AnnaStills/iStock via Getty Images By James Knightley , Chief International Economist, US Jobs beat expectations for a second month The US jobs report has come in notably stronger than expected for a second consecutive month. Payrolls rose 115k in April versus the 65k expectation, while last month's initial print of 178k is now 185k. This is the first back-to-back monthly jobs increase since May o...
AnnaStills/iStock via Getty Images By James Knightley , Chief International Economist, US Jobs beat expectations for a second month The US jobs report has come in notably stronger than expected for a second consecutive month. Payrolls rose 115k in April versus the 65k expectation, while last month's initial print of 178k is now 185k. This is the first back-to-back monthly jobs increase since May of last year. Other key metrics are that the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3% with the details contradicting the payrolls' data, in that the household survey suggests employment fell 226k while the number of people declaring themselves unemployed rose 134k. Meanwhile, average hourly earnings rose 0.2%MoM/3.6%YoY, which was below the 0.3%/3.8% consensus prediction. The details show private education and healthcare services added 46k jobs, while transportation and warehousing added 30k and retail contributed 22k, with leisure and hospitality employment increasing 14k. Manufacturing lost 2k though, with information dropping 13k and financial activities losing 11k. Over the past twelve months, the US has added 238k jobs, or just under 20k per month on average, most of which have come in the past two months. Job gains remain concentrated in three sectors The chart below shows the cumulative increase in employment since December 2022, with just three sectors accounting for all the jobs added over that time frame. Moreover, the past two payrolls numbers are at odds with the demand surveys we have seen from the ISM and are stronger than the data reported by ADP. The birth-deaths adjustment the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses to compensate for undercoverage of small firms did make a strong contribution of 391k on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. This was similar to last year but much stronger than previous April periods, which perhaps raises the prospect of eventual downward revisions. For now, though, the overall tone of the report confirms the market pricing that stable intere...
Last month, Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY) made history with its inaugural point-to-point journey from JFK Airport to Manhattan with its air taxis, also known as electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. This milestone event showcased the potential of its eVTOL technology and was a crucial test of this futuristic mode of transportation. As part of the Federal Aviation Administration's (F...
Last month, Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY) made history with its inaugural point-to-point journey from JFK Airport to Manhattan with its air taxis, also known as electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. This milestone event showcased the potential of its eVTOL technology and was a crucial test of this futuristic mode of transportation. As part of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, this flight demonstrated the aircraft's ability to navigate complex airspace and brought Joby one step closer to launching commercial operations. Here's what investors have to look forward to from Joby Aviation. Image source: Joby Aviation. Continue reading
dan_prat/E+ via Getty Images Introduction My buy rating for Canadian Natural Resources ( CNQ ) in September last year has turned out to be an excellent call. Since then, the shares have delivered a total return of ~41%. My thesis that production growth and accretive acquisitions are setting CNQ up for the future, alongside its clear capital return policy, made it a top E&P choice to hold. Since th...
dan_prat/E+ via Getty Images Introduction My buy rating for Canadian Natural Resources ( CNQ ) in September last year has turned out to be an excellent call. Since then, the shares have delivered a total return of ~41%. My thesis that production growth and accretive acquisitions are setting CNQ up for the future, alongside its clear capital return policy, made it a top E&P choice to hold. Since then, the balance sheet has continued to improve, the oil price has jumped, and CNQ has revised their capital return policy, all boosting the company’s attractiveness to shareholders. After a near 40% rally, the question now is, does CNQ continue to deserve a buy rating? While the share price has risen strongly with the rising oil price, much of the gains we have seen since last September came before this. When I previously covered the stock, it was priced at $32.45. On February 20th, before the outbreak of war, the shares were priced at $42.40; now they stand at ~$44.69. The share price has certainly risen strongly, but only a portion appears to be fully related to the rise in the oil price. The rising oil price has certainly helped CNQ, though I still believe the core factors of increasing production and its strong shareholder returns policy remain the company’s key strengths. The oil price rise, though important, merely catalyzes these things. In this article, I want to look at CNQ’s latest results and the recent changes made to their shareholder returns policy, ultimately explaining why I still believe shares in CNQ remain a buy. Earnings Canadian Natural Resources recently released their earnings for Q1 ’26 . Production came in at an average of 1.64 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, an increase of 4% from 2025 levels. Oil Sands Mining and Upgrading, the largest division, saw production average 587 thousand barrels daily, a slight fall from the 595 thousand barrels recorded a year earlier. This fall was largely due to third-party natural gas supply restrictions a...
Agentic AI is creating a fresh opportunity for AMD, with its booming server CPU business fueling strong growth, fresh optimism, and a new Street-high price target.
Agentic AI is creating a fresh opportunity for AMD, with its booming server CPU business fueling strong growth, fresh optimism, and a new Street-high price target.
Former cybersecurity executive Peter Williams stole several surveillance and hacking tools and sold them for $1.3 million to a Russian broker that works with Putin’s government.
Former cybersecurity executive Peter Williams stole several surveillance and hacking tools and sold them for $1.3 million to a Russian broker that works with Putin’s government.
Earnings Call Insights: Plains All American Pipeline (PAA) Q1 2026 Management view "This morning, we reported first quarter adjusted EBITDA table to Plains of $730 million." (Chairman, President & CEO Wilfred Chiang) "Based on these market dynamics and the growth trajectory that we see for our business, we have increased our initial 2026 EBITDA guidance." (Chairman, President & CEO Wilfred Chiang)...
Earnings Call Insights: Plains All American Pipeline (PAA) Q1 2026 Management view "This morning, we reported first quarter adjusted EBITDA table to Plains of $730 million." (Chairman, President & CEO Wilfred Chiang) "Based on these market dynamics and the growth trajectory that we see for our business, we have increased our initial 2026 EBITDA guidance." (Chairman, President & CEO Wilfred Chiang) "As highlighted on Slide 4, we're increasing the midpoint of our full year 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance by $130 million to $2.88 billion." (Chairman, President & CEO Wilfred Chiang) "Our trajectory of growth this year is underpinned by 3 key drivers: the sale of our NGL assets, Cactus III synergy capture and streamlining." (Chairman, President & CEO Wilfred Chiang) "For the first quarter, we reported crude oil segment adjusted EBITDA of $582 million, which was broadly in line with our internal estimate..." (Executive VP & CFO Al Swanson) "We reported adjusted EBITDA of $145 million, reflecting a stronger-than-expected contribution from higher straddle production and improving frac spreads in March." (Executive VP & CFO Al Swanson) "We expect net proceeds from the NGL sale to be approximately $3.3 billion, which is approximately $100 million higher than our prior estimate." (Executive VP & CFO Al Swanson) "As a result, we no longer expect to pay a special distribution following the closing of the NGL sale." (Executive VP & CFO Al Swanson) "We are on track to capture the efficiencies, $50 million by the end of 2026 and an additional $50 million in 2027." (Executive VP & COO Chris Chandler) Outlook Plains’ updated full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA midpoint guidance was stated as $2.88 billion. (Chairman, President & CEO Wilfred Chiang) "The NGL segment EBITDA is now expected to be $170 million this year, following first quarter outperformance of $45 million and the updated divestiture timing now in May 2026." (Chairman, President & CEO Wilfred Chiang) "Growth capital remains $3...
Earnings Call Insights: Arlo Technologies (ARLO) Q1 2026 Management View "During the exhaustive earnings process, the repetition of superlatives probably rings hollow, but I hope that you can see by any measure, Arlo truly had a spectacular quarter built on strong execution across our entire business and across all our key metrics." (CEO & Director Matthew McRae) "In fact, total revenue was up 26%...
Earnings Call Insights: Arlo Technologies (ARLO) Q1 2026 Management View "During the exhaustive earnings process, the repetition of superlatives probably rings hollow, but I hope that you can see by any measure, Arlo truly had a spectacular quarter built on strong execution across our entire business and across all our key metrics." (CEO & Director Matthew McRae) "In fact, total revenue was up 26% year-over-year and hit $150 million, while non-GAAP EPS came in at an incredible $0.28 per share." (CEO & Director McRae) "Arlo added 318,000 paid accounts in the period... This performance catapulted us past 6 million paid accounts substantially earlier than expected." (CEO & Director McRae) "Arlo's management team and Board still believe the value that we have created is not reflected in the market, which is why our Board authorized the recent $50 million stock buyback program." (CEO & Director McRae) "Arlo also announced the acquisition of Aloe Care, a company focused on bringing truly innovative solutions to the age-in-place and home care market." (CEO & Director McRae) "In the first quarter, we were able to generate record subscriptions and services revenue of $90 million, up 31% year-over-year and accounting for 60% of total revenues." (CFO & COO Kurt Binder) Outlook "We are expecting total revenue in the second quarter to be in the range of $145 million to $155 million." (CFO & COO Binder) "We expect our non-GAAP net income per diluted share in the second quarter to be in the range of $0.17 to $0.23." (CFO & COO Binder) "Additionally, we remain confident that we will achieve the full year 2026 financial outlook, which we provided last quarter on subscriptions and services revenue as well as total revenue and EPS." (CFO & COO Binder) Financial Results "Total revenue for the period came in at $150.4 million, a record and up 26% from the prior year." (CFO & COO Binder) "Product revenue was $60.3 million, up from $50.2 million compared to the same period last year." (CF...
Earnings Call Insights: Serve Robotics (SERV) Q1 2026 Management view CEO Ali Kashani said Q1 revenue was “nearly $3 million,” adding it was “above our expectations and up nearly 7x year-over-year and nearly 3.5x sequentially,” while stating the company was “on track to deliver the $26 million of 2026 revenue we guided to on our last earnings call.” Kashani highlighted a shift in revenue mix, sayi...
Earnings Call Insights: Serve Robotics (SERV) Q1 2026 Management view CEO Ali Kashani said Q1 revenue was “nearly $3 million,” adding it was “above our expectations and up nearly 7x year-over-year and nearly 3.5x sequentially,” while stating the company was “on track to deliver the $26 million of 2026 revenue we guided to on our last earnings call.” Kashani highlighted a shift in revenue mix, saying “about 1/3 of our total revenue during Q1 was from software services, and just under half of total revenue is now recurring,” and framed the operating scale with: “Moxie and Serve robots now provide over 10,000 robot supply hours to our partners every day with more than 800 robots active every single day.” Kashani flagged a near-term operating cadence change, stating, “We expect Q2 growth to be slower,” and adding, “in the first half of the year, we are not deploying additional sidewalk robots beyond the 2,000 that are already in the fleet. Our focus is on operational growth and efficiency instead.” CFO Brian Read described the operating priorities as: “improve robot productivity, increase revenue per robot and per operating hour, grow recurring revenue and translate those operating improvements into a stronger financial model.” Outlook Management reiterated full-year targets, with CFO Brian Read saying, “We reiterate a total 2026 revenue guidance of $26 million,” and “we maintain our previously communicated non-GAAP operating expense guidance of $160 million to $170 million during 2026.” Near-term pacing commentary centered on a deliberate first-half pause in incremental sidewalk deployments. CEO Ali Kashani said, “We expect Q2 growth to be slower,” and connected that to operational work (merchant activation, delivery platform integrations, and geographic coverage) “in anticipation of the second half of the year when the growth picks up again.” Analyst estimates were provided in the prompt, but the format did not match the required fiscal-quarter validation rules; as a ...