Zurich Insurance Group AG is nearing an agreement to acquire UK specialty insurer Beazley Plc and raise billions of dollars in equity to help fund the deal, according to people familiar with the matter. The Swiss insurer is likely to announce a firm, recommended bid for Beazley as early as Monday, the people said. Simultaneously, the Swiss company is expected to tap investors for $3 billion to $5 billion by March 4, the latest deadline for it to make a definite offer for Beazley, one of the people said. The final timing, and size of the equity raise, could still change, the people said. In January, Zurich said it plans to finance any deal through existing cash and new debt facilities, with the remainder funded through an equity placing. Zurich’s latest proposal for Beazley values the London-listed company at about £8 billion ($10.8 billion). A representative for Zurich declined to comment, while one for Beazley wasn’t immediately available for comment. Earlier this week, Zurich struck a deal to buy Australia-listed life insurer ClearView for about A$415 million ($295 million) in cash. Zurich also owns a 5% stake in Spanish lender Banco de Sabadell , data compiled by Bloomberg show . Read More: Zurich Insurance Profit Beats Estimates as CEO Eyes Beazley

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Price Target Cut to $285.00 by Analysts at Evercore MarketBeat

Rosenblatt Securities Begins Coverage on Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) MarketBeat

格隆汇2月27日｜德国通胀率意外回落至欧洲央行目标水平，2026年初经济复苏步伐缓慢。德国统计局周五公布，2月消费者价格同比上升2%，升幅低于1月的2.1%。经济学家此前预计该数据将持稳。 尽管德国经济在多年低迷后显现复苏迹象，但德国央行仅认为其“动能疲弱”。财政刺激政策预计将于春季开始更明显显效，推动今年经济增速至少达到1%，并助力通胀率稳定在2%。欧洲央行决策者表示，他们对欧元区物价涨幅及借贷成本水平感到满意。经济学家预计至少到明年年底前利率都不会有任何调整，尽管当前通胀率仍低于目标值。欧元区下周二将公布通胀数据，分析师预期为1.7%。

Monty Rakusen/DigitalVision via Getty Images Thesis Summary Blue Owl ( OWL ) is an alternative asset manager with over $307 billion of AUM across Credit, Real Assets, and GP Strategic Capital. The stock has been under some real scrutiny after liquidating a substantial part of its assets across various funds, something I discussed in more detail here. Ultimately, I believe the market is overreacting to its fears around AI, the stability of private credit and the liquidity outlook. This is a stock with predictable earnings, an 8% dividend, and trading at historically favourable valuations. The market is pricing OWL as if a credit cycle is already breaking, while the numbers I see suggest something very different. What Blue Owl Actually Does Blue Owl is not just a middle-market lender, like its subsidiary Blue Owl Capital Management ( OBDC ). It is a scaled alternative asset manager with three large engines: Credit: $157.8B AUM Real Assets: $80.6B AUM GP Strategic Capital: $69.1B AUM Blue Owl Overview (Investor slides) Credit may be stealing all the headlines right now, but let’s not forget GP and digital infrastructure are also a big part of the business and generate durable, predictable streams of income. Since listing, AUM has grown from $62B to $307B, and Permanent capital has grown from $57B to $223B over that same period Blue Owl AUM (Investor slides) The company has been structurally scaling, and that’s not a trend that seems to be stopping. The Earnings Power Is Real OWL Earnings (Investor slides) Over the last twelve months, OWL has taken in $2.53B in FRE Management Fees, with Fee-Related earnings amounting to $1.5B, and Distributable Earnings of $1.31B. As has already been highlighted by management, around 90% of FRE management fees are sourced from permanent capital vehicles. OWL Permanent Capital (Investor slides) On top of that, we have $28.4B of AUM which are not paying fees yet but will soon. This equates to roughly $330M of increased FRE. This is a dura...

Prices paid to US producers rose in January by more than forecast as the producer price index increased 0.5%, the most since September. An underlying gauge that excludes food and energy advanced by the most since July. Michael McKee reports on Bloomberg Television. (Source: Bloomberg)

On February 17, 2026, Himalaya Capital Management disclosed a new position in Crocs (NASDAQ:CROX) , acquiring 628,159 shares valued at an estimated $53.72 million based on quarter-end pricing. According to an SEC filing dated February 17, 2026, Himalaya Capital Management LLC established a new position in Crocs, purchasing 628,159 shares. The quarter-end value of this stake increased by $53.72 million, reflecting the addition of the new shares. Crocs is a leading global designer and manufacturer of casual footwear, recognized for its innovative and highly recognizable products. The company leverages a multi-channel distribution model to maximize reach and adaptability in diverse markets. Continue reading

Belgium's competition watchdog said on Friday it had opened ‌an investigation into the sale ‌of online ads by Google. * The competition authorities ​said they had "seriousindications" that Google's model for selling online ads was inbreach of antitrust rules, as the company appeared ‌to be ⁠abusingits market power. * Google is already the subject of several ​European Unionantitrust ​investigations and ​has been fined ‌billions of euros inEurope for antitrust violations in recent years.

karandaev/iStock via Getty Images The year 2026 is expected to be another challenging year for the personal computers and smartphone markets amid a global memory shortage crisis, according to research firm IDC. The firm noted that the current situation is now more negative than even its most pessimistic scenarios suggested just a few months ago. "The confluence of a deepening memory supply crisis, aggressive pull- forward activity that has front-loaded volumes, rising ASPs [average selling prices] that will suppress unit growth, and a volatile trade policy landscape makes precision forecasting extraordinarily difficult," said IDC in a blog post. Original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, had ramped up shipments of PCs and smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2025 as concerns about DRAM and NAND pricing escalated in late 2025. This trend has continued into the first quarter of 2026 for the PC market, as OEMs rushed to ship products before memory and storage price increases take full effect, according to the research firm. "For smartphones, the situation is exasperated, with Q1 2026 forecast to decline 6.8%. As memory prices climb and some vendors, particularly smaller ones, struggle to secure and/or pay for adequate supply, we expect unit volumes to fall off dramatically beginning in the second quarter," said the report. The firm noted that ASPs will rise, but volume demand will weaken in response. The net effect will be negative year-over-year unit growth for the full year, even as the revenue picture looks deceptively stable due to inflated ASPs. For PCs, IDC is now forecasting the global market to decline by 11.3% in 2026, while revenues grow 1.6% due to increased ASPs. The current forecast shows the market flattening in 2027, with a rebound now pushed out to 2028. The firm noted that the smartphone market looks even more dire and now expects the global market to decline by 12.9% in 2026, with revenues declining slightly by 0.5%. It expects 2027 to see a modest 1....

格隆汇2月27日｜中国科协、教育部日前印发《关于进一步加强高等学校科普工作的意见》，提出到2030年实现高校科普工作全覆盖。根据意见，到2030年，高校科普工作体系将更加完善，高校科普地位作用更加凸显，科学素质和能力培养导向更加鲜明，高校社会化科普服务效能更加彰显，服务国家创新驱动发展的贡献度进一步提升。

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OpenAI raised $110 billion in funding. Investors include Amazon, SoftBank and Nvidia. It's part of the ChatGPT maker's push to secure more computing power and talent for AI development. Mandeep Singh of Bloomberg Intelligence has more. (Source: Bloomberg)

In this video, I will cover SoFi (NASDAQ: SOFI) and explain why $30 a share isn't that far away. Watch the short video to learn more, consider subscribing, and click the special offer link below.

BlackRock TCP (TCPC) delivered earnings and revenue surprises of -10.35% and -8.08%, respectively, for the quarter ended December 2025. Do the numbers hold clues to what lies ahead for the stock?

The need for high-speed data transmission in AI data centers has supercharged this company's growth.

When IonQ 's (NYSE: IONQ) stock surged in 2025, a popular narrative took hold: Wall Street is loading up on quantum computing. But this narrative missed something fundamental about how institutional ownership actually works, and understanding the difference could save you from a costly misread of institutional investor sentiment. No later than 45 days after the end of each quarter, institutional investors managing more than $100 million must file a 13F with the Securities and Exchange Commission -- a public disclosure of their stock holdings as of the end of that period. When investors see massive names like Vanguard and BlackRock holding millions of shares of IonQ, it's easy to assume the "smart money" believes in the company's future, but that's not the case here. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading

Key PointsHigh-speed networking is crucial to AI data centers, which explains why Ciena has seen impressive growth.

Anthropic has rejected the Pentagon’s latest offer in a dispute over safeguards around the use of its AI technology by the US military. The company continues to insist on two specific restrictions: It doesn’t want its technology used for surveillance of US citizens or for autonomous lethal strikes without a human in the loop. Bloomberg Opinion's Parmy Olson breaks down the situation. Her opinions are her own. (Source: Bloomberg)

KanawatTH/iStock via Getty Images FormFactor, Inc. ( FORM ) is one of the best performing stocks this year as it is up 75% YTD. Since reporting Q4 2025 earnings on February 4th, the stock has been on a strong run, setting new all-time highs consistently. FormFactor’s post-earnings rally hasn’t been without merit as the probe card specialist reported record revenues and expanded its margins significantly due to improved manufacturing efficiencies. These results are promising signs for the company’s performance in FY 2026, in my opinion, since it is well positioned to maintain its strong growth figures thanks to the HBM4 cycle. As a probe card supplier to the top-3 high bandwidth memory ("HBM") makers, FormFactor is positioned favorably to benefit from the mass production of HBM4, a feat Samsung ( SSNLF ) was the first to achieve. At the same time, the company is likely to further benefit from the beginning of HBM4E sampling in the second half of the year. This is due to the higher testing intensity introduced with each new generation of HBM due to the higher layer and pin count, leading probe cards to wear out at a more rapid pace. While FormFactor’s capacity is constrained in the near-term until its transition to the Farmers Branch, Texas facility late this year, management stated that there is room for additional manufacturing efficiencies to boost output, a primary factor for the company’s Q4 margin expansion. Given the company’s exposure to the HBM4 cycle, I’m forecasting its revenues and adjusted EBIT to grow 18.5% and 67.9%, respectively, in FY 2026, which could be a major catalyst for a re-rating near peer valuation levels. In light of this, I’m rating FormFactor as a Buy with a $122 price target, implying 25% upside potential from current levels. Business Overview FormFactor operates in the semiconductor testing segment as it sells test and measurement equipment such as probe cards, analytical probes, and probe stations that are crucial for testing ICs during...

Lending disruptor Upstart (NASDAQ: UPST) recently reported its first $1 billion revenue year ever, as well as solid profitability and excellent growth -- especially in its newer loan verticals. In this video, longtime Motley Fool analyst Matt Frankel discusses the latest results,

Block, the fintech group headed by Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey, will cut its workforce by “nearly half” in one of the clearest signs of the sweeping changes AI tools are having on employment. Shares in the payment company soared more than 25 percent in after-hours trading on Thursday as it announced it would shed more than 4,000 jobs from its 10,000-strong workforce. “Intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company. We’re already seeing it internally,” Dorsey wrote in a letter to shareholders. Read full article Comments

格隆汇2月27日丨1. 美国 ①美国务院下令非紧急必要外交官撤离以色列。 ②美驻以大使警告使团：美袭击伊朗迫在眉睫，今天就离开以色列。 ③美国务院令从美国驻伊拉克大使馆撤离非必要工作人员及其家属。（美国国务院副发言人回应称，这并非事实。） ④大量美国公民在过去24小时内经巴格达国际机场离开伊拉克。 2. 加拿大再次要求其公民立即撤离伊朗。 3. 哈萨克斯坦外交部呼吁公民离开伊朗，并暂时避免前往该国。 4. 中国外交部提醒中国公民暂勿前往伊朗。中国驻以色列使馆发布安全提醒。 5. 英国政府：英方工作人员已暂时撤离伊朗。

Alpha Bank press release ( ALBKY ): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of €0.36. Net Interest Income of €413M. FY25 Net Interest Income of €1.61B. More on Alpha Bank Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Alpha Bank Historical earnings data for Alpha Bank Dividend scorecard for Alpha Bank Financial information for Alpha Bank