Royal Opera House, London As the tormented fisherman, Allan Clayton currently has few rivals. He is matched by a superb cast in this gripping revival of Britten’s opera ‘Who can turn skies back and begin again?” That’s the question the fisherman Peter Grimes asks the universe at the close of his brief aria in Act 1 of Britten’s opera – two and a half minutes of singular, breath-holding music, at t...
Royal Opera House, London As the tormented fisherman, Allan Clayton currently has few rivals. He is matched by a superb cast in this gripping revival of Britten’s opera ‘Who can turn skies back and begin again?” That’s the question the fisherman Peter Grimes asks the universe at the close of his brief aria in Act 1 of Britten’s opera – two and a half minutes of singular, breath-holding music, at the end of which the people around him all think he’s mad or drunk, but we the audience know he’s a man apart, who sees more clearly than any of them. For someone who runs his life by watching those skies, the words are as succinct as they are beautiful – and there’s a simplicity to the way Allan Clayton sings them that encapsulates the balance of directness and poetry in his Grimes, a role in which he currently has few rivals. Perhaps it also sums up Deborah Warner’s staging, updated to a present-day, left-behind English coastal town, which has an almost workaday realism that feels like an invitation to take everything literally, and yet has touches of the fantastical right from the start. In the prologue, Grimes lies centre-stage reliving in his sleep the nightmare of his court appearance while a fishing boat, suspended from the flies, hangs like the sword of Damocles over his head; in the orchestral interlude that follows this scene, an aerialist tumbles slowly down to be caught by Grimes, again and again. Continue reading...
Hong Kong received more than 1 million mainland Chinese visitors during the five-day Labour Day “golden week” holiday, a 10 per cent rise from a year ago, exceeding government expectations, but industry leaders said their spending was inconsistent. Immigration Department data showed the city recorded 1.01 million mainland visitor arrivals between May 1 and 5, surpassing the forecast of 980,000. Ch...
Hong Kong received more than 1 million mainland Chinese visitors during the five-day Labour Day “golden week” holiday, a 10 per cent rise from a year ago, exceeding government expectations, but industry leaders said their spending was inconsistent. Immigration Department data showed the city recorded 1.01 million mainland visitor arrivals between May 1 and 5, surpassing the forecast of 980,000. Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki said on Wednesday some shopping centre operators had reported...
TransMedics Group ( TMDX ) shares plunged 19% in premarket trading Wednesday after the organ transplant technology company reported first-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street expectations despite delivering solid revenue growth and reaffirming its full-year outlook. The company posted adjusted earnings of $0.30 per share for the first quarter of 2026, missing analyst expectations by $0.31. Rev...
TransMedics Group ( TMDX ) shares plunged 19% in premarket trading Wednesday after the organ transplant technology company reported first-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street expectations despite delivering solid revenue growth and reaffirming its full-year outlook. The company posted adjusted earnings of $0.30 per share for the first quarter of 2026, missing analyst expectations by $0.31. Revenue rose 21.2% year-over-year to $173.9M, in line with estimates. Net income fell sharply to $7.3M, or $0.20 per diluted share, compared with $25.7M, or $0.70 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted net income declined to $10.9M, or $0.30 per diluted share, from $27.4M, or $0.74 per diluted share, a year earlier. Gross margin narrowed to 58% from 61% in the prior-year quarter, as the company cited investments to support growth and scaling efforts, along with higher supply chain and operating costs. TransMedics reaffirmed its full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $727M to $757M ( consensus estimate of $736.39M), representing expected growth of 20% to 25% compared with 2025 revenue. Downgrading the stock to Perform from Outperform, Oppenheimer said the cut “reflects pure exhaustion defending this name.” Meanwhile, Piper Sandler noted that the management reiterated its FY revenue guidance despite the soft market backdrop, “which will likely pressure the stock.” More on TransMedics Group TransMedics Group, Inc. (TMDX) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript TransMedics: Revolutionizing The Organ Transplant Market While Trading At A Discount TransMedics: Rapidly Scaling Business Nears Free Cash Flow Breakeven TransMedics reiterates 2026 revenue guidance of $727M-$757M while targeting CHOPS IDE implementation in early Q3 2026 TransMedics Group Non-GAAP EPS of $0.30 misses by $0.31, revenue of $173.93M in-line
Stefonlinton/iStock Editorial via Getty Images FedEx ( FDX ) is right in the middle of shaking things up across the company. The stock has risen 35% since my previous analysis. That move up coincides with the fact that they’ve actually been cutting costs, following through on their big plans, like spinning off Freight and they just posted earnings that showed all this reshuffling is finally helpin...
Stefonlinton/iStock Editorial via Getty Images FedEx ( FDX ) is right in the middle of shaking things up across the company. The stock has risen 35% since my previous analysis. That move up coincides with the fact that they’ve actually been cutting costs, following through on their big plans, like spinning off Freight and they just posted earnings that showed all this reshuffling is finally helping profits. But honestly, the valuation already reflects a lot of that good news. The stock trades at about 18.4x forward earnings and about 11.2x EV/EBITDA. That’s not exactly cheap, those numbers kind of assume the company keeps nailing execution and steers through a lot of industry and company problems that could pop up. FedEx reports Federal Express and FedEx Freight as its two reportable segments, with Freight set to be separated into its own publicly traded company. Lately, they’ve tried to get leaner and more automated. That means pulling together different networks, pushing more digital tools and trying to track packages better while needing fewer people. They’re still spending a lot to update warehouses, buy new planes that burn less fuel, like the B777F and B767F and making strategic investments, like the planned approximately $2.6 billion investment in InPost. The idea is to get bigger, run smoother and get deeper into digital stuff, which they’ll probably need as competitors keep changing up the game. FDX Amazon Pressure Amazon keeps pushing further into logistics. The news describes the Amazon supply-chain move as a “shocker” that sent FedEx, UPS and other freight logistics names lower, making the competitive threat more visible. FedEx is answering by rolling out things like FedEx SameDay Local faster, adding digital tools by working with ServiceNow on AI visibility and going all-in on premium logistics that cover everything end-to-end. The message: speed, tech and a flexible network are where the fight is now. FDX Q3 Numbers The numbers hold up pretty well. For...
tupungato Microsoft ( MSFT ) is weighing delaying or abandoning its 2030 target of matching 100% of its hourly electricity use with renewable energy purchases, amid the data center boom, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The costly and energy-intensive build-out of data centers is affecting views on the feasibility of climate commitments made before the AI era. Discu...
tupungato Microsoft ( MSFT ) is weighing delaying or abandoning its 2030 target of matching 100% of its hourly electricity use with renewable energy purchases, amid the data center boom, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The costly and energy-intensive build-out of data centers is affecting views on the feasibility of climate commitments made before the AI era. Discussions within Microsoft are ongoing, and no final decision has been made, the report added . Microsoft did not immediately respond to Seeking Alpha's request for comment. A spokesperson for Microsoft told the news outlet that the company continues to look for opportunities to maintain an annual matching goal, without commenting on the much tougher hourly commitment. Such a step back would mark a significant shift. Big Tech has long stood out for its public embrace of some unusually ambitious emissions-reducing targets, with Microsoft even pledging to remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it emits, the report noted. However, as companies including Amazon ( AMZN ) and Meta Platforms ( META ) try to secure enough energy to meet the demands of AI, the appeal of natural gas has been growing, according to the report. "In the race to get data centers up and running as soon as possible, clean energy targets are out of the window," said Alexia Kelly, the former director of net zero and nature at Netflix, who is now the managing director of the carbon policy and markets initiative at High Tide Foundation. Instead, "gas seems to be the fuel of choice." In March, the U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE, announced a public-private partnership with SoftBank and electric utility company AEP Ohio to redevelop DOE land, modernize energy infrastructure, and develop advanced computing in Southern Ohio. SoftBank ( SFTBY ) ( SFTBF ) is working to build a huge AI data center in Ohio and is planning to power it with about $33B worth of natural gas-fired electricity to be installed by ...
Earned income disappears the moment you stop working. Dividend income keeps arriving every quarter. That distinction drives serious investors toward portfolios built around cash-generative businesses with multi-decade payout histories, where the check arrives every quarter regardless of market conditions. Starting fresh today, the temptation is to chase double-digit yields from leveraged BDCs and ...
Earned income disappears the moment you stop working. Dividend income keeps arriving every quarter. That distinction drives serious investors toward portfolios built around cash-generative businesses with multi-decade payout histories, where the check arrives every quarter regardless of market conditions. Starting fresh today, the temptation is to chase double-digit yields from leveraged BDCs and mortgage REITs. ... These 3 Dividend Stocks Have Raised Their Payouts for a Combined 187 Years. Here
Sergey Kirsanov/iStock via Getty Images The Marzetti Company ( MZTI ) reported the company’s fiscal Q3 results from the January-March period on the 4 th of May. The specialty food product manufacturer’s retail revenues were very weak, reflecting transitory factors, but also a potentially more persistent category decline. The performance questions Marzetti’s ability to grow organically. The acquisi...
Sergey Kirsanov/iStock via Getty Images The Marzetti Company ( MZTI ) reported the company’s fiscal Q3 results from the January-March period on the 4 th of May. The specialty food product manufacturer’s retail revenues were very weak, reflecting transitory factors, but also a potentially more persistent category decline. The performance questions Marzetti’s ability to grow organically. The acquisition of Bachan’s was completed recently, shifting Marzetti’s revenues to a better-growing category, but at a questionable price tag. I maintained a Hold rating in my previous August 2025 article on the stock, titled “ Marzetti Q4: Encouraging Retail Growth, Foodservice Remains Volatile ”. The stock has since lost -33% of its value, meanwhile the S&P 500 has returned 14%. My Rating History on MZTI (Seeking Alpha) Marzetti Q3 Review Marzetti’s topline performance was anemic in Q3. The company reported a -1.0% sales decline to $453.4 million, slowing down from low- to mid- single-digit sales growth in previous quarters . Sales missed Wall Street’s consensus estimate by $10.7 million, and the quarter’s $1.35 EPS missed Wall Street’s consensus by $0.22. Author's Illustration Using TIKR Data The retail channel was especially weak this time around, causing Marzetti’s weaker-than-expected topline. The sales channel’s revenues declined by -3.2% to $233.8 million, reflecting an especially sharp -5.6% decline in sales volume that wasn’t offset by improved pricing. Compared to Marzetti’s previous retail channel growth where new product launches have pushed up revenues, the performance is clearly disappointing. Marzetti related the decline to three main factors in the Q3 earnings call – an adverse impact from weather, category weakness in dressings, and a tough launch comparison in the club channel. My opinion on the mentioned headwinds is mixed. The weather impact is clearly transitory, and a challenging club channel comparison period should also subside quickly as a headwind, but an e...
Getty Images While there is plenty of anticipation for the upcoming U.S.-China summit, Haining Zha, VP and Director for Asset Allocation with TD Asset Management says an agreement on agriculture trade may be the only breakthrough made. Transcript Greg Bonnell: Next week, the leaders of the world's two largest economies will be meeting as US President Donald Trump travels to Beijing to meet with Ch...
Getty Images While there is plenty of anticipation for the upcoming U.S.-China summit, Haining Zha, VP and Director for Asset Allocation with TD Asset Management says an agreement on agriculture trade may be the only breakthrough made. Transcript Greg Bonnell: Next week, the leaders of the world's two largest economies will be meeting as US President Donald Trump travels to Beijing to meet with China's Xi Jinping. So, what is at stake for the markets and investors? Joining us now to discuss is Haining Zha, VP and Director of Asset Allocation with TD Asset Management. Great to have you with us, Haining. Haining Zha: Thanks for having me. Greg Bonnell: Let's dig in here. Actually, before we get to what might transpire next week, we've had some news that Beijing now telling its domestic companies not to comply with US sanctions on five Chinese oil refiners. How does this start to cast the mood over what is to come? Haining Zha: That seems a little bit ominous. But in our opinion, it is very unlikely to derail the whole situation. Actually, looking into the next Leaders Summit, I think the number one thing that investors should watch for is whether this general détente between the two countries will continue. It is very important because the market consensus-- it will continue that way. And it's already been priced into the market. So, if it-- severely disappoints, then that actually can create more volatility in the market. But on the other hand, if the general direction can continue, even certain details could underwhelm. But overall, it will still be a very favorable environment for the investors. Greg Bonnell: So that's the backdrop in terms of the mood between the two countries. When we start talking about what could come out of the summit-- I guess maybe a bit of a checklist-- what should investors be watching for? Haining Zha: There is a list of items on the agenda-- for example, soybean and general agricultural products, Boeing aircraft orders, and then the rare...
Henry St John/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Sysco ( SYY ) is a relatively boring, stable business but one that makes for a great investment in my view. The company has a dominant market position, consistent free cash flow, 56 consecutive years of dividend increases, and a low-beta profile that holds up well when markets get choppy given the end markets it serves. With the stock down about 19% ...
Henry St John/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Sysco ( SYY ) is a relatively boring, stable business but one that makes for a great investment in my view. The company has a dominant market position, consistent free cash flow, 56 consecutive years of dividend increases, and a low-beta profile that holds up well when markets get choppy given the end markets it serves. With the stock down about 19% from the highs back in February, the pullback has created an attractive entry point. With local volumes growing in Q3 plus a huge acquisition that'll add a high-margin, cash-and-carry channel, the earnings and free cash flow profile of the combined business has materially changed. I believe Sysco deserves a closer look given its attractive valuation with a mid-teens multiple. A look at Q3 FY26 results Looking at the most recent quarterly results that Sysco reported last week, the company reported a slight miss on revenue but EPS was in line with estimates. On revenue, sales grew grew 4.7% year over year to $20.52 billion, coming in just below the $20.8 billion consensus. On the bottom line, EPS of 0.94 came in as expected by the sellside. Seeking Alpha As for what led to the results, Sysco's U.S. local case volume growth came in at 3.3% which represented a 210bps improvement from Q2 and the strongest quarterly local volume growth in three years. This matters because local customers, independent restaurants and smaller foodservice operators, are the highest-margin part of Sysco's business. Since they order more frequently and require more service, they generally carry better gross margins than national accounts. For Sysco, every time local volume accelerates, the margin mix improves. On gross profit, Sysco saw growth of 6.5% compared to last year (outpacing revenue growth) as margins expanded by 31bps to 18.6%. On the conference call following the quarter, management attributed that expansion to better sourcing, stronger local volume mix, improved Sysco Brand penetration, an...
In this video, I will cover AMD's (NASDAQ: AMD) earnings report as well as Oscar Health and Uber. Watch the short video to learn more, consider subscribing, and click the special offer link below.
In this video, I will cover AMD's (NASDAQ: AMD) earnings report as well as Oscar Health and Uber. Watch the short video to learn more, consider subscribing, and click the special offer link below.