Earnings Call Insights: RCI Hospitality Holdings (RICK) Q4 2025 Management View Travis Reese, Interim President and CEO, reported that "Nightclub revenues were nearly level despite continued economic uncertainty" and highlighted that Bombshells revenues reflected the previously announced divestiture or closure of five underperforming locations. Reese stated, "Profitability primarily reflected high...
Earnings Call Insights: RCI Hospitality Holdings (RICK) Q4 2025 Management View Travis Reese, Interim President and CEO, reported that "Nightclub revenues were nearly level despite continued economic uncertainty" and highlighted that Bombshells revenues reflected the previously announced divestiture or closure of five underperforming locations. Reese stated, "Profitability primarily reflected higher noncash legal accrual, increased income taxes, and lower impairments." He emphasized progress on the Back to Basics 5-Year Capital Allocation Plan, with the company divesting four Bombshells in leased locations, acquiring three nightclubs, opening four new clubs in the Bombshells segment, attracting outside investment in one nightclub, selling two small underperforming clubs, and continuing buybacks, resulting in a share count reduction to approximately 7.7 million, about 14% lower than at year-end September 30, 2024. Albert Molina, Interim Chief Financial Officer, stated, "Total revenues were $70.9 million compared to $73.2 million. A difference of $2.3 million primarily reflected 5 fewer Bombshells-related locations, partially offset by new nightclub locations." Molina added, "Corporate expenses totaled $15.4 million compared to $7.1 million. The difference of approximately $8.3 million primarily reflected the establishment of a legal reserve." Molina noted, "Net income attributable to RCIHH common shareholders was a loss of $5.5 million compared to a profit of $244,000." He also highlighted that "free cash flow was virtually level at $13.1 million due to the lower maintenance CapEx in the current quarter." Outlook Reese confirmed that the capital allocation strategy remains unchanged, stating, "We allocate approximately 40% of free cash flow to club acquisitions and 60% to share buybacks, debt reduction, and dividends. Our goal is to grow free cash flow per share by 10% to 15% annually." The company targets $400 million in revenue, $75 million in free cash flow, and 7...
The US may soon remove sanctions on Iranian oil stranded on tankers at sea, the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said on Thursday as Washington seeks to curb prices soaring over Iran’s closure of the strait of Hormuz. “In the coming days, we may un-sanction the Iranian oil that’s on the water. It’s about 140m barrels,” Bessent said during an appearance on Fox Business Network’s Mornings with Mar...
The US may soon remove sanctions on Iranian oil stranded on tankers at sea, the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said on Thursday as Washington seeks to curb prices soaring over Iran’s closure of the strait of Hormuz. “In the coming days, we may un-sanction the Iranian oil that’s on the water. It’s about 140m barrels,” Bessent said during an appearance on Fox Business Network’s Mornings with Maria. “That’s about 10 days to two weeks of supply that the Iranians had been pushing out that would have all gone to China,” he continued. “In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 to 14 days as we continue this campaign.” Oil prices have been above $100 per barrel for much of the past two weeks as Iran has closed the strait of Hormuz to shipping and attacked tankers. The treasury recently took a similar step to temporarily allow the sale of sanctioned Russian oil stranded on tankers, which Bessent said added around 130m barrels to global supplies. A source familiar with the treasury’s planning said that if the Trump administration eases sanctions on Iranian oil, one option would be a waiver similar to one used for Russian oil, allowing sales of crude already stranded at sea and confined to a narrow time frame. “A potential waiver could accelerate the diversion of oil already destined for China into global markets more broadly, helping ensure adequate supply and blunting Iran’s leverage over the strait of Hormuz,” said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Bessent said the US would take other actions to increase oil supply, including a unilateral release of stocks from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve above last week’s coordinated joint G7 release of 400m barrels. He said the treasury would “absolutely not” try to intervene in oil futures markets, but would take actions to increase physical supplies to try to make up for the 10m-14m barrel-per-day deficit ca...
(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Thursday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 1,000 points or 3 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 33,700-point plateau and it may open under pressure again on Friday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on concerns over the Middle East conflict, although easing oil prices may limit the down...
(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Thursday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 1,000 points or 3 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 33,700-point plateau and it may open under pressure again on Friday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on concerns over the Middle East conflict, although easing oil prices may limit the downside. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion. The TSE finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the finance, plastic and technology companies. For the day, the index tumbled 658.90 points or 1.92 percent to finish at 33,689.68 after trading between 33,663.78 and 34,279.12. Among the actives, Mega Financial dropped 0.89 percent, while CTBC Financial tanked 3.19 percent, First Financial retreated 1.21 percent, Fubon Financial contracted 1.45 percent, E Sun Financial tumbled 1.71 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and MediaTek both surrendered 2.89 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation cratered 3.93 percent, Hon Hai Precision stumbled 2.38 percent, Largan Precision plunged 4.92 percent, Catcher Technology rose 0.27 percent, Delta Electronics shed 0.68 percent, Novatek Microelectronics slumped 2.35 percent, Formosa Plastics rallied 2.75 percent, Nan Ya Plastics dropped 2.32 percent, Asia Cement skidded 1.16 percent and Cathay Financial was unchanged. The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday and stayed that way for most of the session, although a late rally pared the damage to mild by the day's end. The Dow dropped 203.72 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 46,021.43, while the NASDAQ sank 61.73 points or 0.28 percent to close at 22,090.69 and the S&P 500 fell 18.21 points or 0.27 percent to close at 6,606.49. The early weakness on Wall Street came amid concerns about the escalation of the war in the Middle East following attacks o...
Prime office vacancy rates in Hong Kong’s main business district dropped to single digits for the first time in 26 months, lifting overall rents in the city’s struggling office property market, according to JLL. The vacancy rate in Central for premium offices fell to 9.9 per cent in February from 10.1 per cent the previous month, the property consultancy said. The last time a single-digit rate was...
Prime office vacancy rates in Hong Kong’s main business district dropped to single digits for the first time in 26 months, lifting overall rents in the city’s struggling office property market, according to JLL. The vacancy rate in Central for premium offices fell to 9.9 per cent in February from 10.1 per cent the previous month, the property consultancy said. The last time a single-digit rate was recorded for grade A offices in the district was in December 2023, when it also hit 9.9 per cent, according to JLL’s data. The citywide prime office vacancy rate also inched down to 13.4 per cent in February from 13.5 per cent a month earlier, with the Wan Chai and Causeway Bay area recording a decrease to 10.2 per cent from 10.3 per cent in its third straight month of falling rates. Advertisement Given the improvement, Central’s grade A office rents rose 3.5 per cent in the first two months of the year, after rising 1.2 per cent in January and 2.3 per cent in February, JLL said. This increase supported a 1.1 per cent month-on-month rise in overall office rents in February, the company said. Central’s grade A office rents rose 3.5 per cent in the first two months of the year. Photo: Jelly Tse “With the banking sector remaining the primary driver of leasing activity, and demand focused on new office buildings in core business districts, only two districts have shown early signs of improvement,” said Alex Barnes, managing director of JLL in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Advertisement “This trend is expected to persist throughout the year, while noncore districts such as Kowloon East are likely to remain under pressure,” Barnes said.
Hong Kong’s Baptist University placed a big bet when it told the government in 2023 that it was interested in moving its campus from the upmarket Kowloon Tong residential area to a proposed new academic town near the mainland Chinese border. The 70-year-old university’s move to the Northern Metropolis megaproject will mean giving up a prime site for a spot where most of the land has yet to be prep...
Hong Kong’s Baptist University placed a big bet when it told the government in 2023 that it was interested in moving its campus from the upmarket Kowloon Tong residential area to a proposed new academic town near the mainland Chinese border. The 70-year-old university’s move to the Northern Metropolis megaproject will mean giving up a prime site for a spot where most of the land has yet to be prepared for construction, although its proximity to mainland tech hub Shenzhen and the Lok Ma Chau Loop, partly earmarked for an innovation and technology park, has obvious appeal. “The Northern Metropolis neighbours the most innovative city in mainland China, and while Hong Kong is developing innovation and technology, we can utilise the resources in the vicinity,” university president Alexander Wai Ping-kong told the South China Morning Post in an interview this month. Advertisement “Our students and professors can reach Shenzhen and the Lok Ma Chau Loop directly and conveniently.” The university town is one of the core developments in the megaproject that aims to turn 30,000 hectares (74,132 acres) of land near the border into an engine for economic growth and a housing hub. Advertisement Baptist University is not the only one that has ambitions, with 18 other local public and private institutions also submitting proposals to the government in 2023 to set up operations or build facilities there. Some have proposed setting up satellite campuses to provide more academic and research space for developing innovative programmes, while others plan to promote vocational education involving cooperation with industries and integration of science and education.
Bitcoin (BTC 1.18%) has publicly been called dead by well-known commentators at least 471 times since 2010, according to the BitcoinDeaths data aggregator service, and each one of those obituaries was written with conviction. Yet each one was wrong. Now, with the coin still smarting from its painful collapse that started with the Oct. 10, 2025, flash crash, online searches for "Bitcoin going to ze...
Bitcoin (BTC 1.18%) has publicly been called dead by well-known commentators at least 471 times since 2010, according to the BitcoinDeaths data aggregator service, and each one of those obituaries was written with conviction. Yet each one was wrong. Now, with the coin still smarting from its painful collapse that started with the Oct. 10, 2025, flash crash, online searches for "Bitcoin going to zero" have once again hit record levels. But there's a reason the doomsayers keep getting proven incorrect, and the structural floor beneath Bitcoin's price is far sturdier than is generally known -- including in a cheeky technical way that the bears are unlikely to appreciate. Let's explore why Bitcoin is unlikely to ever go to zero. The case against ever going to zero For Bitcoin's price to reach a stone-cold $0.00, all of the largest holders on the planet would need to try to sell it, and then, in the same period, it would be necessary for no buyer to show up at any price. The existence of price-insensitive buyers with massive amounts of capital on hand mostly rules that out. For instance, the digital asset treasury (DAT) company Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, holds more than 761,000 coins, roughly 3.6% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist, and it's constantly purchasing more and more regardless of whether the price is up or down. Expand CRYPTO : BTC Bitcoin Today's Change ( -1.18 %) $ -838.18 Current Price $ 70255.00 Key Data Points Market Cap $1.4T Day's Range $ 68934.00 - $ 71535.00 52wk Range $ 60255.56 - $ 126079.89 Volume 46B Other classes of holders, like governments, Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers, and corporate treasuries, are also unlikely to completely dump their holdings all at the same time. Plus, an estimated 20% of Bitcoin's supply is permanently lost, so it simply can't be sold. Furthermore, the coin has already suffered multiple 80% declines, after which it formed a price floor, attracted new buyers, and eventually recovered to set new all-ti...
Samuel Boivin | Nurphoto | Getty Images OpenAI will combine its web browser, ChatGPT app and Codex coding app into a singular desktop super app, CNBC confirmed on Thursday. Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of Applications, will oversee the change with assistance from OpenAI President Greg Brockman, according to a spokesperson. The new app aims to help OpenAI streamline the user experience and reduce fragm...
Samuel Boivin | Nurphoto | Getty Images OpenAI will combine its web browser, ChatGPT app and Codex coding app into a singular desktop super app, CNBC confirmed on Thursday. Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of Applications, will oversee the change with assistance from OpenAI President Greg Brockman, according to a spokesperson. The new app aims to help OpenAI streamline the user experience and reduce fragmentation. "Companies go through phases of exploration and phases of refocus; both are critical," Simo said in a post on X on Thursday. "But when new bets start to work, like we're seeing now with Codex, it's very important to double down on them and avoid distractions. Really glad we're seizing this moment." The Wall Street Journal was first to report the super app. The effort to unify OpenAI's products under one application comes after Simo held an all-hands meeting with staffers earlier this month to answer employee questions about the company's priorities. She said said that the OpenAI is "orienting aggressively" towards high-productivity use cases. "What really matters for us right now is staying focused and executing extremely well," Simo said during the meeting, according to a partial transcript reviewed by CNBC. OpenAI rocketed into the mainstream following the launch of its ChatGPT chatbot in 2022, and it has since ballooned into one of the fastest-growing commercial entities on the planet. The company released a flurry of new products and experiences in recent months, including its Codex app and its browser , as it races to keep an edge over rivals like Google and Anthropic . The startup hired Simo , the former Instacart CEO, to lead its applications business in May. She has been emphasizing product focus and discipline within OpenAI as the company gears up for a potential IPO, which could happen as soon as this year. WATCH: OpenAI renews focus on enterprise in all-hands meeting amid IPO push watch now VIDEO 1:34 01:34 OpenAI renews focus on enterprise in all-hands...
Nvidia is a publicly traded company whose shares can be purchased by anyone with a brokerage account, and its equity is owned by both institutional and individual investors. As of mid-March 2026, it is the largest listed company by market capitalization, at more than $4.3 trillion. Nvidia has ...
Nvidia is a publicly traded company whose shares can be purchased by anyone with a brokerage account, and its equity is owned by both institutional and individual investors. As of mid-March 2026, it is the largest listed company by market capitalization, at more than $4.3 trillion. Nvidia has ...
The Brookings Institution's Asia Policy Studies Center Research Director Mireya Solis analyzes the high-stakes meeting between PM Sanae Takaichi and President Donald Trump as the Iran war tests the US-Japan alliance. (Source: Bloomberg)
The Brookings Institution's Asia Policy Studies Center Research Director Mireya Solis analyzes the high-stakes meeting between PM Sanae Takaichi and President Donald Trump as the Iran war tests the US-Japan alliance. (Source: Bloomberg)
In this article .HSI .N225 .AXJO @NG.1 @RB.1 @LCO.1 Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Pump jacks operate in a field on March 11, 2026 in Gillett, Texas. Brandon Bell | Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets mostly declined Friday following volatile trading on Wall Street overnight as investors sold assets from government bonds to equities and metals amid the Iran war. Tehran attacked the ...
In this article .HSI .N225 .AXJO @NG.1 @RB.1 @LCO.1 Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Pump jacks operate in a field on March 11, 2026 in Gillett, Texas. Brandon Bell | Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets mostly declined Friday following volatile trading on Wall Street overnight as investors sold assets from government bonds to equities and metals amid the Iran war. Tehran attacked the world's largest gas plant in Qatar, causing damage to the energy supply for the next several years, in retaliation against Israel's strikes on its South Pars gas field. QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi said the Iranian attacks had wiped out 17% of the country's LNG export capacity for three to five years. The tit-for-tat attacks on key oil and gas infrastructures across the Middle East sent energy prices soaring. U.S. natural gas prices were last seen 1.5% higher, trading at $3.112 per million British thermal units. Front-month Nymex RBOB gasoline for April delivery, meanwhile, rose almost 1% to $3.13 and hit a nearly four-year high. International benchmark Brent crude futures rose 1.18% to end at $108.65 per barrel Thursday, after crossing $119 earlier in the session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures dropped 0.19% to $96.14. The market fallout from the regional war also extended to metals , with gold and silver shedding around 5% and 10% respectively before paring losses. Signaling efforts at cooling tensions, U.S. President Donald Trump said that he was not deploying ground troops, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel would refrain from repeating attacks on Iranian energy facilities. U.S.-aligned countries, including Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Japan issued a joint statement expressing "our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait" of Hormuz. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.27% in early Asia trade. Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 25,312, lower than the index's last close of 2...
mesh cube/iStock via Getty Images By Elior Manier The world's reserve currency has proved once again why, when it all blows up, it all comes back to the dollar. The USD serves as the denominator for global commodity trade, so when commodities suddenly appreciate, particularly crude oil, it tends to force large currency conversions towards it. Many economic actors rushed to hedge against the confli...
mesh cube/iStock via Getty Images By Elior Manier The world's reserve currency has proved once again why, when it all blows up, it all comes back to the dollar. The USD serves as the denominator for global commodity trade, so when commodities suddenly appreciate, particularly crude oil, it tends to force large currency conversions towards it. Many economic actors rushed to hedge against the conflict by buying more expensive energy commodities, creating a dollar demand cascade. That's why it's common to see the term 'petrodollar' in recent days. But this move could already be over as traders prepare for the second phase of the conflict after three weeks of consistent gains. Note: A crazy selloff is currently ongoing in the dollar as Israel's PM Netanyahu marks the advancement of the conflict, and hawkish central banks lead to a large FX repricing. The FOMC brought quite a lot of change to markets: Jerome Powell pushed against further rate cuts, citing inflation is still too elevated and supply shocks that hurt dovish prospects. But one thing that drove this move was the fact that he wasn't particularly supportive of rate hikes, which gave bears enough leeway to stop the rush into the Greenback. US Dollar and WTI Oil Correlation (breaking) – Source: TradingView Having now reached the top of its July 2025 range, the US dollar could now be heading for a large correction. But the range highs aren't the only element marking the change in the recent flows. The US dollar and crude oil correlation is not as solid as it used to be – so expect to see more of these changes as time goes on. As you can see on the correlation chart above, since yesterday, WTI has remained sideways while the US dollar tumbled – this is a significant change compared to the first half of the month. We’ll explore the current technical signs arising and more in an in-depth technical analysis of DXY. Dollar Index ( DXY ) Multi-Timeframe Analysis Daily Chart Dollar Index (DXY) Daily Chart. March 19, 2026...
Earnings Call Insights: FiscalNote Holdings, Inc. (NOTE) Q4 2025 Management View CEO Joshua Resnik emphasized significant operational and strategic changes, stating, "Over the past year and including the recent market expansions and the additional streamlining that we announced today, we've made significant changes to strengthen our foundation and align our strategy with evolving customer needs an...
Earnings Call Insights: FiscalNote Holdings, Inc. (NOTE) Q4 2025 Management View CEO Joshua Resnik emphasized significant operational and strategic changes, stating, "Over the past year and including the recent market expansions and the additional streamlining that we announced today, we've made significant changes to strengthen our foundation and align our strategy with evolving customer needs and market opportunities." He guided to approximately $1 million of adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter and $14 million to $16 million for the full year 2026, with margins expected to exceed 20% in the final three quarters. Resnik announced a 19% reduction in cash operating expenses and a workforce transformation plan reducing headcount by approximately 25% year-over-year. He highlighted the use of generative and agentic AI, stating, "We now have 100% adoption of AI tooling across our engineering organization, which is translating directly into development cycles that are now approximately 3x faster than before." The CEO detailed new market opportunities: "FiscalNote is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the growing demand for political and policy intelligence through new markets that barely existed a year ago, specifically prediction markets and AI-driven consumption." CFO Jon Slabaugh reported, "Total revenue for Q4 2025 was $22.2 million, within our guidance range. Subscription revenue continues to be the foundation of our business and represented approximately 93% of total revenue for the full year." Slabaugh added, "Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter was $2.5 million, exceeding our recent guidance of approximately $2 million and representing the tenth consecutive positive quarter for this important metric." Outlook Management forecasted GAAP revenue in a range of $80 million to $83 million and adjusted EBITDA in a range of $14 million to $16 million for 2026. For Q1 2026, GAAP revenue is expected between $20 million and $21 million with adjusted EBITDA of appr...