Kids from the southeast London borough of Lewisham are not afraid of sharing their opinions. I know this firstly because my daughter is one of them, and secondly because, once or twice, I’ve been absent-minded enough to take a bus around the time that the secondary school gates close. (Life tip: try to avoid doing this.) Around 40 years ago, one of those Lewisham kids was a precocious young chess ...
Kids from the southeast London borough of Lewisham are not afraid of sharing their opinions. I know this firstly because my daughter is one of them, and secondly because, once or twice, I’ve been absent-minded enough to take a bus around the time that the secondary school gates close. (Life tip: try to avoid doing this.) Around 40 years ago, one of those Lewisham kids was a precocious young chess player named Rachel. Meanwhile, 3,500 miles away, a precocious young man called Scott was graduating from Yale full of hopes and dreams. It may sound like the start of a particularly trite romantic comedy, but there’s little funny about this story and little love lost between its protagonists. Instead, it centres around rather unromantic subjects such as deep sea mines and gilt yields . When Rachel Reeves and Scott Bessent met during the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s trip to Washington last month, they ended up exchanging some pretty strong words, according to a Financial Times article that chimes with reporting from other news outlets including Bloomberg. Sources told my colleagues that Reeves clashed awkwardly with the Treasury Secretary over America’s war on Iran , which she has criticised as lacking coherence and leaving us no more safe from attack. The FT says Reeves angrily told Bessent he’s not her boss, and that she didn’t appreciate how he was speaking to her. A Downing Street spokesperson insisted today that Reeves and Bessent have a “good relationship” and are still talking, constructively, since their meeting on the fringes of the IMF summit in the US capital. He didn’t deny that an altercation occurred, however. The reasons for Reeves’ frustration over the conflict have been frequently covered in this newsletter. The OECD and the IMF both expect Britain to be the worst-affected major Western economy, while the Bank of England last week outlined a bad-case scenario in which UK growth effectively grinds to a halt and inflation touches 6% later this year. This mis...
In this article MSFT Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Asha Sharma, CEO of Xbox at Microsoft, speaks to employees at an Xbox town hall in Redmond, Washington, on Feb. 24, 2026. Microsoft Microsoft Xbox CEO Asha Sharma told employees in a Tuesday memo that she's appointing new leaders, as the software company looks to return its video game unit to growth. Sharma moved to Xbox in Febru...
In this article MSFT Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Asha Sharma, CEO of Xbox at Microsoft, speaks to employees at an Xbox town hall in Redmond, Washington, on Feb. 24, 2026. Microsoft Microsoft Xbox CEO Asha Sharma told employees in a Tuesday memo that she's appointing new leaders, as the software company looks to return its video game unit to growth. Sharma moved to Xbox in February as gaming chief Phil Spencer announced his retirement. She came to Microsoft in 2024 after executive stints at Meta and Instacart , becoming president of product in the CoreAI engineering group that works on GitHub Copilot, Visual Studio Code and other developer tools. "We need to evolve how we work and how we are organized across our platform," Sharma wrote in a memo viewed by CNBC. "Right now, it is too hard to ship impact quickly. We spend too much time inward instead of with the community, and we lack the depth we need in some of the fundamentals." Last week, Microsoft reported its fourth gaming revenue decline in the past six quarters. Satya Nadella , Microsoft's CEO, said the company is trying to win back fans of Xbox, the Bing search engine and other consumer assets. The Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 and Sony PlayStation 5 outsold Microsoft's Xbox Series X and Series S consoles in the first quarter, according to data from video game website VGChartz. In April, Sharma touted price cuts for Game Pass subscriptions that give gamers access to hundreds of titles. Xbox is "bringing in new leaders with consumer and technical expertise we do not yet have," she wrote in the memo. Four of those leaders are coming from the CoreAI group, overlapping with Sharma. Read more CNBC tech news Coinbase cuts headcount by 14% citing AI acceleration. The shares are gaining OpenAI sales leader leaves for role at Thrive Capital Palantir tops estimates on 85% revenue growth, fastest expansion since market debut in 2020 SEC and Elon Musk agree to settle lawsuit over Twitter buyout in 2022 ...
Wynn Resorts Ltd. is considering postponing the expected opening date of its casino resort in the United Arab Emirates due to construction delays brought on by the US war with Iran, according to a person familiar with the company’s plans. The $5.1 billion resort was scheduled to open in the Spring of next year. Work on the project briefly shut down after the fighting began but resumed shortly ther...
Wynn Resorts Ltd. is considering postponing the expected opening date of its casino resort in the United Arab Emirates due to construction delays brought on by the US war with Iran, according to a person familiar with the company’s plans. The $5.1 billion resort was scheduled to open in the Spring of next year. Work on the project briefly shut down after the fighting began but resumed shortly thereafter in March. The presence of attack drones and missiles in the region has caused work disruptions and a slump in tourism. Las Vegas-based Wynn is building, with local partners, what will be the first casino resort in the region. It’s located in the emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah on Al Marjan Island, part of a manmade archipelago about 50 miles from Dubai International Airport. It will offer 22 restaurants, an events center, private prayer rooms for men and women, and a grand ballroom with sweeping views of the nearby marina. The resort is part of a wave of entertainment related development in the region. Rival casino operator MGM Resorts International is building a hotel in Dubai. MGM said its project remains on track despite the decline in visitors to the region. “The tourism business in that particular neck of the world is down to like 15%, give or take,” MGM Chief Executive Officer Bill Hornbuckle said on an April 29 earnings call. “I’d say different occupancies are down to that level. So it will take some recovery time no matter what happens here over the next couple of months. But long-term, we remain very excited.” Wynn will report earnings on Thursday.
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a "Morning Meeting" livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here's a recap of Tuesday's key moments. 1. The S & P 500 rose as oil prices fell and investors reacted to a solid batch of earnings reports. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 3%. Jim Cramer said Tuesday's stock market was a "nice bounce back" following Monday's retreat. Cramer identif...
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a "Morning Meeting" livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here's a recap of Tuesday's key moments. 1. The S & P 500 rose as oil prices fell and investors reacted to a solid batch of earnings reports. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 3%. Jim Cramer said Tuesday's stock market was a "nice bounce back" following Monday's retreat. Cramer identified two prevailing themes: (1) the usual oil down and bond yields down, stocks up; and (2) it seems to be "software or hardware — yesterday, it was software's turn, today it's hardware's turn." 2. Amazon shares jumped to another all-time high Tuesday, one day following the launch of Amazon Supply Chain Services for businesses. After sitting down with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on "Mad Money." Jim had one big takeaway: The payoff on this year's expected $200 billion of spending is not far off. Jim said that Amazon "naysayers" are failing to understand how the company will capitalize from its investments. "Amazon understands more than anyone," Jim argued. "After being dormant for a lot of time, [the stock's] going to run for a long time." Earlier on CNBC, Jim said the big spending guide is "offense that they're playing." Jim pointed out that Jassy is talking about making money in 2027-2028. "That's not that far away." When asked about whether Amazon was his favorite Mag 7 stock over Alphabet , Jim smiled and said Amazon is "so good." He did not choose. 3. Eaton fell over 3% after delivering strong earnings but missed on guidance. The stock will come back, Jim said. " We are buying because the market is wrong." DuPont , on the hand, surged over 9% after a small top line beat and raised its guidance. Jim is happy with DuPont's cash availability, allowing for potential mergers. Despite the rally, Jim said it is a "great time to not sell your DuPont" shares. Watch your inboxes and texts for our full analysis on both Eaton and DuPont earnings. 4. Stocks covered in Tuesday's rapid fire ...
Justin Paget/DigitalVision via Getty Images First Solar ( FSLR ) was upgraded to Buy from Hold by Freedom Broker analyst Dmitriy Pozdnyakov, who raised the price target to $260 from $250, citing potential upside from Section 232 policy support and steady operational execution. The upgrade follows first quarter results that were broadly in line with expectations, alongside a reaffirmation of full y...
Justin Paget/DigitalVision via Getty Images First Solar ( FSLR ) was upgraded to Buy from Hold by Freedom Broker analyst Dmitriy Pozdnyakov, who raised the price target to $260 from $250, citing potential upside from Section 232 policy support and steady operational execution. The upgrade follows first quarter results that were broadly in line with expectations, alongside a reaffirmation of full year 2026 guidance. Price target lifted on policy tailwinds Pozdnyakov said U.S. trade policy could provide a meaningful boost to First Solar’s domestic positioning, supporting the decision to turn more constructive on the stock. Shares were recently trading around $211, suggesting notable upside to the new $260 target. Strong shipments offset pricing pressure First Solar ( FSLR ) reported first quarter revenue of $1.04 billion, up 23.6% year over year. The figure came in slightly below the analyst’s estimate but aligned with broader consensus expectations. Growth was driven by higher module shipment volumes, which rose 30.9% year over year on a megawatt basis. However, average selling prices declined due to a greater mix of shipments to India. The company ended the quarter with backlog of 47.9 gigawatts, down from 50.1 gigawatts at the end of the prior quarter, reflecting strong shipments that exceeded new bookings. Module production reached 4.3 gigawatts in the quarter, while shipments totaled 3.8 gigawatts. First Solar ( FSLR ) expects to produce between 16.5 gigawatts and 17.5 gigawatts in 2026, increasing to as much as 20.5 gigawatts in 2027. Guidance reaffirmed with margin expansion ahead Operating income rose 56.1% year over year to $345.3 million, beating the consensus estimate of $310.9 million. Operating margin reached 33.0%, up from 26.1% a year earlier, supported by higher gross margin and lower startup costs tied to new facilities. Net income totaled $346.6 million, above the consensus estimate of $295.7 million. Diluted earnings per share came in at $3.22, comp...
Ireland's media regulator has opened investigations into Meta's Instagram and Facebook over concerns EU users cannot easily control what they see online and may be steered by algorithms into highly personalised feeds, it said on Tuesday. Under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), the regulator can probe major online platforms and search engines headquartered in Ireland, and fine them up to 6% o...
Ireland's media regulator has opened investigations into Meta's Instagram and Facebook over concerns EU users cannot easily control what they see online and may be steered by algorithms into highly personalised feeds, it said on Tuesday. Under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), the regulator can probe major online platforms and search engines headquartered in Ireland, and fine them up to 6% of global turnover for breaches of online content rules. Coimisiun na Mean, the regulator, said the suspected breaches concern whether users can easily select and modify the content they see, and whether Facebook and Instagram's interfaces deceive or manipulate them away from doing so.
Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co. are in talks with Alphabet Inc . to give the companies they own access to Google’s artificial intelligence models, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks come as OpenAI and Anthropic PBC each announced deals in quick succession Monday with alternative asset managers to form AI consultancies that will turn private equity-backed firms into a new revenue...
Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co. are in talks with Alphabet Inc . to give the companies they own access to Google’s artificial intelligence models, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks come as OpenAI and Anthropic PBC each announced deals in quick succession Monday with alternative asset managers to form AI consultancies that will turn private equity-backed firms into a new revenue source for AI companies. In addition to Blackstone and KKR, Alphabet is also in discussions with private equity firm EQT AB , the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are confidential. The discussions aren’t exclusive, and there are no assurances they’ll lead to a deal, the people said. Representatives for Blackstone, EQT, KKR and Google declined to comment. Some of the biggest private equity managers such as Blackstone and KKR have injected billions into data centers and other key aspects of the AI play, and the latest discussions stand to make the investment firms an even bigger presence in the boom. They also thrust some of AI’s biggest champions deeper into a debate on the risks of throwing so much money at a nascent industry. “A couple of years ago, private equity firms were waiting to see what was happening with AI and its impact, encouraging their portfolio companies to do trials around adoption,” said Tanveer Kapadia, partner at Boston Consulting Group. “Now they are getting more actively involved.” Thoma Bravo Signs Multiyear Deal With Google for AI Adoption Vista Strikes Deal to Speed Up Google AI in Software Portfolio Google Cloud Partners With CVC to Boost Agentic AI Adoption Unlike the OpenAI and Anthropic arrangements, the Google deals wouldn’t create a separate consulting business, the people said. The consultancies are set to give the AI developers a ready base of customers on which to test their services. Such enterprise contracts also help AI startups weather a more fickle consumer base. The joint ventures could one day hire hundred...
rattanavan Baunoi/E+ via Getty Images Astounding Alpha and Strong Quant Ratings Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc, ( UCTT ), a mid-cap stock (market-cap of $3.3B) from the semiconductor landscape, has played a blinder in 2026; we’re only a little over 4 months into the new year, but the UCTT stock has already surged by a mammoth 189%, which translates to a 3.5x multiple on the return of other semiconducto...
rattanavan Baunoi/E+ via Getty Images Astounding Alpha and Strong Quant Ratings Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc, ( UCTT ), a mid-cap stock (market-cap of $3.3B) from the semiconductor landscape, has played a blinder in 2026; we’re only a little over 4 months into the new year, but the UCTT stock has already surged by a mammoth 189%, which translates to a 3.5x multiple on the return of other semiconductor stocks, and a stunning 14.5x multiple over its peers from the Russell 2000! YCharts In addition to that, if one were to peruse Seeking Alpha’s quant rating tables, one will see that UCTT is second on the list of 32 stocks that make up the semiconductor materials and equipment universe. By all accounts, UCTT appears to be in vogue. Seeking Alpha So, what’s fuelling UCTT’s popularity in the markets, and should investors consider joining this bandwagon? Why Should UCTT Be On Investors’ Watchlists UCTT has experienced plenty of peaks and troughs since it got listed on the Nasdaq around 22 years back, but the explosive rally this year has mainly been fuelled by a rapid pick-up in AI infrastructure, and how that’s resulting in broader buoyancy across the broader semiconductor ecosystem. Before I elaborate on that, it’s important to first understand UCTT’s role in the overall value chain. April 2026 presentation While UCTT doesn’t produce chips, nor does it make the machines that produce those chips, it does provide some critical parts, tools, modules, and subsystems that are integral to the smooth functioning of the chip-making machines. It’s also worth noting that UCTT’s hardware is primarily relied upon by two giants in the WFE (Wafer Fab Equipment) space- LAM Research ( LRCX ) and Applied Materials ( AMAT ), both of which account for roughly 60% of group sales (note that over the past 5 years, UCTT has also done well to increase its exposure to other semiconductor OEMs as well). For instance, UCTT’S hardware for LRCX typically includes pallet mounted gas-delivery systems tha...
HJBC/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Siemens Healthineers ( SEMHF )( SMMNY ) is rather interesting. The situation here is a demerger from Siemens ( SMAWF ), which controls the stock on the public markets. There will be dis-synergies. However, there is also latent growth coming from Varian which is the star asset and is ahead of competition, namely Elekta AB ( OTCPK:EKTAF )( OTCPK:EKTAY ), in ter...
HJBC/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Siemens Healthineers ( SEMHF )( SMMNY ) is rather interesting. The situation here is a demerger from Siemens ( SMAWF ), which controls the stock on the public markets. There will be dis-synergies. However, there is also latent growth coming from Varian which is the star asset and is ahead of competition, namely Elekta AB ( OTCPK:EKTAF )( OTCPK:EKTAY ), in terms of margin and offering. Like Elekta , they are compounding their model by selling units and building a base for their service revenue for that equipment, an attractive razor and blades model. They are experiencing some pressures on less core segments. But they have attractive free cash flow yield for a healthcare play. A buy on balance with a relative valuation angle on similar forward FCFY as lagging Elekta, but note that there will be some forced selling after the spin-off most likely, which is the way Siemens is hoping to offload the business, and the dis-synergies will have to be overcome by productivity gains and the natural margin lift that comes from growth in the business. Also, the diagnostics business is expected to see continued pressure into the Q2 from the volume-based pricing dynamics in the Chinese market. Latest Results Volume-based pricing has come for the medtech industry in the Chinese market. This was something that began in China for pharmaceuticals some years ago, and the more competitive purchasing system is putting direct pressure on prices and unit economics for the diagnostics business. The hit to margin has been clear , volumes have also been hit. In general, there have been reforms in China to increase competitiveness and integrity in procurement for the public sphere, in this case hospitals, changing reimbursement as well. This is something that is affecting comps in the first half of the year. There were some negative mix effects as well, with a major order in Brazil of equipment being delivered, and the model primarily focused on razor-and-...