Dilok Klaisataporn/iStock via Getty Images Performance assessment Microsoft Corporation ( MSFT ) has beaten the broader market index by a few percentage points since my last update on the stock. But I will say that I don't think this is any sign of a sustainable run up. So I think my Hold assessment has been fair: Performance since HA's Last Article on MSFT (Seeking Alpha, HA's Last Article on MSFT) Elevator pitch Microsoft released its Q3 FY26 results (the company has a June-ending fiscal year) last week. Here's my take: Microsoft is riding enterprise AI adoption tailwinds. AI infrastructure investments are consistently eroding gross margins. ROI on capex is a risk variable to monitor. MSFT stock is valued in-line with its comps. It's hard to have a directional bias from the technical charts perspective. Microsoft is riding enterprise AI adoption tailwinds I've consistently had the view that Microsoft's product suite would do well in the AI boom . And this continues to rings true, as Azure cloud maintains a high 40% YoY growth rate: Azure YoY (Company Filings, HA Analysis) This is significant for the company as Azure's overall revenue mix contribution is also steadily climbing up: Azure mix of total revenue (Company Filings, HA Analysis) The drivers of the accelerating growth in Microsoft's Cloud segment include earlier delivery of compute capacity and increased consumption from enterprise customers: Results were ahead of expectations as we delivered capacity earlier in the quarter, enabling increased consumption across both AI and non-AI services. Strong customer demand across workloads, customer segments and geographic regions continues to exceed available capacity. - CFO Amy Hood in the Q3 FY26 earnings call . I expect this steady and high growth track to be uninterrupted in the quarters ahead, especially as demand continues to exceed supply. Incidentally, with those dynamics, pricing is also seeing an uptick in the AI features-enabled Office 365 product suite, ...

Microsoft: Reasons To Be Concerned About Capex ROI (NASDAQ:MSFT) Seeking Alpha

Earnings Call Insights: Twist Bioscience (TWST) Q2 fiscal 2026 Management View “Twist delivered another strong quarter and extended our track record of consistent execution, posting our 13th quarter of sequential revenue growth,” said (CEO Emily Leproust), adding that the company has “expanded gross margin above 50%” and “remain[s] firmly on track to achieve adjusted EBITDA breakeven in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026.” (CEO Leproust) highlighted AI-enabled drug discovery as a growth driver, stating “DNA Synthesis and Protein Solutions grew 28%, powered by continued strength in AI-enabled drug discovery,” and pointed to a new partnership: “Amazon Web Services announced Twist as a wet lab partner for Amazon Bio Discovery, its AI-powered drug discovery application.” (COO Patrick Finn) framed a product/operations push as share-capture, saying Twist will “soon take a full range of sequences across length and complexity,” “driving towards accepting approximately 99.5% of clonal genes and 99.9% of all DNA products more broadly,” and added, “more sequences accepted means more orders won, and we intend to win them.” “Revenue grew 19.3% year-over-year to $110.7 million,” said (CFO Adam Laponis), adding, “Gross margin expanded to 51.6%,” and “we remain firmly on track for adjusted EBITDA breakeven in Q4.” Outlook “For fiscal 2026, we expect total revenue of $442 million to $447 million,” said (CFO Laponis), and “for Q3 of fiscal ’26, we expect total revenue of $114 million to $115 million.” (CFO Laponis) reiterated the expected second-half mix shift in sequencing tools, saying, “we expect NGS to be the driver of sequential growth in H2 and return to 20% growth by Q4,” while (CEO Leproust) said the company sees “a return to growth in NGS” alongside “increasing adoption in AI-enabled discovery.” Versus the prior quarter’s outlook, Twist raised its fiscal 2026 revenue view from “$435 million to $440 million” (Q1 call, CFO Laponis) to “$442 million to $447 million” (Q2 call, CF...

格隆汇5月5日｜美联储威廉姆斯：美国相较于其他国家受到能源冲击的影响将更小。

Key PointsCogent posted a smaller-than-expected loss in the first quarter.

tongstock/iStock via Getty Images The following segment was excerpted from Diamond Hill Small Cap Strategy Q1 2026 Commentary. Key contributors Exploration and production company Magnolia Oil & Gas ( MGY ) saw shares rise as the sharp increase in oil prices drove a broad rally across US-based oil producers. As geopolitical tensions in the Middle East tightened the supply outlook, investors increasingly rewarded US producers for their leverage to higher commodity prices, potential for outsized cash generation and capacity for strong capital returns. Shares of aerospace and defense manufacturer Ducommun ( DCO ) rose as its missile franchise, representing roughly 25% of its defense revenue, is directly benefiting from the Pentagon's spending acceleration. Additionally, the company's expansion into engineered products creates pricing power and margin expansion that traditional manufacturers cannot replicate, allowing the company to grow end markets while expanding profitability in a rising defense spending environment. Oil-Dri ( ODC ) , a leading provider of branded and private label cat litter as well as other sorbent materials, outperformed as management has continued to successfully execute a multi-year transformation toward premiumization and operational excellence. This transformation, which has prioritized operational flexibility, shifts to higher-margin products and onshoring of packaging to insulate from tariffs, has created defensible moats for the company that are hard for competitors to replicate. Key detractors Red Rock Resorts' ( RRR ) fundamentals remained solid, though the stock faced pressure in Q1 as investors linked gaming demand to discretionary spending trends. Concerns around rising fuel prices, particularly following geopolitical tensions, weighed on sentiment given the perceived impact on consumer budgets. However, the company's increasingly diversified customer base has historically shown resilience to these pressures. Proficient Auto Logistics (...

格隆汇5月5日｜雪佛龙(CVX.N)CEO：石油库存缓冲正在被消耗。

Tech stocks edged up Monday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK)

Cristiano Cardoso/iStock via Getty Images I'm staying positive on Gildan Activewear Inc. ( GIL ) ( GIL:CA ). Investors should ignore its headline revenue underperformance for 1Q2026, which is transitory in nature. I think the focus should be on the company's share gains and better-than-anticipated profitability instead. My prior January 15, 2026, write-up detailed GIL's major P/E expansion drivers following the Hanesbrands/HBI takeover. Q1 Topline Reset Shouldn't Be Repeated The group published a 6-K filing revealing its latest financials on Thursday, Apr 30. On a merged basis, the Jan-Mar '26 turnover went down 9.9% YoY to $1.17 billion . This doesn't worry me. GIL's results disclosure indicated that 1Q25 was a high base due to the "preemptive buying ahead of tariffs." That's a one-time event that shouldn't continue this year. At its analyst briefing , management also highlighted the "consolidation of manufacturing facilities" which caused a "temporary reduction of inventory levels." The firm's recent three-month sales were affected by a reduced ability to fulfill orders during this transition phase. It aims to realize between $0.10 billion and $0.25 billion of annual expense cuts by end-2026 and end-2028, respectively, from the HBI integration. Manufacturing more of Hanesbrands' apparel in Gildan's factories will allow for the exploitation of scale economies. This brings the company closer to its goal. Separately, the enterprise's call remarks pointed to a new "innovation cycle with the Hanes products." It's reasonable for me to infer that GIL is clearing out legacy SKUs to pave the way for next-generation assortments. Also, I've observed signs suggesting that growth prospects remain favorable. My mid-Jan piece noted, "The HBI acquisition adds to GIL's existing Central American production capacity." My take then was that "competitors dependent on sourcing from ASEAN" might "cede ground to Gildan." I was proven to be right. It's "continuing to take share in the mar...

格隆汇5月5日｜惠誉评级：加拿大依赖增长驱动的收入以保持财政赤字稳定。

Ryan Cohen is at it again. The Canadian entrepreneur turned activist investor has been making big investments in struggling companies and trying to turn them around— with mixed results. His latest gambit is a $56 billion offer for eBay Inc., a pioneer in selling used goods online and a business nearly four times the size of Cohen’s current company, GameStop Corp. Cohen made his name co-founding Chewy in 2011, turning it into the top online pet retailer before agreeing to sell to PetSmart for $3.35 billion six years later. The executive, who never went to college or had what he calls “a real job,” sets his strategy based on his ownership mentality, one where managers should have a stake in the companies they run and base their own success on that of the business. When he became chief executive officer of GameStop in 2023, he took no salary . Earlier this year, GameStop granted Cohen performance-based stock option awards that could bring him $35 billion if certain aggressive criteria are met. Full vesting of the options requires GameStop to achieve a $100 billion market capitalization and $10 billion in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization. “I obviously want to build something much larger, but I don’t benefit unless shareholders benefit,” Cohen said in an interview Monday on CNBC, responding to a question about whether his eBay proposal is motivated by the compensation package. “I don’t benefit unless shareholders benefit. So my compensation package is aligned.” Cohen has offered $125 per share in cash and stock for eBay, or about a 20% premium to its Friday close. GameStop, which built a roughly 5% stake in the company, said it’s secured an initial, non-binding “highly confident letter” from TD Bank to provide about $20 billion of debt financing. In a memo to investors Sunday, Cohen’s company pledged to find some $2 billion of annual savings within 12 months of closing. EBay said it had no discussions with, or outreach from, GameStop prior to ...

HSBC Cuts Palantir Technologies as Explosive AI Competition Threatens Growth Story

Top Bank Downgrades Palantir Stock Ahead of Q1 Earnings TradingView

Palantir Reports Earnings After the Bell. Here's How this High-Flying Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Can Impress the Market AOL.com

July ICE NY cocoa (CCN26 ) today is up +324 (+9.01%), and July ICE London cocoa #7 (CAN26 ) is not trading with markets in the UK closed for the May Day holiday. Cocoa prices are sharply higher today, with NY cocoa posting a 2-week high. The prolonged closure of...

July arabica coffee (KCN26 ) today is up +0.65 (+0.23%), and July ICE robusta coffee (RMN26 ) is not trading with UK markets closed for the May Day holiday. Coffee prices are moving higher today, supported by concerns about the escalation of the US-Iran war, which could keep the Strait...

Key PointsAmazon is moving into the logistics market in a big way, including large enterprise customers.

格隆汇5月5日｜美联储威廉姆斯：尚未看到通胀蔓延至基本趋势的迹象。

格隆汇5月5日｜美联储威廉姆斯：通胀持续高于目标显然是央行官员关注的重点。

Direct Meds Direct Meds New York City, NY, May 04, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DISCLAIMER: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. GLP-1 medications are prescription medications that require evaluation by a licensed clinician. If you purchase through links in this article, a commission may be earned at no additional cost to you. If you searched "Amazon One Medical GLP-1 program" this week, you are not alone. On April 21, 2026, Amazon made one of the m

Closing the Strait of Hormuz Disrupted 30% of the World's Helium. But There's a Silver Lining for 1 AI Chip Stock. The Globe and Mail

Key PointsIranian missile strikes damaged Qatar's natural gas infrastructure, rendering South Korea with a serious shortage of the helium produced as a by-product of natural gas refining.

AMD stock slips as HSBC downgrade flags valuation concerns ahead of earnings Invezz

Bath unhappy with collision between Barbeary and Lucu Some camera angles were unavailable to TMO in semi-final An independent broadcast director is set to be in position for this month’s Champions Cup final in Bilbao after disquiet about the lack of crucial replays available to match officials during Bath’s 38-26 semi-final defeat against Bordeaux-Bègles on Sunday. Johann van Graan, Bath’s head of rugby, suggested three high tackles on his No 8, Alfie Barbeary , were missed because the referee and television match official (TMO) had not been supplied with all the requisite angles by the French host broadcaster. Members of the commentary team on Premier Sports also highlighted the absence of replay footage. Different protocols are in place in the Champions Cup compared with the United Rugby championship and the Six Nations, when an independent operator sits with the TMO to ensure the best pictures are readily available. On Sunday, under EPCR regulations relating to host country arrangements, a French director was in place. Continue reading...