jetcityimage/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Monster Beverage ( MNST ) started off 2026 with a strong first quarter, posting record sales of $2.35B on 27% growth. Notably, demand remained robust across the company's energy drink portfolio. Operating income rose 28.1% to $730.0M, net income increased 28.6% to $569.5M, and non-GAAP EPS climbed to $0.58 from $0.45, which beat the consensus estimate...
jetcityimage/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Monster Beverage ( MNST ) started off 2026 with a strong first quarter, posting record sales of $2.35B on 27% growth. Notably, demand remained robust across the company's energy drink portfolio. Operating income rose 28.1% to $730.0M, net income increased 28.6% to $569.5M, and non-GAAP EPS climbed to $0.58 from $0.45, which beat the consensus estimate of $0.53. Once again, the international business was a key driver, with sales outside the U.S. up 44.9% and accounting for roughly 45% of total sales. The China and India markets were especially strong. The company noted that it also benefited from product innovation and marketing, including new launches and expanded distribution that helped support share gains. Monster's ( MNST ) gross margin rate fell to 55.0% of sales from 56.5% because of geographic mix, higher aluminum can costs, and increased freight and production costs, although pricing actions helped offset some of the pressure. RBC Capital Markets analyst Logan Reich called the report an exceptionally strong print. "While we were expecting topline strength, we did not expect this magnitude of upside. With growth like that it is understandable that investors are less concerned with some margin compression (as MNST delivers GP dollars)," updated Reich. The firm's view is that Monster Beverage ( MNST ) is not only seeing robust category growth globally but is also delivering improving relative performance as the international business shows no signs of slowing. The strong print, coupled with a healthy April sales figure, is anticipated to ease concerns of a macro-driven slowdown. RBC Capital boosted its price target to $88 and reiterated an Outperform rating. JPMorgan boosted its price target on Monster Beverage ( MNST ) to $83 after the stronger-than-expected top-line performance. "April gross sales trends are evidence of continued momentum," wrote analyst Andrea Texeira. Evercore ISI analyst Robert Ottenstein note...
China’s health authorities have tried to address public concern about the recent hantavirus outbreak by saying there was no cause for concern. The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday that the country had recorded no human infections from the strain of the virus linked to the current outbreak. It is thought to have its origins in the Andes and the CDC said there w...
China’s health authorities have tried to address public concern about the recent hantavirus outbreak by saying there was no cause for concern. The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday that the country had recorded no human infections from the strain of the virus linked to the current outbreak. It is thought to have its origins in the Andes and the CDC said there were no natural hosts for that particular variant in China. “Hantavirus infections generally do not...
EvgeniyShkolenko/iStock via Getty Images I previously rated Unity Software Inc. ( U ) as a Buy in February 2026, thanks to the improved margin of safety from the prior meltdown. In this article, I shall discuss why I am reiterating my Buy rating for the U stock here, thanks to their renewed gaming/ad-tech growth opportunities. U Breaks Out From Prior Growth Headwinds U 1Y Stock Price (Trading View...
EvgeniyShkolenko/iStock via Getty Images I previously rated Unity Software Inc. ( U ) as a Buy in February 2026, thanks to the improved margin of safety from the prior meltdown. In this article, I shall discuss why I am reiterating my Buy rating for the U stock here, thanks to their renewed gaming/ad-tech growth opportunities. U Breaks Out From Prior Growth Headwinds U 1Y Stock Price (Trading View) Since my last Buy rating, U has indeed double bottomed in February/March 2026 and then rallied by +43% compared to the wider market at +7.3%, with a similar recovery also observed in its ad-tech/gaming peers in varying degrees. Much of their tailwinds are naturally attributed to AI driving their renewed advertising growth prospects, with it underscoring the ad-tech sector's recent stock price outperformance: A.I. has fueled a digital ad boom because the technology can instantly sift through large amounts of information. It is helping Google and Meta serve users more engaging content, which increases the number of ads the companies can display. It is collecting deeper insights into users’ interests, which improves the companies’ ability to target ads. And it is reducing advertising costs, which frees up money for bigger campaigns. ( The New York Times ) 1. FQ1'26 Numbers Discussed U's Performance Metric (U) For reference, U recognizes Grow revenues "primarily through our monetization solutions and game publishing services. Our monetization solutions allow publishers, original equipment manufacturers, and mobile carriers to sell available advertising inventory on their mobile applications or hardware devices to advertisers for in-application or on-device placements." With FQ1'26 bringing forth strategic revenue - Grow expansion to $278.68M in FQ1'26 (+49% YoY, earnings spreadsheet), it is apparent that the company has been able to rapidly grow their advertising revenues, attributed to the prior migration of their legacy ad networks to Unity Vector in May 2025. Readers may w...
MF3d/iStock via Getty Images AI Power Games AI computing “power games” are in full swing, as Nvidia ( NVDA ) continues to aggressively use its cash to make sure it stays at the center of the AI infrastructure. Just a few days ago, it was announced that Nvidia made a deal with Corning ( GLW ) to ensure the fiber optic supply they’ll need for the data centers, recognizing that it is going to be a ma...
MF3d/iStock via Getty Images AI Power Games AI computing “power games” are in full swing, as Nvidia ( NVDA ) continues to aggressively use its cash to make sure it stays at the center of the AI infrastructure. Just a few days ago, it was announced that Nvidia made a deal with Corning ( GLW ) to ensure the fiber optic supply they’ll need for the data centers, recognizing that it is going to be a major bottleneck. Nvidia isn’t making just partnership deals as of late, but it is jumping directly into buying out chunks of companies it has an interest in: Nvidia received a warrant to purchase up to 15M shares of Corning at an exercise price of $180 a share, according to an 8-K filing . It also received a pre-funded warrant to purchase up to 3M shares at $0.0001 a share, for an aggregate price of $500M. Just two days after this announcement, we got another interesting piece of news: IREN Limited ( IREN ), which is growing and expanding rapidly into an AI cloud provider, has partnered with Nvidia on AI infrastructure . As a part of this deal, all of IREN’s future computing capacity is going to be built on Nvidia’s infrastructure, and to make sure no other competitor stands a chance to capture a piece of market share here, Nvidia has the right to buy up to 30 million regular shares of IREN at $70 per share for the next five years: Nvidia and IREN said they plan to support deployment of up to 5 gigawatts of Nvidia DSX-aligned AI infrastructure across IREN’s global data center pipeline over time. As part of the partnership, IREN granted Nvidia a five-year right to purchase up to 30 million ordinary shares at an exercise price of $70 per share, representing a potential investment of up to $2.1 billion, subject to certain conditions. Q3 FY2026 Separately, IREN has said it is going to buy Ingenostrum (Nostrum Group), which is a data center developer from Spain, and it is going to help IREN add 490 megawatts, boosting its power portfolio to 5 gigawatts. The game that all of the A...
It's arguably one of the least glamorous industries out there. Still, transportation is the heartbeat of any economy, particularly one as expansive as the U.S. This is also a diverse industry, comprising companies that move people (airlines, rideshare companies), commodities (railroads), packages (freight haulers), and more from place to place. Combine those factors, and it's not surprising that s...
It's arguably one of the least glamorous industries out there. Still, transportation is the heartbeat of any economy, particularly one as expansive as the U.S. This is also a diverse industry, comprising companies that move people (airlines, rideshare companies), commodities (railroads), packages (freight haulers), and more from place to place. Combine those factors, and it's not surprising that some pros see transportation stocks as reliable indicators of the broader economy's health. That's a starting point for becoming educated about the transportation sector, but investors taking the long view of this industry should remember a couple of key points. These transportation stocks could be solid bets for long-term investors. Image source: Getty Images Continue reading