British American Tobacco Plc warned South Africa’s government for years that it would be forced to end production there if illegal cigarette sales weren’t stamped out, according to the chief executive officer. Last month, the maker of Dunhill and Pall Mall cigarettes followed through on its threat and announced plans to shut its sole factory in South Africa by the year-end. Instead, BAT will rely ...
British American Tobacco Plc warned South Africa’s government for years that it would be forced to end production there if illegal cigarette sales weren’t stamped out, according to the chief executive officer. Last month, the maker of Dunhill and Pall Mall cigarettes followed through on its threat and announced plans to shut its sole factory in South Africa by the year-end. Instead, BAT will rely on imports for South Africa, where the tobacco-maker can trace its roots back more than a century. Read More: BAT to Shut South Africa Plant as Illicit Cigarettes Spread “They cannot say they didn’t know,” said CEO Tadeu Marroco in a phone call with Bloomberg News Thursday. “Every time we did a downsize, we went back to the government and said, ‘look we are doing all we can’,” he said, adding that the problem was never effectively addressed. The facility, located in the province of Gauteng, has been operating since 1975 and is BAT’s eighth-largest worldwide. It employs about 230 staff, whose future will be determined through a consultation process. Illicit cigarette trade in South Africa has been on the rise for more than a decade. During the so-called state capture era under the nine-year presidency of Jacob Zuma that ended in 2018, South Africa’s enforcement institutions were systematically weakened. The revenue service and prosecutorial bodies lost leadership, skills and independence, eroding oversight in high-tax sectors such as tobacco. As enforcement capacity fell, illicit manufacturers expanded, under-declaring production and avoiding excise duties, accelerating the growth of a parallel cigarette market. Read More: BAT Says South Africa Losing $1.6 Billion to Illicit Cigarettes The destabilization of the South African Revenue Service was pivotal too. Once a strong tax authority, it lost specialist units and experienced investigators, creating space for organized networks to scale. Untaxed cigarettes rapidly gained share, undercutting compliant producers such as BAT a...
AlexLMX/iStock via Getty Images Largo ( LGO ) -2.1% pre-market Thursday after saying the purchaser has failed to make the initial payment under the terms of the $56M iron ore sale agreement announced last month , and the contract will be terminated if payment is not received by February 20. The first payment on the sale of up to 4.5M metric tons of iron ore calcine material was due by January 30, ...
AlexLMX/iStock via Getty Images Largo ( LGO ) -2.1% pre-market Thursday after saying the purchaser has failed to make the initial payment under the terms of the $56M iron ore sale agreement announced last month , and the contract will be terminated if payment is not received by February 20. The first payment on the sale of up to 4.5M metric tons of iron ore calcine material was due by January 30, but Largo ( LGO ) said it accepted a deferral of the payment until the week of February 9; the second payment is due by February 16. Largo ( LGO ) said it has notified the counterparty of the non-compliance and provided a cure period until February 20 to remedy the outstanding payment obligation; if first payment is not received by that date, the agreement will be terminated. Also, Largo ( LGO ) said it has observed a rapid increase in published ferrovanadium prices across both the U.S. and European markets over the past month, with the U.S. market leading materially compared to the European markets. The U.S. FeV market remains structurally tight, with available supply of FeV 80 limited and conversion capacity representing a key constraint, the company said. More on Largo Largo: In A Tight Spot And May Not Reach The New Cycle Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Largo Financial information for Largo
Cisco ( CSCO ) declares $0.42/share quarterly dividend , 2.4% increase from prior dividend of $0.41. Forward yield 1.96% Payable April 22; for shareholders of record April 2; ex-div April 2. See CSCO Dividend Scorecard, Yield Chart, & Dividend Growth. More on Cisco Cisco Systems, Inc. 2026 Q2 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript Cisco S...
Cisco ( CSCO ) declares $0.42/share quarterly dividend , 2.4% increase from prior dividend of $0.41. Forward yield 1.96% Payable April 22; for shareholders of record April 2; ex-div April 2. See CSCO Dividend Scorecard, Yield Chart, & Dividend Growth. More on Cisco Cisco Systems, Inc. 2026 Q2 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) Presents at Second Annual AI Summit Prepared Remarks Transcript Cisco had 'solid' execution, but memory costs are a concern. Wall Street says to look past it. Cisco projects over $5B in AI orders for FY26 amid accelerated demand and product innovation
Smederevac/iStock via Getty Images Astera Labs' ( ALAB ) share price is down by more than 20% after the Q4 earnings despite strong financial performance and a positive outlook from the management. I think that the main reason behind a post-earnings selloff is ALAB's still rich valuation even after a share price dip. Multiples remain sky-high, and I think that is the main reason to be a headwind fo...
Smederevac/iStock via Getty Images Astera Labs' ( ALAB ) share price is down by more than 20% after the Q4 earnings despite strong financial performance and a positive outlook from the management. I think that the main reason behind a post-earnings selloff is ALAB's still rich valuation even after a share price dip. Multiples remain sky-high, and I think that is the main reason to be a headwind for a sharp share price rebound. The broader market's sentiment is becoming more cautious, especially given growing concerns around returns from hyperscalers' extremely aggressive AI capex plans for 2026. ALAB's Q4 earnings were really strong across the board, but I think that rich valuation and deteriorating power of the AI narrative will be quite strong headwinds for the share price recovery in the near future. All in all, I believe that ALAB is a "hold. Recent developments Astera Labs share price has almost quadrupled between its IPO in spring 2024 and September 2025. Such a massive rally is explained by the fact that ALAB is a rapidly growing vendor in the global AI infrastructure supply chain. The company designs and manufactures connectivity products for AI infrastructure, and also offers a software solution named COSMOS, which enables customers to monitor and manage the performance of AI data centers. This mix of being a hardware and software provider simultaneously looks particularly interesting because the growth strategies of the biggest stars in semiconductors, like Nvidia ( NVDA ) or Broadcom ( AVGO ), are to develop ecosystems rather than just being hardware providers because the software part gives increased recurring revenue potential. Seeking Alpha From the company's financial performance over the last several quarters, we can conclude that ALAB is extremely strong in capitalizing on the global AI infrastructure race initiated by giants like Microsoft ( MSFT ), Amazon ( AMZN ), Google ( GOOG )( GOOGL ), and Meta ( META ). The average quarterly YoY revenue grow...
Aardvark Therapeutics ( AARD ) announced on Thursday the appointment of Derrick C. Li as chief business officer, as well as the expansion of Nelson Sun’s role to include chief operating officer, in addition to his current role as chief financial officer. The appointments are effective as of February 9, 2026. In Li’s new role, he will lead Aardvark's business development strategy and execution with...
Aardvark Therapeutics ( AARD ) announced on Thursday the appointment of Derrick C. Li as chief business officer, as well as the expansion of Nelson Sun’s role to include chief operating officer, in addition to his current role as chief financial officer. The appointments are effective as of February 9, 2026. In Li’s new role, he will lead Aardvark's business development strategy and execution with responsibility for financing, licensing, partnership strategy, and corporate development initiatives. Before joining Aardvark, Li served as chief strategy officer at ODC Life Sciences, a Latin America -focused clinical research organization, where he drove growth strategy and global partnerships. He has also held senior leadership roles, including Head of Strategy and Investor Relations at Cellular Biomedicine Group (now AbelZeta). Additionally, he has extensive investment banking and investment management experience, most recently serving as a managing director in the healthcare investment group at Robert W. Baird. Source: Press Release More on Aardvark Therapeutics Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Aardvark Therapeutics Historical earnings data for Aardvark Therapeutics Financial information for Aardvark Therapeutics
Sundry Photography/iStock Editorial via Getty Images FedEx ( FDX ) plans to use its 2026 Investor Day event on Thursday to position itself as an industrial network that powers the global economy. The shipping giant will outline a strategy centered on premium growth, digital leverage, and structural efficiency to drive earnings, margins, and cash generation through 2029. Management said the new era...
Sundry Photography/iStock Editorial via Getty Images FedEx ( FDX ) plans to use its 2026 Investor Day event on Thursday to position itself as an industrial network that powers the global economy. The shipping giant will outline a strategy centered on premium growth, digital leverage, and structural efficiency to drive earnings, margins, and cash generation through 2029. Management said the new era for the company is focused on making supply chains "smarter for everyone" by combining its global physical scale with an expanding data and AI backbone. The four strategic priorities laid out by FedEx ( FDX ) were to grow in high-margin verticals, build on the data and technology advantage, transform its integrated air and ground network, and capture ongoing efficiency gains under the One FedEx operating model and DRIVE process. Commercial efforts will concentrate on premium B2B and specialized B2C customers in healthcare, automotive, aerospace, data centers, and the upper tier of e-commerce, where speed, precision, and reliability support pricing power and mix improvement. FedEx plans to exploit the roughly two petabytes of data it processes daily to enhance network planning, automation, and customer solutions, while Network 2.0 and its Tricolor air strategy are intended to lift asset utilization and reduce structural costs, with Europe highlighted as the largest long-term international value-creation opportunity. On the guidance front, FedEx ( FDX ) introduced 2029 financial targets that exclude FedEx Freight, which will be spun off. The company is aiming for about 4% revenue CAGR to roughly $98B, operating income of approximately $8B, and an operating margin of about 8%. The company is also targeting a return on invested capital of around 11% and adjusted free cash flow of about $6B by 2029, while holding capital expenditures near 4% of revenue. Segment goals include a 10% operating margin for U.S. domestic and 8% for international by 2029, driven by Network 2.0, discip...
CharlieAJA/iStock via Getty Images Organon ( OGN ) lost ~11% in the premarket on Thursday after the Merck ( MRK ) spinoff fell short of Street forecasts with its Q4 2025 financials as its Women’s Health segment continued to underperform. The company recorded $0.63 of adjusted earnings per share for the quarter on $1.5B in revenue, indicating a ~30% YoY and ~5% YoY contraction and missing $0.73 and...
CharlieAJA/iStock via Getty Images Organon ( OGN ) lost ~11% in the premarket on Thursday after the Merck ( MRK ) spinoff fell short of Street forecasts with its Q4 2025 financials as its Women’s Health segment continued to underperform. The company recorded $0.63 of adjusted earnings per share for the quarter on $1.5B in revenue, indicating a ~30% YoY and ~5% YoY contraction and missing $0.73 and $1.53B in FactSet consensus, respectively. Organon ( OGN ), which began trading in May 2021 as a standalone firm following its spinoff from Merck ( MRK ), posted $398M in revenue from its Women’s Health unit, indicating a ~15% slump, its second consecutive quarter of decline. The company attributed the underperformance to multiple factors, including policy-related demand headwinds in the U.S. and a $17M sales hit to its Nexplanon contraceptive implant following the previously disclosed cessation of certain U.S. wholesaler sales practices. However, OGN’s Biosimilar segment expanded ~11% YoY, adding $181M to the topline, while its Established Brands generated $913M, implying a ~2% YoY drop. The company projected $6.2B in revenue for 2026, slightly lower than $6.22B last year and well ahead of the $6.11B projected by analysts. Its adjusted EBITDA for the year is expected to reach nearly $1.9B from $1.91B last year, with a potential ~75-100 bps YoY decline in adjusted gross margin compared to 60.1% in 2025. More on Organon Organon: Deep Value With No Clear Catalysts Organon & Co. (OGN) Presents at Piper Sandler 37th Annual Healthcare Conference Transcript Organon Non-GAAP EPS of $0.63 misses by $0.10, revenue of $1.51B in-line Organon Q4 Earnings Preview: Cautious view amid weak year Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Organon
Nebius Group reported a sharp rise in quarterly capital spending on Thursday, driven by purchases of artificial intelligence processors and growing data center investments, as the AI cloud firm rushes to secure capacity to meet soaring demand. The Amsterdam-based company, which counts tech giants Microsoft and Meta among its customers, said it would continue to expand its data center footprint ...
Nebius Group reported a sharp rise in quarterly capital spending on Thursday, driven by purchases of artificial intelligence processors and growing data center investments, as the AI cloud firm rushes to secure capacity to meet soaring demand. The Amsterdam-based company, which counts tech giants Microsoft and Meta among its customers, said it would continue to expand its data center footprint with nine new sites across the U.S., France, Israel and the UK. Nebius is one of the major so-called neocloud companies that offer hardware and cloud capacity as services to other tech firms.
Origin Energy press release ( OGFGF ): 1H GAAP EPS of $0.32. Revenue of $7.99B (-8.9% Y/Y). More on Origin Energy Limited Origin Energy Limited (OGFGY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript Origin Energy Limited 2026 Q2 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation Octopus Energy to offload AI unit Kraken, valuing platform at $8.7 billion Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Origin Energy Limited Historical earnin...
Origin Energy press release ( OGFGF ): 1H GAAP EPS of $0.32. Revenue of $7.99B (-8.9% Y/Y). More on Origin Energy Limited Origin Energy Limited (OGFGY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript Origin Energy Limited 2026 Q2 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation Octopus Energy to offload AI unit Kraken, valuing platform at $8.7 billion Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Origin Energy Limited Historical earnings data for Origin Energy Limited
Primerica ( PRI ) declares $1.20/share quarterly dividend , 15.4% increase from prior dividend of $1.04. Forward yield 1.89% Payable March 13; for shareholders of record Feb. 23; ex-div Feb. 23. See PRI Dividend Scorecard, Yield Chart, & Dividend Growth. More on Primerica Primerica: Attractive As Affordability Fears Ease Primerica Non-GAAP EPS of $6.13 beats by $0.45, revenue of $853.68M beats by ...
Primerica ( PRI ) declares $1.20/share quarterly dividend , 15.4% increase from prior dividend of $1.04. Forward yield 1.89% Payable March 13; for shareholders of record Feb. 23; ex-div Feb. 23. See PRI Dividend Scorecard, Yield Chart, & Dividend Growth. More on Primerica Primerica: Attractive As Affordability Fears Ease Primerica Non-GAAP EPS of $6.13 beats by $0.45, revenue of $853.68M beats by $14.03M Primerica Q4 2025 Earnings Preview Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Primerica Historical earnings data for Primerica
da-kuk/E+ via Getty Images The latest update to Société Générale’s global cycle gauge shows the indicator remains firmly in an upturn, underscoring ongoing strength in cyclical assets and broader risk markets. Data published on Friday by Société Générale show the SG Global Cycle Indicator holding in “boom” territory, above its long-run median and near the upper quartile of historical readings. The...
da-kuk/E+ via Getty Images The latest update to Société Générale’s global cycle gauge shows the indicator remains firmly in an upturn, underscoring ongoing strength in cyclical assets and broader risk markets. Data published on Friday by Société Générale show the SG Global Cycle Indicator holding in “boom” territory, above its long-run median and near the upper quartile of historical readings. The measure, which tracks the momentum of global growth across manufacturing, trade, and financial variables, has continued to edge higher recently. The persistence of the upturn supports the rally in economically sensitive sectors such as industrials, materials, and financials, analysts said. Equity markets have rotated toward cyclicals as investors price in firmer global activity and resilient demand, while credit spreads have remained contained. The indicator’s position above its 75th percentile band suggests growth momentum is running at a robust pace by historical standards. At the same time, it remains below prior cycle peaks, implying room for further expansion if incoming data hold up. Here is the chart: Societe Generale More on markets Strong Jobs Market Suggests Considering Cyclical Stocks Consolidation Featured After Yesterday's Big FX Moves Teen Employment Situation Little Changed In January 2026 Small caps lead biggest rotation in five years as market breadth widens: Societe Generale The big stealth rotation rally: machinery
Realbotix ( XBOTF ) on Thursday announced it has entered into an agreement where Onconetix ( ONCO ) will acquire 100% of Realbotix, a wholly owned subsidiary of Realbotix in an all-stock transaction. RealLLC focuses on the research, development, design and manufacture of AI-powered humanoid robots for use by commercial clients in consumer facing roles such as customer service, healthcare, educatio...
Realbotix ( XBOTF ) on Thursday announced it has entered into an agreement where Onconetix ( ONCO ) will acquire 100% of Realbotix, a wholly owned subsidiary of Realbotix in an all-stock transaction. RealLLC focuses on the research, development, design and manufacture of AI-powered humanoid robots for use by commercial clients in consumer facing roles such as customer service, healthcare, education, hospitality and entertainment. Under the terms of the agreement, ONCO will issue common stock to Realbotix in exchange for 100% ownership of RealLLC. In consideration, Realbotix will receive a variable percentage of ONCO’s common stock, ranging from 75% to 90% of the fully diluted capital structure immediately following the closing. The final ownership split will be determined by a sliding scale based on the net cash held by ONCO at the time of closing, which is subject to certain minimum working capital requirements. Additionally, Realbotix will maintain the right to appoint four out of five directors to the ONCO board of directors subsequent to the transaction. Following the completion of the transaction, RealLLC will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of ONCO, and ONCO will continue to trade on the NASDAQ. ONCO will operate under the name Realbotix. The transaction is expected to close before the end of Q3 2026. In addition, Realbotix has issued to Scott Meyers , Realbotix's new Chief Financial Officer, 150,000 options at C$0.32 to purchase common shares of Realbotix. Source: Press Release More on Realbotix, Oncology Medical Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Realbotix Historical earnings data for Realbotix Financial information for Realbotix Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Oncology Medical Financial information for Oncology Medical
New York Community Bancorp Deposit Shs Repr Non Cum Perp Pfd Registered Series A ( FLG.PR.A ) declares $0.3984/share quarterly dividend , in line with previous. Forward yield 6.97% Payable March 17; for shareholders of record March 7; ex-div March 6. See FLG.PR.A Dividend Scorecard, Yield Chart, & Dividend Growth. More on Flagstar Bank, National Association Flagstar Bank, National Association (FLG...
New York Community Bancorp Deposit Shs Repr Non Cum Perp Pfd Registered Series A ( FLG.PR.A ) declares $0.3984/share quarterly dividend , in line with previous. Forward yield 6.97% Payable March 17; for shareholders of record March 7; ex-div March 6. See FLG.PR.A Dividend Scorecard, Yield Chart, & Dividend Growth. More on Flagstar Bank, National Association Flagstar Bank, National Association (FLG) Presents at Bank of America Financial Services Conference 2026 Transcript Flagstar Bank, National Association (FLG) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Flagstar Bank's Turnaround Strategy Is In Full Swing Mid-cap stocks with lowest dividend growth grade Flagstar forecasts 2026 EPS of $0.65-$0.70 as bank returns to profitability and accelerates C&I growth
TMC The Metals Company (NASDAQ: TMC) isn't actually trying to do something new. However, the last time the mining approach this company is attempting was used, well, it didn't prove workable. Here's what you need to know before you invest $1,000 in The Metals Company. A traditional mine is located on land. The Metals Company is attempting to develop a mine at the bottom of the ocean. Building a mi...
TMC The Metals Company (NASDAQ: TMC) isn't actually trying to do something new. However, the last time the mining approach this company is attempting was used, well, it didn't prove workable. Here's what you need to know before you invest $1,000 in The Metals Company. A traditional mine is located on land. The Metals Company is attempting to develop a mine at the bottom of the ocean. Building a mine above ground is time-consuming, difficult, and expensive. Developing an undersea mining operation is even more time-consuming, difficult, and expensive. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
NYC Mayor Urges State Lawmakers To Pass Tax Hikes On The Wealthy, Corporations Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called on state lawmakers Wednesday to approve a 2 percent personal income tax increase on the city’s wealthiest residents as well as a hike in the corporate tax rate in a bid to close a multibillion-dollar budget gap. The mayor testified...
NYC Mayor Urges State Lawmakers To Pass Tax Hikes On The Wealthy, Corporations Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called on state lawmakers Wednesday to approve a 2 percent personal income tax increase on the city’s wealthiest residents as well as a hike in the corporate tax rate in a bid to close a multibillion-dollar budget gap. The mayor testified in a New York State Senate 2026 budget hearing about how the city’s projected deficit had decreased from $12 billion to $7 billion. He attributed the improvement to “assuming an aggressive posture on savings without compromising city services, incorporating updated revenue and bonus estimates, and using in-year reserves.” Mamdani said nonetheless that New York remains “placed on a ledge,” and needs more revenue from high earners and businesses. “I believe the wealthiest individuals and most profitable corporations should contribute a little more so that everyone can live lives of dignity,” Mamdani, a democratic socialist, said in prepared remarks. “That’s why—along with raising the corporate tax—I’m asking for a 2 percent personal income tax increase on the most affluent New Yorkers.” The mayor will release the city’s preliminary budget next Tuesday. He conjectured the personal tax surcharge, proposed to affect those earning more than $1 million annually, would close the remaining deficit by nearly half of what’s remaining. Mamdani also underscored his campaign pledge to increase the state’s corporate tax rate from 7.25 percent to 11.5 percent. Gov. Kathy Hochul and the legislature must approve any tax changes. In her budget presentation last month, the governor expressed opposition to any such hikes. “We’re able to make transformative investments in our future. Without raising taxes. Without saddling the next generation with mounds of debt.” Mamdani during his campaign promoted progressive reforms to fund proposals such as free public transit, rent stabilization and housi...
Palantir Technologies Inc. Receives DISA Authorization for PFCS Forward, Extending IL5 and IL6 Accreditation to On-Premises and Edge Deployments marketscreener.com
Palantir Technologies Inc. Receives DISA Authorization for PFCS Forward, Extending IL5 and IL6 Accreditation to On-Premises and Edge Deployments marketscreener.com