farres tariq/iStock via Getty Images Unemployment rate in Canada increased to 6.9% in April from 6.7% in March of 2026. More on Canada, FLCA: Warrants Broader Interest, But Wait For A Pullback Carney: Canada will defend allies “when it makes sense” in Iran conflict Canada’s inflation rate falls to 2.3% in January Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Franklin FTSE Canada ETF Dividend scorecard for Frank...
farres tariq/iStock via Getty Images Unemployment rate in Canada increased to 6.9% in April from 6.7% in March of 2026. More on Canada, FLCA: Warrants Broader Interest, But Wait For A Pullback Carney: Canada will defend allies “when it makes sense” in Iran conflict Canada’s inflation rate falls to 2.3% in January Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Franklin FTSE Canada ETF Dividend scorecard for Franklin FTSE Canada ETF
Uber Technologies Inc. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sees massive potential in the self-driving sector in the near future as the ride-hailing giant posts strong first-quarter 2026 earnings. Uber’s Business Hasn’t Been Affected By Waymo Khosrowshahi, on Wednesday, said that Uber believed...
Uber Technologies Inc. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sees massive potential in the self-driving sector in the near future as the ride-hailing giant posts strong first-quarter 2026 earnings. Uber’s Business Hasn’t Been Affected By Waymo Khosrowshahi, on Wednesday, said that Uber believed...
Luis Alvarez/DigitalVision via Getty Images I've been bullish on Snap Inc. ( SNAP ) in the past, as I did not believe the stock was going to stay down for long . Now, while I still remain constructive on Snap's future longer-term and still own some shares, I am more skeptical, and I am not as bullish as I once was on this struggling social media company. While there are some positive green shoots ...
Luis Alvarez/DigitalVision via Getty Images I've been bullish on Snap Inc. ( SNAP ) in the past, as I did not believe the stock was going to stay down for long . Now, while I still remain constructive on Snap's future longer-term and still own some shares, I am more skeptical, and I am not as bullish as I once was on this struggling social media company. While there are some positive green shoots at Snap, like improving efficiency and profitability prospects, the primary issue I have with the company is that it's experiencing user declines in its most significant and profitable markets like the U.S., and Europe. Why The Market Is Not Impressed With Snap The company reported earnings recently , which appeared fine on the surface. Q1 GAAP EPS of -$0.05 beat by $0.02, and revenue was in line, up 12.5% YoY. However, despite its total daily users, or "DAUs," increasing by roughly 5% YoY, the company witnessed a very considerable 7% YoY decline in its most profitable and important North American segment. Snap's User "Growth" User growth (Seeking Alpha ) Moreover, this is now the 10th quarter in a row that Snap has either seen flat or declining growth in its most crucial U.S./North American market. Europe's DAUs also slipped by about 2% YoY, not an insignificant margin. The "rest of the world" was up 12 YoY in DAUs. However, the problem is that the rest of the world outside of North America and Europe provides very little revenues and profitability potential for Snap. ARPU By Region ARPU by region (Seeking Alpha ) We see that North America is by far Snap's most profitable region, its bread and butter, so to say. Now the ARPU came in at $9.23 for Q1, almost tripling Europe's ARPU of $3.34, and squashing the rest of the world's $1.20. I also want to highlight that ARPU in the U.S. dropped by 15% QoQ, which is quite significant, and is a more severe decline than I had expected. What's Going On With Snap? I recently heard that "young people" are using Snap less and less in the...
Getty Images Target Corporation - Cheaper Than Walmart But There Are Reasons Target Corporation ( TGT ) shares have been on a strong run since I last covered the stock almost 9 months ago, reiterating a Buy rating. In that article, I noted how Target was valued significantly lower than Walmart ( WMT ) on a P/E basis despite better margins, dividend growth, and return on equity. In fact, the differ...
Getty Images Target Corporation - Cheaper Than Walmart But There Are Reasons Target Corporation ( TGT ) shares have been on a strong run since I last covered the stock almost 9 months ago, reiterating a Buy rating. In that article, I noted how Target was valued significantly lower than Walmart ( WMT ) on a P/E basis despite better margins, dividend growth, and return on equity. In fact, the difference in valuation had only increased since I first covered the stock in 2019. Since August, Target shares have returned over 35% but Walmart is up nearly as much, meaning the valuation gap remains. Seeking Alpha Walmart is still trading at 3 times the P/E of Target. When we look at how the sales, margins, and dividends of the two retailers have progressed over the past 6 years, the existence of a valuation gap becomes easier to understand. The market clearly favors steady growth with continuous operational improvement. Walmart has delivered this and Target has not. Author Spreadsheet Perhaps surprisingly, both companies have delivered similar sales growth over the last 6 years, and both growth rates were higher than CPI inflation. The difference is that Target's growth came quickly between the second half of 2020 and the end of 2022 and has stagnated since then. Walmart has been a steady grower. Seeking Alpha When it comes to margins, we see that Target still has better operating and net income margins than Walmart, but at Target they have fallen over the last 6 years and at Walmart they have increased. The gap is now much narrower. On dividends, Target has been both a higher yielder and a faster grower, but the payout ratios of the two companies, which were similar in 2019, now favor Walmart. If the stores need capital investment, Target now has less cash left over for dividend growth or buybacks. While the relative valuation between the two retailers might still be excessive, it is clear that for Target to improve its own valuation, it needs to restore sales growth and ge...
Joe Hendrickson/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Just like in the movie Draft Day we are living in a completely different world than we were 6 months ago. SoFi Technologies ( SOFI ) was delivering triple beats and broke out above $30 heading into the end of 2025. SOFI was being upgraded by large financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) as they took SOFI to an overweight rating with a...
Joe Hendrickson/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Just like in the movie Draft Day we are living in a completely different world than we were 6 months ago. SoFi Technologies ( SOFI ) was delivering triple beats and broke out above $30 heading into the end of 2025. SOFI was being upgraded by large financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) as they took SOFI to an overweight rating with a $31 price target. SOFI delivered an incredible Q4 2025 report as revenue increased by 37.03% YoY to close out the year while guiding for 30% YoY growth in revenue and 52% in Adjusted EBITDA in the 2026 fiscal year. The macroeconomic environment was finally cooperating and it felt like for the first time in several years everything was going SOFI’s way. Then the conflict with Iran happened, oil soared above $100, inflation started running hot and the talks about whether we would get 2-3 rate cuts changed to whether we would get any rate cuts. Then SOFI delivered their Q1 2026 earnings which weren’t well received. Shares of SOFI tried rallying into earnings and then sold off after the print. Instead of the triple beat we were used to getting from Anthony Noto (SOFI CEO) we got a phenomenal growth rate of 41.07% on revenue with a $37.95 million beat then EPS that was in line with expectations and guidance that remained the same. It didn’t matter how good the underlying fundamentals were, SOFI didn’t live up to the expectations they set the foundation for. I believe this was an incredible quarter from the business fundamentals and there is still a large opportunity in shares of SOFI but the market isn’t agreeing. Either the market is seeing something I'm not, or the market is reacting to a narrative shift that doesn't actually break the underlying thesis. I believe the market is overreacting and I am still very bullish on SOFI’s future even if the narrative around the tech platform is losing steam. Seeking Alpha Following up on my previous article about SOFI At the beginning o...
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Janice Tse Siu-wa has emerged as the biggest landlord among Hong Kong ministers after declaring that she has 25 properties in her name in the city, mainland China and the UK. The 61-year-old constitutional affairs chief also revealed that she or her family held shareholdings of more than 1 per cent in eight private companies, including two food-ing...
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Janice Tse Siu-wa has emerged as the biggest landlord among Hong Kong ministers after declaring that she has 25 properties in her name in the city, mainland China and the UK. The 61-year-old constitutional affairs chief also revealed that she or her family held shareholdings of more than 1 per cent in eight private companies, including two food-ingredient firms, more than any other principal official has declared. Tse’s portfolio comprises 23...
The clock is ticking: the European Union has about two years to decide if it is willing to make the sacrifices and take the risks necessary to become the economic and political power it envisions itself to be. The EU’s proposed Industrial Accelerator and Cyber Security acts are up for negotiation within the bloc’s policymaking bodies. In around two years’ time, we will know their final form. Beiji...
The clock is ticking: the European Union has about two years to decide if it is willing to make the sacrifices and take the risks necessary to become the economic and political power it envisions itself to be. The EU’s proposed Industrial Accelerator and Cyber Security acts are up for negotiation within the bloc’s policymaking bodies. In around two years’ time, we will know their final form. Beijing has two years to influence this: that work has already started with carrots – proposals for a...