narvo vexar/iStock via Getty Images Introduction and Investment Thesis After a brutal start to 2026, the Software Sector ETF ( IGV ) has finally started to outperform the S&P 500 ( SPY ) in March. But I don’t think the recovery in the sector will be widespread across all companies. As agentic AI rewrites the software tech stack, Nvidia’s (NASDAQ: NVDA ) GTC 2026 saw some key announcements with Ope...
narvo vexar/iStock via Getty Images Introduction and Investment Thesis After a brutal start to 2026, the Software Sector ETF ( IGV ) has finally started to outperform the S&P 500 ( SPY ) in March. But I don’t think the recovery in the sector will be widespread across all companies. As agentic AI rewrites the software tech stack, Nvidia’s (NASDAQ: NVDA ) GTC 2026 saw some key announcements with OpenClaw, NemoClaw, and Agent Toolkit, which will empower all SaaS (Software as a Service) companies to transition toward GaaS (Agentic as a Service) as the revenue model shifts from seat-based to consumption-based, while Nvidia positions itself as the default orchestration layer, even when the workload does not start on Nvidia’s silicon. At the start of the month, I wrote a post outlining my three picks that I believe are best positioned in the Agentic AI era, which include Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR ), Cloudflare (NYSE: NET ), and ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW ), with all three outperforming the Software Sector ETF as well as the S&P 500 since the start of March, as can be seen below. SA: Price performance of top three picks from the start of March However, there are also companies in the software sector that I believe face real commoditization risks, especially after the announcements made at Nvidia’s GTC. This is the case, as these businesses are just a workflow management solution with a nice UI around it, where a user logs in and moves tasks through a workflow. Unfortunately, in the Agentic AI era, where agents can autonomously run organization workflows while Nvidia’s stack becomes the control plane, the seat-based revenue model of these above companies collapses drastically. In this post, I will highlight three companies that I’m avoiding in the software recovery trade and provide an update on how Nvidia’s stack will enable software companies to transition from SaaS to GaaS in the coming years. All SaaS Will Become GaaS: The Updated Stack After GTC '26 The centerpiece of Nvidia’s ...
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) Director Robert Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $366,571.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,797,952.54. This tra...
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) Director Robert Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $366,571.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,797,952.54. This trade represents a 11.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Get Meta Platforms alerts: Sign Up Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.1% Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $6.98 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $615.68. 11,697,104 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,986,292. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.30. The business's fifty day moving average is $651.86 and its 200 day moving average is $675.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm's revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.02 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Meta Platforms Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarter...
By Anirban Sen NEW YORK, March 18 (Reuters) - Jasjeet Sekhon, a top Bridgewater Associates executive, is joining Google's artificial intelligence unit DeepMind as its chief strategy officer, DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis said on Wednesday. Sekhon, who served as chief scientist and head of AI, will join Bridgewater's board of directors after leaving his current roles there, according to a post...
By Anirban Sen NEW YORK, March 18 (Reuters) - Jasjeet Sekhon, a top Bridgewater Associates executive, is joining Google's artificial intelligence unit DeepMind as its chief strategy officer, DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis said on Wednesday. Sekhon, who served as chief scientist and head of AI, will join Bridgewater's board of directors after leaving his current roles there, according to a post by Hassabis on LinkedIn. Alphabet-owned Google has narrowed the gap with AI market leaders OpenAI and Anthropic, after initially scrambling to retain the dominance it has long enjoyed in the search industry. Over the past year, Google's DeepMind unit has launched several new AI offerings, including an upgraded chatbot and AI model known as Gemini, as well as a new AI photo editor, Nano Banana. Google's advances in AI have helped the tech company's shares nearly double in value over the past year. Sekhon joined Bridgewater in 2018 and played a key role in building its AI research and investment lab called AIA Labs, which is led by the firm's Co-Chief Investment Officer Greg Jensen. Sekhon, who did not hold any investing responsibilities at Bridgewater, has previously held professorships at several U.S. universities, including Harvard, University of California, Berkeley, and most recently, Yale. Bridgewater, which is led by CEO Nir Bar Dea, posted the highest profit in its 50-year history in 2025, with its flagship fund Pure Alpha delivering a 34% return. It recently named Bob Prince, one of its CIOs and a firm veteran of four decades, as the chair of its board of directors. The hedge fund firm recently projected that technology companies led by Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft will collectively invest about $650 billion to scale up AI-related infrastructure this year. Bridgewater, which managed about $92 billion of assets at the end of September, operates numerous macro funds focused on various areas and regions, including the Pure Alpha fund, the All We...
Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) developer of hydrogen fuel cell systems for electric equipment and vehicles, closed Wednesday at $2.32, down 0.43%. The stock slipped alongside sector peers. Trading volume reached 84.1 million shares, coming in 15% below its three-month average of 96.8 million shares. Plug Power IPO'd in 1999 and soared in the first few months of trading. It has fallen 99% since going pub...
Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) developer of hydrogen fuel cell systems for electric equipment and vehicles, closed Wednesday at $2.32, down 0.43%. The stock slipped alongside sector peers. Trading volume reached 84.1 million shares, coming in 15% below its three-month average of 96.8 million shares. Plug Power IPO'd in 1999 and soared in the first few months of trading. It has fallen 99% since going public. How the markets moved today The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) fell 1.36% to 6,625, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) lost 1.46% to finish at 22,152. Among other hydrogen stocks, Bloom Energy (NYSE:BE) closed down 2.17% at $156.58 and Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP) fell 2.61% to end at $2.61. What this means for investors Today’s slight decline may be just a blip on Plug Power’s 25-year outlook. The company seems to be starting to turn things around. It has a new CEO in Jose Luis Crespo, and the stock has gained 24.73% in the past month. Its Q4 earnings beat analyst estimates. However, in addition to potential liquidity challenges further down the road, Plug Power may face some legal issues. Several securities class action lawsuits have been filed against the firm, alleging it misrepresented activities related to a $1.66 billion Department of Energy loan. The lawsuits are not new, but a slew of legal press releases today and yesterday may have impacted the stock. Investors who see opportunities in the new leadership and strategic shifts will be watching to see how these cases impact Plug Power’s recovery narrative. Should you buy stock in Plug Power right now? Before you buy stock in Plug Power, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Plug Power wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recomm...
Everything, Everywhere, All At Once Authored by No1 at Gold & Geopolitics substack, Let me start with a number . In 1980, when the Iran-Iraq war disrupted global oil supply, the volume lost was around 4 million barrels per day. Painful. The world went into recession. Volcker raised rates to 20% to kill inflation. It nearly killed the economy in the process. We called it a crisis and we meant it. T...
Everything, Everywhere, All At Once Authored by No1 at Gold & Geopolitics substack, Let me start with a number . In 1980, when the Iran-Iraq war disrupted global oil supply, the volume lost was around 4 million barrels per day. Painful. The world went into recession. Volcker raised rates to 20% to kill inflation. It nearly killed the economy in the process. We called it a crisis and we meant it. The current Hormuz blockade is running at roughly 20 million barrels per day. The futures market, in its infinite wisdom, is pricing a quick resolution. Trump says the war is “basically over”. His Defence Secretary says it’s “only just the beginning”. One of them presumably has read the intelligence reports. The other has a golf course booked. That’s the pin. But that’s not the bubble. My estimation where mines are likely placed (from “War is Peace”) Even in the most optimistic scenario - ceasefire tomorrow, everybody shakes hands - the Maersk CEO noted it takes at least ten days after a ceasefire for tanker insurance to clear. Then mine-clearing: Iran has been laying mines in the Strait, and removing them will take weeks to months. Then tankers reposition, loads getting secured, and finally the flow resumes. The oil futures curve is pricing step five as if it follows step one with a 48-hour lag. It cannot physically happen on that timeline. And Iran isn’t just shooting wildly at targets. Yesterday, Fujairah - the world-class bunkering hub sitting outside the Strait, the bypass everyone assumed would soften the blow - has been deliberately targeted. Tehran isn’t just closing Hormuz. It’s also closing the workarounds. One by one. Iran got fed up and decided to take down the imposed sanctions one way or another. And USrael just gave them the ultimate excuse. If you’ve been reading my silver papers, you know there is a gap. A gap I call “PvP”… No not the gaming term. The Paper vs Physical. And oh boy. Is it screaming!! Brent futures in New York closed Friday at $104. Elevated b...
The Iranian women’s football team, whose plight has become embroiled in the Middle East war, have returned to Iran where they were promised a welcome ceremony in Tehran. Seven members of the delegation had sought asylum in Australia last week after their decision not to sing the national anthem before their opening game at the Women’s Asian Cup. With their demands for protection an embarrassment f...
The Iranian women’s football team, whose plight has become embroiled in the Middle East war, have returned to Iran where they were promised a welcome ceremony in Tehran. Seven members of the delegation had sought asylum in Australia last week after their decision not to sing the national anthem before their opening game at the Women’s Asian Cup. With their demands for protection an embarrassment for Iran’s leaders, but lauded by US President Donald Trump, five later changed their minds, including captain Zahra Ghanbari. Activists have accused Iranian authorities of pressuring the women’s families – including summoning parents for interrogations – but Tehran has in turn alleged that Australia sought to force the athletes to defect. Two members have remained in Australia, but the rest of the team completed a long journey back on Wednesday via Malaysia, Oman and then to Istanbul and Turkey’s overland Gurbulak-Bazargan border crossing with Iran. In a post on X, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the players and their support team were “children of the homeland, and the people of Iran embrace them”. By returning, they had “disappointed the enemies [of Iran] and did not surrender to deception and intimidation by anti-Iran elements,” he added. Iranian news agency Mehr published images of a small welcome party waving flags on the Iranian side of the border, as well as the team and staff sat on a stage with a red carpet. “We have all gathered here to say well done and to express our appreciation,” the president of Iran’s Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, was quoted as saying. “Although they are women, they showed manly courage and strength,” he added. In a sign of their symbolic importance to Iranian authorities, a larger welcoming ceremony has been organised on Thursday in Valiasr Square where other pro-government rallies have taken place in recent weeks, Iranian media reported. Rights groups have accused Tehran of systematically pressuring athletes abro...
Earnings Call Insights: Red Cat Holdings (RCAT) Q4 2025 Management View CEO Jeffrey Thompson reported on the company's significant advancements, stating that "last year's extraordinary Q4 results, which annualized would be over $100 million." He described the launch and rapid development of the Blue Ops Maritime USV division, highlighting that a new factory in Georgia "just went operational approx...
Earnings Call Insights: Red Cat Holdings (RCAT) Q4 2025 Management View CEO Jeffrey Thompson reported on the company's significant advancements, stating that "last year's extraordinary Q4 results, which annualized would be over $100 million." He described the launch and rapid development of the Blue Ops Maritime USV division, highlighting that a new factory in Georgia "just went operational approximately 1 month ago," with full rate production tooling expected within the month. Thompson added, "We believe and are confident that they can build over 100-plus USVs in 2026 as we ramp up production capability to thousands." Thompson described recent achievements in counter-drone capabilities: "We demonstrated short-range and long-range counter drone capability...the ACS Bullfrog on the front of the Variant 7...can shoot down FPV drones up to 1,500 yards...For long range, we have the Aeon's Zeus that can travel 20 kilometers and take out Shahed-136 at a very low cost." COO Christian Ericson shared operational highlights from Ukraine, stating, "We have now established an office in Kyiv...We are building the business and relationships to...test our equipment at the front and obtain true feedback...We have tested multiple systems at the front and proven that our tech works and works really well." Ericson also announced a joint development agreement with a Ukrainian state-owned partner to integrate battle-proven technology into USVs, calling it a "huge step forward as we are the first nongovernmental entity to successfully enter into this type of deal." CFO Christian Morrison reported, "For the fourth quarter of 2025, revenue was $26.2 million, up $25.0 million year-over-year and up $15.6 million sequentially as deliveries accelerated. Gross margin was 4.2%, up 85% year-over-year and down 2.4% sequentially." Morrison added, "Our cash increased from $9.2 million at the end of 2024 to $167.9 million at the end of 2025, providing us with substantial financial flexibility." He em...
Stocks @ Night is a daily newsletter delivered after hours, giving you a first look at tomorrow and last look at today. Sign up for free to receive it directly in your inbox. Here's what CNBC TV's producers were watching as the Dow Industrials posted a new closing low for 2026, and what's on the radar for the next session. Big data Thursday Initial jobless claims will come out at 8:30 a.m. ET. The...
Stocks @ Night is a daily newsletter delivered after hours, giving you a first look at tomorrow and last look at today. Sign up for free to receive it directly in your inbox. Here's what CNBC TV's producers were watching as the Dow Industrials posted a new closing low for 2026, and what's on the radar for the next session. Big data Thursday Initial jobless claims will come out at 8:30 a.m. ET. The results will be covered live on " Squawk Box " with Becky Quick, Andrew Ross Sorkin and Joe Kernen. The consensus calls for 215,000 new unemployment claims. We'll have the numbers and immediate stock reaction. FedEx reports Thursday The shipping giant will post quarterly results Thursday afternoon on " Closing Bell: Overtime " with Melissa Lee and Mike Santoli. FedEx has surged about 22% over the past three months. The stock hit a high on Feb. 27, but it's down 10% from that level. That's partly due to higher energy prices that have spiked since the war with Iran began on Feb. 28. FDX 3M mountain FedEx shares in the past three months BOAT The SonicShares Global Shipping ETF (BOAT) , which includes big ocean shipping stocks as its components, is up 6% in three days. So far in 2026, it is up nearly 30%. Since the start of the war with Iran, BOAT has lost 3%. RBOB RBOB , the ticker that tracks unleaded gasoline prices before it is mixed with ethanol, is giving us a glimpse into what's coming for prices at the pump. We are back at highs not seen since July 2022. RBOB has gained more than 50% since the war started on Feb. 28. @RB.1 1M mountain RBOB futures in the past month Gold The commodity settled below the 50-day moving average of $4,963.90 for the first time since Aug. 19. Year to date, gold futures are up 12.8%. Since the war started, they have fallen nearly 8% The VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) has lost about 24% since the war started. It is down 6% in three days. Food-related stocks hit 52-week lows Everything in the list here is down double-digits since the Iran war star...
Investors face a psychological issue when considering Carvana (CVNA 7.49%). It has obliterated the market over the past three years soaring right around 4,300%, compared to the S&P 500's respectable 70% gain. Which raises the question: Have investors missed the boat on riding the stock higher? Let's look at two graphs that emphasize how much more room Carvana has to run, and where it's heading in ...
Investors face a psychological issue when considering Carvana (CVNA 7.49%). It has obliterated the market over the past three years soaring right around 4,300%, compared to the S&P 500's respectable 70% gain. Which raises the question: Have investors missed the boat on riding the stock higher? Let's look at two graphs that emphasize how much more room Carvana has to run, and where it's heading in the near term. Carvana's margins on the rise Carvana has mostly completed its pretty impressive transformation. Three years ago, the used-car retailer was on the brink of bankruptcy, as you can see in the plunge in net income below, and had to reverse its growth-at-all-costs strategy to double down on more profitable sales and growth. Rather than vaguely say Carvana can improve operations to further boost margins, let's look at one of many examples. Its reconditioning costs came in higher than expected during the fourth quarter of 2025, and management often found higher reconditioning costs linked to locations with the lowest management tenure. This is an opportunity to use data-driven software, perhaps with an artificial intelligence (AI) buzzword or two, to help streamline workflows and decisions. If the company can use such software to improve performance, investors will see margins rise. Expand NYSE : CVNA Carvana Today's Change ( -7.49 %) $ -23.57 Current Price $ 291.17 Key Data Points Market Cap $45B Day's Range $ 290.01 - $ 314.62 52wk Range $ 148.25 - $ 486.89 Volume 2.4M Avg Vol 4.3M Gross Margin 19.80 % For context, if all its production locations had per-unit costs in line with the top quartile of locations, the fourth-quarter reconditioning cost per unit would have been $220 lower during the quarter. Those costs can add up, especially considering fourth-quarter total gross profit per unit (GPU) was $6,427, a decline of $244 per unit compared to the prior year. Consolidation is coming The automotive industry is many things, but it is certainly a massive chunk of ...
Key Points Carvana has surged back with a thriving business after being on the brink of bankruptcy. It has reversed unprofitable growth and has drastically improved margins. With industry consolidation on the way, the used-car seller is positioned for further increases. 10 stocks we like better than Carvana › Investors face a psychological issue when considering Carvana (NYSE: CVNA). It has oblite...
Key Points Carvana has surged back with a thriving business after being on the brink of bankruptcy. It has reversed unprofitable growth and has drastically improved margins. With industry consolidation on the way, the used-car seller is positioned for further increases. 10 stocks we like better than Carvana › Investors face a psychological issue when considering Carvana (NYSE: CVNA). It has obliterated the market over the past three years soaring right around 4,300%, compared to the S&P 500's respectable 70% gain. Which raises the question: Have investors missed the boat on riding the stock higher? Let's look at two graphs that emphasize how much more room Carvana has to run, and where it's heading in the near term. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » Carvana's margins on the rise Carvana has mostly completed its pretty impressive transformation. Three years ago, the used-car retailer was on the brink of bankruptcy, as you can see in the plunge in net income below, and had to reverse its growth-at-all-costs strategy to double down on more profitable sales and growth. Rather than vaguely say Carvana can improve operations to further boost margins, let's look at one of many examples. Its reconditioning costs came in higher than expected during the fourth quarter of 2025, and management often found higher reconditioning costs linked to locations with the lowest management tenure. This is an opportunity to use data-driven software, perhaps with an artificial intelligence (AI) buzzword or two, to help streamline workflows and decisions. If the company can use such software to improve performance, investors will see margins rise. For context, if all its production locations had per-unit costs in line with the top quartile of locations, the fourth-quarter reconditioning cost per unit would ha...