vadishzainer The Asian Investor has upgraded Snowflake ( SNOW ) following a valuation compression in the SaaS sector. Similarly, Joseph Parrish moved Green Thumb Industries ( GTBIF ) to a buy rating based on its disciplined capital allocation and potential to consolidate weaker industry peers. On the bearish side, Marc Gerstein issued a Strong Sell rating for AppLovin ( APP ), citing concerns that...
vadishzainer The Asian Investor has upgraded Snowflake ( SNOW ) following a valuation compression in the SaaS sector. Similarly, Joseph Parrish moved Green Thumb Industries ( GTBIF ) to a buy rating based on its disciplined capital allocation and potential to consolidate weaker industry peers. On the bearish side, Marc Gerstein issued a Strong Sell rating for AppLovin ( APP ), citing concerns that its intrusive advertising approach will alienate users over time. Deep Value Investing also lowered Tesla ( TSLA ) to a hold, noting that the market is becoming less forgiving of narrative-driven stocks. Upgrades Snowflake ( SNOW ): Upgrade to Buy by The Asian Investor . The analyst views the recent SaaS sector sell-off as an overreaction, highlighting Snowflake’s robust free cash flow of $765M in Q4 and strong momentum in Cortex AI production adoption as key reasons for the contrarian opportunity. “Snowflake ( SNOW ) has recently been subjected to serious selling pressure as SaaS fears gripped the market and investors sold shares of software companies they deemed were at risk of AI-driven disruption. … The SaaS platform has seen a significant multiplier compression.” Green Thumb Industries ( GTBIF ): Upgrade to Buy by Joseph Parrish . Despite broader cannabis industry distress, the analyst highlights the company’s strong balance sheet with manageable $245M debt and resilient free cash flow of $214M as positioning it to consolidate as weaker peers falter. “With about $6 billion in debt maturing this year across the industry, operators with weak or negative operating cash flows will find themselves in a pinch. It's a chance for stable players like Green Thumb to pick up assets, grow market share, and ultimately move forward in a better position, with better margins.” Downgrades AppLovin ( APP ): Downgrade to Strong Sell by Marc Gerstein . While the company is currently performing well operationally and financially, the analyst warns that its intrusive advertising strategy t...
In early trading on Wednesday, shares of Datadog topped the list of the day's best performing components of the Nasdaq 100 index, trading up 2.9%. Year to date, Datadog has lost about 6.9% of its value. And the worst performing Nasdaq 100 component thus far on the day is Diamondback Energy, trading down 2.4%. Diamondback Energy is showing a gain of 15.8% looking at the year to date performance. Tw...
In early trading on Wednesday, shares of Datadog topped the list of the day's best performing components of the Nasdaq 100 index, trading up 2.9%. Year to date, Datadog has lost about 6.9% of its value. And the worst performing Nasdaq 100 component thus far on the day is Diamondback Energy, trading down 2.4%. Diamondback Energy is showing a gain of 15.8% looking at the year to date performance. Two other components making moves today are Constellation Energy, trading down 2.2%, and Strategy, trading up 2.7% on the day. VIDEO: Nasdaq 100 Movers: FANG, DDOG The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
alexsl/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis Pagaya Technologies Inc. ( PGY ) is one of the best GARP (Growth At Reasonable Price) opportunities out there. The earnings released in February relative to Q4 2025 confirm once again the impressive growth rates and high margins of the business model, and issued a solid guidance with a positive outlook in 2026. Despite the earnings beat and overall ...
alexsl/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis Pagaya Technologies Inc. ( PGY ) is one of the best GARP (Growth At Reasonable Price) opportunities out there. The earnings released in February relative to Q4 2025 confirm once again the impressive growth rates and high margins of the business model, and issued a solid guidance with a positive outlook in 2026. Despite the earnings beat and overall very positive release, the stock has yet failed to turn around from a negative YTD (presently at -40%) but is still positive on a 12-month basis with +20%. Data by YCharts The stock was dragged by overall AI and software weakness, with the Technology sector underperforming the broader market this year. PGY is a high beta and the massive disconnect between the stock price and the fundamentals make this GARP stock a Strong Buy. Business Overview: A Unique Lending Platform Pagaya is a fintech company that combines AI, data science and financial service, headquartered in New York with operations in the US and Israel. Pagaya is a highly innovative business and most of its products are somewhat unconventional in the banking world, but seem to gain significant adoption based on sales figures. Describing in a more practical way, the business model of Pagaya sounds complex at first glance (it describes itself as “B2B2C” on its website ). It focuses on connecting and matching lenders (bank, car loan providers, etc., that’s the first “B”) and borrowers (that’s the “C”) through its platform (the middle “B” part), significantly improving the underwriting process with the use of AI. The solutions of Pagaya are plugged into over 30 lending partners already with a focus on connecting them to borrowers of personal, auto, point-of-sale, credit card, and single-family rental loans. Q4 volume of applications reviewed reached $2.7 billion for the quarter and overall $3.5 trillion has been reviewed since inception with only $34 billion raised in 80 transactions since 2018. This means the Pagaya ...
The head of Hong Kong’s oldest university has vowed to inject more resources into humanities programmes, praising them as a source of creativity and imagination, even as some institutions outside the city cut courses amid the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Professor Xiang Zhang, president of the University of Hong Kong (HKU), made the pledge on Wednesday as the head of the institution’s med...
The head of Hong Kong’s oldest university has vowed to inject more resources into humanities programmes, praising them as a source of creativity and imagination, even as some institutions outside the city cut courses amid the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Professor Xiang Zhang, president of the University of Hong Kong (HKU), made the pledge on Wednesday as the head of the institution’s medical faculty revealed the school would ditch its target for 75 per cent of its intake to be candidates sitting the local university entrance exams, to ensure it could recruit the best students. Speaking at a spring reception with the media, Zhang said that mainland China’s Fudan University and some institutions in Australia were among those cutting resources for humanities programmes as they were not considered to be producing any direct economic value, with the focus instead shifting to science and engineering. Advertisement He pledged that HKU would do the opposite and increase its investment in the humanities. Zhang said the university would set up a dedicated “Humanities Fund” to encourage excellence, while also helping to address complex challenges facing the world. Advertisement “The humanities are extremely important. So we are probably in the minority. We might be the only university that stands out to say humanities are important,” he said.
MoMo Productions Forward Air ( FWRD ) dropped 14% at least partly amid a report that a strategic review won't result in a sale of the entire company. Two private equity firms, Clearlake Capital and Apollo Global ( APO ), are no longer bidding for the logistics company, according to a report from Investing.co m on Wednesday, which cited people familiar with the matter. “As disclosed on February 23,...
MoMo Productions Forward Air ( FWRD ) dropped 14% at least partly amid a report that a strategic review won't result in a sale of the entire company. Two private equity firms, Clearlake Capital and Apollo Global ( APO ), are no longer bidding for the logistics company, according to a report from Investing.co m on Wednesday, which cited people familiar with the matter. “As disclosed on February 23, 2026, the Company has made progress in its strategic review and we believe we are nearing the conclusion,” Forward Air said in a statement to Investing.com. “This is a comprehensive review to explore all available opportunities to maximize value, including the evaluation of a potential sale, merger or other strategic or financial transactions as well as a review of the components of our portfolio to ensure there is a long-term strategic fit. The Company will provide an update to the market when there is news to share.” Axios Pro reported in October that the Forward Air sales process had slowed amid unsatisfactory bids from private equity buyers. More on Forward Air Forward Air Corporation (FWRD) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Forward Air Corporation 2025 Q4 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation AI May Pressure Margins, But Forward Air Has Bigger Problems To Contend With Forward Air outlines 2026 growth strategy and tech transformation amid stable $307M EBITDA performance Forward Air GAAP EPS of -$0.91 misses by $0.43, revenue of $631.2M beats by $1.6M
In early trading on Wednesday, shares of Nike topped the list of the day's best performing Dow Jones Industrial Average components, trading up 2.0%. Year to date, Nike has lost about 10.2% of its value. And the worst performing Dow component thus far on the day is Procter & Gamble, trading down 1.7%. Procter & Gamble is showing a gain of 7.0% looking at the year to date performance. Two other comp...
In early trading on Wednesday, shares of Nike topped the list of the day's best performing Dow Jones Industrial Average components, trading up 2.0%. Year to date, Nike has lost about 10.2% of its value. And the worst performing Dow component thus far on the day is Procter & Gamble, trading down 1.7%. Procter & Gamble is showing a gain of 7.0% looking at the year to date performance. Two other components making moves today are Caterpillar, trading down 1.1%, and Salesforce, trading up 1.7% on the day. VIDEO: Dow Movers: PG, NKE The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images News Mastercard ( MA ) launched its Mastercard Crypto Partner Program to create a forum for dialogue and collaboration among crypto-native companies as the digital asset space continues to mature, the company said on Wednesday. Among the program's 85 partners are SoFi Technologies ( SOFI ), Global Payments' ( GPN ) worldpay, PayPal ( PYPL ), Circle Internet ( CRCL ...
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images News Mastercard ( MA ) launched its Mastercard Crypto Partner Program to create a forum for dialogue and collaboration among crypto-native companies as the digital asset space continues to mature, the company said on Wednesday. Among the program's 85 partners are SoFi Technologies ( SOFI ), Global Payments' ( GPN ) worldpay, PayPal ( PYPL ), Circle Internet ( CRCL ), Binance, BitGo ( BTGO ), crypto.com, Gemini ( GEMI ), Marqeta ( MQ ), Paxos, ripple, and Shift4 ( FOUR ), among others. Digital assets are moving from a system parallel with existing financial systems into real-world applications, such as cross-border remittances to B2B money transfers. "Enterprise and institutional use cases such as payouts, settlement, and cross‑border money movement are beginning to take hold, creating new opportunities to add value to how money moves globally," Mastercard said . Mastercard ( MA ) stock fell 1.0% in Wednesday morning trading against a backdrop of weakness in financial equities. Both Visa (VA) and Mastercard ( MA ) shares have declined since last summer amid fears that stablecoin technology and AI will reduce the need for traditional payment rails. More on Mastercard, Circle Internet Group, Inc., etc. PayPal: A Classic Value Trap Mastercard Incorporated (MA) Presents at Wolfe Research FinTech Forum Transcript Mastercard's Shift From Payments To Software Big banks in top losers; Circle Internet, Coinbase, SoFi among gainers - week's financials wrap CleanSpark continues to see highest short interest among crypto firms with over $2B market cap
Meta announced on Wednesday that it’s bringing more scam detection tools to Facebook, WhatsApp, and Messenger. The tech giant says the new features are designed to alert users before they engage with something suspicious, noting that scammers try to avoid detection and may not immediately use accounts maliciously. The company is testing new alerts on Facebook to warn users about suspicious friend ...
Meta announced on Wednesday that it’s bringing more scam detection tools to Facebook, WhatsApp, and Messenger. The tech giant says the new features are designed to alert users before they engage with something suspicious, noting that scammers try to avoid detection and may not immediately use accounts maliciously. The company is testing new alerts on Facebook to warn users about suspicious friend requests. When you send or receive a request from an account that shows signs of suspicious activity, such as having few mutual friends or listing a different country as its location, you’ll see an alert prompting you to review the request to help you decide whether to block or accept it. Over on WhatsApp, Meta is launching device linking warnings to prevent scammers from trying to trick users into linking their WhatsApp account to their device. “For example, they may pose as a talent competition asking you to cast your vote by going to a website and entering your phone number, followed by a device linking code on your WhatsApp,” Meta explained in a blog post. “They may also try to trick you into scanning a QR code under false pretenses, which would then link the scammer’s device to your account. To stay ahead of these tactics, WhatsApp will now alert you when behavioral signals suggest a linking request might be suspicious.” Image Credits:Meta These alerts will show users where the request is coming from and warn them that it could be a scam. As for Messenger, Meta is rolling out its advanced scam detection to more countries this month. The company didn’t specify which countries, but TechCrunch has reached out to learn more. With advanced scam detection, when a chat with a new contact contains patterns commonly associated with scams, such as suspicious job offers, Meta will warn users and ask whether they want to share recent chat messages for an AI scam review. If the tool detects a scam, Meta will encourage the user to block or report the suspicious account. The company ...
watch now VIDEO 9:22 09:22 Sen. Tim Scott on bipartisan housing bill, Powell criminal probe and Kevin Warsh nomination Squawk Box Sen. Tim Scott on Wednesday said he hopes the federal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell "goes away" so the Senate can take up the nomination of Kevin Warsh , President Donald Trump 's pick to replace the head of the U.S. central bank. "That proceedi...
watch now VIDEO 9:22 09:22 Sen. Tim Scott on bipartisan housing bill, Powell criminal probe and Kevin Warsh nomination Squawk Box Sen. Tim Scott on Wednesday said he hopes the federal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell "goes away" so the Senate can take up the nomination of Kevin Warsh , President Donald Trump 's pick to replace the head of the U.S. central bank. "That proceeding going away allows for us to get the Fed fully functioning, back on target," Scott, who chairs the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, said during an appearance on CNBC's " Squawk Box ." Read more CNBC politics coverage White House: ‘The U.S. Navy has not escorted a tanker or a vessel at this time’ Iran war: Israel’s president Herzog calls ‘cost’ for business the price for Middle East peace ‘Forever war’: Democrats rebut Trump’s assertion that Iran war nearing end Sen. Thom Tillis , R-N.C., has vowed to hold up any Fed nominees until a federal criminal investigation into Powell is resolved. Trump floated the idea of firing Powell last year and lashed out at the Fed chair for refusing to cut interest rates to the extent he desired. Powell has denied any wrongdoing and has said he is being targeted for refusing to accede to Trump's demands. Powell was expected to testify before Congress on Feb. 11, but missed that date because of the federal probe, Scott said. "I had a conversation with Jay about his testimony," Scott said. "I recommended that he come before the committee." "At this point he is more concerned about the criminal proceeding ," he said. "And I get that." Congress can compel an elected official to testify, but the Banking committee did not do that with Powell in this case. The Fed declined to comment on whether Powell refused to testify. Tillis is otherwise supportive of Warsh, who Trump nominated for the role in January, but doubled down on his blockade after meeting with the Fed nominee on Tuesday. "This is not about people, it's about proces...
In early trading on Wednesday, shares of Oracle topped the list of the day's best performing components of the S&P 500 index, trading up 13.3%. Year to date, Oracle has lost about 13.2% of its value. And the worst performing S&P 500 component thus far on the day is Newmont, trading down 3.9%. Newmont is showing a gain of 14.4% looking at the year to date performance. Two other components making mo...
In early trading on Wednesday, shares of Oracle topped the list of the day's best performing components of the S&P 500 index, trading up 13.3%. Year to date, Oracle has lost about 13.2% of its value. And the worst performing S&P 500 component thus far on the day is Newmont, trading down 3.9%. Newmont is showing a gain of 14.4% looking at the year to date performance. Two other components making moves today are Corning, trading down 3.8%, and CF Industries Holdings, trading up 4.3% on the day. VIDEO: S&P 500 Movers: NEM, ORCL The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
Daniel Grizelj/DigitalVision via Getty Images Here on Seeking Alpha, I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’ve been a long-term Hims & Hers ( HIMS ) bull . Since my first article in the fall of 2023, I’ve mostly rated the stock a 'Strong Buy', briefly downgrading shares a year ago when they started getting a little bit expensive. In that time, the market’s narrative for Hims has changed, but my th...
Daniel Grizelj/DigitalVision via Getty Images Here on Seeking Alpha, I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’ve been a long-term Hims & Hers ( HIMS ) bull . Since my first article in the fall of 2023, I’ve mostly rated the stock a 'Strong Buy', briefly downgrading shares a year ago when they started getting a little bit expensive. In that time, the market’s narrative for Hims has changed, but my thesis has not. The company operates a vertically integrated telehealth business that acquires and monetizes subscribers at an astonishing rate. Percentage sales growth rates have come down somewhat since I began talking about the company, but largely, the thesis has played out as expected; strong revenue growth and incredible customer stickiness at high gross margins has led to significant optionality for management and exploding adjusted EBITDA for investors. Over the last two years, Hims has gotten into the weight loss segment; primarily through compounded versions of FDA-approved GLP-1 drugs. Initially, Hims was allowed to skirt patent protections due to an FDA shortage rule, but with that window closing, HIMS eventually found itself in the crosshairs of Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) and the FDA. With weight loss making up roughly 30% of the company’s 2025 revenues and driving significant revenue growth, this presented a significant problem for the company. As such, shares have been punished massively over the last six months as court proceedings have begun playing out. Recently, I rated the stock a Strong Buy, arguing that the company’s core business, attractive economics, and continued growth meant that even without the weight loss segment, shares looked attractive. However, now, with Hims and Novo Nordisk flipping a contentious legal battle into a drug-selling partnership , I believe an even stronger buy thesis for the stock has taken shape. This lawsuit-turned-partnership also proves that when it comes to market positioning, Hims’ real value isn’t in compounding pharmacies or ...
David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, sees a “natural bias upwards in the stock market” amid what he calls an artificial flow of liquidity. (Source: Bloomberg)
David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, sees a “natural bias upwards in the stock market” amid what he calls an artificial flow of liquidity. (Source: Bloomberg)
WTI Extends Gains, Shrugs Off SPR Release Amid Crude Build, Dip In US Production Oil prices are higher this morning, shrugging off the well-telegraphed (and practically useless) SPR release. "Oil prices remain volatile and risk sentiment fragile and trading is on the headlines and rapidly evolving conflict in the Middle East," noted Neil Wilson, Saxo UK investor strategist. And while, the main dri...
WTI Extends Gains, Shrugs Off SPR Release Amid Crude Build, Dip In US Production Oil prices are higher this morning, shrugging off the well-telegraphed (and practically useless) SPR release. "Oil prices remain volatile and risk sentiment fragile and trading is on the headlines and rapidly evolving conflict in the Middle East," noted Neil Wilson, Saxo UK investor strategist. And while, the main drivers of crude prices remain more global, the domestic supply and demand situation remains noteworthy based on its impact on gasoline (pump) prices. API Crude -1.7mm (+1.1mm exp) Cushing Gasoline -1.8mm Distillates -2.3mm DOE Crude +3.82mm (+1.1mm exp) Cushing +117k Gasoline -3.65mm - biggest draw since Oct 2025 Distillates -1.35mm Crude stocks rose more than expected last week (third week in a row) while gasoline stocks saw sizable draws (for the fourth week in a row)... Source: Bloomberg For the third week in a row, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (which is now once again making headlines) saw no change... Source: Bloomberg US Crude production dipped modestly last week as the rig count stabilized... Source: Bloomberg Oil prices extended gains... "Markets are likely to grow increasingly fearful over the long-term implications with each day that passes," said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets. "Oil prices remain the main driver of market sentiment," he added. Finally, the International Energy Agency is proposing a release of 400 million barrels with Birol stating that "each member will release oil at a time frame appropriate for each member state" - a slippery way of saying the release won't come nearly as fast as it is required. Of course, what really matters (for Trump and the Republicans) is the price of gas, which at this rate is set to soar above $4/gallon imminently... ...and it may already be too late to avoid it. Tyler Durden Wed, 03/11/2026 - 10:39
Key Takeaways Oracle shares led the tech sector higher Wednesday as investors cheered the cloud giant's better-than-expected earnings and stronger outlook. Wedbush analysts said the results come as a "huge relief" for the tech sector and could help improve confidence in Oracle. Can Oracle's strong results breathe more confidence back into the AI trade? Oracle (ORCL) shares were up over 13% in rece...
Key Takeaways Oracle shares led the tech sector higher Wednesday as investors cheered the cloud giant's better-than-expected earnings and stronger outlook. Wedbush analysts said the results come as a "huge relief" for the tech sector and could help improve confidence in Oracle. Can Oracle's strong results breathe more confidence back into the AI trade? Oracle (ORCL) shares were up over 13% in recent trading, leading other tech stocks higher, a day after the company posted better-than-expected earnings and lifted its revenue outlook for fiscal 2027. Wedbush analysts said Oracle's results come as a "huge relief" for the tech sector, considering recent worries about the industry's ability to deliver on its hefty investments in AI infrastructure. Why This Matters to Investors Oracle's stock has taken a bigger hit than many other tech stocks in recent months amid concerns about its dependence on OpenAI, and its debt load as it finances a massive data center buildout. Wednesday's move higher could point to easing concerns that would benefit the sector broadly. Morgan Stanley analysts wrote that the latest results could "form a foundation for Oracle to begin rebuilding" trust from investors, after its revenue fell short of estimates in December. While ratings could still change following the report, all but one of the 12 analysts with current ratings tracked by Visible Alpha consider Oracle shares a "buy." Their average price target around $250 would imply more than 50% upside from Wednesday's levels. Even with today's gains, Oracle shares are still down about 13% since the start of the year and 50% from September's record highs.
Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) stock is 12.5% higher to trade at $168.09 at last check, after the software giant reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $1.79 on revenue $17.19 billion, both of which easily beat expectations. The company also raised its fiscal 2027 revenue outlook to $90 billion amid cloud strength, and unveiled plans to raise as much as $50 billion to expand its cloud infrastructure c...
Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) stock is 12.5% higher to trade at $168.09 at last check, after the software giant reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $1.79 on revenue $17.19 billion, both of which easily beat expectations. The company also raised its fiscal 2027 revenue outlook to $90 billion amid cloud strength, and unveiled plans to raise as much as $50 billion to expand its cloud infrastructure capacity. In response, J.P. Morgan Securities upgraded shares to "overweight" from neutral. Seven more brokerages issued price-target hikes, the highest coming from Bernstein to $319 from $312. Coming into today, 31 of 41 analysts carried a "strong buy" rating, while ORCL's 12-month consensus target price of $255.28 sits at a 52% premium to current levels. Oracle stock is looking to snap a three-day losing streak with its biggest single-day percentage gain since September. The shares are also on track to clear their 50-day moving average on a closing basis for the first time since late October. Over the last six months, shares have shed over 48%. Options traders are buying in. At last check, 345,000 calls and 160,000 puts have crossed the tape today, which is six times the volume typically seen at this point. The most popular contract is the weekly 3/13 170-strike call, with new positions being bought to open.