Silver Place/iStock via Getty Images Summary Vaping industry revenues are estimated to grow by 10x from 2025 to 2033 and reach $462bn as consumers seek healthier alternatives to combustible tobacco. RLX Technology reported a strong set of 1Q26 earnings with sales, gross profit and gross margins all reaching recent highs. Strong results are driven by customer diversification outside of China into a...
Silver Place/iStock via Getty Images Summary Vaping industry revenues are estimated to grow by 10x from 2025 to 2033 and reach $462bn as consumers seek healthier alternatives to combustible tobacco. RLX Technology reported a strong set of 1Q26 earnings with sales, gross profit and gross margins all reaching recent highs. Strong results are driven by customer diversification outside of China into a higher margin European market in addition to high operating leverage from internal production efficiencies. Coupled with growing dividends from a 2025 dividend payout ratio of 103%, I rate the stock as a BUY. Company background RLX Technology Inc ( RLX ) based in China is a manufacturer of e-cigarette (vaping) products. The company is fully integrated as it designs the mechanical vaping pods, the e-liquids used in the devices, along with one use disposables. RLX also manufactures all of its vaping devices and sells its product through retail outlets, distributors and online both within China and internationally ex-China. In addition, RLX operates its own R&D for e-liquids, aerosol compounds, along with methods to make the product less unhealthy. As of 2025 RLX held 1,200 patents globally covering a wide variety of technologies and products such as device leak-proof designs, device battery efficiency, and aerosol consistency formulas in liquids. Product suite (RLX) Strong 1Q26 results RLX reported a strong set of 1Q26 financial results which beat consensus revenue forecasts by 38% and met consensus EPS expectations. Financial metrics such as revenue and gross profit each hit recent highs. Revenue reached $230m (+96% yoy) with gross profit margin up to 31.8% vs. 28.6% in 1Q25. Non-GAAP income from operations was $45m (+188% yoy) and non-GAAP net income reached $53m (+41% yoy). Exiting 1Q26, RLX had $2.1bn of cash and short term investments on the balance sheet. The international business comprised over 70% of net revenues and was the primary driver of revenues. RLX carries a...
In this article .MAG7 Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT watch now VIDEO 12:18 12:18 Ritholtz's Josh Brown explains the launch of Porterhouse strategy Stock Picks Josh Brown , one of Wall Street's most recognizable financial advisers, said the rise of passive investing has created demand for a different kind of product: a concentrated portfolio aimed at capturing the market's biggest ...
In this article .MAG7 Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT watch now VIDEO 12:18 12:18 Ritholtz's Josh Brown explains the launch of Porterhouse strategy Stock Picks Josh Brown , one of Wall Street's most recognizable financial advisers, said the rise of passive investing has created demand for a different kind of product: a concentrated portfolio aimed at capturing the market's biggest winners. The CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management and CNBC contributor recently launched Porterhouse, a separately managed account named after the premium cut of steak and built to hold what he considers the market's best opportunities. The rules-based momentum strategy, run in partnership with Franklin Templeton, favors companies with strong earnings growth and persistent share-price strength. "Everybody's got broad equity market diversification. It costs three basis points, one click and you can own the S&P 500," Brown said in an interview. "There are people who are in search of the literal best stocks in the market. The best stocks today won't be the best stocks tomorrow, necessarily." The launch comes after years of advisers steering clients toward low-cost index funds popularized by Vanguard founder Jack Bogle. Brown said broad market exposure remains the foundation of most portfolios, but argued some investors want a more selective approach that can adapt as market leadership changes. "Historically, buying the largest market-cap company is actually a terrible strategy," Brown said. "I do think ultimately mean reversion will kick in, and it will not be so simple — Just buy Apple and Nvidia , can't lose" Porterhouse grew out of Brown's "Best Stocks in the Market " list for CNBC Pro but takes a more selective approach. Despite the strategy's momentum focus, none of the Magnificent Seven stocks are among its current 58 holdings. Momentum driven Rather than attempting to predict which sectors or themes will dominate, Brown said the strategy relies on the collective judgment o...
Dilok Klaisataporn/iStock via Getty Images Like many other technology companies, Upstart ( UPST ) has done the only thing it can amidst peak AI fears: execute. The company continues to generate strong growth as its lending engine continues to grow into new target markets. While profit margins have dipped, this is mainly due to the market share gaining strategies for those new markets. I am withdra...
Dilok Klaisataporn/iStock via Getty Images Like many other technology companies, Upstart ( UPST ) has done the only thing it can amidst peak AI fears: execute. The company continues to generate strong growth as its lending engine continues to grow into new target markets. While profit margins have dipped, this is mainly due to the market share gaining strategies for those new markets. I am withdrawing my bearishness on account of some surprising insider buying. I am upgrading the stock to a neutral rating. UPST Stock Price I last covered UPST in March where I rated the stock a sell on account of my fear of AI disruption threats. The stock has soared since. Data by YCharts The insider buying is impressive and significant, but my spidey senses are still wary of the risks of this being a value trap here. UPST Stock Key Metrics UPST is a fintech company focused on utilizing AI to empower loan origination. The company believes that its algorithms are able to underwrite loans to borrowers who otherwise would not have access to loan capital. This is an intriguing goal and management believes that they have only begun to scratch the surface of how much they can improve the traditional scoring models. 2026 Q1 Presentation In the most recent quarter, UPST continued to post strong growth, with transaction volume jumping 61% YoY to $3.445 billion. 2026 Q1 Presentation That growth came even with the conversion rate declining for the third consecutive quarter. I note that this is not necessarily a bad thing as UPST does not have direct control of the number of incoming rate inquiries. 2026 Q1 Presentation The company generated 44% YoY revenue growth to $308 million. I found that to be a strong result as it represented acceleration from the 35% growth rate posted in the fourth quarter. 2026 Q1 Presentation The contribution margin did however dip to 50%, the third straight quarter of margin contraction. 2026 Q1 Presentation This in part contributed to the company seeing its adjuste...
pingingz/iStock via Getty Images The story we are telling today has had an evolution that anyone looking two years back would think we are talking about another company. And until 2025, MP Materials ( MP ) was a rare earth-focused supplier dependent on China, but today it has become a Western producer that refines its own neodymium-praseodymium oxide (NdPr), that is, the rare earth material needed...
pingingz/iStock via Getty Images The story we are telling today has had an evolution that anyone looking two years back would think we are talking about another company. And until 2025, MP Materials ( MP ) was a rare earth-focused supplier dependent on China, but today it has become a Western producer that refines its own neodymium-praseodymium oxide (NdPr), that is, the rare earth material needed for magnets. Through this input, which moves the motors of electric vehicles, drones, or robots, MP becomes an important piece on the board with the manufacturing of these magnets as the final product. Asset Status Q1 2026 Production Mountain Pass (California) In production 13,000 tn REO & 917 tn of NdPr Independence (Texas) Ramp, magnets since Dec-2025 $21.1M in magnetic precursor 10X (Northlake, Texas) Under construction - Click to enlarge Through this table, I want to show how today, the key asset for the company is essentially Mountain Pass. If we look at the figures, we can better see the magnitude of China’s current dominance and why it has been so relevant that after the latest summit in Beijing no binding agreement was reached on them. China produced 91% of global rare earth refining, and 60% of mining, followed by Australia’s Lynas, which contributed 4% of refining, while MP barely contributed 1%. What I consider good for MP is above all that the same asset does two jobs that in almost the whole world are outsourced, that is, first the rock is extracted and then it is refined, whose useful content is quantified as rare earth oxides (REO), and that amount in the latest report was 13,000 tn. We keep moving forward because in the end this basket is not especially expensive, and where the real value is in the NdPr that goes into the magnets. This is where refining comes in, to use the 13,000 tn of REO and convert 917 tn into NdPr oxide and metal. IEA It could be thought that it is not that special either, at the level that in rare earth production there are many produ...
Stocks soared to record highs again last week, capping off a banner month for the market. Investor optimism about an end to the Iran-U.S. war, a string of positive corporate earnings reports, and strength in technology stocks led to new records for the S & P 500 and Nasdaq Composite , up over 1% and more than 2%, respectively, during the holiday-shortened trading week. That brought the weekly winn...
Stocks soared to record highs again last week, capping off a banner month for the market. Investor optimism about an end to the Iran-U.S. war, a string of positive corporate earnings reports, and strength in technology stocks led to new records for the S & P 500 and Nasdaq Composite , up over 1% and more than 2%, respectively, during the holiday-shortened trading week. That brought the weekly winning streak for the S & P 500 to nine, while the Nasdaq has been up eight out of the past nine weeks. Friday also marked the last trading day of May, with the S & P 500 and Nasdaq advancing roughly 5% and 8%, respectively. The smaller 30-stock Dow gained a little less than 1% last week, and posted an almost 3% climb for the month. Will the rally continue into Monday? The market isn't quite in overbought territory yet, according to the S & P Short Range Oscillator , with a reading of 2.63%. Anything above 4% indicates stocks might be due for a pullback. Until then, here are three themes that drove the market last week. Peace progress (maybe) More mixed signals out of the Middle East, but it ended on a positive note. Stocks jumped on Wednesday as oil prices retreated after Iranian state media reported that Iranian leaders wanted to restore commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels. Hours later, however, the White House called the report a "complete fabrication." The S & P 500 retreated but still ended the session higher. A day later, Axios reported that the U.S. and Iranian negotiators finally reached a truce deal but would need President Donald Trump 's approval. The headline sent stocks climbing, with the S & P 500 and Nasdaq closing at records on Thursday. The war has continued to move the market since overseas attacks began on Feb. 28. Through it all, our advice has stayed the same: Don't make any big moves based on a single headline. AI stocks rip Strong quarterly earnings reports from big tech companies led the way. Snowflake , the cloud-based dat...
In this article BRK.B .SPX CSX BRK.B Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT (This is the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, news and analysis on all things Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You can sign up here to receive it every Friday evening in your inbox.) Berkshire trails red-hot S&P by biggest margin so far this year With hot tech stocks fueling its solid 5.1% gain in May, the S...
In this article BRK.B .SPX CSX BRK.B Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT (This is the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, news and analysis on all things Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You can sign up here to receive it every Friday evening in your inbox.) Berkshire trails red-hot S&P by biggest margin so far this year With hot tech stocks fueling its solid 5.1% gain in May, the S&P 500 closed Friday at a fresh record high . In a sharp contrast, shares of Berkshire Hathaway were close to unchanged for the month. As a result, Berkshire's widely held B shares are now running 16.3 percentage points behind the benchmark index year-to-date, the biggest gap so far in 2026. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards At the end of March, Berkshire had a small winning margin of 1.8 percentage points over the S&P. But then the S&P zoomed more than 35% higher in April and May while Berkshire fell almost 11%. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Great expectations for AI profits, and massive spending to build the infrastructure needed to generate all that future artificial intelligence, have been sending the tech stocks that dominate the market-capitalization-weighted S&P sharply higher. Berkshire, on the other hand, is extremely conservative with minimal exposure to AI, nearly $400 billion in cash, and solidly profitable, but not spectacular, operating companies. If enthusiastic AI investments turn out to be a bubble , (the concept has its own Wikipedia page ), as some have been warning ( for months ), that caution may well pay off over time, as it did when Warren Buffett avoided the high-flying internet stocks of the late 1990s. While its overall AI exposure remains relatively small, it does appear new CEO Greg Abel did, in a decidedly un-Buffett-like move, triple the company's Alphabet stake during the first quarter. At almost $22 billion, it is the fifth largest equity holding in the portfolio . Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Berkshire shares are now dow...
Among the best stocks in earnings performance, Comfort Systems has a pristine 99 EPS Rating, the highest in IBD's air conditioning and heating products industry group.
Among the best stocks in earnings performance, Comfort Systems has a pristine 99 EPS Rating, the highest in IBD's air conditioning and heating products industry group.
Harry Wedzinga/iStock via Getty Images May 29th was a really painful day for shareholders of The Buckle ( BKE ). Shares of the company plunged 9.1% after management announced financial results covering the first quarter of the company's 2026 fiscal year. Even though earnings came in comfortably above what analysts anticipated, revenue fell short of expectations. This is disappointing to say the le...
Harry Wedzinga/iStock via Getty Images May 29th was a really painful day for shareholders of The Buckle ( BKE ). Shares of the company plunged 9.1% after management announced financial results covering the first quarter of the company's 2026 fiscal year. Even though earnings came in comfortably above what analysts anticipated, revenue fell short of expectations. This is disappointing to say the least. However, I believe that the market is behaving a bit irrationally in this case. It is always disappointing to see revenue fall short of expectations. However, the company is growing in most key respects. This includes not only top line growth, but bottom line growth as well. Shares are incredibly cheap, both on an absolute basis and relative to other similar firms. And, based on the data provided, the company has a very solid balance sheet. Given this combination of factors, it should come as no surprise that I would be bullish about the prospect. And this is not the first time that I have expressed bullish sentiment. Back in November of last year, I upgraded the stock from a 'hold' to a 'buy'. This was based on what I saw as a promising turnaround for the company and the valuation as things stood. The company was implementing a strategic store optimization program that was proving to be successful. And at the end of the day, I argued, further upside would be warranted. It is disappointing to see that, largely because of this earnings call, that the company has seen its share price dropped 12.3% since then. That's at a time when the S&P 500 is up 12.9%. Even though the market disagrees with me, however, I remain adamant that this is a good prospect for value oriented investors. Putting the quarter into perspective Author - SEC EDGAR Data Operationally speaking, I would say that the first quarter of the 2026 fiscal year was a good time for shareholders of The Buckle. But before I get into that, I would like to point you to the chart above. In it, you can see financial p...
Intercepted Iranian Missile Damages U.S. Reaper Drones, Injures Five At Kuwaiti Air Base An Iranian Fateh-110 short-range ballistic missile targeted Kuwait's Ali Al Salem Air Base, a key operational hub for the U.S. Air Force's expeditionary forces in the Gulf region. An initial report from Bloomberg News indicates that Kuwaiti air defenses intercepted the tactical ballistic missile in the last 24...
Intercepted Iranian Missile Damages U.S. Reaper Drones, Injures Five At Kuwaiti Air Base An Iranian Fateh-110 short-range ballistic missile targeted Kuwait's Ali Al Salem Air Base, a key operational hub for the U.S. Air Force's expeditionary forces in the Gulf region. An initial report from Bloomberg News indicates that Kuwaiti air defenses intercepted the tactical ballistic missile in the last 24 hours, but falling debris struck part of the base, injuring five Americans and damaging one MQ-9 Reaper drone while severely damaging another. About five people, including both contractors and active duty personnel, suffered minor injuries, the person said. One Reaper was destroyed and at least one other was seriously damaged . -BBG ⚠️ Bloomberg reporting the consequences of Thursday night's Iranian ballistic missile strike on Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait: Several Americans suffered minor injuries. Two MQ-9 Reaper strike drones - $30 million each - seriously damaged. The weapon: a Fateh-110 ballistic… https://t.co/WgmB42pBU5 pic.twitter.com/3xYK4oHSHx — The Tectonic (@thetect0nic) May 30, 2026 News of the strike on ASAB, where the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing under U.S. Air Forces Central acts as a forward logistics, airlift, and combat-power gateway for the broader CENTCOM theater, comes as the US and Iran on Friday reached a tentative memorandum of understanding to extend a ceasefire by 60 days and restart nuclear negotiations. However, the proposal still requires final approval from President Trump, according to U.S. officials cited by Fox News. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also indicated yesterday that Washington is maintaining maximum leverage, saying sanctions relief will remain off the table unless Tehran reopens the Hormuz chokepoint, transfers highly enriched uranium, and accepts that it cannot maintain a nuclear program. Meanwhile, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth attended the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore overnight, where he said the US military is prepar...
Latest updates from 2.30pm (BST) start in Bristol Get in touch with Tanya to offer your thoughts Hello ! The World Cup is now less than two weeks away and England have just two games left to primp and preen their strategy. Out-thought and out-bowled by India in the first T20 at Chelmsford, they will want to do better today in Bristol – stand-in captain Charlie Dean pinpointed “leaving ourselves to...
Latest updates from 2.30pm (BST) start in Bristol Get in touch with Tanya to offer your thoughts Hello ! The World Cup is now less than two weeks away and England have just two games left to primp and preen their strategy. Out-thought and out-bowled by India in the first T20 at Chelmsford, they will want to do better today in Bristol – stand-in captain Charlie Dean pinpointed “leaving ourselves too much to do at the end,” as a flaw to fix. Play will start at 2.30pmBST, the toss and the teams at 2pm. Do join us. Continue reading...
Although NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang rarely lacks for big numbers, his latest one stopped Wall Street cold. Huang has been telling audiences that humanoid robots represent a $40 trillion total addressable market for labor automation, a figure so vast it dwarfs every consumer technology category that came before it. On the Animal Spirits podcast ... Jensen Huang’s $40 Trillion Robot Call ...
Although NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang rarely lacks for big numbers, his latest one stopped Wall Street cold. Huang has been telling audiences that humanoid robots represent a $40 trillion total addressable market for labor automation, a figure so vast it dwarfs every consumer technology category that came before it. On the Animal Spirits podcast ... Jensen Huang’s $40 Trillion Robot Call Echoes the 1913 Moving Assembly Line. The Pattern Says Buy the Picks and Shovels
Artificial intelligence has become the biggest technology story since the internet. Companies are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into AI infrastructure, software, and services, all chasing the same goal: higher productivity and bigger profits. But one lingering question has hung over the entire AI boom. Will the technology actually replace workers, or simply make ... Uber’s CFO Just Said ...
Artificial intelligence has become the biggest technology story since the internet. Companies are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into AI infrastructure, software, and services, all chasing the same goal: higher productivity and bigger profits. But one lingering question has hung over the entire AI boom. Will the technology actually replace workers, or simply make ... Uber’s CFO Just Said the Quiet Part Out Loud: AI’s Impact on Jobs Will Be Worse Than You Thought
On a recent episode of The Pomp Podcast featuring guest Jordi Visser, host Anthony Pompliano surfaced a notable statement from Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos: the bottom 50% of Americans should pay no federal tax. Pompliano paired that proposal with a data point and a pivot. The data point: that bottom-half cohort currently contributes about ... Jeff Bezos Says Bottom 50% of Americans Sho...
On a recent episode of The Pomp Podcast featuring guest Jordi Visser, host Anthony Pompliano surfaced a notable statement from Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos: the bottom 50% of Americans should pay no federal tax. Pompliano paired that proposal with a data point and a pivot. The data point: that bottom-half cohort currently contributes about ... Jeff Bezos Says Bottom 50% of Americans Should Pay No Tax. The Real Culprit Is Federal Spending