 2026 Q1 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation Coupang continues to grow its Rocket Now food delivery service in Japan Quant check on Eminence Capital's top Q1 holdings: SE, AMZN, PFGC, CPNG
Allison Kirkby pocketed the payment after BT’s share price surged nearly 80% since she became chief executive The chief executive of BT saw her pay and bonus package more than double last year to £5.6m, the biggest pay award to a boss of the telecoms company in more than a decade. Allison Kirkby, who stepped up from the board to take the helm in February 2024 , received a pay, bonus and share awar...
Allison Kirkby pocketed the payment after BT’s share price surged nearly 80% since she became chief executive The chief executive of BT saw her pay and bonus package more than double last year to £5.6m, the biggest pay award to a boss of the telecoms company in more than a decade. Allison Kirkby, who stepped up from the board to take the helm in February 2024 , received a pay, bonus and share award package of £5.58m for the year to the end of March. Continue reading...