Baris-Ozer/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis Two core observations stood out to me from Alphabet’s ( GOOG ) Q1 CY26 earnings report last week. First, the search giant’s growth engine is firing on all cylinders. Its traditional search business delivered its strongest quarterly growth since ‘22. More importantly, Alphabet’s Google Cloud business reported its fastest pace of quarterly growth ...
Baris-Ozer/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis Two core observations stood out to me from Alphabet’s ( GOOG ) Q1 CY26 earnings report last week. First, the search giant’s growth engine is firing on all cylinders. Its traditional search business delivered its strongest quarterly growth since ‘22. More importantly, Alphabet’s Google Cloud business reported its fastest pace of quarterly growth yet, growing 63% y/y. Google’s multi-product push for the enterprise AI market has put the entire 'OpenAI complex,' a group stocks that regularly do business with the frontier AI startup, on high alert, more than ever. Second, what struck me the most was management’s fractional increase in capex for CY26. This implies Alphabet likely has all the capital investments it needs this year to sink its competitive teeth deeper into the OpenAI complex’s enterprise market share. That’s vastly different from the meaningful capex upgrades most hyperscaler peers guided towards last week. I now believe Alphabet’s Google has plenty of multi-dimensional growth surprises that will further cause pain for the entire OpenAI complex, and I am adopting a bullish view on Alphabet’s road ahead. Google Cloud: The Bane Of OpenAI Complex’s Growth Crisis Last week, I said that Alphabet was “pivoting aggressively” towards the enterprise AI market after noticing a trail of strong product roadmap clues in its Google CloudNext conference from a couple of weeks ago. If you missed those updates, this excerpt from Thomas Kurian , Google Cloud CEO, comprehensively sums up Google Cloud’s entire multi-dimensional, multi-product strategy to win more share in the enterprise AI market: You [enterprises] need a unified stack, with “chips that are designed for models, models that are grounded in your data, agents and applications that are built with those models,” and the whole thing “secured by the infrastructure.” While I was neutral on my views on Alphabet as of last week, I did say I will be watching Alphabet’s...
Baris-Ozer/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis Two core observations stood out to me from Alphabet’s ( GOOG ) Q1 CY26 earnings report last week. First, the search giant’s growth engine is firing on all cylinders. Its traditional search business delivered its strongest quarterly growth since ‘22. More importantly, Alphabet’s Google Cloud business reported its fastest pace of quarterly growth ...
Baris-Ozer/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis Two core observations stood out to me from Alphabet’s ( GOOG ) Q1 CY26 earnings report last week. First, the search giant’s growth engine is firing on all cylinders. Its traditional search business delivered its strongest quarterly growth since ‘22. More importantly, Alphabet’s Google Cloud business reported its fastest pace of quarterly growth yet, growing 63% y/y. Google’s multi-product push for the enterprise AI market has put the entire 'OpenAI complex,' a group stocks that regularly do business with the frontier AI startup, on high alert, more than ever. Second, what struck me the most was management’s fractional increase in capex for CY26. This implies Alphabet likely has all the capital investments it needs this year to sink its competitive teeth deeper into the OpenAI complex’s enterprise market share. That’s vastly different from the meaningful capex upgrades most hyperscaler peers guided towards last week. I now believe Alphabet’s Google has plenty of multi-dimensional growth surprises that will further cause pain for the entire OpenAI complex, and I am adopting a bullish view on Alphabet’s road ahead. Google Cloud: The Bane Of OpenAI Complex’s Growth Crisis Last week, I said that Alphabet was “pivoting aggressively” towards the enterprise AI market after noticing a trail of strong product roadmap clues in its Google CloudNext conference from a couple of weeks ago. If you missed those updates, this excerpt from Thomas Kurian , Google Cloud CEO, comprehensively sums up Google Cloud’s entire multi-dimensional, multi-product strategy to win more share in the enterprise AI market: You [enterprises] need a unified stack, with “chips that are designed for models, models that are grounded in your data, agents and applications that are built with those models,” and the whole thing “secured by the infrastructure.” While I was neutral on my views on Alphabet as of last week, I did say I will be watching Alphabet’s...
Summer 2026 will be a stress test for U.S. airlines. Second quarter jet fuel is tracking $4.10 to $4.30 per gallon, with benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude at $99.89 per barrel and in the 96th percentile of its 12-month range. University of Michigan consumer sentiment fell to 49.8 in April 2026, complicating the “demand ... Airline Stocks Heading Into Summer 2026: Pricing Power vs Cost ...
Summer 2026 will be a stress test for U.S. airlines. Second quarter jet fuel is tracking $4.10 to $4.30 per gallon, with benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude at $99.89 per barrel and in the 96th percentile of its 12-month range. University of Michigan consumer sentiment fell to 49.8 in April 2026, complicating the “demand ... Airline Stocks Heading Into Summer 2026: Pricing Power vs Cost Pressure
ilbusca/E+ via Getty Images Introduction First Busey ( BUSE ) is a US regional bank, headquartered in Kansas. The bank has a history of in excess of 150 years and is currently active in ten states. I have been following the bank's financial performance from a distance as I was quite intrigued when it issued 8.25% preferred shares in 2025. And although those preferred shares are currently trading a...
ilbusca/E+ via Getty Images Introduction First Busey ( BUSE ) is a US regional bank, headquartered in Kansas. The bank has a history of in excess of 150 years and is currently active in ten states. I have been following the bank's financial performance from a distance as I was quite intrigued when it issued 8.25% preferred shares in 2025. And although those preferred shares are currently trading at a premium to the call price, the bank is unable to call them before June 2030 which means they still offer an attractive yield to call. Data by YCharts Higher non-interest expenses weigh on the bottom line result If you only look at the bottom line result, the first quarter of 2026 was quite disappointing for First Busey. As the image below shows, the bank had to deal with a 2% decrease in its net interest income while there was a very substantial 9 million USD increase in the total amount of non-interest expenses. This eventually resulted in a pre-tax and pre-loan loss provision income of just under $67M and after accounting for the $3.06M in loan loss provisions, the reported pre-tax income came in at just below $64M resulting in a net profits of almost exactly $50M. BUSE Investor Relations One key element is quite important for preferred shareholders in the image above, and that is the fact that the bank needed less than 10% of its net income to cover the preferred dividends. This means the total net income attributable to the common shareholders of First Busey was approximately $45.4M or $0.52 per share. As the breakdown of the non-interest expenses below shows, there was a substantial increase in the total amount of salaries paid to its staff which had a negative impact of approximately $16M. Most other expenses decreased but this was not sufficient to absorb the substantially higher salaries, wages and employee benefits. This is where the bulk of the restructuring expenses were recorded, and we should consider this to be a non-recurring item and we should see a subs...
US Coast Guard Offloads More Than $72 Million Worth Of Cocaine Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), More than $72 million worth of cocaine was offloaded by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) after it was seized in multiple operations. A crew member aboard USCGC Escanaba carries a bale of cocaine during a drug offload at Port Everglades, Fla., on April 27, 2026. U.S...
US Coast Guard Offloads More Than $72 Million Worth Of Cocaine Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), More than $72 million worth of cocaine was offloaded by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) after it was seized in multiple operations. A crew member aboard USCGC Escanaba carries a bale of cocaine during a drug offload at Port Everglades, Fla., on April 27, 2026. U.S. Coast Guard/Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric Rodriguez On Monday, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba’s crew offloaded roughly 7,050 pounds of cocaine valued at over $53 million at Port Everglades, Florida, according to an April 27 statement. The seizures were made following interdictions in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific. In addition to Escanaba, other USCG assets and the Joint Interagency Task Force South were involved in the operations. “ The crew’s achievements on this patrol reflect the very best of our service—courage, vigilance, and an unshakeable commitment to protecting the American people ,” Escanaba Commander Nicholas Seniuk said. “Every pound of narcotics kept off our streets represents lives changed, violence prevented, and communities made safer. We couldn’t be prouder of their extraordinary work.” In an April 23 statement, USCG announced that its Cutter Resolute crew offloaded roughly 2,570 pounds of cocaine valued at more than $19.3 million at Base Miami Beach, Florida, and also transferred six individuals suspected of drug smuggling to authorities. The seizures were the result of three interdictions in the Caribbean by the crews of USS Billings and Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma, together with other partners. Combined, the two offloading events involved the seizure of 9,620 pounds of cocaine worth more than $72.3 million. According to the USCG, more than 511,000 pounds of cocaine were seized last year, which is more than three times the service’s annual average. The agency has also sped up its counter-drug operations in the Eastern Pacific region through O...
Abel was asked about how he balances his time between operations and investments. He didn't give a direct answer but noted that a big chunk of Berkshire's nearly $300 billion equities portfolio requires "limited" management.
Abel was asked about how he balances his time between operations and investments. He didn't give a direct answer but noted that a big chunk of Berkshire's nearly $300 billion equities portfolio requires "limited" management.
Shares of social media giant Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) sold off following the company's first-quarter 2026 update earlier this week, and the drop has stuck. The stock is down about 10% over the past week as of this writing. Most of the headlines pinned the blame on one number: capital expenditures . Meta raised its 2026 capital expenditures outlook to $125 billion to $145 billion, up from a pr...
Shares of social media giant Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) sold off following the company's first-quarter 2026 update earlier this week, and the drop has stuck. The stock is down about 10% over the past week as of this writing. Most of the headlines pinned the blame on one number: capital expenditures . Meta raised its 2026 capital expenditures outlook to $125 billion to $145 billion, up from a prior forecast of $115 billion to $135 billion. On the company's first-quarter earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg attributed most of the increase to "higher component costs, particularly memory pricing." A bigger spending bill is no small concern. Continue reading
Actor Ben McKenzie, known for his role in The OC, discusses his transition from acting to investigating cryptocurrency through a new film he wrote and directed: Everyone Is Lying to You for Money. McKenzie explains to Bloomberg This Weekend's David Gura and Christina Ruffini he was motivated by pandemic bored and a suggestion to buy bitcoin. (Source: Bloomberg)
Actor Ben McKenzie, known for his role in The OC, discusses his transition from acting to investigating cryptocurrency through a new film he wrote and directed: Everyone Is Lying to You for Money. McKenzie explains to Bloomberg This Weekend's David Gura and Christina Ruffini he was motivated by pandemic bored and a suggestion to buy bitcoin. (Source: Bloomberg)
iQoncept Earnings season gathered pace this week, with a busy stretch that saw 15 companies in the S&P 500’s consumer discretionary sector ( XLY ) report quarterly results. Year to date, State Street Consumer Disc Sel Sect SPDR ETF ( XLY ) has fallen 0.6%, underperforming the broader S&P 500 index's nearly 6% gains over the same period. The sector’s performance this quarter reflects persistent inf...
iQoncept Earnings season gathered pace this week, with a busy stretch that saw 15 companies in the S&P 500’s consumer discretionary sector ( XLY ) report quarterly results. Year to date, State Street Consumer Disc Sel Sect SPDR ETF ( XLY ) has fallen 0.6%, underperforming the broader S&P 500 index's nearly 6% gains over the same period. The sector’s performance this quarter reflects persistent inflation concerns, rising Treasury yields, and escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which pushed oil prices above $100 per barrel. Higher energy costs weighed on household spending power and increased input and shipping costs, pressuring consumer-facing businesses. In this week’s earnings recap, out of the 15 companies that reported, 12 surpassed profit estimates, two fell short of expectations, and one reported in line. On the revenue side, 12 companies exceeded estimates, while three missed. On a year-over-year basis, 12 of 15 companies reported EPS growth, while 13 posted revenue gains. Below are the latest quarterly reports from five notable companies in the consumer discretionary sector this week: Domino's Pizza ( DPZ ) reported revenue was up 3.6% year over year to $1.15B for Q1, missing the consensus estimate by $10M. International stores saw growth of 4.0%, while U.S. stores generated 2.8% growth. Same-store sales were 1.5% higher at U.S. company-owned stores and 0.8% higher for franchised locations. While both those marks missed the consensus estimate of analysts, the pizza chain noted that Q1 was another quarter of positive order count and market share growth for Domino's in the U.S. Chipotle Mexican Grill ( CMG ) posted positive comparable sales growth in Q1. Total revenue was up 7.4% year over year to $3.1B. The increase was driven by new restaurant openings and a 0.5% increase in comparable restaurant sales due to higher transactions of 0.6%, partially offset by a 0.1% decrease in average check. The comparable sales growth mark was better than the...
Telegraph Senior Foreign Correspondent Adrian Blomfield provided an on-the-ground, and on the water, report from the Strait of Hormuz. Blomfield joins David Gura and Christina Ruffini on Bloomberg This Weekend to discuss how Iran maintains its blockade despite losing much of its naval forces. (Source: Bloomberg)
Telegraph Senior Foreign Correspondent Adrian Blomfield provided an on-the-ground, and on the water, report from the Strait of Hormuz. Blomfield joins David Gura and Christina Ruffini on Bloomberg This Weekend to discuss how Iran maintains its blockade despite losing much of its naval forces. (Source: Bloomberg)