In this article ASHR FXI MCHI CAAS Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Xi Jinping, China's president, center, attends the opening session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of People in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images China on Thursday set its GDP growth target for 2026 at 4.5% to 5% — t...
In this article ASHR FXI MCHI CAAS Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Xi Jinping, China's president, center, attends the opening session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of People in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images China on Thursday set its GDP growth target for 2026 at 4.5% to 5% — the lowest target on record — Reuters reported, as Beijing grapples with persistent deflationary pressures and trade tensions with the U.S. That target marks a downgrade from the "around 5%" set in the past three years and the most modest goal so far for the world's second largest economy, barring 2020 when Beijing did not set a growth target due to the pandemic. Beijing also reportedly kept its budget deficit target unchanged from last year's "around 4%" of GDP, as the National People's Congress, the country's top legislative body, holds its annual meeting this week. The 4% deficit target first set in 2024 is the highest on record going back to 2010 , according to data accessed via Wind Information. The prior high was 3.6% in 2020. Chinese policymakers also kept their annual consumer inflation target steady at "around 2%," according to Reuters. First set in 2025, that's the lowest level in more than two decades and signals an implicit acknowledgement by Beijing of lackluster domestic demand. The inflation goal acts more as a ceiling than a target to be realized. For all of 2025, price growth was flat , and 0.7% when excluding food and energy prices, as consumer confidence remained soft. The country's annual parliamentary gathering, known as the "Two Sessions," kicked off Wednesday with the opening ceremony of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference — a top policy advisory body. The NPC started its meeting Thursday and is expected to wrap up its annual session on March 12. The foreign minister and heads of several economic departments are due to hold press con...
In February 2026, CSX Corporation’s board approved an 8% increase in its quarterly dividend to US$0.14 per share, payable on March 13, 2026, to shareholders of record as of February 27. Alongside the dividend hike, CSX’s recently completed cloud-based data platform with Infosys and Microsoft underpins its push for more efficient, insight-driven rail operations. We’ll now examine how the dividend i...
In February 2026, CSX Corporation’s board approved an 8% increase in its quarterly dividend to US$0.14 per share, payable on March 13, 2026, to shareholders of record as of February 27. Alongside the dividend hike, CSX’s recently completed cloud-based data platform with Infosys and Microsoft underpins its push for more efficient, insight-driven rail operations. We’ll now examine how the dividend increase, backed by CSX’s new AI-enabled data platform, influences the company’s existing investment narrative. Invest in the nuclear renaissance through our list of 85 elite nuclear energy infrastructure plays powering the global AI revolution. CSX Investment Narrative Recap To own CSX, you need to believe in its ability to turn network efficiency and industrial demand into steady cash generation despite freight and macro uncertainty. The 8% dividend increase to US$0.14 per share and the new AI-enabled data platform support the existing efficiency and service-quality catalyst, while the biggest near term risk remains operational or earnings pressure from weaker volumes and infrastructure or weather disruptions; the Dunnellon legal issues do not appear material at this stage. The most relevant recent announcement here is the completion of CSX’s cloud-based data platform with Infosys and Microsoft, which consolidates more than 50,000 legacy reports into 1,200 AI-driven insights. This directly reinforces the thesis that better real-time decision tools can support network fluidity and cost control, which matters if volumes stay soft and infrastructure or weather issues continue to test margins. Yet alongside dividend growth and tech upgrades, investors should also be aware of potential earnings pressure if revenue softness and legal or environmental issues around incidents like the Dunnellon fire... Read the full narrative on CSX (it's free!) CSX's narrative projects $15.7 billion revenue and $3.9 billion earnings by 2028. Uncover how CSX's forecasts yield a $40.31 fair value, ...
Image source: The Motley Fool. March 4, 2026 CALL PARTICIPANTS President and Chief Executive Officer — Hock Tan Chief Financial Officer — Kirsten Spears Chief Operating Officer — Charlie Coaz Head of Investor Relations — Ji Yoo Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email pr@fool.com TAKEAWAYS Total Revenue -- $19.3 billion, up 29%, driven by outperformance in AI semiconductors. -- $19.3 billion...
Image source: The Motley Fool. March 4, 2026 CALL PARTICIPANTS President and Chief Executive Officer — Hock Tan Chief Financial Officer — Kirsten Spears Chief Operating Officer — Charlie Coaz Head of Investor Relations — Ji Yoo Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email pr@fool.com TAKEAWAYS Total Revenue -- $19.3 billion, up 29%, driven by outperformance in AI semiconductors. -- $19.3 billion, up 29%, driven by outperformance in AI semiconductors. Adjusted EBITDA -- $13.1 billion, 68% of revenue; a record level, above guidance. -- $13.1 billion, 68% of revenue; a record level, above guidance. Q2 Revenue Guidance -- $22 billion, representing expected acceleration to 47% growth. -- $22 billion, representing expected acceleration to 47% growth. Semiconductor Revenue -- $12.5 billion, up 52%, with AI semiconductor revenue at $8.4 billion, up 106%. -- $12.5 billion, up 52%, with AI semiconductor revenue at $8.4 billion, up 106%. Q2 AI Semiconductor Guidance -- $10.7 billion, projecting 140% growth, driving anticipated $14.8 billion total semiconductor revenue. -- $10.7 billion, projecting 140% growth, driving anticipated $14.8 billion total semiconductor revenue. AI Networking Revenue -- Up 60%; reached one third of AI revenue, expected to rise to 40% of total AI revenue next quarter. -- Up 60%; reached one third of AI revenue, expected to rise to 40% of total AI revenue next quarter. Customer Accelerator Business -- Grew 140%, with continued momentum projected; Meta’s MTIA roadmap specifically cited as "alive and well." -- Grew 140%, with continued momentum projected; Meta’s MTIA roadmap specifically cited as "alive and well." Component Supply Secured -- "we have fully secured capacity of these components for 2026 through 2028," per management statement. -- "we have fully secured capacity of these components for 2026 through 2028," per management statement. 2027 AI Revenue Outlook -- Management stated, "Today, in fact, we have line of sight to achieve AI revenue fr...
Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton said of Nygren on Sky Sports: "What a strange player. He can go missing in midfield but comes up with goals." Just as well given Daizen Maeda is still looking like a shadow of the player who lit up Scottish football last season, January loan signings Tomas Cvancara and Junior Adamu have yet to fully impress and Kelechi Iheanacho has disappeared from view despite ...
Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton said of Nygren on Sky Sports: "What a strange player. He can go missing in midfield but comes up with goals." Just as well given Daizen Maeda is still looking like a shadow of the player who lit up Scottish football last season, January loan signings Tomas Cvancara and Junior Adamu have yet to fully impress and Kelechi Iheanacho has disappeared from view despite his return from injury. Nygren is not one of the title winners Tierney talked about in Celtic's squad, but the 24-year-old Sweden midfielder is doing more than most to make sure he gets that league winners' medal. Former Celtic midfielder Scott Allan enthused on BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound: "The impact substitutes you've seen at the weekend, you've seen it again tonight with Benjamin Nygren and James Forrest linking up. "Lovely tee-up from Forrest and Nygren just finishes - we've seen that time and time again and he's had a real impact in this team." Indeed, Nygren has found the net three times and provided one assist in his latest four Premiership games - and his 15 goals are more than any other Celtic player in the league this season. "I know Nygren gives up certain parts of the game, but what he does do is he gets into the box and gets on the end of things," Allan said. "I felt his overall play in the game was really good, played some lovely through balls, always looked like he was going to be a threat round about that 18-yard box and he was the difference again tonight." His manager was similary enthusiastic. "He's doing something that is the most difficult thing in the game - to score goals -and he's popped up again with what proved to be the winning goal," O'Neill said. "Substitutes in recent weeks have made big contributions to us, so that's important for us."
zhaojiankang/iStock via Getty Images Intro From a fund strategy standpoint, ETF.com had a great summary of The WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend Fund ETF ( DGS ): It tracks a dividend-weighted index of small-cap, dividend-paying emerging market stocks. It holds emerging market companies that have paid dividends over the past calendar year and weights them based on the size of dividends...
zhaojiankang/iStock via Getty Images Intro From a fund strategy standpoint, ETF.com had a great summary of The WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend Fund ETF ( DGS ): It tracks a dividend-weighted index of small-cap, dividend-paying emerging market stocks. It holds emerging market companies that have paid dividends over the past calendar year and weights them based on the size of dividends paid. DGS only includes stocks that are in the bottom 10% of the total market cap of the WisdomTree Emerging Markets Dividend Index. The resulting portfolio is a proxy for an Emerging Market Small Cap Value asset class (EM SCV). You typically see EM SCV language pop up when building a factor-based portfolio that "tilts" to a certain asset class. In a previous article , I explained why this may be a good idea. The performance speaks for itself. DGS Performance Since Publish (Seeking Alpha) But in this article, I want to focus on the performance of DGS compared to other similar funds. While it has actually underperformed compared to peers, I actually think it's still a great time to buy simply because of the concentrated factor loadings in the small-cap space. To me, DGS is a better option for the small cap value emerging market ("EM SCV") space. Although total risk-adjusted returns, expenses, and turnover have lagged competitor funds in recent years, factor regression statistics are still in favor for DGS. DGS vs Peers Some funds to compare DGS to would be the Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF ( AVEM ) and the Avantis Emerging Markets Value ETF ( AVES ). I'll get into the key differences later in the article, but these are some well-respected emerging market funds that are used to target emerging markets in a globally diversified portfolio. Performance, however, has dragged for DGS the last 3 years, with DGS at a 48.16% total return versus 60.72% for AVES and 70.38% for AVEM. Emerging Market Factor Fund Performance (Seeking Alpha) And from a risk standpoint, DGS is a bit ...
In late February and early March 2026, AMD and its partners announced a series of AI-focused moves, including a multi-year, multi-gigawatt GPU supply agreement with Meta, expanded U.S. manufacturing of Instinct MI355X systems at Flex’s Austin facility, and new Ryzen AI 400 Series desktop and PRO processors unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2026. Together with new collaborations such as the Nutanix...
In late February and early March 2026, AMD and its partners announced a series of AI-focused moves, including a multi-year, multi-gigawatt GPU supply agreement with Meta, expanded U.S. manufacturing of Instinct MI355X systems at Flex’s Austin facility, and new Ryzen AI 400 Series desktop and PRO processors unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2026. Together with new collaborations such as the Nutanix AI infrastructure partnership and Wind River Open RAN–AI-RAN platform, these steps deepen AMD’s role across data center, PC, and telecom AI workloads, broadening how its hardware and software are embedded in next‑generation computing infrastructure. We’ll now examine how the expansive Meta AI infrastructure deal and related AI partnerships may reshape AMD’s existing investment narrative. We've uncovered the 14 dividend fortresses yielding 5%+ that don't just survive market storms, but thrive in them. Advanced Micro Devices Investment Narrative Recap To own AMD, you need to believe it can convert its AI data center and PC roadmaps into durable earnings growth while justifying a premium valuation. The Meta 6‑gigawatt GPU deal and new AI partnerships reinforce the near term catalyst around Instinct accelerator ramps, but they also sharpen the key risk: high expectations around AI share gains and hyperscaler demand that are still unproven at scale. Among the recent announcements, the expanded Meta AI infrastructure agreement is most relevant. It ties AMD’s Instinct MI450 GPUs, Helios rack design, and future EPYC CPUs directly to one of the largest AI buyers, potentially increasing visibility into multi‑year AI demand. At the same time, it heightens exposure to competitive pressures in accelerators and to regulatory and export headwinds that could affect how quickly those contracted gigawatts translate into realized revenue. Yet behind the headline deals, investors should also be aware that AMD’s reliance on external manufacturing and tightening export controls could... Read th...
In this article MU AMD NVDA AVGO Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT People walking through the neon lit night streets of Sinchon in the heart of Seoul, South Korea’s vibrant capital city. Fotovoyager | E+ | Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets jumped Thursday, rebounding after several days of steep losses as sentiment improved following overnight gains on Wall Street and easing concerns ...
In this article MU AMD NVDA AVGO Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT People walking through the neon lit night streets of Sinchon in the heart of Seoul, South Korea’s vibrant capital city. Fotovoyager | E+ | Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets jumped Thursday, rebounding after several days of steep losses as sentiment improved following overnight gains on Wall Street and easing concerns over surging oil prices. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 started the day 0.38% higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 4%, after sliding 3% in the previous session. Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 25,534, higher than the last close of 25,249.48. South Korea's Kospi jumped as much as 11%. The index plunged 12% on Wednesday, its worst single-day decline. The small-cap Kosdaq rose more than 11%. All eyes are also on China's big policy meeting dubbed the "Two Sessions," which kicked off on Wednesday. Overnight in the U.S., stocks rose, building on the momentum seen late in the previous session, as the surge in oil prices pulled back following developments in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and fears about a U.S. economic growth scare faded. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 238.14 points, or 0.49%, to close at 48,739.41. The 30-stock index snapped a three-day run of losses. The S&P 500 gained 0.78% and ended at 6,869.50, while the Nasdaq Composite moved 1.29% higher and settled at 22,807.48. Technology stocks supported the broader market, particularly those in the chips space. Micron Technology and Advanced Micro Devices each advanced more than 5%. Broadcom and Nvidia climbed more than 1% apiece.
Goldman Sachs Chair and CEO David Solomon discusses the market reaction to the Iran attacks, his views on AI and why he is keeping an eye on the private credit market. He speaks with Haidi Stroud-Watts on "Bloomberg: The Asia Trade." (Source: Bloomberg)
Goldman Sachs Chair and CEO David Solomon discusses the market reaction to the Iran attacks, his views on AI and why he is keeping an eye on the private credit market. He speaks with Haidi Stroud-Watts on "Bloomberg: The Asia Trade." (Source: Bloomberg)
Worawith Ounpeng/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis In a Christmas Eve interview on CNBC's "Squawk On The Street", Bill Nygren, portfolio manager of the Oakmark U.S. Large Cap ETF ( OAKM ), noted the challenge active managers faced in 2025, where, unless they were overweight the mega-cap growth stocks, it was difficult to keep up with passive indices. Nygren also noted the unusual strength ...
Worawith Ounpeng/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis In a Christmas Eve interview on CNBC's "Squawk On The Street", Bill Nygren, portfolio manager of the Oakmark U.S. Large Cap ETF ( OAKM ), noted the challenge active managers faced in 2025, where, unless they were overweight the mega-cap growth stocks, it was difficult to keep up with passive indices. Nygren also noted the unusual strength of the momentum factor that year and indicated his belief that some form of mean reversion will occur this year. With OAKM, Nygren has put his money where his mouth is by selecting stocks with significantly weak price momentum, and while that strategy could work well, it introduces shareholders to significant earnings variability and concentration risks. As a result, I'm uneasy about OAKM's composition, and I look forward to explaining why in further detail below. OAKM Overview According to its website , investors should consider OAKM for three reasons: 1. Access to an experienced large-cap value investment team led by Bill Nygren , Michael Nicolas , and Robert Bierig . 2. Consistent investment philosophy that identifies quality companies priced at a discount to our estimate of intrinsic value. 3. Active management in an exchange-traded fund structure that provides transparency, intraday liquidity, and the potential for tax-efficient investing. Estimates of intrinsic value depend on the manager, so that doesn't really tell us much. However, I wanted to see how the team defined "quality", and I found that in the fund's prospectus , the advisor looks for companies with solid free cash flows and earnings that are growing and reasonably predictable. In addition, the advisor looks for a "high level of company management alignment with shareholders," which, based on the description below, relates to stock ownership percentages and performance-based compensation. OAKM Prospectus Unfortunately, the prospectus makes no mention of traditional quality metrics (e.g., margins, capital e...
A record revenue line and a near-doubling of headline net income pushed Accel Entertainment's (ACEL +17.98%) stock to a double-digit gain on Wednesday. On the back of the company's estimates-beating fourth quarter, investors eagerly snapped up its shares, and they closed the trading session 18% higher in price. A game winner Accel is a distributed gaming operator, i.e. it specializes in the instal...
A record revenue line and a near-doubling of headline net income pushed Accel Entertainment's (ACEL +17.98%) stock to a double-digit gain on Wednesday. On the back of the company's estimates-beating fourth quarter, investors eagerly snapped up its shares, and they closed the trading session 18% higher in price. A game winner Accel is a distributed gaming operator, i.e. it specializes in the installation and operation of casino games. It reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results just after market close on Tuesday. Both periods featured new all-time revenue highs for the company. For the quarter, the top line expanded by almost 8% year-over-year to more than $341 million. The average analyst estimate for the metric was under $336 million. Net income under generally accepted accounting practices (GAAP) rose more precipitously, advancing by almost 92% to $16.2 million. The company's per-share earnings were $0.19, beating the consensus pundit projection of $0.15. Accel management chalked up the increases to "the growth and resilience of our distributed gaming model combined with our disciplined capital deployment." Expand NYSE : ACEL Accel Entertainment Today's Change ( 17.98 %) $ 1.99 Current Price $ 13.06 Key Data Points Market Cap $921M Day's Range $ 12.51 - $ 13.29 52wk Range $ 9.02 - $ 13.29 Volume 58K Avg Vol 401K Gross Margin 25.27 % Large footprint Scale was a factor too; Accel didn't hesitate to point out that its products are now live in over 4,500 locations, comprising almost 28,000 gaming terminals. Investors willing to gamble on gambling-related stocks -- which are always subject to travel industry trends and overall economic health -- should consider this rather sideways play on the sector. Those who aren't so bullish on such titles might be better served with other investments.
Image source: The Motley Fool. Wednesday, March 4, 2026, at 5 p.m. ET CALL PARTICIPANTS Chairman & Chief Executive Officer — Kevin Clark Chief Financial Officer — Bill Burns Group President of Delivery — Marc Krug Chief Solutions and Operations Officer — Amy Hawkins Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications — Joshua Vogel Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email [emai...
Image source: The Motley Fool. Wednesday, March 4, 2026, at 5 p.m. ET CALL PARTICIPANTS Chairman & Chief Executive Officer — Kevin Clark Chief Financial Officer — Bill Burns Group President of Delivery — Marc Krug Chief Solutions and Operations Officer — Amy Hawkins Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications — Joshua Vogel Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email [email protected] RISKS Bill Burns stated, "The decline in margin across the year was driven primarily by declines in revenue and continued bill-pay spread compression, most notably in travel, partly offset by the cost savings I mentioned a moment ago." Management acknowledged, "we do not anticipate margin pressure easing for the travel business in the near term," specifically citing a tight bill-pay spread due to competition. The terminated merger led to $78 million in noncash impairment charges principally related to goodwill and trade name abandonments. SG&A for the quarter and year included nonrecurring severance related to the CEO change. Education staffing saw a 7% year-over-year decline in revenue, attributed to clients insourcing positions, impacting segment growth. TAKEAWAYS Consolidated revenue -- $237 million in the quarter, declining 5% sequentially and 24% year over year; full-year revenue reached $1.05 billion, down 22%. -- $237 million in the quarter, declining 5% sequentially and 24% year over year; full-year revenue reached $1.05 billion, down 22%. Gross profit and margin -- $48 million gross profit and a 20.3% gross margin, down 10 basis points sequentially but up 30 basis points year over year; annual gross margin remained stable in the 20.0%-20.4% range. -- $48 million gross profit and a 20.3% gross margin, down 10 basis points sequentially but up 30 basis points year over year; annual gross margin remained stable in the 20.0%-20.4% range. Selling, general, and administrative expense (SG&A) -- $51 million for the quarter (up 9% sequentially, down 8% year over...
Japanese and South Korean stocks rebounded from a market rout triggered by the US-Israeli attack on Iran, as strong US economic data boosted sentiment. The Kospi index surged as much as 12% to 5,695.64 while the Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose up to 4.1% to 56,441.13. The US service economy expanded in February at the fastest pace since mid-2022, powered by robust orders growth and business activity...
Japanese and South Korean stocks rebounded from a market rout triggered by the US-Israeli attack on Iran, as strong US economic data boosted sentiment. The Kospi index surged as much as 12% to 5,695.64 while the Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose up to 4.1% to 56,441.13. The US service economy expanded in February at the fastest pace since mid-2022, powered by robust orders growth and business activity. “US employment and ISM non-manufacturing index data confirmed the strength of the real economy, giving the stock market a breath of relief,” said Takashi Ito , senior strategist at Nomura Securities.