DISCLAIMER: This note is intended for US recipients only and, in particular, is not directed at, nor intended to be relied upon by any UK recipients. Nothing in this note is intended to be investment advice and nor should it be relied upon to make investment decisions. Please read our full disclaimer here . You Can’t Keep A Good Zuck Down For Long by Alex King, CEO, Cestrian Capital Research, Inc....
DISCLAIMER: This note is intended for US recipients only and, in particular, is not directed at, nor intended to be relied upon by any UK recipients. Nothing in this note is intended to be investment advice and nor should it be relied upon to make investment decisions. Please read our full disclaimer here . You Can’t Keep A Good Zuck Down For Long by Alex King, CEO, Cestrian Capital Research, Inc. Bogdan Nicolaescu/iStock via Getty Images Meta Platforms, Inc. ( META ) CEO Mark Zuckerberg is an inconsistent performer prone to long periods of success punctuated by some self-inflicted errors. What really marks him out, though, is that he never knows when he is beaten and, so far, has always roared back. As everyone knows, the giant Metaverse folly yielded little. The pivot to then pour resources into its own large language model ("LLM"), "Llama", has not seen META compete directly with Anthropic ( ANTHRO ), OpenAI ( OPENAI ), et al. I don’t suppose that in and of itself the Llama model is particularly cutting-edge, since that is not META’s focus for monetization. Where META continues to focus, and where it is truly better than most all such companies, is on serving advertisers. And the genius move in this regard is the Luxottica partnership. In 2025, META purchased a 3% stake in EssilorLuxottica and the companies continue to co-develop AI-enabled smart glasses. In February this year, EssilorLuxottica reported the sale of 7m units of smart glasses in the prior year, growing rapidly from earlier years. This gives META an exceptional edge in AI, in my view. Where the frontier models are trained on text in the main - and now on interaction via the chatbot and agentic applications they host - Llama is trained on the mind-boggling amount of live, interactive real-world data captured by AI smart glasses. And beyond Llama, META’s dataset itself is learning and profiling and calculating based on this huge and never-ending ingestion of information about how humans behave in the ...
DISCLAIMER: This note is intended for US recipients only and, in particular, is not directed at, nor intended to be relied upon by any UK recipients. Nothing in this note is intended to be investment advice and nor should it be relied upon to make investment decisions. Please read our full disclaimer here . You Can’t Keep A Good Zuck Down For Long by Alex King, CEO, Cestrian Capital Research, Inc....
DISCLAIMER: This note is intended for US recipients only and, in particular, is not directed at, nor intended to be relied upon by any UK recipients. Nothing in this note is intended to be investment advice and nor should it be relied upon to make investment decisions. Please read our full disclaimer here . You Can’t Keep A Good Zuck Down For Long by Alex King, CEO, Cestrian Capital Research, Inc. Bogdan Nicolaescu/iStock via Getty Images Meta Platforms, Inc. ( META ) CEO Mark Zuckerberg is an inconsistent performer prone to long periods of success punctuated by some self-inflicted errors. What really marks him out, though, is that he never knows when he is beaten and, so far, has always roared back. As everyone knows, the giant Metaverse folly yielded little. The pivot to then pour resources into its own large language model ("LLM"), "Llama", has not seen META compete directly with Anthropic ( ANTHRO ), OpenAI ( OPENAI ), et al. I don’t suppose that in and of itself the Llama model is particularly cutting-edge, since that is not META’s focus for monetization. Where META continues to focus, and where it is truly better than most all such companies, is on serving advertisers. And the genius move in this regard is the Luxottica partnership. In 2025, META purchased a 3% stake in EssilorLuxottica and the companies continue to co-develop AI-enabled smart glasses. In February this year, EssilorLuxottica reported the sale of 7m units of smart glasses in the prior year, growing rapidly from earlier years. This gives META an exceptional edge in AI, in my view. Where the frontier models are trained on text in the main - and now on interaction via the chatbot and agentic applications they host - Llama is trained on the mind-boggling amount of live, interactive real-world data captured by AI smart glasses. And beyond Llama, META’s dataset itself is learning and profiling and calculating based on this huge and never-ending ingestion of information about how humans behave in the ...
Salesforce ( CRM ) was in focus on Wednesday as the tech giant was awarded a $72M contract from the U.S. Air Force. The Air Force awarded a $72M enterprise license agreement, or ELA, with Salesforce to help move its point solutions to a single platform. The ELA is part of a $5.6B contract that Salesforce signed with the Department of War that was discussed on the company's fiscal fourth-quarter ea...
Salesforce ( CRM ) was in focus on Wednesday as the tech giant was awarded a $72M contract from the U.S. Air Force. The Air Force awarded a $72M enterprise license agreement, or ELA, with Salesforce to help move its point solutions to a single platform. The ELA is part of a $5.6B contract that Salesforce signed with the Department of War that was discussed on the company's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call in February and awarded in January. Salesforce shares fell 0.7% in premarket trading. More on Salesforce Salesforce: A+ Rated Bonds With 6.6% Yield Beat Oracle's 7.4% The Right Play On Salesforce Salesforce Valuation Reset: AI Growth, Low Debt, And A Much Higher Fair Value Case Salesforce price target reduced by Citi ahead of Q1 earnings Merck & Co. picks Salesforce AI CRM to build 360° animal health platform
Bharti Airtel Ltd. approved a plan to bolster its stake in its UK-listed African subsidiary through a $2.9 billion stock swap, a move which India’s No. 2 wireless operator expects will boost earnings per share. The board of Bharti Airtel India on Wednesday cleared the issuance of as many as 146.8 million shares to Indian Continent Investment Ltd. on a preferential basis, according to a regulatory ...
Bharti Airtel Ltd. approved a plan to bolster its stake in its UK-listed African subsidiary through a $2.9 billion stock swap, a move which India’s No. 2 wireless operator expects will boost earnings per share. The board of Bharti Airtel India on Wednesday cleared the issuance of as many as 146.8 million shares to Indian Continent Investment Ltd. on a preferential basis, according to a regulatory filing. In exchange, ICIL will acquire a 16.3% stake in Airtel Africa Plc. The billionaire Sunil Mittal -owned mobile phone service provider will issue shares at 1,923 rupees ($20) apiece, representing a roughly 9.5% premium to the last closing price. The corresponding Airtel Africa shares are being acquired at an 11.6% discount to their last close. The move comes as major Indian conglomerates increasingly look to streamline corporate structures and strengthen holdings in high-growth subsidiaries. By utilizing a share swap rather than a cash buyout, Airtel maintains its balance sheet strength while tightening its grip on its pan-African operations.
With consumer sentiment sitting at 53.3 in March 2026, deep in pessimistic territory, retail investors are hunting for defensive names that can grow even as households tighten budgets. Healthcare keeps that promise. Personal healthcare spending climbed from $3.432 trillion in January 2025 to $3.741 trillion by March 2026, outpacing total consumption while motor vehicles and ... Americans Are Cutti...
With consumer sentiment sitting at 53.3 in March 2026, deep in pessimistic territory, retail investors are hunting for defensive names that can grow even as households tighten budgets. Healthcare keeps that promise. Personal healthcare spending climbed from $3.432 trillion in January 2025 to $3.741 trillion by March 2026, outpacing total consumption while motor vehicles and ... Americans Are Cutting Spending on Everything Except Healthcare. These 2 Medical Device Stocks Under $30 Are Built to Wi
Shares of QuantumScape (NYSE:QS) are up 7% in early Wednesday trading, pushing the stock to around $9 from a prior close of $8.42. The pop extends a sharp recovery for the solid-state battery developer, which has now rallied 32% over the past month. The move follows fresh investor enthusiasm around the company’s Eagle Line pilot ... QuantumScape Climbs 7% on Eagle Line Production Milestone, Custom...
Shares of QuantumScape (NYSE:QS) are up 7% in early Wednesday trading, pushing the stock to around $9 from a prior close of $8.42. The pop extends a sharp recovery for the solid-state battery developer, which has now rallied 32% over the past month. The move follows fresh investor enthusiasm around the company’s Eagle Line pilot ... QuantumScape Climbs 7% on Eagle Line Production Milestone, Customer Billings Kickoff
格隆汇5月13日|比利时弗兰德斯大区部长Annick De Ridder的发言人周三表示,特斯拉已获授权,可在比利时弗兰德斯地区使用一辆车辆测试其监督式自动驾驶软件。该发言人表示,特斯拉一旦完成车牌注册和保险手续,即可启动测试,最快可能在周三或周五落实——因为周四是比利时的公众假期。弗兰德斯大区授予的测试许可将适用于比利时全境。De Ridder在X平台发文称,测试车辆将行驶约5,000公里,以评...
格隆汇5月13日|比利时弗兰德斯大区部长Annick De Ridder的发言人周三表示,特斯拉已获授权,可在比利时弗兰德斯地区使用一辆车辆测试其监督式自动驾驶软件。该发言人表示,特斯拉一旦完成车牌注册和保险手续,即可启动测试,最快可能在周三或周五落实——因为周四是比利时的公众假期。弗兰德斯大区授予的测试许可将适用于比利时全境。De Ridder在X平台发文称,测试车辆将行驶约5,000公里,以评估与荷兰道路基础设施及交通规则之间的差异;若测试结果理想,可迅速推进欧洲临时型式认证的相关工作。
Ukraine is targeting higher corn shipments next season as favorable weather is expected to boost harvests despite a fertilizer crunch caused by the conflict in Iran. Corn exports will likely reach 26 million tons in the season that starts in July, 18% higher than a year earlier, according to Nikolay Gorbachov, head of the Ukrainian Grain Association. A snowier winter boosted soil moisture, which m...
Ukraine is targeting higher corn shipments next season as favorable weather is expected to boost harvests despite a fertilizer crunch caused by the conflict in Iran. Corn exports will likely reach 26 million tons in the season that starts in July, 18% higher than a year earlier, according to Nikolay Gorbachov, head of the Ukrainian Grain Association. A snowier winter boosted soil moisture, which may result in harvests climbing to 32.6 million tons, up 4% from this season. Ukraine is the world’s fourth-largest corn exporter, and the upbeat expectations come despite continued attacks on its port infrastructure and soaring fertilizer and energy costs as the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz chokes supplies. While the conflict has resulted in a roughly 20% fertilizer shortfall for Ukrainian farmers this spring, good weather conditions have helped cushion the impact, Gorbachov said. “Favorable weather, even without enough fertilizers applied, can still produce a very good harvest,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of the GrainCom conference in Geneva. The nation’s exporters are targeting shipments to Indonesia, Egypt and Turkey to offset quota limits imposed by the European Union last year, Gorbachov said. Wheat exports are set to rise to 16 million tons from 14 million tons in the current season, Gorbachov said. In comparison, the US Department of Agriculture estimates Ukraine’s 2026-27 corn exports at 23 million tons. Wheat exports are seen at 13 million tons.