Barclays PLC is sounding out potential investors to help Shutterfly push out its looming debt pile, after talks with private credit lenders lost momentum. The Apollo Global Management Inc. -backed photo-sharing site’s offering would include bonds that may pay a low double-digit yield, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Apollo is expected to extend its unsecured debt holdings as part...
Barclays PLC is sounding out potential investors to help Shutterfly push out its looming debt pile, after talks with private credit lenders lost momentum. The Apollo Global Management Inc. -backed photo-sharing site’s offering would include bonds that may pay a low double-digit yield, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Apollo is expected to extend its unsecured debt holdings as part of a refinancing transaction, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. Representatives for Apollo and Barclays declined to comment, while messages left with the company weren’t returned. Discussions are fluid and no final decision has been made on the deal’s structure, the people said. The outreach comes as the company faces a rapid succession of sizable maturities on its more than $2.7 billion debt pile, starting next year. Banks, including Barclays, are stepping in after a private credit group led by General Atlantic had been in talks to provide debt for Shutterfly’s refinancing, Bloomberg reported in October. Read More: General Atlantic Leads $2 Billion Shutterfly Private Credit Deal The outlook for Shutterfly’s debt, spread across term loans, secured and unsecured bond obligations, has been improving following years of distress and a rocky history in the credit market. S&P Global Ratings raised its grade by one notch to B- in June, citing improved credit metrics and its ability to generate sufficient cash flow to service debt. The firm’s current debt stack is born from a multi-layered deal executed in 2023, which Moody’s Ratings labeled as a distressed exchange at the time. Its nearly $940 million loan due in 2027 is quoted at 98 cents on the dollar Thursday, up from 92.5 cents on March 2, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The loan traded for less than 70 cents in 2023.
The Federal Reserve still has an easing bias and may lower rates another 50 bps this year, says Vincent Reinhart, chief economist for BNY Investments, on this edition of Macro Matters in the FICC Focus podcast series. Reinhart joins host Ira Jersey, chief US interest rate strategist for Bloomberg Intelligence, to discuss BNY Investments’ view on the economy and central bank actions as uncertainty ...
The Federal Reserve still has an easing bias and may lower rates another 50 bps this year, says Vincent Reinhart, chief economist for BNY Investments, on this edition of Macro Matters in the FICC Focus podcast series. Reinhart joins host Ira Jersey, chief US interest rate strategist for Bloomberg Intelligence, to discuss BNY Investments’ view on the economy and central bank actions as uncertainty remains high around energy prices. The two discuss the economic backdrop and how the path of nominal
OpenAI told investors this week that its early push to dramatically increase computing resources gives it a key advantage over Anthropic PBC at a moment when its longtime rival is gaining ground and mulling a potential public offering. The ChatGPT maker said it has outpaced Anthropic by “rapidly and consistently” adding computing capacity to support wider adoption of its software, according to a n...
OpenAI told investors this week that its early push to dramatically increase computing resources gives it a key advantage over Anthropic PBC at a moment when its longtime rival is gaining ground and mulling a potential public offering. The ChatGPT maker said it has outpaced Anthropic by “rapidly and consistently” adding computing capacity to support wider adoption of its software, according to a note the company sent to some of its investors after Anthropic announced a more powerful AI model called Mythos . The ambitious infrastructure build-out, criticized by some as too costly, has enabled OpenAI to better keep pace with rising demand for AI products, the memo states. “That gap matters because compute is now a product constraint,” OpenAI said in the note, which was viewed by Bloomberg News. OpenAI declined to comment. Anthropic, founded by former OpenAI employees, has struggled at times in recent months to keep its services online amid a surge in demand fueled by new product offerings and public support over its standoff with the Pentagon. In its note to investors, OpenAI cites a report from analyst Ben Thompson, who authors the Stratechery blog, suggesting computing constraints may have impacted Anthropic’s decision to limit the release of Mythos to select partners. OpenAI said it had 1.9 gigawatts of computing capacity available in 2025, triple from the year prior. (A gigawatt is enough to power roughly 750,000 US homes.) The company expects that amount to grow to the “low-double-digit range” next year and reach roughly 30 gigawatts by 2030. By comparison, OpenAI estimates Anthropic ended 2025 with 1.4 gigawatts and will have between 7 and 8 gigawatts of capacity next year. “Even at the high end of that range, our ramp is materially ahead and widening,” OpenAI said in the memo. In recent months, Anthropic has increased investments in physical infrastructure for its AI services, including committing to spend $50 billion to build data centers in the US. More recen...
Transcat ( TRNS ) on Thursday said it has acquired SCM Metrology and Laboratories, a Costa Rica-based calibration services provider, for approximately $13 million in cash. The transaction, which closed on April 9, marks Transcat’s first operational presence in Latin America and is aimed at expanding its footprint in regulated, high-growth markets. SCM, which has operated for more than 20 years, se...
Transcat ( TRNS ) on Thursday said it has acquired SCM Metrology and Laboratories, a Costa Rica-based calibration services provider, for approximately $13 million in cash. The transaction, which closed on April 9, marks Transcat’s first operational presence in Latin America and is aimed at expanding its footprint in regulated, high-growth markets. SCM, which has operated for more than 20 years, serves multinational medical device and life sciences companies and is expected to strengthen Transcat’s service capabilities and customer reach in the region. Source: Press Release More on Transcat Transcat, Inc. (TRNS) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript Transcat appoints new CEO Transcat reaffirms high single-digit Q4 organic service growth outlook while advancing acquisition strategy Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Transcat Historical earnings data for Transcat
A US Postal Service (USPS) post office is near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 5, 2025. Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images The U.S. Postal Service , citing what it called a "severe financial crisis," on Thursday announced a proposed set of price hikes across its mail products, which would include a four-cent increase on First-Class Mail Forever stamp...
A US Postal Service (USPS) post office is near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 5, 2025. Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images The U.S. Postal Service , citing what it called a "severe financial crisis," on Thursday announced a proposed set of price hikes across its mail products, which would include a four-cent increase on First-Class Mail Forever stamps . The increases, if approved, would lead to a first-class stamp costing 82 cents, effective July 12. The agency's proposal to the Postal Regulatory Commission would increase costs to mail letters and postcards by 4.8% if approved. The proposal comes weeks after the Postal Service proposed instituting an 8% fuel surcharge for package and express mail deliveries to help offset rising fuel costs amid the Iran war on top of its dire financial situation. USPS said Thursday that there is a "severe financial crisis facing the Postal Service and continued rising operational costs." "The Postal Service is using all available tools, including available regulatory pricing authority, to ensure we can continue to fulfill our universal service obligation and serve the American public," the agency said in a press release . The agency also said it will suspend employer contributions to Federal Employees Retirement System annuities to be able to continue making payroll, paying suppliers and delivering the mail, according to The Associated Press . Postmaster General David Steiner in March told the House Oversight Committee that at current spending levels, USPS would run out of cash "in less than 12 months." Despite being a federal entity , the Postal Service does not receive tax dollars and instead relies on the sale of its products and services to fund operations. A sharp decline in mail volume has contributed to the financial crunch. The Postal Service has seen a its volume of mail decrease by more than 104 billion pieces of mail per year since 2006, which equates to around $81 billion a...
ChatGPT had reportedly been used to plan the attack that killed two and injured five at Florida State University last April. The family of one victim has said that they plan to sue OpenAI over the incident.
ChatGPT had reportedly been used to plan the attack that killed two and injured five at Florida State University last April. The family of one victim has said that they plan to sue OpenAI over the incident.
In this handout image provided by NASA, Orion snapped this high-resolution selfie in space with a camera mounted on one of its solar array wings during a routine external inspection of the spacecraft on the second day into the Artemis II mission on April 3rd, 2026. | Photo: NASA via Getty Images Humans haven’t set foot on the Moon since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Now, the space agency is ra...
In this handout image provided by NASA, Orion snapped this high-resolution selfie in space with a camera mounted on one of its solar array wings during a routine external inspection of the spacecraft on the second day into the Artemis II mission on April 3rd, 2026. | Photo: NASA via Getty Images Humans haven’t set foot on the Moon since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Now, the space agency is racing to get back to the lunar surface under the umbrella of its Artemis program — a nod to the Greek goddess and twin sister of Apollo, whose name was given to NASA’s first program to send humans to the Moon. The program has been plagued by years of delays , development mishaps , and billions of dollars in budget overruns , but the mission is unquestionably ambitious. The goal of Artemis is to create a sustainable presence near the Moon, instead of just sending humans to plant flags and make footprints. The agency also aims to send the first woman to the Moon through the Artemis program. Artemis I successfully completed its uncrewed mission in 2022. On April 2nd, 2026, Artemis II launched from Kennedy Space Center carrying four astronauts in its Orion capsule to travel around the Moon before returning to Earth in 10 days’ time. They’ll test out the hardware and systems that could soon see humans standing on the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years in the Artemis IV mission scheduled for 2028. How can you help NASA astronauts land on the Moon? The European Service Module is guiding Artemis II back to Earth. That’s no moon. OLED black levels from outer space. Artemis II crew is ‘homeward bound’ after swinging by the Moon. First photos of solar eclipse from Artemis II crew look almost too good to be real NASA’s record breaking lunar flyby. NASA’s Orion spacecraft has reached its maximum distance from Earth: 252,756 miles. Artemis II astronauts break a record, name a crater Artemis II crew sets the distance record. The Artemis II astronauts will set a new distance reco...
Investors in the $31 trillion Treasury market are going into a closely-watched report on consumer prices hedging against more losses in government bonds, as a fragile truce between the US and Iran takes hold. Traders beefed up options hedges targeting higher yields on 5-and 10-year Treasuries on Thursday, as they continued recalibrating portfolios for a feared inflationary rebound spurred by last ...
Investors in the $31 trillion Treasury market are going into a closely-watched report on consumer prices hedging against more losses in government bonds, as a fragile truce between the US and Iran takes hold. Traders beefed up options hedges targeting higher yields on 5-and 10-year Treasuries on Thursday, as they continued recalibrating portfolios for a feared inflationary rebound spurred by last month’s oil price surge. Data from a JPMorgan Chase & Co. investor survey released on Tuesday showed net long positions in the cash market at their least bullish in three weeks. The moves come after last week’s stronger than expected employment report partially soothed growth worries, renewing investors focus on the potential fallout from elevated energy costs — Brent crude prices are up around 60% for the year. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect CPI data, set to be released at 8:30 am ET on Friday, to show the biggest monthly increase since June 2022. “Markets are either going to be focused on inflation or employment and given that the latest employment was decent, inflation gets all the attention,” said Jack McIntyre , portfolio manager at Brandywine Global Investment Management. Treasury yields have swung sharply in recent weeks, as investors oscillated between worries over inflation and growth. After backing off from recent highs, the 10-year yield stood at around 4.27% on Thursday, compared to 3.94% at the end of February. Recent days have seen their share of hedges against lower yields as well. Wednesday’s Treasury options flows, for example, included heavy buying of weekly call options targeting a decline in the 10-year yield to around 4.15% by April 17. But while traders have backed off bets on the Federal Reserve delivering an interest-rate hike in 2026, they are only pricing in a roughly 30% chance of a quarter-point cut. That compares with two rate cuts that had been priced earlier this year. “We are positioned defensive here short-term ahead of tomorrow’s C...
Getty Images InvenTrust Properties ( IVT ) is my favorite retail real estate investment trust, and I wish I owned a larger position in it. The REIT is overwhelmingly (97% of the portfolio) concentrated in the Sunbelt region of the United States, and almost 90% of its centers are grocery-anchored. It has modest debt, very few debt maturities over the next few years, high occupancy, affluent surroun...
Getty Images InvenTrust Properties ( IVT ) is my favorite retail real estate investment trust, and I wish I owned a larger position in it. The REIT is overwhelmingly (97% of the portfolio) concentrated in the Sunbelt region of the United States, and almost 90% of its centers are grocery-anchored. It has modest debt, very few debt maturities over the next few years, high occupancy, affluent surrounding demographics, and best-in-class organic growth rates. In my last coverage of IVT in October 2025, I rated this Sunbelt retail dynamo as a "strong buy." The stock has performed quite well since then, appreciating about 13% while management recently hiked the dividend by over 5%. Seeking Alpha In my view, IVT is extraordinarily well-positioned to maintain its best-in-class fundamental performance in the face of a very favorable environment for high-quality retail real estate. That said, it appears that even in the best of environments, high-quality retail REITs like IVT still only growth bottom-line cash flow per share by the mid-single-digits. Likewise, the dividend is only likely to grow by mid-single-digits as well -- somewhere in the neighborhood of 4-6% annually. Back in October, IVT traded at a core FFO multiple (price/core FFO) of 15.2x and an AFFO multiple of about 18.6x. It yielded about 3.4%. Today, IVT trades at a core FFO multiple of 16.4x and an AFFO multiple of about 20x. It yields 3.15%. While I love this company and wish I owned a larger position in it, there are good and bad prices to pay for every stock. I would argue that 20x AFFO is too much to pay for a stock growing at a mid-single-digit pace. Therefore, IVT is a "hold" today. Update On InvenTrust Properties Overall, not much has changed with IVT since my October article, so I won't rehash every detail about the company. Instead, I'll try to just touch on some updates. The biggest update is that IVT sold almost all of its properties in Southern California in order to reinvest into other regions of t...
Simulations Plus press release ( SLP ): Q2 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.35 beats by $0.05 . Revenue of $24.3M (+8.3% Y/Y) beats by $2.64M . Fiscal 2026 Guidance Revenue $79M - $82M vs consensus of $80.42M Revenue growth 0 - 4% Software mix 57 - 62% Adjusted EBITDA margin 26 - 30% Adjusted diluted EPS $0.75 - $0.85 vs consensus of $0.54 Click to enlarge More on Simulations Plus Simulations Plus, Inc. (SLP) A...
Simulations Plus press release ( SLP ): Q2 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.35 beats by $0.05 . Revenue of $24.3M (+8.3% Y/Y) beats by $2.64M . Fiscal 2026 Guidance Revenue $79M - $82M vs consensus of $80.42M Revenue growth 0 - 4% Software mix 57 - 62% Adjusted EBITDA margin 26 - 30% Adjusted diluted EPS $0.75 - $0.85 vs consensus of $0.54 Click to enlarge More on Simulations Plus Simulations Plus, Inc. (SLP) Analyst/Investor Day - Slideshow Simulations Plus, Inc. (SLP) Analyst/Investor Day Transcript Simulations Plus Q2 2026 Earnings Preview Quant snapshot: Delta Air Lines leads top-rated names as Byrna Technologies, Simulations Plus lag Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Simulations Plus
hapabapa/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Amid a very choppy stock market in 2026, value-oriented investors have a clear mandate: to find companies that have lost value that are trading at excellent multiples, while showcasing themselves to beneficiaries rather than victims of AI. Block ( XYZ ), the Jack Dorsey-led parent company of Square and Cash App, has caught my eye as a very compelling fint...
hapabapa/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Amid a very choppy stock market in 2026, value-oriented investors have a clear mandate: to find companies that have lost value that are trading at excellent multiples, while showcasing themselves to beneficiaries rather than victims of AI. Block ( XYZ ), the Jack Dorsey-led parent company of Square and Cash App, has caught my eye as a very compelling fintech play amid a very public layoff of nearly half its staff in late February. Block shares have rebounded slightly on the news but still remain down ~25% from 2025 highs around $80. To me, this is a potential buying window into this stock. Data by YCharts I'm initiating Block with a "Buy" rating. In my view, we have a opportunistic window to buy this stock ahead of a significant plan to boost operating margins this year, at low valuation multiples amid expanding uptake for Cash App. Two businesses with ballooning gross profit Before we get into Block's financial expectations this year, let's first get a solid lay of the land for Block's two main operating segments, which are Cash App and Square. Block primarily generates revenue from a wide swath of fintech activities, ranging from merchant transactions from its Square POS systems and customers using Cash App's debit card to broader lending and "buy now pay later" (BNPL) services as well. Its primary top-line measure is gross profit, which effectively measures the company's take rate against its gross payments volume netted off against transactional expenses. As shown in the chart below, though Block was initially founded as Square (later developing Cash App, originally "Square Cash," later in 2013), it's actually Cash App that now generates the majority, or 61%, of the company's FY25 gross profit. Block gross profit contribution by segment (Block Q4 earnings deck) Cash App is a wide-ranging, digital neobank. Block's strategic vision for Cash App is to become the central banking platform for digital natives, functioning not...