Roman Tiraspolsky/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Shares of Charter Communications ( CHTR ) have been a very poor performer over the past year, losing over 40% of their value. Markets have grown concerned about competition in broadband and potential ongoing subscriber losses there. Indeed, soft Q1 broadband results pushed shares over 15% lower in early trading Friday. The large size of its debt ...
Roman Tiraspolsky/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Shares of Charter Communications ( CHTR ) have been a very poor performer over the past year, losing over 40% of their value. Markets have grown concerned about competition in broadband and potential ongoing subscriber losses there. Indeed, soft Q1 broadband results pushed shares over 15% lower in early trading Friday. The large size of its debt load has also likely played a role, though I believe this concern is overstated. I last covered shares in January , rating the stock a “ S trong Buy” as I believe sentiment is far too negative relative to underlying fundamentals, creating a disjointed valuation. Coming into this release, shares had recovered about 14%, though Friday eliminated all of that recovery. With updated financials, now is a good time to review CHTR and see where shares are headed next. Seeking Alpha In the company’s first quarter , Charter Communications earned $9.17 per share, which was $0.91 below expectations as revenue declined 1% from last year to $13.6 billion. This was still up 9% from last year, aided by share buybacks. EBITDA fell 2% to $5.6 billion as margins compressed 50bps to 41.5% given higher operating expenses. Residential revenue was down 2.7%, whereas commercial revenue grew 1%. The magnitude of the EPS miss is surprising, as top-line results were not that different. However, a higher tax rate was a $0.21 detractor, and one-time expenses were another ~$0.20 headwind. These two factors, which are typically excluded from estimates, drove half of the variance. Charter While revenue declines are rarely good to see and can add to “melting ice cube” fears, I am a bit more sanguine about the situation here. I would note that while revenue fell $138 million, the programming costs in video fell by $214 million. As video subscribers have declined (or those who stay have cut packages), CHTR’s programming fees drop. A good portion of a cable bill is essentially a pass-through payment to the me...
rypson JetBlue ( JBLU ) is being sued by a customer for engaging in “surveillance pricing” for using personal browsing history to set ticket prices, a practice that has become more prevalent with the use of artificial intelligence algorithms. According to New York resident Andrew Phillips, the carrier tracked and collected his online search activity as he was looking for competitive airfares, usin...
rypson JetBlue ( JBLU ) is being sued by a customer for engaging in “surveillance pricing” for using personal browsing history to set ticket prices, a practice that has become more prevalent with the use of artificial intelligence algorithms. According to New York resident Andrew Phillips, the carrier tracked and collected his online search activity as he was looking for competitive airfares, using the information to adjust its pricing schedule. Surveillance pricing “allowed the defendant to manipulate prices in real time in order to make as much money as they can on fares for airline tickets” without the customers’ consent, Phillips’ class action lawsuit alleges, noting that when a consumer searches for airline tickets and then closes the browser window, the prices increase when the consumer seeks to “re-engage” with purchasing. Although JetBlue ( JBLU ) denied it engaged in this practice, it seemingly admitted doing just that in an exchange with another customer who complained about the increased cost of a ticket. “I love flying JetBlue but a $230 increase on a ticket after one day is crazy,” a user wrote on X, to which JetBlue responded, “Try clearing your cache and cookies or booking with an incognito window.” The incriminating post by the carrier was subsequently deleted. Philips is seeking damages from the airline for allegedly violating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and two New York consumer protection laws. More on JetBlue Airways JetBlue: A Risky Bet In A Fragile Sky JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU) Presents at JPMorgan Industrials Conference 2026 - Slideshow JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU) Presents at JPMorgan Industrials Conference 2026 Transcript Vladimir Galkin discloses an active stake in JetBlue and Spirit United Airlines cuts 2026 forecast on fuel costs, ranks only fifth among U.S. airlines by Quant
Readers respond to Daniel Trilling’s article asking if fascism is making a comeback As an analysis of rightwing populism, Daniel Trilling’s argument works well enough ( The impossible promise: are we witnessing the return of fascism?, 18 April ). We cannot assume that fascism will always take the same form, rather than adapt to, and try to provide answers to, events as they unfold. Fascism might b...
Readers respond to Daniel Trilling’s article asking if fascism is making a comeback As an analysis of rightwing populism, Daniel Trilling’s argument works well enough ( The impossible promise: are we witnessing the return of fascism?, 18 April ). We cannot assume that fascism will always take the same form, rather than adapt to, and try to provide answers to, events as they unfold. Fascism might best be seen as history’s punishment for the failed universalism of the Enlightenment project – the failure to deliver on the promise of universal equality. The resurgence of the far right is a reactionary response to the broken promises of social democracy. Working-class supporters of the far right, having seen the fight for equality for all replaced with a neoliberal war of all against all, simply adopt the logic of the day. Continue reading...
Readers respond to the Guardian’s picture essay showing a year in the life of London zoo vets We were pleased by your article on the important work of zoo vets ( From sleeping lions to spitting snakes: a year in the life of London zoo vets, 19 April ). Our father, Calvert Appleby, worked as a vet at Edinburgh zoo from 1948 to 1959, before moving to the Royal Veterinary College in London. His first...
Readers respond to the Guardian’s picture essay showing a year in the life of London zoo vets We were pleased by your article on the important work of zoo vets ( From sleeping lions to spitting snakes: a year in the life of London zoo vets, 19 April ). Our father, Calvert Appleby, worked as a vet at Edinburgh zoo from 1948 to 1959, before moving to the Royal Veterinary College in London. His first few years were as a PhD student of veterinary pathology with the Dick veterinary school while also active in the zoo, before being fully employed there from 1951, so he might have claimed to predate Oliver Graham-Jones, who your article says became “Britain’s first dedicated zoo vet” at London zoo that year. For these pioneering vets, some animal physiology was unknown, so experimental treatments were necessary. A crocodile with an abscess was anaesthetised with chloroform (via a huge cotton-wool ball on a long pole), but sadly didn’t survive. It wasn’t known then that reptiles couldn’t cope with chloroform. Appleby later received an award from a learned society for his pioneering work on reptiles and amphibians. He had many other stories, often successes, but also including the huge efforts made to move a sick camel indoors one winter’s day, only for the camel to stagger to its feet and return to the bottom of the paddock. Continue reading...
Gary Yeowell/DigitalVision via Getty Images The U.S. economy may not be fully in the clear just yet, but three consecutive manufacturing PMI numbers above 50 are definitely encouraging for machinery names like Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation ( WAB ) (better known as “Wabtec”) that have traditionally outperformed when the manufacturing PMI moves back above 50. What’s more, this lead...
Gary Yeowell/DigitalVision via Getty Images The U.S. economy may not be fully in the clear just yet, but three consecutive manufacturing PMI numbers above 50 are definitely encouraging for machinery names like Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation ( WAB ) (better known as “Wabtec”) that have traditionally outperformed when the manufacturing PMI moves back above 50. What’s more, this leading player in rail equipment and services is seeing meaningful orders from major customers, building a backlog that helps reduce near-term earnings risk. Wabtec shares have risen about 65% since my last update , largely matching the broader industrial space until multiple order announcements earlier in 2026 started driving meaningful outperformance. I’d also note that the shares have been outperforming other rivals like Knorr-Bremse ( KNRRY ) and Stadler ( SRAIF ), though Knorr-Bremse too had been tracking in line with Wabtec until relatively recently. Strong orders and general bullishness about the prospects of a freight volume recovery have certainly helped the shares already. I can’t say that this is a fundamentally undervalued name today, but it is leveraged to improve end markets and still offers self-help in areas like margin expansion. A Mixed Q1 On Reported Results, But The Order Book Continues To Grow Reported results for Wabtec’s first quarter weren’t all that exceptional, but they did exceed Street expectations at the earnings lines, and between management’s guidance commentary and a growing backlog, I don’t see a lot of ongoing headwinds from this report. Revenue rose 13% as reported, but organic growth was closer to 2% and was slightly below Street expectations. Freight revenue rose 1% in organic terms, missing by 3%, with weaker Service revenue (down 17% as reported), but strong Equipment (up 53%) and Digital (up 76%) boosted by acquisitions. Transit revenue rose more than 5% in organic terms, beating by 8%, with a good balance between new equipment and afterm...
estt/iStock via Getty Images Introduction & Investment Thesis The software sector ( IGV ) again came under fire yesterday, with ServiceNow ( NOW ) shares dropping 17% after its Q1 FY26 earnings , dragging the whole sector down with it. As I wrote in my previous post , 2026 has been an extremely challenging year for software, as Agentic AI (with Anthropic Claude Cowork and OpenAI Frontier) is rewri...
estt/iStock via Getty Images Introduction & Investment Thesis The software sector ( IGV ) again came under fire yesterday, with ServiceNow ( NOW ) shares dropping 17% after its Q1 FY26 earnings , dragging the whole sector down with it. As I wrote in my previous post , 2026 has been an extremely challenging year for software, as Agentic AI (with Anthropic Claude Cowork and OpenAI Frontier) is rewriting the software tech stack, whereby the classic system of records gets pushed down the stack and the incremental value created is directed towards AI agents, thus disrupting the predictable “seat-based” pricing model of SaaS companies. In fact, just as we started seeing early signs of a bottoming in the software sector, it was soon hit by yet another rock in early April when Anthropic launched its Managed Agents platform, threatening the agentic platform roadmap of the whole industry, including Salesforce’s Agentforce ( CRM ), ServiceNow’s Now Assist, and Workday’s Workday Build ( WDAY ), among others. While the industry staged an impressive rally post April 10, outperforming the S&P 500 ( SP500 ), I warned that the reversal in sentiment had likely been triggered by the severe undervaluation in the software segment and that at a fundamental level, we still needed a couple/few quarters of accelerating RPO (Remaining Performance Obligations), strengthening NRR (Net Retention Rate), and stable margins across companies to help investors find footing on how to value the sector and the companies within it. Unfortunately, ServiceNow’s Q1 FY26 earnings failed to deliver on the above fundamental metrics, with cRPO (Current Remaining Performance Obligations) projected to decline in the coming quarter, along with management reducing their guidance on gross margins. Even their FY26 subscription revenue raise came with footnotes that we will discuss later. In certain ways, the software industry is increasingly starting to look like PayPal ( PYPL ) as the stock never recovered and rema...
Readers respond to an article suggesting Justin Trudeau was too old to attend Coachella While I appreciate that Emma Brockes’ article was slightly tongue-in-cheek, I do reject the premise that there are aspects of modern culture that should be “off-limits” as you get older ( Justin Trudeau at Coachella? That’s just wrong: at a certain age, things must change, 16 April ). I am 57, absolutely love d...
Readers respond to an article suggesting Justin Trudeau was too old to attend Coachella While I appreciate that Emma Brockes’ article was slightly tongue-in-cheek, I do reject the premise that there are aspects of modern culture that should be “off-limits” as you get older ( Justin Trudeau at Coachella? That’s just wrong: at a certain age, things must change, 16 April ). I am 57, absolutely love dancing and clubs (although I rarely go), and I think this raises the question of whether it’s OK to maintain what is, essentially, a product of societal expectations and mores which are moving on. I went with my wife and 16-year-old daughter to the Reading festival last year. We left our daughter to enjoy the festival with friends as she wanted independence – we were on hand “just in case”, and it meant she had a safe tent to return to at whatever time of night she chose. Continue reading...
Prof Peter Ayton welcomes science in sporting commentary, but wants to set the record straight While it is wonderful to see scientific theories cited in sport analysis ( Guardiola ready to benefit as fellow Cruyff disciple Arteta strays from path, 17 April ), Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky’s Nobel prize-winning paper on prospect theory did not show that “human beings suffer from loss aversion wh...
Prof Peter Ayton welcomes science in sporting commentary, but wants to set the record straight While it is wonderful to see scientific theories cited in sport analysis ( Guardiola ready to benefit as fellow Cruyff disciple Arteta strays from path, 17 April ), Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky’s Nobel prize-winning paper on prospect theory did not show that “human beings suffer from loss aversion when in a favourable position”. Or that those in pursuit of the favourable position are “much more open to risk taking”. Prospect theory predicts that people are more highly motivated to avoid losses than to achieve gains of comparable magnitude – which explains why teams facing a disappointing scoreline get more yellow and red cards and use more substitutes , why basketball teams behind by a point at half time win more often than teams ahead by a point , and why golfers hole more par putts than birdie putts at the same distance , but not why a race leader would take less risk than their pursuers. Continue reading...
RHJ The U.S. and European Union signed an agreement Friday to coordinate on securing critical minerals needed for key industries including defense, in a move meant to reduce reliance on China for rare earths and permanent magnets. The plan includes an agreement to collaborate on setting price floors, subsidies, and other trade measures to boost a critical minerals market among the participating co...
RHJ The U.S. and European Union signed an agreement Friday to coordinate on securing critical minerals needed for key industries including defense, in a move meant to reduce reliance on China for rare earths and permanent magnets. The plan includes an agreement to collaborate on setting price floors, subsidies, and other trade measures to boost a critical minerals market among the participating countries, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. " We will explore how trade measures, such as border-adjusted price floors, can strengthen our domestic critical minerals industries and the downstream sectors critical to our industrial competitiveness," U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said. The agreement does not mention China, but the country processes more than 80% of the world's rare earths, and its decision last year to impose export controls on certain rare earths and permanent magnets intensified the trade war with the U.S. Potentially relevant stocks include Critical Metals ( CRML ), MP Materials ( MP ), USA Rare Earth ( USAR ), Lynas Rare Earths ( LYSCF ) ( LYSDY ), U.S. Antimony ( UAMY ), Ramaco Resources ( METC ), NioCorp Developments ( NB ), TMC the metals company ( TMC ), Lithium Americas ( LAC ), Perpetua Resources ( PPTA ), Nouveau Monde Graphite ( NMG ), Trilogy Metals ( TMQ ), Westwater Resources ( WWR ), Albemarle ( ALB ), Sigma Lithium ( SGML ), Standard Lithium ( SLI ). ETFs: ( REMX ), ( XME ), ( LIT ), ( BATT ) More on Critical Metals and rare earth ETFs Critical Metals: New Clarity And Momentum At Tanbreez For This Emerging HREE Miner Critical Metals: Focus On Execution Reality Instead Of Speculative Story (Rating Downgrade) REMX: The Geopolitics Of A US REE Stockpile Depletion
asiantiger247/iStock Editorial via Getty Images In the months that followed my previous coverage , Keurig Dr. Pepper, Inc. ( KDP ) continued to drop until it hit its current price and delivered about 4% of investment losses. Somehow, I still understand the cautious stance as its decision to integrate JDE Peet didn’t sit right with many investors. This move was highly transformative, risky, and eve...
asiantiger247/iStock Editorial via Getty Images In the months that followed my previous coverage , Keurig Dr. Pepper, Inc. ( KDP ) continued to drop until it hit its current price and delivered about 4% of investment losses. Somehow, I still understand the cautious stance as its decision to integrate JDE Peet didn’t sit right with many investors. This move was highly transformative, risky, and even uncertain, and macroeconomic volatility did not help it. Even so, this has opened a new buying opportunity at a discount considering its valuation and robust fundamentals. Technicals are still a bit weak today, but some recent improvements are evident. Q1 2026: A Decent Start In the face of rising prices fueled by tariff wars and potential energy commodity shocks, consumer spending may keep softening. Consumer staples, including soft drinks and non-alcoholic beverages may be among the first to experience the unfavorable impact. Even so, Keurig Dr. Pepper, Inc. continues to prove that strong brand popularity, customer loyalty, and staple products can sometimes help a company stay afloat or even take advantage of the situation. In Q1 2026, its net sales amounted to $4.0B YoY, up by 9.3% YoY from $3.6B. This YoY growth was much stronger than in my previous coverage at only 6.1%, showing a notable improvement since then. We can attribute to the sustained strength of demand for cold beverages. Once again, US Refreshment Beverages, particularly brands like Dr Pepper, Snapple, and 7UP, remained its primary growth engine. This was supported by energy drinks and sports hydration products. But what I really think that’s driving its growth is its strategic product mix improvements and volumes. Of course, KDP is capitalizing on its strong brand recognition, allowing it to maintain strong pricing power. But what is more interesting is its adaptation to health trends. Its new products include healthier options, such as zero-sugar and energy drinks for health-conscious customers and ath...