Volodymyr Kalyniuk/iStock via Getty Images Investors Should Know: Digital payments and fintech companies are drawing renewed attention as banks, fintech platforms, and emerging-market operators navigate the intersection of AI, stablecoins, and evolving payment infrastructure. Background AI is impacting companies across industries. The effect of innovation has been felt in the digital payments world, which has grown from a niche technology into a core layer of global financial infrastructure. The space, which spans everything from legacy credit card companies to massive banks to consumer-facing payment apps to cross-border remittance platforms and mobile money networks, has seen many players speak out about the impact AI will have on the industry. For instance, banks have discussed investing in AI to drive efficiency and exploring tokenized deposits. Legacy players in the credit card space -- names like Visa ( V ), Mastercard ( MA ), and American Express ( AXP ) -- have the resources to invest in new technology as the market changes. However, smaller players may prove more nimble in reacting to the changing landscape. Among publicly traded pure-plays in the digital payments space, PayPal Holdings ( PYPL ) and Block ( XYZ ) are among the biggest names in the thematic universe. XYZ has already made a massive bet on AI, laying off a large chunk of its workforce as part of its vision of the technological future. Meanwhile, other online payment platforms include DLocal Limited ( DLO ), Affirm ( AFRM ), Klarna Group plc ( KLAR ), Paymentus Holdings ( PAY ), Sezzle Inc. ( SEZL ), and Wise Group plc ( WSE ). PayPay Corporation ( PAYP ) operates in the Japanese market. Elsewhere, crypto and stablecoin companies continue to innovate as well. Coinbase Global ( COIN ) and Circle Internet ( CRCL ) are among the prominent names getting attention in this corner of the market. Key Takeaways Major financial institutions are actively exploring tokenized deposits and digital asset infr...

The State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLI ) is 6.2% higher QTD, following its Q1 results. As most of the companies have reported their results, Seeking Alpha provides a snapshot of how companies rank across key factors such as valuation, growth, profitability, momentum, and estimate revisions. Below is an overview of large-cap financial stocks with market capitalizations above $10B, highlighting those with the highest and lowest quant ratings after Q1 2026 results. Top quant-rated companies, with a market capitalization above $10B: Sterling Infrastructure ( STRL ), Quant rating: Strong Buy 4.94 . FedEx ( FDX ) , Quant rating: Strong Buy 4.85 . MasTec ( MTZ ), Quant rating: Strong Buy 4.78 . IES Holdings ( IESC ), Quant rating: Strong Buy 4.76 . Generac Holdings ( GNRC ), Quant rating: Strong Buy 4.67 . Bottom quant-rated companies, with a market capitalization above $10B: Graco ( GGG ), Quant rating: Sell 1.64 . RELX Plc ( RELX ), Quant rating: Sell 1.63 . Thomson Reuters ( TRI ), Quant rating: Sell 1.56 . MTU Aero Engines AG ( MTUAY ), Quant rating: Strong Sell 1.32 . Rheinmetall AG ( RNMBY ), Quant rating: Strong Sell 1.27 . More on State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF Beyond The Bottleneck In Memory And Photonics: My Datacenter Electrification Playbook XLI: Why The Pullback From All-Time Highs Is A Re-Entry Opportunity Finding The Opportunities After The Selloff And End Of The War Only two sectors are driving the S&P 500 bull market higher since 2022 Weekly ETFs: Six of 11 sectors record outflows; gold leads inflows

In handwritten notes smuggled from custody, Pepper said that "everyone was beaten up" inside the site he was being detained in, according to Detained in Dubai.

A soaring stock market has been largely led by large-cap winners. With many stocks looking extended, options spreads remain useful tools to bet on further upside momentum while keeping risk clearly defined against a sharp reversal. One such large-cap leader, Apple (AAPL), has seen its shares surge about 26% since reaching a low of 245. Given the risk that Apple...

AMD Zen 7 Grimlock Reportedly Targets TSMC's Cutting-Edge 1.4nm A14 Process HotHardware

Three companies, each with links to the Trump family's businesses, received Commodity Futures Trading Commission approval as the agency went through a drastic downsizing, and those agency officials involved in investigating the companies eventually left, according to a media report. The cases involved crypto exchange Crypto.com, Polymarket ( POLYMARKET ), and an offshoot of Gemini Space Station ( GEMI ), the crypto firm founded and run by identical twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. Senior officials at the CFTC had voiced concerns about all three of them. Caroline D. Pham, who was acting chair of the agency at the time, and her senior counsel stepped in to help the firms get what they sought, The New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the situation. By the end of last year, the CFTC put two top officials who raised questions about the companies on leave, banned them from the office, and put them under internal investigation. Three other senior officials who had enforced laws involving cryptocurrencies, another sector linked to the Trumps, found themselves in the same position. Furthermore, in the past 16 months, the Trump administration has downsized its staff, shedding many career officials, and sharply cut crypto enforcement and supported prediction markets at most every juncture, the newspaper said. Moreover, Trump has removed most CFTC commissioners and placed Michael Selig as CFTC chairman, leaving him as the sole commissioner of the agency, which is typically overseen by a bipartisan group of commissioners. Since President Donald Trump's first term, the Trump family has become deeply involved with the crypto industry. Under the CFTC in Trump's second term: A request by prediction markets company Polymarket was approved after it received an investment by 1789 Capital, which is partially owned by Donald Trump, Jr. CFTC staff who questioned Crypto.com, a business partner of Trump Media & Technology (TMT), were sidelined; and An application from an ...

Markets continue to attempt to price in peace in the Middle East, but then a re-escalation of the conflict pushes back on that narrative and markets retreat, looking for a reliable theme. We're going to look at the hard right edge of the key charts that are trying to discount the expected outcome of this conflict. This is no easy task, as this market in a nutshell is violently reacting to headlines, but structurally positioning itself for a final resolution. We're going to layout the relationship between two key sectors that we'll need to see before I think we can finally hang our portfolio hats on a resolution that will reward the CNBC Pro subscriber who is properly positioned. President Trump declared a deal with Iran "largely negotiated" over the weekend, saying an announcement to reopen the Strait would be announced shortly. As a result, crude oil plummeted and stocks rallied. But then Monday night saw fresh U.S. strikes on Iranian vessels in the strait. Where markets have been Before we look to the present and future, let's remind ourselves of the history and how markets reacted. WTI crude was trading with a 5-handle (in the $50s) at the start of the year with the volatility index (VIX, orange overlaid), in the comfortable mid-teens. Nuclear talks in Geneva collapsed in February and both crude oil and volatility began to climb. The launch of Operation Epic Fury came Feb 28, followed by the death of Iran's supreme leader, Khamenei. A few days later, on March 2, the Strait of Hormuz was closed. March 4, tanker insurance policies were canceled and the International Energy Agency called it the "greatest global energy security challenge in history." In April, multiple talks and a conditional ceasefire were traded, and crude oil and the VIX declined into May. The correlation of crude oil prices and the volatility index during the Iranian conflict is unmistakable. One divergence that's quite notable is the VIX making a new low below the April lows, as crude oil is sti...

Key Points Nvidia anticipates $20 billion in server CPU revenue in the current fiscal year. The company's guidance suggests it is on track to capture a significant share of the server CPU market. The growing demand for server CPUs based on Arm Holdings' architecture suggests that Nvidia could indeed corner a big share of this $200 billion market in the long run. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) released its fiscal 2027 first-quarter results (for the three months ended April 26) on May 20, and the company's numbers make it clear that its grip on the artificial intelligence (AI) chip market remains as strong as ever. Nvidia has dominated the AI chip market since the technology gained prominence in November 2022, following the launch of ChatGPT. Since then, companies such as Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD), and others have tried to make a dent in the AI chip market. While there is no denying that Nvidia's competitors have succeeded to some extent, the semiconductor specialist's phenomenal growth and product strategy have helped it stay ahead of the curve. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » The good news for Nvidia stock investors is that the company isn't resting on its laurels. Comments by management on the company's latest earnings call make it clear that it will try to dominate every nook and cranny of the AI chip market, which could be bad news for Intel and AMD. Let's look at the reasons why. Nvidia's server CPU business is going to take off this year Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) have been the foundation of the company's AI chip empire. These chips are capable of performing massive parallel calculations, which is why they have been preferred over the years for training large language models (LLMs). As AI compute is ...

Nvidia has a $200 Billion Warning for AMD and Intel Stock Investors Yahoo Finance

Starbucks' (NASDAQ: SBUX) new CEO, Brian Niccol, has put together a comprehensive strategy to turn around the business. That includes increasing personalization in stores by writing notes on cups and serving drinks in mugs to customers who are staying in stores. Niccol is aiming to reclaim the concept of a "third place" for Starbucks, and he's invested in labor to alleviate chokepoints in service like mobile order and pay, and reduce barista stress. One of his tactics for driving change in the business was investing in AI, specifically an inventory management technology that could track inventory, freeing up baristas to focus on customer service instead of counting boxes. However, that initiative seems to have missed the mark. According to a report in Reuters , Starbucks is retiring Automated Counting, as the technology was known. The technology frequently miscounted and mislabeled items, for example, confusing similar milk types. Overall, the technology seemed like a good idea, but the execution did not live up to expectations. Continue reading

TonyBaggett/iStock via Getty Images Shares of gold mining companies continue to lag after an incredible 2025 and the start of this year. But the January peak has proven to be a potentially long-term high. That sounds bearish, but many international miners are actually quite reasonably priced... so long as gold can hang above key support in the $4,500 per troy ounce range. I had a "B uy" rating on IAMGOLD Corporation ( IAG ) back in January 2025 . Shares are up tremendously since then, more than tripling, compared to a 27% S&P 500 advance. Today, I reiterate a "B uy" rating. The valuation appears compelling following a major decline from near $25 to below $17. I’ll call out one key technical spot to monitor as we approach mid-year. Gold Miners Give Back Some Gains StockCharts.com In May, IAG reported a solid set of quarterly results. Q1 GAAP EPS of $0.64 topped the Wall Street consensus forecast of $0.55, while revenue of $1.03 billion, up a massive 116% from the same period a year ago, was a material $53 million beat. With gold prices hitting $5,500 in Q1 , the firm’s cost of sales per ounce tallied $1,619 over the January through March stretch. Shares lifted 13.4% in the session that followed, the best post-earnings performance back to August of 2024. Looking ahead to the Q2 report, the options market prices in an elevated 8.4% earnings-related stock price swing based on the at-the-money straddle expiring soonest after the release. The stock now has an implied volatility percentage of 58%, and shares of the $9.6 billion market cap gold industry company within the Materials sector do not pay a dividend. Looking back on the quarter that was, IAG delivered strong operational and financial performance to kick off the year. Its total attributable gold production reached 183,600 ounces, made up of 95,100 ounces from its Essakane project, 52,300 ounces from Côté Gold, and 36,200 ounces from Westwood. Deals were even stronger, with total attributable gold sales outpacing p...

Key Points About a quarter or more of Zoom's enterprise value is made up of Anthropic stock. Zoom also has a ton of cash and generates strong free cash flow. 10 stocks we like better than Zoom Communications › Anthropic is one of the market's most hotly anticipated IPOs, with investors eagerly awaiting the company's announcement that it's going public. The large language model (LLM) maker has been seeing explosive growth, with its revenue reportedly set to double quarter over quarter, from $4.8 billion in Q1 to $10.9 billion in Q2. This acceleration also isn't growth at any cost, as the company is expected to turn in an operating profit of $559 million in Q2. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » While it offers a consumer product, Anthropic has made its mark by focusing on the enterprise market, where it generates about 80% of its revenue. The company has found a strong niche in coding, with its Claude Cowork and Claude Code products helping drive its growth. Anthropic has drawn investments from several large companies, including Amazon and Alphabet. However, there is an under-the-radar stock that's set to benefit much more from Anthropic's success than these behemoths. That company is video-conferencing platform operator, Zoom (NASDAQ: ZM). An early Anthropic investor Zoom's investment arm, Zoom Ventures, took a stake in Anthropic in May 2023. While the original size of the investment hasn't been disclosed, it's widely believed to have been the bulk of the $51 million in investments it made during the quarter. Zoom later made another $46 million investment in Anthropic preferred shares in Q1. In its latest 10-Q filing, it said its total investment was valued at $1.27 billion based on Anthropic's February valuation round, which was done at $380 billion. However, fast forward a few month...

Meta Platforms (META) has quietly added a new reason for investors to pay attention. Just a few days ago, the company launched Forum, a stand-alone app for Facebook Groups that looks a lot like Reddit (RDDT), while Meta’s app ecosystem still reaches 3.56 billion daily active users. The stock, meanwhile, has been choppy. META is down more than 7% year-to-date, underperforming the broader market index as worries over AI spending and legal risk persist. Meta Is Taking Another Shot at Community Apps Forum is a small product launch on paper, but it fits a bigger strategy. Meta describes Forum as a “dedicated space for deeper discussions, real answers, and the communities you care about” with feeds built around group conversations and an AI-powered “Ask” tab. It is also not Meta’s first try at a standalone Groups product, which makes the company’s willingness to revisit the idea notable. If Forum gains traction, it could create another layer of sticky engagement and ad inventory; if it does not, it becomes another experiment in a long list of Meta side bets. AI Spending Is Still Pressuring the Stock The bigger stock story, though, has been Meta’s capital-spending spree. In late April, the company raised its 2026 capex outlook to $125 billion to $145 billion, up from $115 billion to $135 billion, and shares dropped more than 6% in extended trading as investors absorbed the scale of the AI bill. Meta also said it expects full-year expenses of $162 billion to $169 billion and warned that legal and regulatory issues in the U.S. and Europe could materially affect results. The market’s message has been clear: Strong growth is no longer enough on its own if the payoff from AI still looks far away. On valuation terms, Meta is not cheap in absolute terms, but it is also not priced like a runaway AI darling. The stock trades at about 22.2 times earnings, and its price-to-sales ratio is around 7.2. At the same time, Meta is still delivering fast growth, so the multiple is being anch...

Micron Technology joins the $1T market cap club after 700% yearly surge Crypto Briefing

The current technology bull market is nothing short of spectacular. Despite inflation, trade, and geopolitical concerns, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index ETF (QQQ) is up a staggering 30% from its late March lows and is working on its ninth weekly gain out of the previous 10. What’s driving tech stocks? The AI boom. The current AI boom is witnessing unprecedented spending, with AI big tech hyperscalers spending ~$750 million in capital expenditures (CAPEX) this year on AI data centers and infrastructure (with expectations for more than $1 trillion a year in 2027 and 2028). Memory Sector Experiences Supercycle The breathtaking AI spending has reverberated throughout the U.S. and global economies. However, certain industries have benefited more than others. Thus far, the biggest beneficiaries of the AI buildout have been high-performance memory companies like Micron (MU) and SanDisk (SNDK). AI models mostly operate on NVIDIA’s (NVDA) best-in-breed graphics processing units (GPUs). These GPUs take complex pieces of data, train them, and make sense of them. These AI models (like large language models) rely on billions of algebraic variables called weights. To process a single prompt, the GPU must continuously reference these weights. Standard memory solutions do not store enough data to enable AI training, but SNDK and MU’s technologies do. Memory Demand Outstrips Supply Currently, global demand for memory is so robust that most Wall Street analysts predict severe supply shortages for at least 2 years. These supply shortages have triggered unprecedented pricing power for SNDK and MU. As a result, Zacks Consensus Estimates expect explosive EPS growth for these companies. Below is a look at the Zacks Consensus Estimates for SanDisk: Zacks Investment Research Image Source: Zacks Investment Research SNDK/MU: True Market Leaders SanDisk and Micron are what I would call “true market leaders.” TMLs have the magic elixir of liquidity, bullish catalysts, hyper-earnings growth, and...

Last year’s brazen robbery of the Louvre – when thieves made off with jewellery worth some US$100 million – is set to become a film, a publisher said on Tuesday. French director Romain Gavras – whose work includes 2025 Hollywood film Sacrifice starring Anya Taylor-Joy and music videos including most recently a hypnotic schoolboy choreography for GENER8ION – will draw inspiration from the investigative book Main basse sur le Louvre (literally A Grab at the Louvre). Film rights to the book about the October 19, 2025 heist had been sold to the production company Iconoclast, the Flammarion publishing house said. Advertisement The book, written by three journalists, from French dailies Le Parisien and Le Monde, and weekly glossy magazine Paris Match, is to hit bookstores on Wednesday. According to trade magazine Le Film Francais, the film project is in development, though neither the title nor the cast has been announced. 02:14 Crown jewels stolen from France’s Louvre museum in daring daylight heist The Louvre heist sent shock waves around the world and sparked a security crisis within the world-famous museum that ultimately led to the replacement of its director, Laurence des Cars.

The semi-annual rebalancing of U.S. equities is officially underway after FTSE Russell unveiled its preliminary list of shifts for the broad-market Russell 3000 Index. Additions among consumer staples stocks: Nu Skin Enterprises ( NUS ), USANA Health Sciences ( USNA ), Reed's Inc. ( REED ), BRC Inc. ( BRCC ), Once Upon A Farm PBC ( OFRM ), Beeline Holdings ( BLNE ), Sow Good ( SOWG ), and BranchOut Food Inc. ( BOF ). Deletions: Skinhealth Systems Inc. ( SKIN ), Natural Health Trends ( NHTC ), and Willamette Valley Vineyards ( WVVI ). This year's structural changes will officially take effect following the close of U.S. equity markets on Friday, June 26. More on Reed's Reed's, Inc. (REED) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript Reed's, Inc. (REED) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Reed’s expects sequential improvement in net sales, gross margin and net loss as it reverses key packaging discontinuations Reed's GAAP EPS of -$0.55 misses by $0.38, revenue of $7.1M misses by $2.52M Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Reed's

In this article AZO Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT An AutoZone store in Richmond, California, US, on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images AutoZone Inc. stock was on track Tuesday for its worst trading day in more than six years despite the retailer beating Wall Street's estimates for its third-quarter fiscal results. AutoZone stock was off by more than 10% during intraday trading Tuesday, putting it on pace for its first double-digit daily sales decline since the onset of the Covid pandemic in March 2020. The company reported earnings per share of $38.07 for its latest fiscal quarter compared to $36.28 per share expected, according to average estimates compiled by LSEG. Its $4.84 billion in revenue also was in line with LSEG estimates of $4.83 billion. The company's fiscal quarter ended May 9. Analysts on the company's quarterly call Tuesday were concerned about lackluster growth internationally and margin compression that was more in line with competitors. They also questioned slowing sales year-over-year due to cooler weather compared to pullbacks in consumer spending. "This slowdown in sales was caused by unseasonably cool weather impacting our heat-related categories, which normally begin to ramp this time of year as summer heat begins to take hold," AutoZone CEO Philip Daniele said Tuesday. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon Auto parts stocks Wall Street analysts also questioned executives Tuesday about continued pressures on the business from inflation, energy costs and potential supply chain disruptions caused by the war in Iran, specifically possible shortages of motor oil. AutoZone executives said they expect inflationary pressures to continue but be "slightly muted" due to year-over-year comparisons. They also weren't overly concerned about potential problems with supplies of lubricants such as motor oil that are reportedly impacting dealer operations at Toyota Motor and Nissan Motor. "The issue around lubri...

Watch Video of the Panel Below, or Click HERE: CorpGov hosted the second Princeton CorpGov Forum on May 21, 2026, at The Nassau Inn in Princeton, New Jersey. Speakers featured industry leaders and alumni spanning five decades at Princeton, and topics comprised university endowments, shareholder activism, private equity, venture capital, private and public capital markets, entertainment and the finance of college sports. The panelists discussed why entertainment companies initially resist new technologies like VHS, streaming, and AI before eventually adopting them once profitable. AI is drastically reducing development costs in gaming and media, allowing small teams to build products faster and cheaper. Human creativity, emotion, and instinct are still viewed as essential for successful storytelling and entertainment. AI is expected to eliminate some industry jobs, especially repetitive or entry-level roles, while raising concerns about replacing actors and creators. Media companies are shifting toward immersive experiences, gaming, and maximizing user engagement across digital and physical platforms. Speakers and Notable Attendees

格隆汇5月27日｜当地时间26日晚间，伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队海军公共关系部发布消息称，过去24小时内，包括油轮、集装箱船和其他商船在内的25艘船只在获得许可后，在伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队海军的协调和安全保障下通过了霍尔木兹海峡。同时，伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队海军还表示，正在对霍尔木兹海峡进行“有效且权威”的控制，任何侵略行为都将遭到严厉回击。

当地时间26日晚间，伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队海军公共关系部发布消息称，过去24小时内，包括油轮、集装箱船和其他商船在内的25艘船只在获得许可后，在伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队海军的协调和安全保障下通过了霍尔木兹海峡。同时，伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队海军还表示，正在对霍尔木兹海峡进行“有效且权威”的控制，任何侵略行为都将遭到严厉回击。（央视新闻）

Apple shares nudged higher in early Tuesday trading following a pair of upgrades on Wall Street heading into the tech giant’s Worldwide Developers Conference next month in California. “Apple may be on the brink of some real AI sizzle,” Reitzes said in a note published Tuesday.

Kajdi Szabolcs/iStock via Getty Images AeroVironment ( AVAV ) on Tuesday said the U.S. government is investing an additional $20.2 million into the company’s Huntsville, Alabama facility to increase low-rate initial production capacity for its Freedom Eagle-1 interceptor missile and prepare for eventual full-rate manufacturing. Freedom Eagle-1 interceptor (AeroVironment) The expansion will add 24,000 square feet (2,229.67 square meters) to the site, which AeroVironment said will serve as the primary integration and production hub for the Next-Generation Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System Missile program, known as NGCM. The company said the project will also support hiring growth in Huntsville. The announcement adds to a growing stream of missile-defense related work for AeroVironment as the Pentagon increases spending on systems designed to counter drones and other aerial threats. For investors, the expansion signals that the Freedom Eagle-1 program is moving beyond development and toward larger-scale production, potentially creating a longer-term revenue opportunity tied to U.S. Army air defense modernization efforts. The company previously disclosed a $95.9 million contract award tied to the NGCM and Long-Range Kinetic Interceptor programs through the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center and the Aviation & Missile Technology Consortium. Freedom Eagle-1 is designed as a lower-cost interceptor intended to target Groups 2 and 3 unmanned aerial systems, while retaining some capability against smaller drones and certain aircraft. AeroVironment said the system recently completed several development milestones, including live-fire testing of its rocket motor and warhead evaluations. The Huntsville expansion follows another recently announced manufacturing investment by AeroVironment ( AVAV ). Earlier this year, the company said it would spend $30 million to expand its Albuquerque, New Mexico operations to increase production capacity ...