syahrir maulana/iStock via Getty Images Overview The U.S. stock market experienced elevated volatility in the first quarter of 2026, as investors struggled to assess a broad range of news events. The year began on an upbeat note on anticipation of improving economic growth and falling interest rates, leading to positive performance and broadening market leadership. However, the emergence of worrie...
syahrir maulana/iStock via Getty Images Overview The U.S. stock market experienced elevated volatility in the first quarter of 2026, as investors struggled to assess a broad range of news events. The year began on an upbeat note on anticipation of improving economic growth and falling interest rates, leading to positive performance and broadening market leadership. However, the emergence of worries about the private-credit space, uncertainty about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the economy, and, most notably, the outbreak of the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran depressed investor sentiment and fueled a market downturn in the second half of the quarter. Despite these headwinds, the broader small-cap value category finished in positive territory on the strength of its earlier rally. Although the Wasatch Small Cap Value Fund—Investor Class gained 0.67%, it didn't keep pace with the Russell 2000® Value Index, which added 4.96%. The Fund had outpaced the Index prior to the beginning of the Iran conflict, led by holdings in more economically sensitive areas of the market. We subsequently gave back our performance advantage following the start of the war, when market leadership shifted toward commodity-driven stocks in the energy and materials sectors. We typically hold underweight positions in these areas, since it's challenging to identify companies with the ability to control their own destinies. As is always the case, we maintained steady positioning based on the fundamental outlook for our portfolio holdings, rather than attempting to chase news-driven rallies in specific areas of the market. Portfolio Managers Austin Bone Lead Portfolio Manager Gene Robin, CFA Portfolio Manager The performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the data quoted. For the most recent month-end performance data, visit wasatchglobal.com . Investment returns and principal...
Iceye Oy quadrupled its valuation to more than €10 billion ($11.5 billion) in a General Atlantic-led funding round that will help the Finnish satellite-intelligence company expand to meet demand for sovereign technology systems. The company raised €450 million in new funding from investors including Finnish state-owned firms Solidium and Tesi, the startup said in a statement on Tuesday. Finnish ne...
Iceye Oy quadrupled its valuation to more than €10 billion ($11.5 billion) in a General Atlantic-led funding round that will help the Finnish satellite-intelligence company expand to meet demand for sovereign technology systems. The company raised €450 million in new funding from investors including Finnish state-owned firms Solidium and Tesi, the startup said in a statement on Tuesday. Finnish networking company Nokia Oyj and the Qatar Investment Authority also joined the round. Including a secondary placement for existing holders, the round came to €1 billion. Iceye, which provides all-weather, day-and-night Earth observation data to governments and businesses, last raised funds at a €2.4 billion valuation in December. This latest round was initially expected to give Iceye a valuation of about €5 billion, according to a Bloomberg News report in May. Iceye has a fleet of 70 satellites that can capture data through clouds, smoke and darkness, creating high-resolution images that have been critical in Ukraine, where the company has helped identify Russian military movements since 2022. It’s now monitoring the Persian Gulf following earlier cooperation with the United Arab Emirates, as demand in the region has surged. Seven European governments have bought sovereign satellite systems from Iceye, which says it has a €1.5 billion order backlog and expects to roughly double revenue this year to more than €500 million. Pension funds Varma and Ilmarinen also joined the round, along with Finnish VC fund Lifeline Ventures and TCV.
Pro-EU Ruling Party Wins Armenia Election In Landslide, Kremlin Blasts Western Interference Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's party has won parliamentary elections, according to Monday's result, after a vote which has signified the small Caucasus nation's major pro-Western shift . His Civil Contract party secured 49.81 percent of the vote, while the main opposition party Strong Armenia - s...
Pro-EU Ruling Party Wins Armenia Election In Landslide, Kremlin Blasts Western Interference Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's party has won parliamentary elections, according to Monday's result, after a vote which has signified the small Caucasus nation's major pro-Western shift . His Civil Contract party secured 49.81 percent of the vote, while the main opposition party Strong Armenia - seen as pro-Moscow, finished a distant second with 23.29 percent . National turnout in the country of three million people was close to 60%. Pashinyan claimed a "historic victory that will ensure Armenia’s eternity and development" while also vowing to "continue the course of rapprochement with the West" - but while balancing the pursuit of positive relations with Russia. Anadolu/Getty Images: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared victory in the parliamentary elections early Monday morning. Prime Minister Pashinyan has made known his intentions for his country to eventually join the EU. However, Strong Armenia party is claiming that the winning side in reality mounted a campaign of interference and intimidation : The second-placed Strong Armenia bloc is led by Samvel Karapetyan, a Russian-Armenian billionaire who made his fortune in Russia and is under house arrest for allegedly advocating for the government’s overthrow. He has rejected the charge as politically motivated. Karapetyan called the elections "shameful" and denounced alleged violations and repression, saying dozens of his campaign staff had been arrested . Armenia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened 59 criminal cases over alleged electoral violations and detained nine people. The Kremlin itself has also pounced on this theme, with Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova alleging unfair and illegal tactics unleashed by local authorities on Russia-friendly interests inside Armenia. "On June 7, parliamentary elections were held in Armenia in an atmosphere of unprecedented pressure on...
AlexSecret/E+ via Getty Images Market Review The U.S. high yield market entered 2026 with constructive fundamentals and solid yields, but the first quarter was marked by a rapid reassessment of macro risk, sector durability, and technological disruption. While defaults remained low and issuer balance sheets were broadly sound, AI emerged as a critical driver of investor sentiment during 1Q26, espe...
AlexSecret/E+ via Getty Images Market Review The U.S. high yield market entered 2026 with constructive fundamentals and solid yields, but the first quarter was marked by a rapid reassessment of macro risk, sector durability, and technological disruption. While defaults remained low and issuer balance sheets were broadly sound, AI emerged as a critical driver of investor sentiment during 1Q26, especially at the sector and issuer level. Early enthusiasm for AI-enabled growth and the value of subscription-based business models gave way to concerns around disruption, pricing pressure, and the sustainability of competitive moats, particularly in software-heavy portions of the high yield market, and, more notably, in private credit. AI-related anxiety also spilled into select financials and insurance brokerage credits. The market gave way to more volatility in March as geopolitics—most notably the escalation of the Middle East conflicts and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz—drove moves in energy prices, inflation expectations, and interest rate markets. These developments sent Brent crude prices up more than 75% in the quarter, briefly exceeding $100 per barrel. The resulting oil shock rekindled inflation fears, tightened financial conditions, and introduced renewed concerns about second-order effects on demand. Against this backdrop, high yield spreads widened, yields increased, and performance turned slightly negative by quarter-end despite robust income. While these factors introduced volatility, the broader economic backdrop remains resilient, and high yield issuers are well-positioned to navigate near-term challenges, in our view. High yield spreads widened modestly over the course of the quarter, with most of the move concentrated in late February and March. The ICE BofA U.S. High Yield Index (H0A0) began the year at a spread of 281 basis points (bps), widened by 47 bps, and ended the quarter at 328 bps. As rates increased during the quarter, the yield-to-worst fo...
Robert Way Apollo ( APO ) and Blackstone ( BX ) have finalized a $35B private credit financing package for AI startup Anthropic ( ANTHRO ), the Financial Times reported. This, one of the largest private credit financing deal will fund Anthropic's ( ANTHRO ) purchase of AI chips developed by Alphabet ( GOOG ). A special-purpose vehicle established by Apollo's ( APO ) Atlas SP Partners raised both d...
Robert Way Apollo ( APO ) and Blackstone ( BX ) have finalized a $35B private credit financing package for AI startup Anthropic ( ANTHRO ), the Financial Times reported. This, one of the largest private credit financing deal will fund Anthropic's ( ANTHRO ) purchase of AI chips developed by Alphabet ( GOOG ). A special-purpose vehicle established by Apollo's ( APO ) Atlas SP Partners raised both debt and equity capital, with the transaction backed by long-term lease agreements tied to the AI chips. Those lease payments provide the cash flows supporting the value of the financing, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter. The project, dubbed 'Big Sky,' divided the financing into three debt tranches, with Broadcom ( AVGO ) providing support for interest payments on the two senior portions. Broadcom ( AVGO ), which manufactures Google's ( GOOG ) tensor processing units or TPUs, agreed to cover interest obligations if Anthropic ( ANTHRO ) misses a payment, significantly lowering borrowing costs. The senior debt included about $6B of A1 notes sold to banks at a spread of 1 percentage point above U.S. Treasuries and $24B placed with asset-backed credit investors at a 5.75% yield. The remaining $4.5B junior tranche, which lacks Broadcom's ( AVGO ) backing and therefore carries greater exposure to Anthropic's ( ANTHRO ) credit risk, was priced at an 8.5% interest rate. Investors in the junior debt also received an original issue discount, purchasing the notes at 98 to 99 cents on the dollar depending on size. Investors evaluating the deal were not granted early access to Anthropic's ( ANTHRO ) financial information ahead of a potential IPO, according to the report. More on Apollo Global Management, Blackstone, etc. Anthropic: A Strong Buy And Not As Expensive As Many Think Apollo Global Is Attractive Despite Private Credit Headlines 5 Things To Consider Ahead Of Anthropic's IPO OpenAI confidentially files draft IPO to SEC one week after Anthropic OpenAI want...
Mesut Dogan/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Oracle Corp. ( ORCL ) is set to report Q4 and full-year fiscal 2026 earnings on Wednesday, June 10, with analysts expecting another strong quarter of cloud-led growth. Analysts expect Q4 revenues of $19.1 billion, up 20% year-on-year. For the full year, revenues are projected to grow 17% to $67.3 billion, driven by continued momentum in the software ma...
Mesut Dogan/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Oracle Corp. ( ORCL ) is set to report Q4 and full-year fiscal 2026 earnings on Wednesday, June 10, with analysts expecting another strong quarter of cloud-led growth. Analysts expect Q4 revenues of $19.1 billion, up 20% year-on-year. For the full year, revenues are projected to grow 17% to $67.3 billion, driven by continued momentum in the software maker’s Cloud Services offerings. Visible Alpha consensus shows continued strength in the company’s AI-driven backlog expansion, which is expected to support the outlook. Remaining performance obligations (RPO), a key gauge of contracted future revenue, are estimated at $600 billion for the full year, up 335% from last year, reflecting robust AI-related demand from large enterprise customers. Cloud has become the centerpiece of Oracle’s business. Analysts expect cloud revenue to climb 39% to $34.1 billion in 2026, accounting for roughly 51% of total sales. That marks a decisive shift from a decade ago, when Oracle was largely defined by its on-premise database business. As recently as last year, cloud contributed 43% of revenue; analysts now project that by 2030 the share could reach as high as 86%, transforming Oracle into a predominantly recurring, infrastructure-driven business. Within cloud, infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) is emerging as the standout performer. Oracle has positioned its cloud infrastructure as a lower-cost, high-performance alternative for enterprise AI workloads, competing with hyperscale leaders. IAAS revenues are projected to be up 76% in 2026 to $18 billion, while software-as-a-service (SaaS) revenue is forecast to rise by a relatively modest 12% to $15.9 billion. Original Post Editor's Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.
Mesut Dogan/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Oracle Corp. ( ORCL ) is set to report Q4 and full-year fiscal 2026 earnings on Wednesday, June 10, with analysts expecting another strong quarter of cloud-led growth. Analysts expect Q4 revenues of $19.1 billion, up 20% year-on-year. For the full year, revenues are projected to grow 17% to $67.3 billion, driven by continued momentum in the software ma...
Mesut Dogan/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Oracle Corp. ( ORCL ) is set to report Q4 and full-year fiscal 2026 earnings on Wednesday, June 10, with analysts expecting another strong quarter of cloud-led growth. Analysts expect Q4 revenues of $19.1 billion, up 20% year-on-year. For the full year, revenues are projected to grow 17% to $67.3 billion, driven by continued momentum in the software maker’s Cloud Services offerings. Visible Alpha consensus shows continued strength in the company’s AI-driven backlog expansion, which is expected to support the outlook. Remaining performance obligations (RPO), a key gauge of contracted future revenue, are estimated at $600 billion for the full year, up 335% from last year, reflecting robust AI-related demand from large enterprise customers. Cloud has become the centerpiece of Oracle’s business. Analysts expect cloud revenue to climb 39% to $34.1 billion in 2026, accounting for roughly 51% of total sales. That marks a decisive shift from a decade ago, when Oracle was largely defined by its on-premise database business. As recently as last year, cloud contributed 43% of revenue; analysts now project that by 2030 the share could reach as high as 86%, transforming Oracle into a predominantly recurring, infrastructure-driven business. Within cloud, infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) is emerging as the standout performer. Oracle has positioned its cloud infrastructure as a lower-cost, high-performance alternative for enterprise AI workloads, competing with hyperscale leaders. IAAS revenues are projected to be up 76% in 2026 to $18 billion, while software-as-a-service (SaaS) revenue is forecast to rise by a relatively modest 12% to $15.9 billion. Original Post Editor's Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.