Qnity Electronics on Thursday reported strong fourth-quarter results alongside rosy guidance, solidifying its reputation has an under-the-radar beneficiary of the artificial intelligence boom. Revenue in the fourth quarter increased 8% from a year ago to $1.19 billion, outpacing the $1.16 billion expected by LSEG. Earnings per share (EPS) fell 5.7% year over year to 82 cents, but outpaced the cons...
Qnity Electronics on Thursday reported strong fourth-quarter results alongside rosy guidance, solidifying its reputation has an under-the-radar beneficiary of the artificial intelligence boom. Revenue in the fourth quarter increased 8% from a year ago to $1.19 billion, outpacing the $1.16 billion expected by LSEG. Earnings per share (EPS) fell 5.7% year over year to 82 cents, but outpaced the consensus estimate of 64 cents, according to LSEG. Q 1Y mountain Qnity 1-year return Bottom line Qnity's first earnings report as a public company showed why we were so excited to have it in the portfolio upon being spun off from DuPont in the fall. This is a company that fills an essential role in the artificial intelligence boom: It provides chemicals and other materials used to manufacture semiconductors and package them in increasingly complex ways. For example, Qnity supplies the chemicals, known as photoresists, that enable chip circuit designs to be "printed" onto the piece of silicon wafers that become semiconductors. It also sells chemicals for managing the heat that electronics throw off to ensure they keep running efficiently. Leading chip manufacturers TSMC, Samsung, and SK Hynix are Qnity customers. The reason to like Qnity is that it is a winner from growing AI compute demand, no matter where it comes from. Whether that is orders for Nvidia's cutting-edge graphics processing units (GPUs), custom chips from the likes of Alphabet with its Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), and the severe shortage of memory chips, Qnity stands to benefit. It is the classic "picks and shovels" play, and the gold rush is AI. Against that backdrop, it's easy to understand why Qnity delivered better-than-expected results for the quarter with a strong guide. The demand for compute is seemingly insatiable. Plus, as the manufacturing processes gets more advanced, the amount of Qnity materials needed per chip goes up compared to older processes. Better yet, Qnity added another exciting layer to...
Earnings Call Insights: Rackspace Technology, Inc. (RXT) Q4 2025 Management View CEO Gajen Kandiah emphasized a sharpened strategy in response to the market's shift towards AI at scale within enterprise systems, stating "Organizations now expect AI to deliver returns on their investment. As a result, they are moving beyond isolated AI experiments to operating AI at scale inside core enterprise sys...
Earnings Call Insights: Rackspace Technology, Inc. (RXT) Q4 2025 Management View CEO Gajen Kandiah emphasized a sharpened strategy in response to the market's shift towards AI at scale within enterprise systems, stating "Organizations now expect AI to deliver returns on their investment. As a result, they are moving beyond isolated AI experiments to operating AI at scale inside core enterprise systems." Kandiah highlighted a "private cloud renaissance," noting accelerating demand for governed, private, and hybrid architectures as AI moves into data-sensitive and regulated workloads. Kandiah described a strategic pivot to a platform engineering model, focusing on forward-deployed engineers embedded within customer environments, with a particular partnership and delivery emphasis on Palantir's Foundry and AIP platforms. He stated, "We have 30 Palantir-trained platform engineers today and plan to scale to over 250 in the next 12 months." Leadership changes were implemented to address what Kandiah called an "execution challenge," bringing in executives with deep operational and delivery expertise. Kandiah announced anchor partnerships with VMware, Rubrik, and Palantir, each representing a layer within Rackspace's AI-focused ecosystem. On guidance, Kandiah said, "We expect private cloud revenue to grow 6% at the midpoint year-over-year, the first sustained growth in many years, anchored by large multiyear enterprise engagements." CFO Mark Marino stated, "First, we beat revenue guidance, driven by public cloud outperformance. Second, non-GAAP operating profit came in at $41 million, above the high end of our range with margins up 120 basis points sequentially. Third, we ended the year with $397 million in total liquidity and $60 million in cash flow from operations for the quarter, a strong foundation heading into 2026." Outlook Annual GAAP revenue for 2026 is expected to be between $2.6 billion and $2.7 billion, down 1% year-over-year at the midpoint. Private cloud reven...
Earnings Call Insights: ACM Research, Inc. (ACMR) Q4 2025 Management View CEO David Wang opened by highlighting "revenue grew 9% in the fourth quarter and 15% for the full year." Wang noted the company's progress with new product platforms and stated, "We strengthened our position in China and globally." He emphasized the impact of AI and data center investments, adding, "The industry is looking t...
Earnings Call Insights: ACM Research, Inc. (ACMR) Q4 2025 Management View CEO David Wang opened by highlighting "revenue grew 9% in the fourth quarter and 15% for the full year." Wang noted the company's progress with new product platforms and stated, "We strengthened our position in China and globally." He emphasized the impact of AI and data center investments, adding, "The industry is looking to key supplier for new technology, many of which have not yet been invented." Wang announced several milestones with global customers, including the delivery of single-wafer cleaning tools to a Singapore facility and multiple orders for advanced packaging tools from three global customers. Delivery timelines for these new tools extend into 2026. Wang stated, "We expect a strong product cycle in 2026 from SPM cleaning and our furnace product as we made a very good technical progress for this new product across our customer base." He noted shipment figures: "Shipments for 2025 were $854 million versus $973 million." Wang discussed competitive dynamics, mentioning, "We have recently seen a flood of new local entrants to the China capital equipment industry," but expressed confidence in ACM's differentiated technology and IP portfolio. CFO Mark McKechnie reported, "Revenue was $244 million for the fourth quarter, up 9.4%. For the full year, revenue was $901.3 million, up 15.2%." McKechnie added, "Gross margin was 41.0% for the fourth quarter and 44.5% for the full year," and acknowledged margin pressure due to product mix and inventory provisions. Outlook Wang reiterated the 2026 revenue outlook, saying, "In middle January, we introduced our 2026 revenue outlook in the range of $1.08 billion to $1.175 billion. This implies 25% year-over-year growth at the middlepoint. We reiterate this outlook today." McKechnie explained, "For modeling purposes, we expect gross margins to be at the lower end of this longer-term target range for the first half of 2026 with an anticipated lift in...
Columbia University says federal immigration agents entered a residence hall under the guise of searching for a missing person and then arrested Ellie Aghayeva, a student from Azerbaijan. (Image credit: Seth Wenig)
Columbia University says federal immigration agents entered a residence hall under the guise of searching for a missing person and then arrested Ellie Aghayeva, a student from Azerbaijan. (Image credit: Seth Wenig)
Investors have been favoring artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure while pulling back from software (IGV), as US stocks (^DJI, ^IXIC, ^GSPC) navigate renewed volatility. Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Ines Ferré chats with Market Domination host Josh Lipton about what's driving the AI "scare trade" and which sectors are and aren't benefiting from it. To watch more expert insights and analysis...
Investors have been favoring artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure while pulling back from software (IGV), as US stocks (^DJI, ^IXIC, ^GSPC) navigate renewed volatility. Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Ines Ferré chats with Market Domination host Josh Lipton about what's driving the AI "scare trade" and which sectors are and aren't benefiting from it. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination.
imaginima/iStock via Getty Images Sable Offshore ( SOC ) -15.2% in Thursday's trading after a tentative ruling from the Superior Court of California for the County of Santa Barbara upheld an injunction against restarting the Las Flores pipeline system that would transport crude from its offshore oil rigs. Sable Offshore ( SOC ) is "still pursuing federal pathways toward a restart of its onshore pi...
imaginima/iStock via Getty Images Sable Offshore ( SOC ) -15.2% in Thursday's trading after a tentative ruling from the Superior Court of California for the County of Santa Barbara upheld an injunction against restarting the Las Flores pipeline system that would transport crude from its offshore oil rigs. Sable Offshore ( SOC ) is "still pursuing federal pathways toward a restart of its onshore pipeline network, and it has said for quite some time that it didn't view this hearing as being critical in its pursuit of that goal," Roth Capital analyst Leo Mariani said, maintaining his Buy rating on the stock. Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration posted a notice proposing to grant the company a special permit to restart the pipeline. Sable Offshore ( SOC ) needs a special permit to operate the pipeline due to a consent decree imposed after a 2015 oil spill that was one of the worst in California's history. More on Sable Offshore Sable Offshore: Equity Raise Looms As Valuation Remains Stretched Amid Persistent Risks Sable Offshore's Story Remains Political, And Investors Grow Skeptical Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Sable Offshore
Nelson Peltz’s initial attempt to buy fund manager Janus Henderson Group Plc for $46 a share — a mere 10% takeover premium — was shamelessly cheap. And the renowned shareholder activist was lucky to get the board to accept a sweetened $49 offer, worth $7.4 billion, with a less brazen but still cheeky premium of 18%. Now a rival bidder has surfaced. The market is doing its job by helping Janus inve...
Nelson Peltz’s initial attempt to buy fund manager Janus Henderson Group Plc for $46 a share — a mere 10% takeover premium — was shamelessly cheap. And the renowned shareholder activist was lucky to get the board to accept a sweetened $49 offer, worth $7.4 billion, with a less brazen but still cheeky premium of 18%. Now a rival bidder has surfaced. The market is doing its job by helping Janus investors get better value. Thursday saw Victory Capital Holdings Inc. publish a proposal to buy Janus for about $57 a share in cash and stock, worth nearly $9 billion. It’s a bold move. Victory is an industry minnow. It went public in 2018 and had a market capitalization of roughly $5 billion at Wednesday’s close. The idea is to borrow heavily to fund the cash component of the purchase price and then merge the companies, leaving Janus shareholders with a minority stake in the enlarged, leveraged business. Gross debt would equate to 3.5 times trailing earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, says Victory, although that falls to a less painful 2.6 times when including $500 million of projected yearly cost savings. Victory’s stock price, riding high this year, slid on the news. Even so, its tentative offer was worth about $55 per Janus share. That is more than 30% higher than the pre-bid Janus share price, and well ahead of the all-cash deal agreed with Peltz’s Trian Fund Management LP. UK peer Schroders Plc agreed to sell itself to US asset manager Nuveen for a 29% premium earlier this month. Even that was underwhelming. There’s no firm offer from Victory just yet. The interloper is trying to coax Janus’s board into letting it do due diligence and commence talks with a view to scrapping the existing agreement with Trian. Janus’s recent regulatory filings revealed aborted engagement with a rival suitor – now confirmed as Victory – prior to shaking hands with Peltz in December. Those talks fizzled out amid a lack of clarity over the precise terms, and doubts o...
MicroStockHub/iStock via Getty Images The CME Comex is the Exchange where futures are traded for gold, silver, and other commodities. The CME also allows futures buyers to turn their contracts into physical metal through delivery. You can find more detail on the CME here (e.g., vault types, major/minor months, delivery explanation, historical data, etc.). The data below looks at contract delivery ...
MicroStockHub/iStock via Getty Images The CME Comex is the Exchange where futures are traded for gold, silver, and other commodities. The CME also allows futures buyers to turn their contracts into physical metal through delivery. You can find more detail on the CME here (e.g., vault types, major/minor months, delivery explanation, historical data, etc.). The data below looks at contract delivery where the ownership of physical metal changes hands within CME vaults. It also shows data that details the movement of metal in and out of CME vaults. It is very possible that if there is a run on the dollar and a flight into gold, this is the data that will show early warning signs. Gold The chart below shows the spread between the spot price of gold and the futures contract pricing. As you can see, it blew out in 2025 (increasing contango). This created the massive arbitrage that resulted in gold traveling from London to New York. When the spread between futures and spot gets distorted, it suggests there is dislocation in the market. Spreads have never fully normalized after what happened last year. Figure 1: Spot vs Futures As shown below, gold delivery volume for February matched what was seen in December. Despite being below the big months over the last year (Feb/Apr/Oct 2025), the delivery volume was still very strong on an overall historical basis. Figure 2: Recent like-month delivery volume As mentioned, February last year was a massive delivery month. The biggest on record and greatly exceeding this past February. However, when looked at on a notional basis (dollar amount of metal being delivered), you can see in the chart below that this February actually came closer than the chart above suggests. Total delivery volume last year was $22B and this year it is $17B. Figure 3: Notional Deliveries Net new contracts (contracts that open and settle for immediate delivery) was a driver earlier in the month but completely stalled out mid-month. Figure 4: Cumulative Net New...
If a fund manager has more than $100 million in assets, they have to file a Form 13F with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosing what their end-of-quarter holdings are. This gives investors the chance to look into what stocks billionaires are investing in, which can be a great place to source ideas. The latest round of 13-Fs just became available, and there were some interesting m...
If a fund manager has more than $100 million in assets, they have to file a Form 13F with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosing what their end-of-quarter holdings are. This gives investors the chance to look into what stocks billionaires are investing in, which can be a great place to source ideas. The latest round of 13-Fs just became available, and there were some interesting moves. One billionaire I follow is Bill Ackman, as he has had a successful investing career that makes his activity worth following. During the fourth quarter, he took a massive stake in Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) . Before this quarter, he owned zero shares. Now, he owns 2.67 million -- worth nearly $2 billion. This makes up over 11% of Pershing Square's portfolio, so this is no small position. Why did Ackman buy Meta? I think it's because of its strong track record of success and cheap stock price. Continue reading
Tech Bosses To Meet At White House, Pledge Their Data Centers Won't Boost Electricity Bills Authored by Jacki Thrapp via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Leaders in big tech are expected to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House next week to pledge that their data centers will not increase the energy bills of Americans living near the facilities. The logos of Google, Apple, Facebook, ...
Tech Bosses To Meet At White House, Pledge Their Data Centers Won't Boost Electricity Bills Authored by Jacki Thrapp via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Leaders in big tech are expected to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House next week to pledge that their data centers will not increase the energy bills of Americans living near the facilities. The logos of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft displayed on a mobile phone and a laptop screen. Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images “Major tech companies will join President Trump at the White House next week to formally sign the Rate Payer Protection Pledge that he announced during his historic State of the Union address,” a White House official told The Epoch Times on Feb. 25. The March 4 event will include representatives from Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, Oracle and OpenAI . The initiative will require massive companies to build, bring, or buy their own power supply for new artificial intelligence data centers in order to avoid causing Americans’ electricity bills to skyrocket. “ President Trump is committed to ensuring American AI dominance while simultaneously lowering costs for working families ,” the White House official added on Wednesday. Trump first revealed the plans during his wide-ranging and record-breaking State of the Union address at the Capitol on Feb. 24. “We’re telling the major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs,” Trump said on Tuesday night. “They can build their own power plants as part of their factory, so that no one’s prices will go up and, in many cases, prices of electricity will go down for the community, and very substantially down.” In July 2025, Trump issued an executive order aimed at streamlining data center projects in America. “These plans include artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and infrastructure that powers them, including high‑voltage transmission lines and other equipment,” the executive order sa...
In this article NOV.N-CH Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT A sign of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis is seen on the top of a building at Novartis Campus in Basel on Sept. 9, 2025. Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images Novartis, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, and Genentech, a major biotech firm, say they've uncovered a "dangerous scheme" to import their aller...
In this article NOV.N-CH Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT A sign of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis is seen on the top of a building at Novartis Campus in Basel on Sept. 9, 2025. Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images Novartis, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, and Genentech, a major biotech firm, say they've uncovered a "dangerous scheme" to import their allergy medication from Canada into the U.S. in violation of U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations. Both are suing SHARx — a so-called alternative funding program — and a Canadian pharmacy over the importation of Xolair, an injectable prescription medication for patients with severe asthma, food allergies and respiratory conditions, to an allergy and asthma center in Michigan. "Biological medicines, like the U.S. Xolair medicine, require particular care because their complex composition and sensitivity to variation in storage and handling conditions are susceptible to contamination and degradation that could undermine their safety and efficacy," according to the lawsuit, filed on Feb. 2 in U.S. District Court in Michigan. The suit said the scheme circumvents FDA regulations that generally prohibit importation of unapproved medications from overseas. The plaintiffs are asking the court to stop the importation of the drug. The lawsuit comes on the heels of a CNBC investigation that revealed a growing class of businesses called alternative funding programs, or AFPs, which promise to connect patients with more affordable options for accessing medications that often come at very high costs. The AFPs are able to obtain the overseas drugs at a substantially reduced price. Federal authorities told CNBC last year that importing medications from foreign markets is illegal and could pose risks to patients' health. watch now VIDEO 31:20 31:20 How high drug costs fueled what feds call an illegal import scheme CNBC Investigations AFPs contract with employer-sponsored health plans to o...
Circle (NYSE: CRCL) , the fintech company best known for issuing the USD Coin (CRYPTO: USDC) stablecoin, went public at $31 on June 5, 2025. It now trades at about $87. Circle's stock skyrocketed as the demand for its USD Coin stablecoins rose. USD Coin is directly backed by cash and U.S. Treasuries held by regulated custodians, which sets it apart from other stablecoins that rely on opaque assets...
Circle (NYSE: CRCL) , the fintech company best known for issuing the USD Coin (CRYPTO: USDC) stablecoin, went public at $31 on June 5, 2025. It now trades at about $87. Circle's stock skyrocketed as the demand for its USD Coin stablecoins rose. USD Coin is directly backed by cash and U.S. Treasuries held by regulated custodians, which sets it apart from other stablecoins that rely on opaque assets to maintain their peg to the U.S. dollar. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after the semiconductor sector tumbled as a 'buy the rumor, sell the news' event unfolded around AI-chip leader Nvidia, despite its strong earnings report.
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after the semiconductor sector tumbled as a 'buy the rumor, sell the news' event unfolded around AI-chip leader Nvidia, despite its strong earnings report.
Elena Mordasova/iStock via Getty Images It was a wild last few years for gold and for a fund I've covered twice before now , the WisdomTree Efficient Gold Plus Gold Miners ETF ( GDMN ). I'll get into the mechanics later, but essentially the fund is a 1.8x leveraged ETF that holds 0.9x exposure to gold and 0.9x exposure to gold miners through the use of derivatives, e.g., futures. The last part of ...
Elena Mordasova/iStock via Getty Images It was a wild last few years for gold and for a fund I've covered twice before now , the WisdomTree Efficient Gold Plus Gold Miners ETF ( GDMN ). I'll get into the mechanics later, but essentially the fund is a 1.8x leveraged ETF that holds 0.9x exposure to gold and 0.9x exposure to gold miners through the use of derivatives, e.g., futures. The last part of 2025 and YTD so far in 2026 have been incredible for both assets, and I can see how this rightfully might make investors worried about the future of the fund. Data by YCharts Compare this fund to holding just the gold miners via an ETF like GDX or just gold via an ETF like GLD , and you can see how the volatility is ratcheted up by holding both assets at the same time. During bull markets, it's an asset you would hate to miss out on. Here's the comparison for 2025 and YTD so far in 2026. Data by YCharts GDMN Strategy & Holdings Here's a quick rundown of the fund: Price $134.00 Div Rate 1.88% Div Amount TTM $2.51 Div Frequency Bi-annual ER 0.45% AUM $288M Quant Score 4.93 Click to enlarge GDMN is made of two parts: gold and gold miners. The gold miners come from tracking a stock index very similar to the one that the GDX ETF tracks; they are purchased outright on a 1:1 basis with 90% of the fund's capital. The remaining 10% can be deployed into gold futures, which come with embedded leverage that brings the total exposure up to 90% as well. WisdomTree So a $100 investment will be broken down into a $90 investment in gold miners and a $90 investment in gold futures. The combination of equities and futures creates a dynamic where the fund obtains nearly full exposure to both assets in one ticker. Here's how the layering looks for total exposure: WisdomTree Among the stock holdings in miners, GDMN takes a passive index approach to construction. Their holdings are market cap weighted, and it shows, with the biggest players in most gold miner portfolios taking the top spots here ...
Law demanding IDs match ‘sex at birth’ also includes bathroom ban provision for trans people in public buildings Transgender Kansas residents have begun receiving letters from the state’s department of motor vehicles notifying them that their driver’s licenses will be invalid beginning Thursday, as a new law goes into effect that demands that forms of identification must now reflect the credential...
Law demanding IDs match ‘sex at birth’ also includes bathroom ban provision for trans people in public buildings Transgender Kansas residents have begun receiving letters from the state’s department of motor vehicles notifying them that their driver’s licenses will be invalid beginning Thursday, as a new law goes into effect that demands that forms of identification must now reflect the credential holder’s “sex at birth”. The bill, known as SB 244 , also bans transgender people from using bathrooms in public buildings that match their gender identity, and creates a sort of bounty hunter system, in which citizens can sue transgender people they encounter in restrooms for $1,000 in damages. Continue reading...