The global smartphone market declined in Q1 for the first time since 2023, according to IDC , as a memory chip shortage and the Iran war push up costs and weigh on demand. Apple ( AAPL ) and Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) were the only top-five brands to post growth, each increasing shipments by more than 3%, even as the overall market fell 4.1%. Rivals from Oppo to Xiaomi ( XIACY ) ( XIACF ) saw s...
The global smartphone market declined in Q1 for the first time since 2023, according to IDC , as a memory chip shortage and the Iran war push up costs and weigh on demand. Apple ( AAPL ) and Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) were the only top-five brands to post growth, each increasing shipments by more than 3%, even as the overall market fell 4.1%. Rivals from Oppo to Xiaomi ( XIACY ) ( XIACF ) saw shipments fall this year amid increased component and logistical costs. “We expect the first quarter slowdown to be a mild precursor for what lies ahead in 2026,” IDC analysts led by Nabila Popal said. “In several emerging markets, prices have risen by as much as 40–50%, significantly weighing on demand.” Apple ( AAPL ) saw strong momentum in China, with its iPhone 17 series driving roughly 30% growth in the world’s largest smartphone market. Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies and Honor Device also posted shipment gains, with Honor’s overseas expansion helping deliver a 24% year-over-year increase, IDC said. Still, manufacturers face mounting pressure from a memory chip crunch expected to persist until the second half of 2027, forcing companies to adjust product lineups and pricing strategies. Separate data from Counterpoint Research released last week also showed a 6% drop in Q1 shipments, though it ranked Apple ( AAPL ) ahead of Samsung ( SSNLF ) in market share. Both IDC and Counterpoint pointed to rising memory costs as the primary driver of the slowdown. Beyond rising component and material costs, smartphone makers are also facing higher shipping expenses due to the Middle East conflict, prompting many to rethink spending priorities, IDC’s Popal said. More on Apple, Samsung Electronics Why Apple Still Wins Here Apple Q2 Earnings Preview: Robust iPhone Demand Should Pay Off Now Apple: The Infrastructure Play On Local AI Adoption Samsung SDS shares surge 20% on KKR partnership and $820M bond purchase announcement Samsung hikes prices on smartphones and tablets as Apple ho...
jetcityimage Stellantis ( STLA ) reported an estimated 12% Y/Y increase in global vehicle shipments for the first quarter of 2026, reaching around 1.36M units. Region-wise, North America shipments rose about 17% Y/Y, while Enlarged Europe posted a 12% increase. Shipments also increased 11% in Middle East & Africa, 4% in South America and 15% in Asia Pacific. North America shipments rose by about 5...
jetcityimage Stellantis ( STLA ) reported an estimated 12% Y/Y increase in global vehicle shipments for the first quarter of 2026, reaching around 1.36M units. Region-wise, North America shipments rose about 17% Y/Y, while Enlarged Europe posted a 12% increase. Shipments also increased 11% in Middle East & Africa, 4% in South America and 15% in Asia Pacific. North America shipments rose by about 54,000 units, driven by strong demand for models including the Ram 1500 HEMI V8, refreshed Jeep Grand Wagoneer and the all-new Jeep Cherokee. In Europe, p assenger car volume growth was driven by new launches. Fiat, Opel/Vauxhall and Citroën brands were supported by Smart Car platform models such as the Citroën C3, C3 Aircross, Opel/Vauxhall Frontera and Fiat Grande Panda. More on Stellantis Stellantis: Early Signs Of Turnaround With Product Momentum And Regulatory Relief Stellantis Deserves An Upgrade Due To Early Signs Of A Rebound Stellantis N.V. (STLA) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Amazon expands its auto business by adding mainstream brands Stellantis weighs China's Leapmotor tech for future Opel models - report
Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE:BABA) has released Qwen3.6-Plus, a new version of its flagship AI model. The model focuses on agentic coding, multimodal AI, and more autonomous handling of complex engineering and visual tasks. Qwen3.6-Plus is built for production use in enterprise workflows and is integrated across Alibaba’s cloud ecosystem and developer tools. For you as an investor, this update sits...
Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE:BABA) has released Qwen3.6-Plus, a new version of its flagship AI model. The model focuses on agentic coding, multimodal AI, and more autonomous handling of complex engineering and visual tasks. Qwen3.6-Plus is built for production use in enterprise workflows and is integrated across Alibaba’s cloud ecosystem and developer tools. For you as an investor, this update sits at the intersection of Alibaba’s cloud services, AI tooling, and enterprise software push. The...
Aon plc ( AON ) Wednesday announced an additional $1B expansion of its proprietary Data Center Lifecycle Insurance Program (DCLP), increasing total program capacity to $3.5B and expanding the program to now include coverage for existing data centers coming off the first year of operations. With this enhancement, DCLP now provides continuity of coverage into long‑term operations, extending coordina...
Aon plc ( AON ) Wednesday announced an additional $1B expansion of its proprietary Data Center Lifecycle Insurance Program (DCLP), increasing total program capacity to $3.5B and expanding the program to now include coverage for existing data centers coming off the first year of operations. With this enhancement, DCLP now provides continuity of coverage into long‑term operations, extending coordinated support to existing, mission‑critical data center assets beyond construction and commissioning. Key features of the DCLP include: Cyber and technology E&O coverage up to $400M, including non-damage cyber DSU and ransomware protection; third-party liability up to $200M globally, including $100M in U.S. excess capacity; project cargo and transport insurance up to $500M. More on Aon Aon Stock: Setup Has Improved But Not Enough For A Buy (Rating Upgrade) Aon Earnings Review: Solid Results Underscore Long-Term Investment Case Aon plc (AON) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Aon raises quarterly dividend by 10.1% to $0.82 a share Aon tests stablecoin payment for insurance premiums with Coinbase and Paxos
Stellantis is expanding its SUSTAINera circular economy program with a third vehicle dismantling center focused on reuse and recycling of end of life parts. The company is co sponsoring the U.S. Department of Energy's EcoCAR Innovation Challenge with General Motors, supplying Jeep Cherokee hybrid platforms to student teams. Amazon's online new car sales platform is adding Stellantis brands, includ...
Stellantis is expanding its SUSTAINera circular economy program with a third vehicle dismantling center focused on reuse and recycling of end of life parts. The company is co sponsoring the U.S. Department of Energy's EcoCAR Innovation Challenge with General Motors, supplying Jeep Cherokee hybrid platforms to student teams. Amazon's online new car sales platform is adding Stellantis brands, including Jeep, to its growing digital auto retail offering. At Opel's R&D headquarters, Stellantis...
Donny DBM/iStock via Getty Images In the first quarter of 2026, the Blue Tower Global Value composite gained 1.62% net (1.89% gross). We outperformed most global equity market benchmarks in what has been a very volatile quarter. Please refer to your individual account statements as they will differ slightly from the composite. In this letter, I will walk through our approach in dealing with the co...
Donny DBM/iStock via Getty Images In the first quarter of 2026, the Blue Tower Global Value composite gained 1.62% net (1.89% gross). We outperformed most global equity market benchmarks in what has been a very volatile quarter. Please refer to your individual account statements as they will differ slightly from the composite. In this letter, I will walk through our approach in dealing with the consequences of the current conflict in the Persian Gulf, how it affects commodity markets in the short and long-term, and why I believe the consensus is still underestimating the duration and depth of the disruptions. We made several changes to our portfolio in March as we continue to adapt to the changing circumstances. 2026 Gulf War: Conflict of Historic Proportions Beginning in late January 2026, the United States government initiated what observers described as the largest military buildup in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq War. During the negotiations preceding the current conflict, some reported Iranian proposals included reiterating their opposition to developing nuclear weapons, shipping enriched uranium out of the country under international arrangements, accepting expanded IAEA inspections, and limiting uranium enrichment to levels compatible with civilian nuclear power (around 3.67%). Iran, however, resisted demands to abandon regional allies such as Hezbollah and Ansarallah, to dismantle its enrichment infrastructure (requiring it to rely entirely on imported nuclear fuel), or to accept broad limits on its missile and drone programs. On February 28th, before a further round of talks that had been planned for March 2nd, the United States and Israel launched a large-scale air and missile strike on Iran that severely damaged key elements of its conventional navy and air force and killed the Supreme Leader and several senior officials, along with many Iranian civilians. Iran struck back more forcefully than predicted by US military planners, in part due to the mo...
Orhan Turan/iStock via Getty Images The investment thesis around CGI Inc. ( GIB ) revolves around a quietly efficient technology services business whose combination of a relevant base of recurring revenue in managed services, plus good cash generation and disciplined capital allocation to support growth. However, due to its "lack of hype," especially in the midst of the AI era, shares have struggl...
Orhan Turan/iStock via Getty Images The investment thesis around CGI Inc. ( GIB ) revolves around a quietly efficient technology services business whose combination of a relevant base of recurring revenue in managed services, plus good cash generation and disciplined capital allocation to support growth. However, due to its "lack of hype," especially in the midst of the AI era, shares have struggled to gain traction in an environment where the market has clearly prioritized tech companies with narratives linked to acceleration. Seeking Alpha While CGI trades at an attractive earnings yield and continues to generate returns well above its cost of capital, the lack of acceleration, especially in organic growth, and the decline in ROIC suggest that market skepticism is not entirely unfounded. Although leading indicators point to healthy demand (no deterioration), there's little evidence of this translating into revenue generation. I maintain a more cautious stance on the stock—waiting for clearer signs of a sustainable inflection, with 2Q26 potentially marking the first step in that direction. CGI: A Quietly Efficient Business At first glance, the Montreal-based CGI Inc. is a "bland" case, even though it has a very efficient business. Perhaps one way to describe CGI Inc. would be a smaller, more disciplined version of Accenture ( ACN ). The company basically makes money selling technology services to clients like the government and businesses. Its main service lines are basically (1) IT consulting (projects), where it implements systems and brings a more cyclical revenue stream to CGI; (2) managed services, where it offers continuous management of customer systems, bringing recurring revenues based on long contracts; and (3) IP/proprietary solutions involving some of its specific software. The image below depicts CGI's revenue mix, where it can be seen that 46% comes from the more "stable" side of its business. CGI's IR Why the Market Has Moved on From GIB From a broad...
Richard Drury Prediction market volumes are surging in 2026 and are on track to more than quadruple this year, potentially reaching $1T within four years, CNBC reported, citing Bernstein. Despite rising regulatory scrutiny, Bernstein said it is unlikely to derail long-term growth. Volumes have already surged in the first few months of this year, the investment bank wrote in a report on Tuesday, wi...
Richard Drury Prediction market volumes are surging in 2026 and are on track to more than quadruple this year, potentially reaching $1T within four years, CNBC reported, citing Bernstein. Despite rising regulatory scrutiny, Bernstein said it is unlikely to derail long-term growth. Volumes have already surged in the first few months of this year, the investment bank wrote in a report on Tuesday, with Kalshi and Polymarket, the two largest platforms, seeing about $60B in market volume year-to-date — more than the $51B in total prediction market volume in all of 2025. Robinhood ( HOOD ) stock rose as much as 10%, and Coinbase ( COIN ) added 6% following the reports. Growth rates for the platforms rival the artificial intelligence boom, the report said, citing Bank of America. Analyst Julie Hoover, in a note last week, called Kalshi one of the “fastest growing non-AI companies” in the U.S. Weekly trading volume on Kalshi — which controls more than 90% of the U.S. prediction market — has surged to more than $3 billion today from about $100 million a year ago, she wrote. Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani now estimates that total market volumes in 2026 will reach $240 billion, a 370% increase compared to last year. At a compound annual growth rate of roughly 80% between 2025 and 2030, Chhugani sees prediction market trading volume of $1 trillion a year by the start of the next decade. Robinhood ( HOOD ) and Coinbase ( COIN ) began offering Kalshi's prediction markets to their users in March 2025 and this January, respectively. “Despite ongoing state-level legal challenges, we expect platforms like Kalshi, Polymarket, and public proxies (HOOD, COIN) to benefit from increasing regulatory clarity and growing alignment with federal regulators (SEC, CFTC) — a key driver of market legitimacy and mainstream adoption,” Chhugani wrote. More on Kalshi Inc, Robinhood Markets, etc. Robinhood: 'Buy' The Dip While Assets Keep Growing Robinhood: Best In Class Innovation And Profit Engine...