Yuwadee Singthong/iStock via Getty Images I have been bullish on Hercules Capital, Inc. ( HTGC ) for quite some time. The quality of fundamentals, NAV growth, and internal management aspects are the key items that constitute my bull case here. In essence, the way I think about HTGC is a durable income-producing machine that comes with long-term NAV stability. And it is important to distinguish bet...
Yuwadee Singthong/iStock via Getty Images I have been bullish on Hercules Capital, Inc. ( HTGC ) for quite some time. The quality of fundamentals, NAV growth, and internal management aspects are the key items that constitute my bull case here. In essence, the way I think about HTGC is a durable income-producing machine that comes with long-term NAV stability. And it is important to distinguish between NAV and price stability. Moments like the ones we've seen this year, when HTGC has become subject to SaaSapocalypse and thus seen their share price get punished, have to be used to build up position in this BDC, which usually trades at a high premium to market. This is what I recommended in February this year when HTGC was down by ~17%, which was way below the broader BDC index ( BIZD ). Since then, HTGC has produced almost 8% in total returns, outperforming the index by ~3%. Now HTGC has circulated its Q1 2026 earnings report . There are definitely many signs and indications that pinpoint bears being wrong. However, in all fairness, I also see several spots that might serve in favor of bears. Let's take a look at the earnings and revisit the case. Thesis Review All in all, HTGC delivered solid returns yet again. The change in NII per share and NAV per share totally does not correspond to the registered change in HTGC's share price. In Q1 2026, HTGC generated a record total investment income of $141.5 million and NII of $88.1 million, or $0.48 per share. In the previous quarter, the NII per share was exactly the same at $0.48 per share. The fact that HTGC managed to shield the NII despite headwinds from lower base rates and the expected (by the bears) defaults is definitely a success. If we look around at what other BDCs have reported in their NII per share figures, we will notice a clear pattern of NII levels going down. So far this has been relevant for almost all BDCs that have reported Q1 data, such as Oaktree Specialty Lending ( OCSL ), Sixth Street Specialty Lend...
jetcityimage/iStock Editorial via Getty Images The last article I wrote on The Walt Disney Company ( DIS ) mentioned that there was a transition underway. The new CEO, Josh D'Amaro, took part in writing the letter to shareholders on the fiscal second quarter earnings report. But most of the credit for the second quarter outperformance of expectations has to go to the outgoing CEO, Bob Iger. In fac...
jetcityimage/iStock Editorial via Getty Images The last article I wrote on The Walt Disney Company ( DIS ) mentioned that there was a transition underway. The new CEO, Josh D'Amaro, took part in writing the letter to shareholders on the fiscal second quarter earnings report. But most of the credit for the second quarter outperformance of expectations has to go to the outgoing CEO, Bob Iger. In fact, what outgoing CEO Bob Iger has done before he left could affect upcoming quarters for years to come. It is going to take a while for the new CEO to establish his own record. That is likely to be a slow process at a company like Disney because of the large company size. The prior choice to succeed Bob Iger was Bob Chapek . In that case, the covid challenges and the restart of the company after a total shutdown during covid of many major activities likely made the transition much more challenging. This time around, the situation looks much more stable with time to actually learn the company's ongoing operations. A lot of CEOs with far more experience than Bob Chapek had as bad or even a worse time than he had during the restart period after covid. Risks One of the most concerning risks is currently gasoline prices. This came up on the conference call in several areas. The next biggest risk discussed was inflation and the potential threat of a recession (which was also expressed as macro uncertainty relating to consumers). The whole topic was mentioned as so far not affecting the company as shown by forward bookings. However, management has developed a plan to offset any change in consumer behavior from these major concerns that analysts brought up. These risks overshadowed the following earnings topics. Earnings Picture Overall, the company is still f orecasting 12% revenue growth and 16% earnings growth for the fiscal year. This has been followed by more tentative double-digit growth for both next year. While the market reaction as shown by the stock price indicated a big...
Investors piling into the AI trade may need something less glamorous than another price target, product demo or promise about the future: a rule for when to stop trusting their favorite market narrative. That is the central argument from the investing blog Capital Blueprint, helmed by an independent market commentator using the name Jin, who says investors should build what Jin calls a "self-destr...
Investors piling into the AI trade may need something less glamorous than another price target, product demo or promise about the future: a rule for when to stop trusting their favorite market narrative. That is the central argument from the investing blog Capital Blueprint, helmed by an independent market commentator using the name Jin, who says investors should build what Jin calls a "self-destruct chip" into their AI framework — clear conditions that force them to stop trusting a favorite nar
pingingz/iStock via Getty Images The last week’s biggest winners are telling a cleaner story than the index. This is not just a speculative AI rally. It is not simply “tech up.” And it is not only a short squeeze in forgotten small caps. The pattern running through the strongest performers is more specific: the market is beginning to reward the physical stack behind AI. Memory. Storage. Semiconduc...
pingingz/iStock via Getty Images The last week’s biggest winners are telling a cleaner story than the index. This is not just a speculative AI rally. It is not simply “tech up.” And it is not only a short squeeze in forgotten small caps. The pattern running through the strongest performers is more specific: the market is beginning to reward the physical stack behind AI. Memory. Storage. Semiconductors. Optical networking. Power. Grid. Datacenter infrastructure. Compute monetization. In other words, the market is moving from AI as software narrative to AI as industrial buildout. That distinction matters. The first phase of the AI trade was about models and GPUs. The next phase is about everything required to keep those models running: electricity, memory bandwidth, storage, cooling, interconnects, substations, transmission, and reliable compute capacity. The tape is starting to price that. (Source: Finviz) The Cluster is the Signal The relationships are clustering. The winners are not randomly distributed across sectors. They are concentrated in names tied to data movement, memory, storage, semiconductors, power infrastructure, and compute-adjacent capacity. You see it in names like Micron ( MU ), Intel ( INTC ), Sandisk ( SNDK ), Seagate ( STX ), Western Digital ( WDC ), Marvell Technology ( MRVL ), Lumentum Holdings ( LITE ), GlobalFoundries ( GFS ), ON Semiconductor ( ON ), STMicroelectronics ( STM ), MaxLinear ( MXL ), AXT, Inc. ( AXTI ), CEVA, Inc. ( CEVA ). These are not all the same business, but they sit in the same emerging regime: AI demand increases pressure on the entire hardware stack. That is the key market message. The market is no longer only paying for the obvious AI front end. It is starting to pay for the second derivative: the bottlenecks that appear after the first wave of AI demand overwhelms available infrastructure. This is why “old tech” matters. Memory, storage, optical, networking, and legacy semis were easy to ignore when investors thought...
Most investors are familiar with the "Big Three" in the cloud computing industry: Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) , Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) , and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) . Combined, these corporations account for more than 60% of the market. But which one of these is the most attractive cloud stock? It's not an easy question to answer. However, let's look at one metric in their most recent ...
Most investors are familiar with the "Big Three" in the cloud computing industry: Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) , Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) , and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) . Combined, these corporations account for more than 60% of the market. But which one of these is the most attractive cloud stock? It's not an easy question to answer. However, let's look at one metric in their most recent quarterly updates that points toward Alphabet being the best of the bunch. Image source: The Motley Fool. In the first quarter, Alphabet's revenue came in at $109.9 billion, up 22% compared to the year-ago period. The company's advertising business still accounts for the lion's share of its top line, but the tech giant's cloud computing arm is growing much faster. Alphabet's cloud sales were $20 billion, up 63% from the prior-year quarter. How fast did Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) grow during the comparable period? Continue reading
Quantum computing stocks are surging across the board this afternoon, with all three pure-play names rallying in midday trading. The move has reignited a debate that’s defined the sector all year. Which quantum name has actually delivered for shareholders in 2026? The answer, at least through the May 5 close, is clear. IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) is ... Which Quantum Computing Stock Has Dominated in 2026: Io...
Quantum computing stocks are surging across the board this afternoon, with all three pure-play names rallying in midday trading. The move has reignited a debate that’s defined the sector all year. Which quantum name has actually delivered for shareholders in 2026? The answer, at least through the May 5 close, is clear. IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) is ... Which Quantum Computing Stock Has Dominated in 2026: IonQ, Rigetti, or D-Wave?
Palmer Square Capital Management表示，由于对软件行业资产进行减值处理，其私人信贷基金在第一季度的每股净资产值已削减10%。 根据该公司发布的季度报告，此次资产减值正值投资者对私人信贷市场健康状况的关注度持续上升之际。市场普遍担忧，人工智能技术的快速崛起正在颠覆传统软件公司的商业模式，进而影响相关贷款资产的质量。数据显示，截至3月31日，向软件企业发放的贷款约占Pal...
Bruin Capital Founder & CEO George Pyne discusses investing in ‘second level enablers,’ the state of sports and entertainment media, and why globalization is the future. He talks with Katie Greifeld and Romaine Bostick at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California. (Source: Bloomberg)
Bruin Capital Founder & CEO George Pyne discusses investing in ‘second level enablers,’ the state of sports and entertainment media, and why globalization is the future. He talks with Katie Greifeld and Romaine Bostick at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California. (Source: Bloomberg)
In late April 2026, Apple reported second‑quarter results showing revenue of US$111.18 billion and net income of US$29.58 billion, alongside a 4% dividend increase and board approval of a new US$100 billion share repurchase program. At the same time, Apple began early discussions with Intel and Samsung about diversifying chip production away from sole reliance on TSMC, while managing legal settlem...
In late April 2026, Apple reported second‑quarter results showing revenue of US$111.18 billion and net income of US$29.58 billion, alongside a 4% dividend increase and board approval of a new US$100 billion share repurchase program. At the same time, Apple began early discussions with Intel and Samsung about diversifying chip production away from sole reliance on TSMC, while managing legal settlements and supply constraints tied to rising AI-related memory demand. We’ll now examine how...
Image source: The Motley Fool. Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at 9 a.m. ET Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) began 2026 with year-over-year gains in revenue and adjusted EBITDA, while sustaining margin expansion initiatives across operations. Management reported growth across outpatient and surgical volumes, highlighted by the opening of several urgent care centers and an enterprise-wide digital transformation us...
Image source: The Motley Fool. Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at 9 a.m. ET Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) began 2026 with year-over-year gains in revenue and adjusted EBITDA, while sustaining margin expansion initiatives across operations. Management reported growth across outpatient and surgical volumes, highlighted by the opening of several urgent care centers and an enterprise-wide digital transformation using AI-enabled care platforms. Deployment is underway. Balance sheet discipline remained evident with improved net leverage, and available liquidity closed at $0.9 billion, supporting a return-driven capital allocation strategy. Company-wide operational enhancements through the IMPACT program remained on track for $55 million in cost savings this year, and near-full contractual coverage for 2026 was affirmed during the call. Continue reading