Hong Kong authorities have arrested 27 people and seized more than 21,000 litres of illicit fuel worth about HK$3.3 million (US$421,200) in a crackdown on triad-linked illegal fuel sales amid soaring global oil prices. Customs, police and fire services on Wednesday said they had jointly tackled 19 cases between April 13 and 30 in an operation code-named “Knockout”, during which 15 vehicles and a s...
Hong Kong authorities have arrested 27 people and seized more than 21,000 litres of illicit fuel worth about HK$3.3 million (US$421,200) in a crackdown on triad-linked illegal fuel sales amid soaring global oil prices. Customs, police and fire services on Wednesday said they had jointly tackled 19 cases between April 13 and 30 in an operation code-named “Knockout”, during which 15 vehicles and a speedboat used to transport the fuel were also seized. The investigation found that the vehicles were...
Chair Tim Martin says pub chain could miss expectations, in latest sign UK hospitality sector buckling under higher bills Business live – latest updates The boss of JD Wetherspoon has said the pub chain could miss profit expectations because of rising costs, in the latest sign the UK hospitality industry is buckling under the pressure of higher energy, food, labour and tax bills. The company’s cha...
Chair Tim Martin says pub chain could miss expectations, in latest sign UK hospitality sector buckling under higher bills Business live – latest updates The boss of JD Wetherspoon has said the pub chain could miss profit expectations because of rising costs, in the latest sign the UK hospitality industry is buckling under the pressure of higher energy, food, labour and tax bills. The company’s chair, Tim Martin, told investors on Wednesday: “As many hospitality operators, including Wetherspoon, have reported, there have been substantial increases in costs.” Continue reading...
olegda88/iStock via Getty Images Investment thesis Note: This is an update to my previous article . Cal-Maine Foods ( CALM ) is experiencing a cyclical downturn marked by historically low egg prices, which have squeezed its margins. While near-term earnings remain uncertain, the company is using this period to strengthen its business through disciplined capital allocation and a transition to more ...
olegda88/iStock via Getty Images Investment thesis Note: This is an update to my previous article . Cal-Maine Foods ( CALM ) is experiencing a cyclical downturn marked by historically low egg prices, which have squeezed its margins. While near-term earnings remain uncertain, the company is using this period to strengthen its business through disciplined capital allocation and a transition to more stable revenue streams. In my view, this positions the company to emerge from the cycle with improved earnings quality. At current levels, I see an attractive risk/reward ratio for long-term investors willing to look beyond short-term volatility. Egg prices have dropped It's been over a year since I last covered Cal-Maine. After that article, the stock moved up more than 30%, but what followed was also part of the original risk in the thesis, and one I had already factored in, related to growth and margins. For this year, I think sales should normalize over the rest of the year and I don't think growth will be 80% like in the first two quarters. As for margins, I'll also use the average of 10% since 2011. At that time, the company was printing net margins of 20-30%, but this was due to egg prices being at record highs, around $7-8 USD per dozen. As I mentioned , this was due to the bird flu, which affected supply and drove up prices, but now that things have normalized, prices have fallen. And not just fallen, but they've dropped 93% in the last year! Eggs US (USD/Dozen) (Trading Economics, USDA) What we’re seeing now is the opposite extreme, and prices are at a 10-year low, around $0.19 USD/dozen . This, of course, ends up affecting egg producers and what they can charge consumers. This is why margins have fallen to historically low levels, around 7-8% in the last quarter. Now, the key is to understand what the business has been doing during this very difficult period and whether this situation is temporary and reversible. Data by YCharts Capital allocation during the down...
Dine Brands Global press release ( DIN ): Q1 Non-GAAP EPS of $1.07 beats by $0.07 . Revenue of $225.2M (+4.8% Y/Y) beats by $3.12M . Consolidated adjusted EBITDA 2 for the first quarter of 2026 was $50.8 million compared to $54.7 million for the first quarter of 2025. Cash flows provided by operating activities for the first quarter of 2026 were $7.5 million. This compares to cash flows provided b...
Dine Brands Global press release ( DIN ): Q1 Non-GAAP EPS of $1.07 beats by $0.07 . Revenue of $225.2M (+4.8% Y/Y) beats by $3.12M . Consolidated adjusted EBITDA 2 for the first quarter of 2026 was $50.8 million compared to $54.7 million for the first quarter of 2025. Cash flows provided by operating activities for the first quarter of 2026 were $7.5 million. This compares to cash flows provided by operating activities of $16.1 million for the first quarter of 2025. Adjusted free cash flow 3 was negative $3.0 million for the first quarter of 2026. This compares to adjusted free cash flow of $14.6 million for the first quarter of 2025. The Company's effective tax rate was 27.3% for the three months ended March 29, 2026, as compared to 35.9% for the three months ended March 30, 2025. Financial Performance Guidance for 2026 The Company reiterated its fiscal 2026 guidance items: Applebee’s domestic system-wide comparable same-restaurant sales performance is expected to range between 0% and 2%. IHOP’s domestic system-wide comparable same-restaurant sales performance is expected to range between 0% and 2%. Domestic development activity for Applebee’s is expected to be between 15 and 5 net fewer restaurants. Domestic development activity for IHOP is expected to be between 10 net fewer restaurants and 10 net new openings. Our domestic development activity includes at least 50 domestic dual-branded openings, primarily driven by franchisees. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA is expected to range between approximately $220 million and $230 million. Our outlook reflects the positive trends in our franchise business and modest improvement in our company-owned restaurants which is based on our existing portfolio. G&A expenses are expected to range between approximately $205 million and $210 million. This total includes non-cash stock-based compensation expense and depreciation of approximately $35 million. Capital expenditures are expected to range between approximately $25 million an...
ProShares Ultra Bitcoin ETF (NYSEARCA:BITU) gives traders 2x daily exposure to the Bloomberg Bitcoin Index through swaps, with a 0.98% expense ratio. The appeal is simple: when Bitcoin moves, BITU moves twice as hard, without the hassle of holding crypto directly. The structure is complex, and the gap between what holders expect and what they ... BITU’s Decay Problem: Why This Bitcoin ETF Lost 31%...
ProShares Ultra Bitcoin ETF (NYSEARCA:BITU) gives traders 2x daily exposure to the Bloomberg Bitcoin Index through swaps, with a 0.98% expense ratio. The appeal is simple: when Bitcoin moves, BITU moves twice as hard, without the hassle of holding crypto directly. The structure is complex, and the gap between what holders expect and what they ... BITU’s Decay Problem: Why This Bitcoin ETF Lost 31% While Bitcoin Fell Just 10%
EyePoint Pharmaceuticals press release ( EYPT ): Q1 GAAP EPS of -$0.99 misses by $0.19 . Revenue of $0.7M (-97.1% Y/Y) beats by $0.35M . We expect the cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities as of March 31, 2026, will enable us to fund operations into the fourth quarter of 2027 beyond key milestones for the Phase 3 wet AMD program in 2026. Shares -8% PM.
EyePoint Pharmaceuticals press release ( EYPT ): Q1 GAAP EPS of -$0.99 misses by $0.19 . Revenue of $0.7M (-97.1% Y/Y) beats by $0.35M . We expect the cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities as of March 31, 2026, will enable us to fund operations into the fourth quarter of 2027 beyond key milestones for the Phase 3 wet AMD program in 2026. Shares -8% PM.
Performance Food Group press release ( PFGC ): Q3 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.80 beats by $0.02 . Revenue of $16.3B (+6.5% Y/Y) beats by $130M . Total case volume increased 4.4% Total Independent Foodservice case volume increased 7.3% Organic Independent Foodservice case volume increased 6.5% Net sales increased 6.4% to $16.3 billion Gross profit improved 6.4% to $1.9 billion Net income decreased 28.5% to ...
Performance Food Group press release ( PFGC ): Q3 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.80 beats by $0.02 . Revenue of $16.3B (+6.5% Y/Y) beats by $130M . Total case volume increased 4.4% Total Independent Foodservice case volume increased 7.3% Organic Independent Foodservice case volume increased 6.5% Net sales increased 6.4% to $16.3 billion Gross profit improved 6.4% to $1.9 billion Net income decreased 28.5% to $41.7 million Adjusted EBITDA increased 6.6% to $410.6 million1 Diluted Earnings Per Share (“EPS”) decreased 27.0% to $0.27 Adjusted Diluted EPS increased 1.3% to $0.801 More on Performance Food Group Performance Food Group: Shares Are Finally Tasty (Rating Upgrade) Performance Food Group Q3 2026 Earnings Preview Food service companies are expected to benefit on the bottom line from agentic AI Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Performance Food Group Historical earnings data for Performance Food Group
The active bond ETF wrapper is about to absorb a structural shift. the PIMCO Active Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:BOND) sits near $92 after a 6% total return over the past year, while Fidelity’s Fidelity Total Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:FBND) and BlackRock’s iShares High Yield Muni Active ETF (BATS:HIMU) round out a trio positioned to catch fund flows ... 100 Mutual Fund Conversions Are Coming: Why BOND and FBND Cou...
The active bond ETF wrapper is about to absorb a structural shift. the PIMCO Active Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:BOND) sits near $92 after a 6% total return over the past year, while Fidelity’s Fidelity Total Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:FBND) and BlackRock’s iShares High Yield Muni Active ETF (BATS:HIMU) round out a trio positioned to catch fund flows ... 100 Mutual Fund Conversions Are Coming: Why BOND and FBND Could See Massive Inflows This Year
Nico De Pasquale Photography/DigitalVision via Getty Images Earlier this week, I shared an article highlighting all my biggest losers, with the worst costing me 97.7% of my capital. There are some useful lessons there, and I recommend that you read it first before going into this article. Today, I will do the same exercise but discuss my biggest winners and their lessons, which can be applied to t...
Nico De Pasquale Photography/DigitalVision via Getty Images Earlier this week, I shared an article highlighting all my biggest losers, with the worst costing me 97.7% of my capital. There are some useful lessons there, and I recommend that you read it first before going into this article. Today, I will do the same exercise but discuss my biggest winners and their lessons, which can be applied to today's investment landscape. Applying these lessons, I will also provide examples of potential opportunities to consider for your portfolio today. Class A Mall REITs Mall REITs were deeply out of favor going into early 2020, and we invested heavily in Macerich ( MAC ) and Simon Property Group ( SPG ). In both cases, we more than tripled our money in a fairly short period of time. The reason why these investments worked out so well is simple. The market was excessively pessimistic on these REITs and failed to recognize that they were dealing with temporary, not structural, headwinds. Already prior to the pandemic, mall REITs were deeply out of favor due to the perception that e-commerce would keep stealing market share and lead to reduced sales and rents at malls. Macerich This was perceived as a permanent, structural headwind for all malls, but in reality, Class A malls were far more resilient than the market understood due to three reasons: First, as lower-quality malls struggled and closed down, this actually benefited the remaining higher-quality malls due to traffic consolidation. In that sense, e-commerce could even turn into a long-term tailwind for these Class A malls by reducing competition. Second, these high-quality malls were rapidly evolving into mixed-use destinations with large entertainment, experiential, service, and other non-retail components to attract steady traffic. Finally, e-commerce businesses were increasingly using Class A malls as their last-mile delivery and return centers to reduce costs, grow their brands, and capitalize on cross-selling opport...
Not much has gone wrong for Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) over the past three years. The company's shares have soared thanks to its dominance in the market for artificial intelligence (AI) chips. However, there have been some headwinds for the tech leader. Last year, the U.S. government restricted exports of some of Nvidia's products to China, with the Chinese government also going after the company. Thes...
Not much has gone wrong for Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) over the past three years. The company's shares have soared thanks to its dominance in the market for artificial intelligence (AI) chips. However, there have been some headwinds for the tech leader. Last year, the U.S. government restricted exports of some of Nvidia's products to China, with the Chinese government also going after the company. These issues have taken a toll on Nvidia's operations in China, as CEO Jensen Huang recently noted. Let's see what he said and what it means for investors. Image source: The Motley Fool. Continue reading
Nike (NYSE: NKE) gets its name from the Greek goddess of victory, but the iconic sportswear brand seems to be on the verge of defeat these days. Glance at the headlines, and you'll hear all about the ongoing Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigation into Nike's alleged reverse discriminatory hiring practices stemming from its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Beca...
Nike (NYSE: NKE) gets its name from the Greek goddess of victory, but the iconic sportswear brand seems to be on the verge of defeat these days. Glance at the headlines, and you'll hear all about the ongoing Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigation into Nike's alleged reverse discriminatory hiring practices stemming from its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Because, in the grand scheme of things, that politically motivated investigation is the least of Nike 's problems. The bigger issue at the moment is that the company's stock is down 32% year to date. And while the EEOC investigation has certainly not helped Nike's fortunes, the company was in trouble long before the Trump administration-influenced investigation. Since hitting a high of $179 in November 2021, the stock has fallen nearly 76%. Continue reading
IRGC says ‘with the end of threats from aggressors’ safe transit in the strait can resume after Trump pauses Project Freedom Trump puts ‘Project Freedom’ on hold, saying he hopes to finalise deal with Iran The UK work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden, has warned that job losses “could happen” in Britain due to the economic impacts of the Iran war. He said the UK economy was “going in the right...
IRGC says ‘with the end of threats from aggressors’ safe transit in the strait can resume after Trump pauses Project Freedom Trump puts ‘Project Freedom’ on hold, saying he hopes to finalise deal with Iran The UK work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden, has warned that job losses “could happen” in Britain due to the economic impacts of the Iran war. He said the UK economy was “going in the right direction” at the start of the year and unemployment figures for February showed a decline. He added that interest rates were expected to come down and the markets were pricing in cuts during the course of the year. Continue reading...
Winger insists side can overcome PSG or Bayern Ødegaard takes ‘massive confidence’ from semi-final Arsenal will travel to Budapest for the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich with no trace of an inferiority complex, according to Leandro Trossard, who knows that anything is possible in a one-off game. The Arsenal winger and his teammates drank in the euphoria after T...
Winger insists side can overcome PSG or Bayern Ødegaard takes ‘massive confidence’ from semi-final Arsenal will travel to Budapest for the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich with no trace of an inferiority complex, according to Leandro Trossard, who knows that anything is possible in a one-off game. The Arsenal winger and his teammates drank in the euphoria after Tuesday night’s 1-0 home win over Atlético Madrid in the semi-final second-leg for a 2-1 aggregate triumph, savouring the achievement and the sense of history. Arsenal have only contested one previous final in the competition, losing to Barcelona in 2006 . Continue reading...
Criteo S.A. press release ( CRTO ): Q1 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.73 beats by $0.17 . Revenue of $425M (-5.8% Y/Y) beats by $176.86M . Q1 Activated Media Spend Surpasses $1 Billion for the First Time Deployed $31 Million to Repurchase Shares in Q1 2026 Fiscal year 2026 guidance: We now expect Contribution ex-TAC to decrease low-single-digit at constant currency. We continue to expect an Adjusted EBITDA ma...
Criteo S.A. press release ( CRTO ): Q1 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.73 beats by $0.17 . Revenue of $425M (-5.8% Y/Y) beats by $176.86M . Q1 Activated Media Spend Surpasses $1 Billion for the First Time Deployed $31 Million to Repurchase Shares in Q1 2026 Fiscal year 2026 guidance: We now expect Contribution ex-TAC to decrease low-single-digit at constant currency. We continue to expect an Adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 32% to 34% of Contribution ex-TAC. Second quarter 2026 guidance: We expect Contribution ex-TAC between $260 million and $264 million, or -11% to -9% year-over-year at constant-currency. We expect Adjusted EBITDA between $67 million and $71 million. More on Criteo S.A. Criteo S.A. (CRTO) Presents at Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference 2026 Transcript Criteo: Disappointing Trends, But Unbeatable Value Criteo S.A. (CRTO) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Criteo S.A. Q1 2026 Earnings Preview Criteo becomes first ad-tech partner in OpenAI’s ChatGPT pilot