It's hard to argue against its reliability.

Baristas tell MarketWatch that the company’s new goals are unrealistic, especially while stores face staffing problems.

Key PointsJohnson & Johnson is a Dividend King, with 64 consecutive years of increases.

Earnings Call Insights: Trinity Capital (TRIN) Q1 2026 Management View “Trinity Capital continues to perform because of our diversified lending platform of 5 complementary verticals, our ever-expanding managed funds platform that delivers incremental income to TRIN shareholders and our internally managed structure that ensures total alignment between investors and employees.” (CEO, President, Chief Investment Officer & Director Kyle Brown) “Our net asset value grew 7% quarter-over-quarter and 40% year-over-year to a record $1.2 billion,” and “Platform AUM increased to more than $2.9 billion, up 36% year-over-year.” (CEO Brown) “Our originations engine remained robust, achieving $306 million of fundings and $396 million of commitments,” while “We maintained strong credit with nonaccruals at 1% of the portfolio at fair value.” (CEO Brown) “The only notable intersect with some of the BDCs is through our newly announced joint venture with Capital Southwest, a co-investment vehicle that's focusing on first-out senior secured loans in the lower middle market.” (CEO Brown) “AUM for our managed funds now sits at $400 million across 4 vehicles,” and “Our managed funds platform continues to enhance returns for TRIN, contributing $0.04 per share to NII in Q1, roughly 8% of the $0.53 total.” (Chief Compliance Officer, General Counsel & Secretary Sarah Stanton) “We held an initial close of $45.3 million in equity commitments to our new SBIC fund... more than half of our target of $87.5 million of equity commitments,” and “The SBIC fund... is expected to add more than $260 million of incremental capacity to the platform once it is fully scaled.” (Chief Compliance Officer Stanton) “We generated $90.1 million of total investment income... and $44.5 million in net investment income or $0.53 per basic share, representing 104% coverage of our quarterly distribution.” (Chief Financial Officer Michael Testa) Outlook The prepared remarks did not include quarter-specific EPS, NII, NAV, le...

Earnings Call Insights: EOG Resources (EOG) Q1 2026 Management View "EOG is off to an exceptional start in 2026," Ezra Yacob (CEO & Chairman) said, adding that "production volumes, total per unit cash operating costs and DD&A all outperformed guidance midpoints." He reported, "We generated $1.8 billion in adjusted net income and $1.5 billion in free cash flow" and "returned nearly $950 million during the quarter through our regular dividend and opportunistic share repurchases." Ezra Yacob (CEO & Chairman) linked portfolio moves to growth and pricing exposure: "we strengthened our portfolio through the acquisition of Encino, increasing our oil production by approximately 10%," and "enhanced our market exposure by securing LNG contracts linked to JKM and Brent." He also said EOG "expanded our international footprint with high-quality concessions in the UAE and Bahrain" and is "increasing oil and NGL production while maintaining our $6.5 billion capital budget by reallocating capital from gas to oil-weighted assets." "In the first quarter, we generated adjusted earnings per share of $3.41 and adjusted cash flow from operations per share of $5.85, yielding free cash flow of $1.5 billion," Ann Janssen (Executive VP & CFO) said. She added, "with $2.9 billion remaining under our current share repurchase authorization at March 31, we have substantial capacity for continued opportunistic buybacks" and "we expect to return at least 70% of free cash flow this year." Jeffrey Leitzell (Executive VP & COO) said the company is "increasing oil production guidance by 2,000 barrels per day and NGL production guidance by 6,000 barrels per day while keeping total capital expenditures flat at $6.5 billion" and is "moderating near-term drilling and completions activity at Dorado in response to current gas prices." He also highlighted marketing and LNG exposure, including: "our Cheniere contract expanded from 140,000 million BTUs per day to 280,000 million BTUs per day" and "an additional...

Earnings Call Insights: Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (MDGL) Q1 2026 Management view “Rezdiffra has achieved blockbuster status generating more than $1.1 billion in net sales in the last 12 months,” said CEO William Sibold, adding that “penetration is low, the diagnosis rate is low, unmet need is high and the market is expanding at a double-digit pace.” On launch execution, CEO William Sibold said, “first quarter 2026 net sales were $311 million,” and “we ended the first quarter with more than 42,250 active patients on Rezdiffra,” while also stating, “we are seeing that momentum carried into the second quarter.” On competitive dynamics, CEO William Sibold said, “competition has helped grow the market but not at the expense of Rezdiffra,” and in Q&A added, “Wegovy has had now 3 quarters of launch… It’s being used, but certainly not to the detriment of Rezdiffra.” On pipeline expansion, EVP & Chief Medical Officer David Soergel said, “our objective in R&D is straightforward: deliver the industry-leading pipeline in MASH to make better therapies for patients with Rezdiffra as the foundation,” and highlighted the Arrowhead in-license: “Slide 13 highlights our newest addition, ARO-PNPLA3, a clinical stage siRNA that we recently in-licensed from Arrowhead.” CFO Mardi Dier attributed Q1 dynamics to payer and contracting effects, saying, “our results reflect the typical Q1 effect due to benefit plan changes in insurance reverifications plus a step-up in gross to net related to our commercial contracting efforts for first-line access,” and added, “we now expect our growth to net discount to be in the mid- to high 30s for the rest of 2026.” Outlook EVP & Chief Medical Officer David Soergel reiterated expected timing for the cirrhosis outcomes program: “we continue to project the trial to deliver in 2027,” and said, “when we have that precision, we’ll provide you an update.” CFO Mardi Dier provided expense outlook, saying, “we expect full year 2026 R&D expenses to be roughly the sa...

Earnings Call Insights: Exelon (EXC) Q1 2026 Management View CEO Calvin Butler said, "2026 performance remains on track, both financially and operationally," and reported "adjusted operating earnings of $0.91 per share," attributing outperformance "primarily by net favorable weather and timing-related items." He added, "We are also affirming our 2026 operating earnings guidance of $2.81 to $2.91 per share." Butler highlighted regulatory actions at PECO: "At PECO, we made the decision to withdraw the recently filed electric and gas rate cases," calling it "a deliberate timing-based decision grounded in customer affordability considerations and informed by stakeholder feedback," while stating, "this decision does not change our commitment to safety, reliability or long-term infrastructure investment." Butler announced a PECO leadership transition: "Dave Vahos, previously CEO of PECO, has transitioned into an advisory role reporting to me" and "Mike Innocenzo has stepped in as an Interim President and CEO while continuing to serve as Exelon's Chief Operating Officer." Butler described a cost and capital reset: "We are pulling back on certain projects, reprioritizing capital across our portfolio and delivering $350 million of incremental O&M savings in 2027, tied to work we will no longer pursue," adding, "Business as usual is not an option." CFO Jeanne Jones said, "Our revised 4-year capital plan" enables Exelon "to invest nearly $10 billion in 2026 and a total of $41.7 billion over the next 4 years," reflecting "$1.1 billion of project deferrals and reductions in PECO and BGE distribution" and "$1.5 billion of incremental transmission investment." She also stated, "We now anticipate transmission rate base growing at 16% through 2029" and "are now targeting no more than 2% adjusted O&M growth through 2029." Outlook $2.81 to $2.91 per share vs. $2.85 (Q4 2025 call initiated 2026 EPS guidance; current call reaffirmed that range). Butler said, "we are reaffirming our 2026...

Earnings Call Insights: Bio-Techne (TECH) Q3 fiscal 2026 Management View "The Bio-Techne team continued to execute with discipline in a dynamic and uneven end market environment" and said results were supported by "sustained strength from our large pharmaceutical customers and stable to improving trends in our U.S. academic end market," but "partially offset by continued softness in emerging biotech spending, resulting in a 2% organic revenue decline for the quarter" (CEO, President & Director Kim Kelderman). Kelderman highlighted business mix and timing, saying "order timing related to 2 cell therapy customers that received FDA Fast Track Designation along with the timing of a large OEM commercial supply order created a 400 basis point headwind in the quarter" and "excluding these factors, underlying organic revenue growth was 2%." She also said "our largest end market, large pharma, delivered its sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth" and "our China end market achieved positive organic growth for the fourth consecutive quarter" (CEO Kelderman). Kelderman detailed portfolio actions: "In April, Bio-Techne announced a strategic brand alignment designed to streamline our portfolio from 10 brands down to 3" and described the three brands as "R&D Systems," "Bio-Techne Spatial Biology," and "Bio-Techne Diagnostics" (CEO Kelderman). Kelderman linked AI to demand drivers, stating "we are leveraging AI to design novel and patentable proteins with enhanced properties" and "we view the growing demand for content-rich biological data sets as a durable tailwind for both our spatial biology and our proteomic analysis platforms" (CEO Kelderman). "Adjusted EPS for the quarter was $0.53" and "total revenue for Q3 was $311.4 million, decreasing 2% on both an organic and reported basis" (Executive VP of Finance & CFO James Hippel). Outlook "We expect organic growth in the fourth quarter to be approximately flat" and added that "excluding the impact of the cell therapy head...

Earnings Call Insights: Twin Disc (TWIN) Q3 2026 Management View “We delivered meaningful sales growth, margin expansion and improved free cash flow generation through solid execution and healthy demand across our end markets,” said John Batten (President, CEO & Director), adding that Q3 “marked the beginning” of the “stronger second half” the company discussed previously. Batten highlighted demand and mix drivers: “Sales increased 19% year-over-year to $96.7 million, supported by strength in marine & propulsion systems, with continued demand for our Veth products, along with contributions from acquisitions and favorable foreign exchange,” and added, “On an organic basis, sales grew 7%.” Batten tied profitability and cash conversion to execution: “Gross margin expanded to 28.1%, driven by higher volumes and operational improvements,” and “together with higher profitability, that supported free cash flow generation of $1.8 million in the quarter.” Batten emphasized backlog and defense mix: “Our six month backlog increased sequentially to approximately $179.5 million,” and “Defense represents approximately 15% of our backlog,” while “Defense backlog increased year-over-year by roughly 20%.” Batten described capacity actions aimed at long-term defense growth: “In Europe, we are advancing targeted facility expansion efforts in Finland to add test stand and assembly capacity,” and also cited “the planned relocation of ARFF assembly to our Lufkin facility.” Jeffrey Knutson (VP of Finance, CFO, Treasurer & Secretary) said, “Net income attributable to Twin Disc was $3.3 million or $0.23 per diluted share,” and “EBITDA was $9.4 million in the quarter.” Outlook Knutson stated, “Based on the current environment and our favorable regional mix, we expect tariff-related impacts in the upcoming quarter to be approximately 1% to 3% of cost of goods sold.” Batten framed near-term visibility around orders and conversion: “This growing backlog, together with improved execution, gives ...

Or has the US president lost control?

Yuliia Kaveshnikova/iStock via Getty Images Performance assessment I've had a 'Sell' view on Meta ( META ) as of my last update . Prior to this, I had a 'Strong Buy' view . I admit it is funny and a tad embarrassing because the market has taken these as reversal points for the exact opposite direction! Performance since Author's Last Article on META (Seeking Alpha, Author's Last Article on META) That said, I take some consolation in the fact that Meta has at least underperformed the broader market index since my 'Sell' call. Elevator pitch Meta reported Q1 FY26 results last week. Here's my take on it: Meta posted healthy growth in ads impressions and pricing But alternative high-frequency data says Meta's ads performance is falling behind peers ROI on big capex spend may be less clear Meta is trading at a reasonable valuation It's hard to have a directional bias from the charts Meta posted healthy growth in ads impressions and pricing Around 98% of Meta's revenues come from advertising. So it is very important to track the performance of its ads. From an impressions and pricing front, it's good to see Meta see solid high-teens to low-teens growth respectively: Advertising revenue impressions and pricing YoY (Company Filings, HA Analysis) The CFO attributed the solid performance here to increased engagement and ad optimizations, as well as better macro conditions in the broader advertising market: Impression growth was healthy across all regions, driven primarily by growth in engagement and users, as well as ad load optimizations. The global average price per ad increased 12% year-over-year in Q1, with broad-based growth as we benefited from ad performance improvements, better macro conditions versus Q1 of last year, and currency tailwinds in international regions. - CFO Susan Li in the Q1 FY26 earnings call Naturally, this has translated to a nice acceleration in revenue growth from the mid-20s YoY levels to around 33% YoY as of the latest quarter. QoQ, advertising ...

Meta: I'm Nervous About The Fundamentals But Reasonable Valuations Make It A Hold Seeking Alpha

The FBI has opened a criminal leak investigation focusing on a journalist who wrote a critical article about Kash Patel, the head of the US law enforcement agency, the cable news channel MS Now reported on Wednesday. Patel filed a US$250 million suit last month against The Atlantic magazine and the author of the article, Sarah Fitzpatrick, calling it a “sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece”. The Atlantic story accused Patel of frequently drinking to excess and said he was in danger of...

AMD's Q1'26 earnings beat rides on AI-fueled demand, record $5.78B data center sales, margins up, and Q2 revenues guided near $11.2B.

AMD Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Rise on Data Center Demand Yahoo Finance UK

ValentynVolkov/iStock via Getty Images After the collection of over $166B in tariffs, a battle with the Supreme Court, and now promises to replace the IEEPA tariffs that were struck down with equivalent import taxes. But the IEEPA tariffs were struck down, and so even if tariff levels remain, those that were already paid need to be paid back. That means the process of refunds has to begin — the government chose May 11 as the start date. And for those that are still confused on what tariffs are in place or not, using what rules, and at what effective rates, this link to Bloomberg's tariff tracker is a lifeline. Bloomberg Who Gets Refunds? There's an important term used in this refund process, “importer of record.” This is just a way to say “the firm that is responsible for paying customs.” These are the only entities eligible for refunds. So if you paid tariffs directly, you're owed a refund. But if you paid tariffs indirectly, as a pass-through cost like many consumers did, there is no recourse for that. Retailers like Costco ( COST ) are making notes on earnings calls about this and how they plan to pass through the refunds as well. Here's their CEO at the last earnings call : Throughout the past year, we've taken action to reduce the impact of tariffs. In many cases, we didn't pass the full cost on to our members. The complexity of the tariffs implemented over the past year, including layering of different tariffs on top of each other and multiple changes in rates throughout the year, also made it challenging to track the exact impact to an individual item sold. ... As we have done in the past, when legal challenges have recovered charges passed on in some form to our members, our commitment will be to find the best way to return this value to our members through lower prices and better values. One thing to consider for who is getting what refunds is when they imported the goods they paid tariffs on. The effective rate fluctuated throughout the year, rising from u...

mbbirdy/E+ via Getty Images Since the Middle East war began on February 28, the S&P 500 ( SPY ) has posted a gain of 4.68%, but that headline number masks a market that is deeply divided beneath the surface, a Deutsche Bank report shows. A tech-driven rally at the top has more than offset broad-based weakness across defensive and cyclical sectors, producing an index return that flatters the underlying picture considerably. The divergence between the cap-weighted S&P 500 and its equal-weighted counterpart tells the story most starkly, the report suggests. While the S&P 500 is up 4.68%, the equal-weighted index is down 1.52% over the same period, a 620 basis point gap that reflects just how concentrated the war-era rally has been. Information Technology ( XLK ) is the undisputed driver, up 14.32% since February 28, more than three times the index return, Deutsche Bank report shows. Communication Services ( XLC ) added 9.09%, and Energy ( XLE ), perhaps unsurprisingly given the geopolitical backdrop, gained 5.94% as oil markets priced in supply risk. Consumer Discretionary ( XLY ) also moved higher at 5.60%, while Real Estate and Financials barely broke even at 0.62% and 0.43% respectively. The losses on the other side of the ledger are significant and broad. Health Care ( XLV ) is the worst performer, down 9.52%, a decline that reflects both sector-specific regulatory pressures and a rotation away from defensives as risk appetite recovered, according to the report. Materials ( XLB ) fell 6.42%, Consumer Staples ( XLP ) dropped 5.79%, and Industrials ( XLI ) lost 3.38%, while Utilities slid 2.45% as the flight-to-safety trade unwound with the tech rebound. More on SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF, etc. Correction Warning: Prepare For A Sharp Market Pullback In 2026 The Market Breaks New Highs Again While Climbing The Wall Of Worry Using Trimmed Mean PCE Won't Solve The Inflation Problem OPEC output is said to sink to decades low as...

In the space of a week the mood has changed, with positive energy replacing suffering, and two trophies are suddenly within reach It was a soundbite designed to go viral, the kind the ex-pros in the TV studios are always looking to confect; snappy, heavy on hyperbole, bang in the moment. Thierry Henry made it pop on Tuesday night as he interviewed Bukayo Saka on CBS Sports after Arsenal had beaten Atlético Madrid to advance to the Champions League final. “We were the Invincibles. You will be the Unforgettables,” Henry said. There it was, as laid out by one of the greats, the goalscoring hero of Arsenal’s unbeaten bolt to the 2004 Premier League title, the last one they won. Continue reading...

Scientists suggest algae could be embedded within biosensors that glow when toxins detected in the environment The captivating blue glow emitted by a sea-dwelling species of algae has been harnessed by scientists in the US to make light-emitting structures. Pyrocystis lunula is a bioluminescent single-celled organism that sometimes produces brief flashes of blue light. Large clumps of the algae are known to emit sparkling displays in waves breaking against beaches. Continue reading...

US benchmark equity indexes were higher intraday, while oil prices tumbled as investors reacted to r

The following companies are expected to report earnings after hours on 05/06/2026. Visit our Earnings Calendar for a full list of expected earnings releases.Arm Holdings plc (ARM)is reporting for the quarter ending March 31, 2026. The electric company company's consensus earning

NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) has had an exciting few weeks. Over the past 30 days or so, shares have surged in value by more than 20%. When you zoom out, however, the picture changes dramatically. Since setting an all-time high last October, the stock has lost roughly 77% of it value, sending the stock price plunging from more than $50 to just $13. Right now, NuScale Power's market capitalization hovers around $4.3 billion. Yet according to new research, the company is chasing a $10 trillion global opportunity. Even Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) -- another promising nuclear stock specializing in small modular reactor (SMR) technology -- has a market value nearly three times higher than NuScale's. Is NuScale stock a buy now that shares trade well under $50? If you're looking for growth stocks with maximum upside potential, then yes. But there are two things to keep in mind before jumping in. Continue reading

迪士尼截至3月28日止，第二季度業績好過市場預期。 純利22.4億美元，按年下跌三成一。 經調整每股盈利則升約百分之8，至1.57美元，高過市場預期的1.49美元。 期內，收入增加百分之6.5，至251億美元，亦高過市場預期的近249億美元。

AI bots I often write around here that there are two fundamental ways to use artificial intelligence to trade stocks: You build a machine learning model for stock prices, you train it on historical data, and you use it to predict future stock prices. You buy the stocks that it says will go up. You subscribe to ChatGPT. You prompt it, like, “You are a brilliant hedge fund portfolio manager. What stocks will go up?” You buy the stocks that it says will go up. The first model is, approximately, a “quant hedge fund.” People have been doing some form of this for a long time, and some of them ( Renaissance Technologies comes to mind) have had a great deal of sustained success. This model works. Not always, not for everyone, and you might reasonably worry about risk or crowding or regime changes or whatever. But hiring really good machine learning engineers to build models to predict stock prices makes sense both theoretically and empirically. The second model … I mean, when I started writing about these two models, I was joking about the second model. The second model is a joke! Come on! Like: Training a model on historical financial data to predict future financial data makes sense. Training a model on a corpus of, like, books and Reddit to write coherent prose, and then asking it to predict future financial data, is a non sequitur. “If we use all of the world’s electricity and microchips, we can train a model that is smarter than the smartest Ph.D.,” but the smartest Ph.D. is not necessarily good at picking stocks! In some obvious sense an omniscient superintelligence should be good at picking stocks, but that seems like way too high a standard for picking stocks. Just, you know, regress some historical stock prices against some historical data and see what you get. You can get ChatGPT for like $20 a month? And everyone does? And everyone is like “hey ChatGPT what stocks should I buy”? Why would you expect to get alpha from doing an easy thing that everyone else does? B...

Volodymyr Zelenskiy is asking Western allies to speed up deliveries of air-defense systems and interceptor missiles to prepare for another winter of intense bombing that could prove to be the next critical moment in Kyiv’s battle to resist the Russian invasion. The topic came up during the Ukrainian president’s discussions with European leaders and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at a summit meeting in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, earlier this week, people familiar with the matter said. While the request isn’t new — Kyiv has been pressing allies to supply air defense systems continuously since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 — it’s now more urgent, because Ukraine’s power and heating facilities have become increasingly difficult to sustain after years of Russian air strikes against civilian infrastructure. During the first years of the war, the biggest shifts on the battlefield tended to happen outside of winter months. Since then, developments in drone technology have made offensive maneuvers increasingly difficult creating a stalemate on the frontlines. So winter attacks on urban centers, transport and energy infrastructure have become an important part of the fighting. According to the people briefed on the discussion, Zelenskiy told his allies that he’s expecting another Russian offensive this summer but the Kremlin’s forces have so far struggled to make significant gains and are suffering massive losses. With peace talks stalled, Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely betting the conflict in the Middle East will divert weapons away from Kyiv, leaving the country especially vulnerable during cold months, said the people, speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks are private. Ukrainians Defy Russia’s Attempts to Freeze Them Into Submission With Power Down, Kyiv’s Residents Confront Cold as a Weapon From War Hero to Politician, Zelenskiy’s Top Aide Is on the Rise Ukraine’s Drones Now Strike 1,000 Miles Inside Russia Freezing temperatu...