As AI model providers increasingly move downstream, launching products and agents for specific enterprise applications and sectors like finance, one big question still remains: how will said AI agents be equipped with the proper context surrounding a task — who assigned it, which other stakeholders are involved, what data or discussions have taken place about it and how it should be done? This pra...
As AI model providers increasingly move downstream, launching products and agents for specific enterprise applications and sectors like finance, one big question still remains: how will said AI agents be equipped with the proper context surrounding a task — who assigned it, which other stakeholders are involved, what data or discussions have taken place about it and how it should be done? This practice of "context engineering" remains one of the great unsolved problems of the AI era. But SageOx , a Seattle-based startup founded by the veterans who built the original AWS EC2 and EBS infrastructure, believes it has the answer: a new systems layer it calls "agentic context infrastructure." Using a combination of small hardware recording devices and the existing applications enterprises already rely on — Slack, email, documents, files — and applying new, open-source frameworks and instructions atop it all, SageOX has developed a system by which enterprises can keep agents as "in-the-loop" and updated on the enterprise's tasks as their human employees are, and prevent them from "drifting" off their assigned tasks and the firm's larger goals. “We are capturing all of this context where it happens," said Ajit Banerjee, founder and CEO of SageOX and a former Hugging Face, Meta, Amazon and Apple engineer said in a recent video call interview with VentureBeat. "Product development is a team sport, and the context doesn’t just come from people typing on a keyboard. It happens in conversations.” By capturing the "why" behind the "what"—the intent that lives in Slack threads, whiteboarding sessions, and water-cooler conversations—SageOx aims to provide a "hivemind" that ensures agents don't drift and humans stay in flow. "The way people have to work is not old-school coordination, where I write down an issue and then it goes through a sequence. It has to be almost like playing jazz," Banerjee added. Today, the company emerged from stealth to announce its $15 million seed round l...
Central banks risk a global recession by raising interest rates in a bid to contain soaring energy costs, an analyst has said. Julian Howard, chief multi-asset investment strategist at GAM Investments, warned that rate-setters are now "on the verge of policy mistake territory" as expectations of rate rises grow. Howard said that the traditional response to rising energy costs — ramping up borrowin...
Central banks risk a global recession by raising interest rates in a bid to contain soaring energy costs, an analyst has said. Julian Howard, chief multi-asset investment strategist at GAM Investments, warned that rate-setters are now "on the verge of policy mistake territory" as expectations of rate rises grow. Howard said that the traditional response to rising energy costs — ramping up borrowing costs — is an error given the supply-side nature of the energy price shock. "The kind of interest rates that are needed to actually stop people filling up their car, to stop people flying, would be seriously high, very, very high — and recession-inducing," Howard said. watch now VIDEO 2:32 02:32 Central banks 'on verge of policy mistake territory': Strategist Squawk Box Europe The European Central Bank held interest rates steady last week , despite eurozone inflation coming in at 3% in April. The Bank of England also left rates unchanged as the U.K. grapples with higher oil prices. But investors are now pricing a June ECB rate hike, while BoE governor Andrew Bailey told CNBC that a protracted energy price shock could force the bank's hand on borrowing costs. The Reserve Bank of Australia has already moved, increasing rates by 25 basis points to 4.35% on Tuesday, after higher fuel prices pushed headline inflation in the country to 4.6% in March, from 3.7% the previous month. Other global monetary authorities could also follow suit. But speaking with CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Tuesday, Howard recalled the expression "Central banks can't print molecules of oil." "The immediate emergency in the eyes of the central banks is is the actual cost of energy," Howard said. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon Brent crude. While rate rises can help combat the second-round effects of inflation, such as wage demands, it would be a mistake for policymakers to try to tackle energy costs by increasing borrowing costs in the first instance, he added. "What tends to happen is that actually ...
Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, expects that productivity gains from artificial intelligence will probably result in more jobs being created than are lost, similar to the effects after China joined the World Trade Organization. (Source: Bloomberg)
Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, expects that productivity gains from artificial intelligence will probably result in more jobs being created than are lost, similar to the effects after China joined the World Trade Organization. (Source: Bloomberg)
Portuguese Finance Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento said his government plans to move ahead with a proposal to impose a tax on energy companies’ windfall profits, drawing on measures used during the 2022 fuel price crisis. “We will take the measures adopted in 2022, fine-tune and improve them and — in the near term — present a proposal to parliament,” Miranda Sarmento told reporters in Brussels i...
Portuguese Finance Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento said his government plans to move ahead with a proposal to impose a tax on energy companies’ windfall profits, drawing on measures used during the 2022 fuel price crisis. “We will take the measures adopted in 2022, fine-tune and improve them and — in the near term — present a proposal to parliament,” Miranda Sarmento told reporters in Brussels in comments broadcast by RTP3 television station. He said the European Commission has left it up to each member state to decide whether to implement such measures. Portuguese oil company Galp Energia SGPS SA fell as much as 4.3%. EDP SA dropped as much as 5.6% in Lisbon.
Getty Images Introduction The last time I covered Viper Energy ( VNOM ), I highlighted their ability to capitalize on the near-term Iran-driven oil boost, supported by their high-quality Permian assets, robust yield, and an attractive valuation despite recent secondary offering pressure. After a solid Q1 report and significant portfolio recycling activities, FANG remains a Buy, with a valuation th...
Getty Images Introduction The last time I covered Viper Energy ( VNOM ), I highlighted their ability to capitalize on the near-term Iran-driven oil boost, supported by their high-quality Permian assets, robust yield, and an attractive valuation despite recent secondary offering pressure. After a solid Q1 report and significant portfolio recycling activities, FANG remains a Buy, with a valuation that already seems to take into account high levels of risk, standing to benefit in the near future from the boost in prices provided by the Iran conflict. Portfolio Recycling Advances Viper Energy IR VNOM’s Q1 was solid overall, reporting an average production of 65,000 bo/d (130,711 boe/d) and a $15 million lease bonus, for a strong CAD of $204 million, meaning $1.05 per Class A share, a very strong level backed by the favorable macro environment. They also announced the acquisition of Riverbend for a mix of $337 million in cash and 3.7 million shares, adding 3,064 net acres split roughly evenly between the Midland and Delaware Basins, with significant overlapping with Viper's already existing acreage position, being operated by strong operators like Exxon ( XOM ), Diamondback ( FANG ), ConocoPhillips ( COP ), EOG Resources ( EOG ), and others - expected to close in early Q3 2026. Following this deal, VNOM expects to have ~$1.8 billion in pro forma net debt, for a solid pro forma leverage of ~1.1x at $55/b WTI. This is made possible by their repayment of ~$600 million in debt, backed by the $610 million in net proceeds from the deal where they sold their non-Permian assets to GRP Energy Capital LLC and Warwick Capital Partners LLP, providing a strong boost in capital. Viper Energy IR Financially, at the time of their Q1 report (before the deal), we can see a strong position with an even lower amount of debt now, while their remaining debt is due all the way in 2030 (4.9%, $500 million) and 2035 (5.7% $1.1 billion) following the repayment of their term loan and other outstan...
Madison Small-Cap Fund returned +0.10% in Q1 2026, underperforming the Russell 2000 Index with a return of 0.89% and the Russell 2500 Index with a return of 2.04%. During Q1 2026, the fund added ICU Medical (NASDAQ: ICUI ), Matador Resources (NYSE: MTDR ), Procore Technologies (NYSE: PCOR ), and SiteOne Landscape (NYSE: SITE ). The fund exited its holdings in Chord Energy (NASDAQ: CHRD ) and Globu...
Madison Small-Cap Fund returned +0.10% in Q1 2026, underperforming the Russell 2000 Index with a return of 0.89% and the Russell 2500 Index with a return of 2.04%. During Q1 2026, the fund added ICU Medical (NASDAQ: ICUI ), Matador Resources (NYSE: MTDR ), Procore Technologies (NYSE: PCOR ), and SiteOne Landscape (NYSE: SITE ). The fund exited its holdings in Chord Energy (NASDAQ: CHRD ) and Globus Medical (NYSE: GMED ) in Q1 2026. The fund expects continued volatility in 2026, favoring hard assets and selective opportunities in beaten-down software and housing-related names, while monitoring risks from energy pressures, consumer strain, private credit stress, and geopolitical uncertainty. Source . More on Madison Small Cap Fd Y
SAP SE is planning to expand access to its artificial intelligence solutions to some customers who haven’t moved their systems to its cloud services, people familiar with the matter said, a strategic shift prioritizing the newer technology as the race to keep customers away from rivals heats up. SAP’s management intends to announce the offering at its flagship Sapphire sales conference next week i...
SAP SE is planning to expand access to its artificial intelligence solutions to some customers who haven’t moved their systems to its cloud services, people familiar with the matter said, a strategic shift prioritizing the newer technology as the race to keep customers away from rivals heats up. SAP’s management intends to announce the offering at its flagship Sapphire sales conference next week in Orlando, Florida, some of the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential plans. The company will add AI tools for some clients who use its ECC product, one of SAP’s core on-premise platforms that offers financial planning, sales and human resources functions, the people said. Read more: SAP CEO Pushes AI Turnaround With New Teams, Use-Based Pricing Chief Executive Officer Christian Klein is reorienting Europe’s largest software company around AI, racing to get customers to adopt the new technology and to keep AI firms from taking market share. That urgency has forced SAP to rethink its previous policy — offering the AI tools exclusively to cloud customers and as a lure to “on-premise” clients who hadn’t yet moved their systems to the subscription service. Some clients and resellers have criticized the company’s early AI tools, and Klein has also said he plans to fundamentally change SAP’s pricing model and will build specialist teams to help customers adopt the tools faster. While the company’s strategic focus remains on offering cloud-first solutions, “SAP continues to support hybrid and on-premise scenarios,” a spokesman said in an email. “Customers can choose their own path flexibly, although new features and innovations are primarily developed in our cloud solutions.” He declined to give further details. Read more: SAP Users Question Value-for-Money of Firm’s AI Tools The German company’s share price has come under pressure in recent months on doubts about how traditional enterprise software businesses will withstand new tools created by AI compa...
C2 Blockchain ( CBLO ) on Tuesday said its treasury holdings of DOG, a Bitcoin-native digital asset, have surpassed 1B coins. The company added roughly 12.6M DOG coins since its last disclosure, reaching about 1.001B. DOG operates on the Bitcoin Runes protocol, enabling fungible assets on Bitcoin’s base layer. C2 Blockchain said its holdings are custodied with Kraken and are publicly verifiable on...
C2 Blockchain ( CBLO ) on Tuesday said its treasury holdings of DOG, a Bitcoin-native digital asset, have surpassed 1B coins. The company added roughly 12.6M DOG coins since its last disclosure, reaching about 1.001B. DOG operates on the Bitcoin Runes protocol, enabling fungible assets on Bitcoin’s base layer. C2 Blockchain said its holdings are custodied with Kraken and are publicly verifiable on the blockchain. Stock down -19.5% in early trading on Tuesday. More on C2 Blockchain, Inc. Financial information for C2 Blockchain, Inc.
Hiroshi Watanabe/DigitalVision via Getty Images Palantir Technologies Inc. ( PLTR ) is continuing to ride the wave of AI-related expansion in the enterprise and public markets. This once again led the software analytics company to report record results in terms of revenue, free cash flow, and margins for its first fiscal quarter. Due to Palantir’s tailwinds in the U.S. business, especially commerc...
Hiroshi Watanabe/DigitalVision via Getty Images Palantir Technologies Inc. ( PLTR ) is continuing to ride the wave of AI-related expansion in the enterprise and public markets. This once again led the software analytics company to report record results in terms of revenue, free cash flow, and margins for its first fiscal quarter. Due to Palantir’s tailwinds in the U.S. business, especially commercial, the software company materially raised its full-year revenue and free cash flow outlook, which proves that AI-driven growth momentum is not fizzling out: in fact, its top-line growth accelerated compared to Q4 ’25, which was already a record quarter for Palantir. While shares are expensive on a forward earnings basis, the FCF and operating income ramp is significant, which is why I am confirming Palantir's Strong Buy rating. Data by YCharts Previous rating In my last review of Palantir, I cited the company’s massive free cash flow upswing as a core reason to upgrade shares of the software analytics company to Strong Buy: AI-Driven Growth Acceleration . As expected, Palantir continued to see an acceleration of its commercial revenue top line in Q1 '26, driven by Foundry uptake, the company’s AI-driven platform, in the enterprise market. Palantir's Q1 earnings report was a massive "beat-and-raise" quarter, which continues to make shares interesting for AI growth investors, despite a high valuation factor. Yes, Palantir's growth is actually accelerating The software analytics company crushed estimates on both earnings and revenues on Thursday for its Q1: Palantir published non-GAAP EPS of $0.33, outmatching the consensus by $0.05. Palantir also generated $1.63B in total revenues in the first quarter, showing 85% year-over-year growth and a 15 PP growth acceleration compared to the fourth quarter. It was especially the U.S. commercial segment again that shined throughout the first quarter, with commercial revenues soaring 133% year-over-year, putting the business on a more...
Hiroshi Watanabe/DigitalVision via Getty Images Palantir Technologies Inc. ( PLTR ) is continuing to ride the wave of AI-related expansion in the enterprise and public markets. This once again led the software analytics company to report record results in terms of revenue, free cash flow, and margins for its first fiscal quarter. Due to Palantir’s tailwinds in the U.S. business, especially commerc...
Hiroshi Watanabe/DigitalVision via Getty Images Palantir Technologies Inc. ( PLTR ) is continuing to ride the wave of AI-related expansion in the enterprise and public markets. This once again led the software analytics company to report record results in terms of revenue, free cash flow, and margins for its first fiscal quarter. Due to Palantir’s tailwinds in the U.S. business, especially commercial, the software company materially raised its full-year revenue and free cash flow outlook, which proves that AI-driven growth momentum is not fizzling out: in fact, its top-line growth accelerated compared to Q4 ’25, which was already a record quarter for Palantir. While shares are expensive on a forward earnings basis, the FCF and operating income ramp is significant, which is why I am confirming Palantir's Strong Buy rating. Data by YCharts Previous rating In my last review of Palantir, I cited the company’s massive free cash flow upswing as a core reason to upgrade shares of the software analytics company to Strong Buy: AI-Driven Growth Acceleration . As expected, Palantir continued to see an acceleration of its commercial revenue top line in Q1 '26, driven by Foundry uptake, the company’s AI-driven platform, in the enterprise market. Palantir's Q1 earnings report was a massive "beat-and-raise" quarter, which continues to make shares interesting for AI growth investors, despite a high valuation factor. Yes, Palantir's growth is actually accelerating The software analytics company crushed estimates on both earnings and revenues on Thursday for its Q1: Palantir published non-GAAP EPS of $0.33, outmatching the consensus by $0.05. Palantir also generated $1.63B in total revenues in the first quarter, showing 85% year-over-year growth and a 15 PP growth acceleration compared to the fourth quarter. It was especially the U.S. commercial segment again that shined throughout the first quarter, with commercial revenues soaring 133% year-over-year, putting the business on a more...
Apple Explores Using Intel and Samsung to Build Main Device Chips in the US Bloomberg.com Apple Explores Using Intel and Samsung to Build Main Device Chips in the US Yahoo Finance Intel Is Rocketing Higher on Reports That It May Partner With Apple. Should You Buy the Stock After an Incredible 175% Run This Year? Yahoo Finance
Apple Explores Using Intel and Samsung to Build Main Device Chips in the US Bloomberg.com Apple Explores Using Intel and Samsung to Build Main Device Chips in the US Yahoo Finance Intel Is Rocketing Higher on Reports That It May Partner With Apple. Should You Buy the Stock After an Incredible 175% Run This Year? Yahoo Finance
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit China this week, less than 10 days ahead of a high-stakes visit to Beijing by US President Donald Trump. Araghchi was set to arrive on Wednesday and hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign ministry announced on Tuesday. The two top diplomats have held multiple rounds of calls since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran trigge...
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit China this week, less than 10 days ahead of a high-stakes visit to Beijing by US President Donald Trump. Araghchi was set to arrive on Wednesday and hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign ministry announced on Tuesday. The two top diplomats have held multiple rounds of calls since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered the current conflict in late February. Throughout, Wang has consistently called for a ceasefire...
JohnnyGreig/E+ via Getty Images The US–Iran conflict has entered its third month, and the prospects for a quick solution remain low after a fragile ceasefire briefly broke down in the Gulf on Monday. Oil and gas prices remain elevated, all but ensuring that inflation will continue to rise, or at least remain elevated, in the near term. An already-precarious US–Iran ceasefire looked close to collap...
JohnnyGreig/E+ via Getty Images The US–Iran conflict has entered its third month, and the prospects for a quick solution remain low after a fragile ceasefire briefly broke down in the Gulf on Monday. Oil and gas prices remain elevated, all but ensuring that inflation will continue to rise, or at least remain elevated, in the near term. An already-precarious US–Iran ceasefire looked close to collapsing after Iranian drones and missiles struck targets in the United Arab Emirates, and Washington said its forces had destroyed Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. The exchange underscored how quickly tensions were sliding back toward open confrontation. Tehran avoided directly claiming responsibility, but Iran’s foreign minister warned on X that both Washington and Abu Dhabi “should be wary of being dragged back into quagmire.” With energy infrastructure under threat and shipping lanes unsettled, the risk of prolonged disruption to oil supplies loomed large — setting the stage for higher prices that could feed into headline inflation the longer the turmoil persists. Energy costs seep into everything — transportation, manufacturing, even the price of getting food onto store shelves. When crude stays elevated, it acts like a slow‑burn fuse running straight into the broader consumer price index. The longer oil holds at the current higher levels, the more those cost increases stop looking temporary and start embedding themselves into the prices households face every day. Comparing the year‑over‑year percentage changes for headline consumer inflation and oil illustrates the point. Although many factors influence the Consumer Price Index (CPI), oil remains a key driver, as the chart below highlights. Analysis by RBC Wealth Management’s head of investment strategy estimates that a persistent rise in inflation triggered by an oil shock must last at least three months. “We’re not quite there in that window,” but “we [will be] soon,” predicts Frederique Carrier. The price of oi...
Kenneth Cheung/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images The only reason Meta Platforms ( META ) continues to be punished despite being the most profitable and fastest-growing operator in the Magnificent 7 (33% growth, 40%+ margins) is a disconnect in sentiment. The sentiment gap is driven by capex fear, resulting in a rare instance of mispricing in a blue chip platform stock, and that’s exactly why I lo...
Kenneth Cheung/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images The only reason Meta Platforms ( META ) continues to be punished despite being the most profitable and fastest-growing operator in the Magnificent 7 (33% growth, 40%+ margins) is a disconnect in sentiment. The sentiment gap is driven by capex fear, resulting in a rare instance of mispricing in a blue chip platform stock, and that’s exactly why I loaded up on META. Monetization Strength Is Doing the Heavy Lifting Let's start by looking at Meta's financials. As expected, it delivered solid numbers in Q1 2026, with revenues up 33% year-over-year to $56.3 billion and an operating profit of $22.9 billion (implying a 40.6% operating margin). However, there are some other interesting factors to note in this report. Meta Earnings Presentation Q1 2026 Firstly, the fact that advertising, the main driver of the company's revenue generation, grew at the same rate and accounted for roughly $55 billion of the revenue base shows that while newer segments are growing, Meta still depends on its ad engine heavily. Secondly, although ad impressions increased only 19%, which is still a very strong number for such a large player, it's worth noting the 12% rise in the average price per ad. Usually, in such a business case, if the ad impressions go up, then it implies that ad prices fall as there's more supply on the market. The simultaneous increase of these metrics implies that advertisers are now paying higher fees and probably enjoying better ROIs for the money spent on Meta's ads, a clear sign that the platform's targeting capabilities and ability to rank ads have been greatly improved due to the use of AI technologies. Moreover, regardless of increasing costs associated with AI, Meta's operating margin was virtually at the same level as compared to the previous year's figures, showing that Meta can handle additional expenses while maintaining margins. To conclude, although the financial performance for Q1 2026 was remarkable, net inc...
Kenneth Cheung/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images The only reason Meta Platforms ( META ) continues to be punished despite being the most profitable and fastest-growing operator in the Magnificent 7 (33% growth, 40%+ margins) is a disconnect in sentiment. The sentiment gap is driven by capex fear, resulting in a rare instance of mispricing in a blue chip platform stock, and that’s exactly why I lo...
Kenneth Cheung/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images The only reason Meta Platforms ( META ) continues to be punished despite being the most profitable and fastest-growing operator in the Magnificent 7 (33% growth, 40%+ margins) is a disconnect in sentiment. The sentiment gap is driven by capex fear, resulting in a rare instance of mispricing in a blue chip platform stock, and that’s exactly why I loaded up on META. Monetization Strength Is Doing the Heavy Lifting Let's start by looking at Meta's financials. As expected, it delivered solid numbers in Q1 2026, with revenues up 33% year-over-year to $56.3 billion and an operating profit of $22.9 billion (implying a 40.6% operating margin). However, there are some other interesting factors to note in this report. Meta Earnings Presentation Q1 2026 Firstly, the fact that advertising, the main driver of the company's revenue generation, grew at the same rate and accounted for roughly $55 billion of the revenue base shows that while newer segments are growing, Meta still depends on its ad engine heavily. Secondly, although ad impressions increased only 19%, which is still a very strong number for such a large player, it's worth noting the 12% rise in the average price per ad. Usually, in such a business case, if the ad impressions go up, then it implies that ad prices fall as there's more supply on the market. The simultaneous increase of these metrics implies that advertisers are now paying higher fees and probably enjoying better ROIs for the money spent on Meta's ads, a clear sign that the platform's targeting capabilities and ability to rank ads have been greatly improved due to the use of AI technologies. Moreover, regardless of increasing costs associated with AI, Meta's operating margin was virtually at the same level as compared to the previous year's figures, showing that Meta can handle additional expenses while maintaining margins. To conclude, although the financial performance for Q1 2026 was remarkable, net inc...
felixmizioznikov/iStock via Getty Images The last article I wrote on Diamondback Energy ( FANG ) mentioned that the company would now be pursuing an organic growth strategy (once again) as the number of targets in Texas diminishes. As the latest stockholders ' letter mentions, the outlook switched virtually overnight from an oversupply to a tremendous undersupply with skyrocketing commodity prices...
felixmizioznikov/iStock via Getty Images The last article I wrote on Diamondback Energy ( FANG ) mentioned that the company would now be pursuing an organic growth strategy (once again) as the number of targets in Texas diminishes. As the latest stockholders ' letter mentions, the outlook switched virtually overnight from an oversupply to a tremendous undersupply with skyrocketing commodity prices. Management responded by increasing guidance roughly 3%. Considering that this was a company that was very interested in optimizing operations from an acquisition both at the company level and at the Viper Energy ( VNOM ) level, that could be interpreted as a significant strategy shift or addition to what is already going on. Additionally, there was an impairment charge taken that probably would not affect the profitability outlook. But it was the effect of weak January and February commodity price levels on the relevant calculation. Understand that calculation happens no matter what any purchaser believes that the properties are worth in the long run. At current commodity price levels, nearly any purchase price within reason is likely to work out well. That is especially true since the now higher commodity prices are expected to be around for a while. That means that while the impairment charge was required, it can probably be ignored for analysis's sake in the current pricing environment. Cash Flow I have long been a fan of the cash flow statement. I, personally, believe that businesses should be run to generate cash. Hence, for me, the cash flow statement is very important. Diamondback Energy Free Cash Flow Calculation (Diamondback Energy Earnings Press Release First Quarter 2026) It is important to note (in my opinion) that working capital grew (likely) because commodity prices rose so much. As lower-priced receivables were paid, they were likely replaced by the same volumes (roughly) at a higher commodity price. It should also be noted that free cash flow is a non-GAA...