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WhIrl1260
2 hours ago
Volkswagen announced a steep cut to its full-year profit outlook on Friday, citing roughly €10 billion ($11.5 billion) in one-time charges concentrated at its troubled Porsche division, amid mounting pressure from U.S. tariffs and a weakening Chinese auto market on the world's second-largest automaker.
The company said it now expects an operating return on sales of up to 1% for 2026, down from its previous guidance of 4% to 5.5%. Volkswagen also said full-year revenue is expected to fall to about €315 billion, from €321.9 billion in 2025.
The bulk of the charges — about €6 billion — stem from revised mid-term ******* umptions for Porsche, in which Volkswagen holds a 75.4% stake. The sports car brand has been hit by U.S. tariffs and a collapse in demand for foreign luxury vehicles in China. On top of that, Volkswagen said it would book a further €2 billion in impairments in the second half of the year, covering China-related writedowns as well as restructuring charges such as costs from early-retirement schemes and the pending divestiture of its Osnabrück plant in Germany, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Volkswagen stock closed down 5.6% following the announcement. Shares of Porsche and Volkswagen's top shareholder Porsche SE fell 3.3% and 4.9%, respectively.
The company cautioned that "further deterioration in the market environment, especially in China, as well as an accelerated shift in demand in favour of battery-electric vehicles" would drag down results, with its Audi and Volkswagen passenger car brands bearing the brunt. Volkswagen noted that its outlook ******* umes tariffs remain unchanged and does not account for possible future effects from the war in the Middle East.

#charges #tariffs #full
x685x6c
2 hours ago
MILAN — Italy's tanning industry has yet to emerge from a downturn that has dragged on for four years. During the Lineapelle trade show which ran Tuesday to Thursday, UNIC, Italy's tanners' ***** ociation reported a 6.4 percent decline in turnover and a 5.2 percent drop in production volumes in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year.
The situation, UNIC said, continues to reflect geopolitical uncertainty and persistent inflation, which is tightening consumer spending on fashion, furniture and automotive products.
More from WWD
Trump Threatens Tariffs as Canada Explores Deeper Trade Partnership With EU
Fashion Is Not a Contact Sport: H&M Holds the Line in London as PETA Protesters Crash Runway Show

#percent #lineapelle #thursday #Trump
kmzwolm_xavyuzu
3 hours ago
On September 18, Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) announced it will sell every share it holds in Alexforbes, a company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Two buyers are splitting the stake. Alexforbes will repurchase roughly 372.8 million shares itself, and ARC AF Holdings will take about 74.1 million more. The package is worth about $185 million, a small number for a company managing $1.642 trillion. But the message matters more than the money. A plan Prudential laid out in August is now turning into signed agreements.
The logic is easy to follow. Prudential wants to operate in fewer places and put its money, people and attention where it thinks it can win for years. Andy Sullivan, the chief executive, says the aim is to lean harder on ***** et management, retirement and protection, and get those units working together more closely. David Legher, who leads emerging markets, called Alexforbes a successful investment, so this reads as a planned exit rather than a retreat from a problem.
The core business is giving management room to be choosy. On August 4, Prudential reported second-quarter net income of $985 million, up from $533 million a year earlier. That happened even though a charge from the yearly ***** umption update grew to $299 million from $134 million, so the underlying engine ran strong enough to absorb a bigger hit. The company also returned $743 million to shareholders in the quarter and held $4.2 billion in highly liquid ***** ets at the parent level. That does not look like a seller in a hurry.
Start with what has not happened yet. The deals are expected to close in the first half of 2027, and they still need Alexforbes shareholders to approve the buyback, along with regulatory sign-off. Until then, $185 million is an agreed price, not cash in the bank. Prudential also said New Veld's involvement continues before completion, so the company stays tied to the ***** et for now.
Then there is the size. Set against those trillions in ***** ets, this sale will not move results either way. Its value is strategic, and strategy takes years to judge. Prudential is giving up a foothold in a partnership it called important, and its remaining businesses have their own snags. Sales in Prudential of ***** an are suspended, and management said that weighed on international results even as earnings held up.

#august #money
rustY4387
11 hours ago
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) are two of the biggest companies in the world. Nvidia holds the top spot, sitting at a $5.3 trillion valuation. Micron currently sits at 13th place worldwide, with a $1.1 trillion valuation. These companies are also two of the biggest beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence (AI) build-out, and with that expected to ramp up again in 2027, these two are in a prime position to benefit.
But which stock stands to benefit more? Let's take a look at these two and see which stock makes the most sense for your investment dollars.
Missed AI's "Act 1"? Act 2 Could Be 15x Bigger. Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn't buy Nvidia in 2005. But according to our ***** ysts, we're only at the end of "Act 1"—the R&D phase. "Act 2" is the global rollout. Continue »
Nvidia and Micron are partners in the AI arms race. Micron makes memory chips, including DRAM memory that's utilized inside Nvidia GPUs. Micron's DRAM chips are also utilized in several other competitors' products, and demand for these products continues to rise.
Nvidia forecasts that the big five AI hyperscalers will spend nearly $800 billion on data center capital expenditures during 2026. Next year, that figure is projected to rise to $1.3 trillion. That's a lot of GPUs from Nvidia, filled with memory chips from Micron. There is huge demand for each company's product, but there is a stark difference in the long-term demand curve for each.

#memory #demand #gpus
s1AYyJj5X
11 hours ago
Around 57% of households have some type of unsecured debt, including credit cards and personal loans. This debt can be a financial burden because borrowers must make monthly payments and cover interest.
Once you've taken on debt, you're committed to paying it back. Otherwise, you could hurt your credit score and face collection activity. But what happens if the company you borrowed from runs into financial trouble and goes out of business? Does that mean your debt disappears?
Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 — 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one
Dave Ramsey warns nearly 50% of Americans are making 1 big Social Security mistake. Here's what it is and 3 simple steps to fix it ASAP
The tax breaks in Trump's 'big beautiful bill' expire after 2028. Here are 4 moves to make before the window closes

#around
rollmirror
12 hours ago
Zcash (ZEC) has climbed 177.8% in a month, and the traders betting against it are paying for that move.
One short was closed at a $10.68 million loss this week, and the largest position still open sits $33.87 million underwater on Hyperliquid.
Lookonchain flagged the closed trade before the exit, citing 26 consecutive wins and an 89% rate across 47 trades. That record had produced more than $9 million in profit.
The short covered 12,285 ZEC and was worth $18.31 million earlier, with liquidation set at $1,550.66. Hyperliquid data shows the account now holds no positions at all.
Garrett Jin holds the largest short still open, covering 37,999 ZEC worth $59.37 million. He built the position at an average price of $671.05, so it now shows an unrealized loss of $33.87 million.

#million #open
vsZLH
13 hours ago
Markel mirrors Berkshire's three-engine model of insurance, equities, and operating businesses, with $18.84 billion in float and $429.5 million in 2025 buybacks, but its $22 billion market cap makes it a fundamentally different species.
Markel's combined ratio improved to 94.6% in 2025, yet shares are down 17% year to date while trailing Berkshire's 10-year return by 155 percentage points.
Three signals determine the Markel thesis: whether the combined ratio holds in the low 90s, buybacks sustain pace, and Markel Ventures remains inside the group.
Just released. Our **** ysts combed the entire stock market and named the ten best stocks to buy right now, and Berkshire Hathaway didn't make the cut. Enter your email to see the names that beat BRK-B. The report is free. Enter your email and see if any of your stocks made the cut.
Warren Buffett has stepped down as board chair of Berkshire Hathaway, with Greg Abel now running the company. The handoff has revived a question value investors have batted around for a decade: with the Oracle off the field, is Markel Group (NYSE:MKL) the closest thing left to early Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-B)?

#hathaway #group #market
EMnOS1QhUH8fy
14 hours ago
UEC holds $488M cash with zero debt and actual uranium production; NXE's 257M lb Arrow deposit draws 16 unanimous ***** yst buy ratings averaging $19.
Utilities are structurally short contracted uranium pounds, and the last US mine permitting took 14 years, which helps explain why in-ground resources command extreme revenue multiples.
Denison's Phoenix is Canada's first uranium mine approved for construction in 20 years, with 8M+ lbs already contracted and first production targeted for mid-2028.
Just released. Our ***** ysts combed the entire stock market and named the ten best stocks to buy right now, and NexGen Energy didn't make the cut. Enter your email to see the names that beat NXE. The report is free. Enter your email and see if any of your stocks made the cut.
Uranium mining is the narrow end of the funnel feeding the AI-driven reactor buildout. On April 23, the U.S. Department of Energy launched the Nuclear Dominance 3x33 campaign to secure the domestic nuclear fuel supply chain and support future reactor deployment, and utilities are staring at a widening long-term supply gap while a Russian enriched-uranium ban takes hold.

#enter #contracted
wildy
14 hours ago
George Kamel argues paying $115,000 into Social Security over a career costs workers roughly $2 million in foregone investment returns at a 10% return.
The 2026 Trustees Report moved Social Security's projected depletion date to 2032, forecasting a 22% benefit cut averaging $500 per month for retirees.
Kamel's comparison ignores that Social Security includes inflation adjustments, disability coverage, and lifetime income that a brokerage account cannot replicate.
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Personal finance personality George Kamel recently ran the numbers on Social Security and reached a conclusion designed to grab attention: "all those years of paying into Social Security cost you about $2 million". If you are at or near retirement, that framing is either clarifying or terrifying. The stakes are real. Millions of households will lean on this program for most of their retirement income, and the 2026 Trustees Reports have changed the timeline everyone is working with.

#Social #trustees #million
jf_8_bjzjws
20 hours ago
Property and casualty insurer Progressive (NYSE: PGR) is probably best known for selling auto insurance. That's a highly competitive segment of the industry, but the company has proven its chops, reporting a strong combined ratio of 87.3% in the second quarter of 2026. Is the roughly 10% pullback from the 52-week high, and about 25% drawdown from 2025's peak, as of this writing, enough to make the stock a buy? Probably not if you are a value investor.
The combined ratio is a measure of profitability in the insurance sector, with numbers below 100% indicating that a company is earning more from premiums than it costs to support those premiums and cover claims. Progressive has a strong history of running its business well on this front. Basically, it is a good business. But paying too much for a good business can turn it into a bad investment, as Benjamin Graham was fond of saying (Graham notably helped train Warren Buffett).
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
So the real question here is whether the drawdowns noted above were sufficient to make Progressive's valuation attractive. The answer there isn't clean cut. For example, the price-to-sales ratio of 1.4x is in the middle of the historical range of roughly 0.5x to 2.2x. If anything, the P/S ratio is kind of toward the high side. The same general story holds with the price-to-book ratio. So these two metrics hint at a stock that isn't expensive, but it also isn't trading at bargain-basement prices.
The price-to-earnings ratio is a bit more positive, with the 11.1x P/E toward the lower end of its historical range. And the average insurance company has a P/E ratio of around 11.8x, so this makes Progressive look reasonably priced. Only Progressive's P/B ratio is 3.7x compared to the industry average of 1.7x, so the broader industry comparison still isn't a clear-cut win.

#ratio #progressive
f83d39ivhva70k
20 hours ago
Most crypto wallets have functioned as a home for buying and selling speculative tokens. Caroline D. Pham, CEO of MoonPay Institutional and former acting chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), thinks they are about to do something far more important for most investors.
"I do think that wallets are going to become the future, where you're going to have almost everything in your wallet," Pham said. "It's going to be your checking account, your savings account, your stablecoin wallet, your tokenized fund wallet. It's going to be your brokerage account."
Related: Duolingo beats Netflix by 80 spots in new power ranking
The first step came Sept. 17, when WisdomTree and MoonPay announced a collaboration to expand U.S. access to WTGXX, the WisdomTree Treasury Money Market Digital Fund, which holds short-term Treasuries.
WisdomTree said it is building an access point for its tokenized funds on MoonPay's technology, which reaches more than 35 million users. MoonPay also plans to use the fund in its stablecoin reserves.

#wisdomtree
9lowLywh0rl
20 hours ago
CleanSpark just announced a Mag 7 tenant for its first AI site, in a bullish disclosure for the former bitcoin miner as it seeks $2B in financing for its first AI site at a time when capital could get more expensive following the Fed's rate hike yesterday.
CleanSpark announced its first-ever AI lease on July 14 – a 20-year, $6.6B deal for 175 critical IT MWs at its Sandersville, Georgia, facility. But at the time, CleanSpark didn't disclose the tenant.
An SEC filing from today reveals that tenant is Meta, the social-media stalwart turned digital marketing giant and burgeoning AI lab, by way of its wholly owned subsidiary, Anviran. But that's not even the most interesting part – this ******* ociation also means that Meta holds an LOI for 885 MW from CleanSpark's Sealy and Brazoria, Texas, sites, since CleanSpark in July said the Sandersville counterparty also signed an exclusivity agreement for those sites.
The filing says that Meta will serve as "guarantor of rent and operating expenses," with the parent company backstopping Anviran.
And this backstop is more important now than ever. As we covered on the show yesterday, the Fed's 25-basis-point rate hike could lead to not just higher borrowing costs but also tightened credit access for non-investment-grade companies.

#tenant
lmhtrcavzwe
21 hours ago
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday granted Paramount Skydance's request to allow Middle Eastern royal families to hold a substantial stake in a merged Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery.
Foreign investors, including the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, are slated to indirectly own nearly 50% of the equity in David Ellison's proposed mega-studio. That will give them a hefty stake in CBS, CNN, Comedy Central, HBO and two historic Hollywood film studios.
Paramount also asked the commission, led by President Trump's appointee Brendan Carr, to allow the foreign investors to eventually take on an even bigger stake because the company expects that it will need more capital to run the merged entity after closing the highly leveraged deal.
The FCC's Media Bureau granted Paramount's petition. Ellison needed FCC approval because the deal will change the ownership structure of CBS.
As part of the Communications Act of 1934, Congress placed restrictions on foreign ownership of broadcast outlets because of concerns about national security. Current rules prevent foreign investors from owning more than 25% of a company that holds a U.S. broadcast license — unless the FCC determines that foreign ownership would serve a public interest.

#stake
pijaljggfpamh
21 hours ago
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below.
U.S. household income rose to a record high in 2025, but gains remained uneven across the income distribution, with higher-income households seeing an increase while the lowest-income group showed no statistically significant change.
The U.S. Census Bureau released its 2025 income, poverty and health insurance findings on Tuesday, showing real median household income increased 2.6% to $87,460, from the 2024 estimate of $85,210. It was the highest level since records began in 1967.
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Think Your 'Safe' Stocks Protect You? You're Ignoring the Real Growth Triggers — Here's What to Add Now

#real #finance #bureau #don 't
wildy
1 day ago
Sept 17 (Reuters) - JP Morgan said on Thursday that it does not have a clear baseline view for oil markets for the first time since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
"We simply don't ‌know how to model the endgame," ***** ysts at the bank noted.
The note flagged that at the beginning of ‌the conflict, JP Morgan had ***** umed there were some economic thresholds that the U.S. administration would not cross, but six months into the conflict, many of those lines have been crossed with no clear exit strategy in view.
The bank noted that oil prices have climbed above $100 a barrel with gasoline at $4.37 a gallon. It also noted that US diesel prices have hit an all-time high of $6.31 a gallon heading into winter, the period of peak seasonal demand, while inventories sit at all-time lows.
JP Morgan estimated Brent's fair value at around $90 a ‌barrel for September, compared with current prices ⁠near $106, suggesting markets are pricing in the risk of further supply losses beyond the estimated 10 million barrels per day already disrupted.

#noted #markets
nrennpgt62aoy3fe
2 days ago
Some offers on this page are from advertisers who pay us, which may affect which products we write about, but not our recommendations. See our Advertiser Disclosure.
Maybe you only think about the Federal Reserve when interest rate decisions make headlines. However, the Fed does much more than that, and it often impacts Americans' personal finances.
Discover how Fed rate moves affect your money.
The Federal Reserve acts as a bank for banks. It holds bank deposits, lends money to financial institutions, and facilitates the process by which banks borrow funds from each other.
The Federal Reserve also ensures the smooth operation of the banking system and guides the nation's economy by managing U.S. currency and by steering interest rates.

#affect #interest #advertiser
ufzq7
2 days ago
Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) trades at 54.5 times trailing earnings. A multiple that high is a requirement rather than an opinion. The price only works if the business grows into it, and you can work out exactly how much growth it takes. The harder question is whether that calculation deserves your trust here.
What Is Cadence's Price Already ***** uming?
Three things have to be true, and none is a forecast. Each is an ***** umption the price has already made, and each one is worth testing.
First, the market gives Cadence four years to grow into the multiple. Second, the multiple then settles at 28.8 times, where a mature, scaled software franchise usually lands. Third, net margin holds near 24.3%, roughly where Cadence's net margin has run over the past twelve months.
So How Fast Would Cadence Have To Grow?

#times #design
pijaljggfpamh
2 days ago
Fox Corporation (NASDAQ:FOXA) disclosed on September 9 that the U.S. Department of Justice issued a second request for information concerning the proposed acquisition of Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU). Cooperation with the review continues, and the expected closing remains in the first half of 2027, according to The Wall Street Journal.
A second request extends the premerger waiting period while regulators seek additional documents and data. For investors, the question is whether Fox Corporation (NASDAQ:FOXA) can preserve the acquisition's streaming benefits through a potentially longer review and any conditions attached to clearance.
The strategic fit centers on combining content with distribution. Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) reaches more than 100 million households globally and would provide Fox Corporation (NASDAQ:FOXA) with an established connected-television platform, advertising technology and direct consumer relationships.
That reach could create additional opportunities to promote live news, sports and streaming services. For advertisers, a broader combination of content, audience data and campaign tools could make the combined offering more useful, provided integration improves targeting and measurement.
The commercial opportunity also extends beyond audience growth. Better advertising monetization and more efficient promotion of streaming services could improve the value generated from existing viewers. Household reach provides the starting point; advertising revenue, engagement and customer acquisition costs would determine the financial payoff.

#advertising #second #request #review
deltablinkbarely
2 days ago
Nebius Group (NBIS) bounced 5% Wednesday but remains down 21% over the past month, raising the question of whether sellers have finally exhausted their case.
CoreWeave (CRWV) fell nearly 20% over the same period as NBIS, signaling a shared repricing of pure-play AI cloud names rather than a Nebius-specific problem.
Only buying that holds across multiple sessions, especially without CoreWeave rising in lockstep, would confirm a real floor rather than another failed bounce.
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Shares of Nebius Group (NASDAQ:NBIS) are bouncing Wednesday, but the question worth asking is whether the move ends the slide or just adds to a string of one-day bids that haven't held. Nebius stock is still down sharply over the past month, and today's gain has to fit inside that context to matter.

#nbis #past #month #question
521frostso
2 days ago
By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - U.S. retail sales rebounded sharply in August as households boosted purchases of a range of goods while also spending more at restaurants and bars, reinforcing the economy's resilience even as consumers grow more anxious about high inflation.
The stronger-than-expected report from the Commerce Department on Wednesday prompted economists to upgrade their gross domestic product growth estimates for the third quarter. Inflation jitters ‌were underscored by news of a surge in import prices last month amid strong increases in the costs of capital and consumer goods.
The reports followed data this month showing producer and consumer prices accelerated in ‌August, while the labor market regained its poise after wobbling through much of summer.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to the 3.75%-4.00% range and flagged further increases in borrowing costs in the months ahead.

#inflation #quarter
ore867crash
2 days ago
Brace for minor market tremors now that the Fed has hiked interest rates by 0.25%.
Although if history holds up, any losses could prove short-lived.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) has declined by an average of 4.0% over the six weeks following the first Fed rate hike of a cycle across seven such episodes since 1988, per new ****** ysis from strategists at The Kobeissi Letter.

Stocks recovered all of those losses over the next five to six weeks on average.

In the six months following the first interest rate hike, the S&P 500 returned 4% on average. After 12 months, the S&P 500's average gain tallied 9%. Positive returns have occurred in every episode except 2022 over the 12 months.

"Fed rate hikes have historically been great buying opportunities," the strategists added.
Read more: Follow live coverage of the Fed meeting
The decision by the Fed to lift rates comes as sticky inflation readings — from the CPI to PPI — and rising energy costs force central bankers back into tightening mode. The rate hike marks the central bank's first interest rate increase since July 2023.
Investors are also focused on the updated economic projections and the Fed's "dot plot" to gauge future moves on rates — said dot plot didn't rule out one more hike this year. A hawkish dot plot as was received and follow up commentary from Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh could further elevate borrowing costs and pressure stocks initially around the world.

#rate #hike #first #plot
thjdkru
2 days ago
DTE Energy holds 2.4 GW of signed data center deals with between 5 and 6 GW more in the pipeline, supporting a $148 price target and 13% upside.
CEO Joi Harris confirmed Oracle's 1.4 GW project is under construction and Google's 1 GW deal could drive $5 billion in incremental capex through 2032.
CMS Energy's $24 billion capital plan and WEC's premium valuation both support DTE's forward P/E of 16 as reasonable and undervalued.
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DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE) is quietly turning into one of the most direct Michigan plays on hyperscale data center power demand. With 2.4 gigawatts of executed data center agreements already in hand and another five to six gigawatts in the pipeline, the AI-era load story is now a real earnings catalyst.

#billion
x685x6c
2 days ago
U.S. median household income hit a record $87,460 in 2025, but lower-income earners saw no meaningful gains while top earners' income has surged 121% over 58 years.
Gasoline prices surged 27%, shelter rose 3%, and hospital services climbed 5% year-over-year, eroding purchasing power for households already spending most income on essentials.
Investors should favor companies with durable pricing power in essential categories and businesses built to serve cost-conscious consumers trading down on discretionary spending.
Read More: Learn 7 secret wealth tips high net worth investors use that most investors miss (sponsor)
The latest Census Bureau data delivers a headline that sounds almost too good to be true: American households earned more in 2025 than ever before. But the numbers also explain why a record income figure can coexist with a persistent sense that the household budget is under pressure.

#earners #households
yownodizupaykumuho2
2 days ago
OpenAI holds $122B in cash and no IPO deadline, stripping Nvidia of the urgency and dependency that sustain premium chip pricing.
Broadcom dropped 7.95% and AMD held near flat as markets priced each company's exposure to OpenAI's supplier diversification.
Nvidia owns the training workload that ends once, while purpose-built inference chips capture every query that follows.
Just released. Our **** ysts combed the entire stock market and named the ten best stocks to buy right now, and NVIDIA didn't make the cut. Enter your email to see the names that beat NVDA. The report is free. Enter your email and see if any of your stocks made the cut.
Sarah Friar, chief financial officer of OpenAI, sat with CNBC's Jim Cramer and described her chip procurement in the language a corporate treasurer would use. "We also have a strategy for diversifying our supply chain. And that is just good CFO risk mitigation. You never know when someone's supply chain is going to get gummed up. So you need to have multiple providers."

#chip #stocks #broadcom
nearly5384
2 days ago
On August 4, Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) reported second-quarter results that erased two consecutive quarterly losses in a single swing. Net income landed at $260 million, or $2.01 per share, compared with a $169 million loss just three months earlier and a $142 million loss a year ago. EBITDA nearly tripled from the second quarter of 2025. The numbers mark a sharp reversal for a company whose chemicals business had been bleeding red ink.
The turnaround centers on Performance and Essential Materials, the segment that makes chlorovinyls and other basic chemicals. PEM swung from a $318 million operating loss in the second quarter of 2025 to $185 million in income this quarter, while EBITDA excluding identified items jumped from a 3% margin to 21%. The driver was pricing: average sales prices across PEM rose 14% year over year, more than offsetting a 3% price decline in the Housing and Infrastructure Products segment. Combined with a 7% increase in companywide sales volume, excluding the effects of plant shutdowns and an acquisition, the pricing recovery pushed companywide EBITDA to $679 million from $210 million a year earlier.
Westlake is also working the balance sheet alongside the market recovery. The company reduced debt by $500 million during the quarter and returned $99 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Management says its three-pillar profitability improvement plan remains on track to deliver a $600 million operating income benefit, a target that, if it holds, would layer structural cost savings on top of whatever the market gives back in pricing.
Not every part of the story improved together. Housing and Infrastructure Products, the segment tied to home construction and building products, saw its EBITDA margin slip to 22% from 24% a year earlier, even as volume rose 6% excluding the ACI acquisition. Average sales prices in that segment fell 3% year over year, a sign that pricing power in housing products has softened even as the company sells more of it.
The improvement in the core chemicals business also leans heavily on price rather than volume. PEM's turnaround came from a 14% jump in average sales price, a figure that can move in either direction with commodity cycles. The first quarter of 2026 was a reminder of how quickly conditions shift: Westlake posted a $169 million net loss just three months before this result, weighed down by $85 million in identified items, including a $67 million charge to settle litigation over PVC pipe and fittings and $18 million tied to facility shutdowns. A year earlier, in the second quarter of 2025, the company absorbed another $130 million in shutdown-related charges. Restructuring and legal charges showed up in two of the last three reported quarters.

#million #year #quarter #loss
grumpycqj
2 days ago
York Water holds the longest dividend streak in US public markets at 27 consecutive years, while WTW's $1.775B operating cash flow dwarfs its $358M dividend obligation.
Amdocs and Ituran both run near-recession-proof revenue models, with DOX posting near-100% managed services renewal rates and ITRN carrying zero debt alongside $103.7M in net cash.
All five stocks fund dividends from contracted or recurring revenue streams such as regulated rates, fee income, or subscriptions, insulating payouts from economic cycles.
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Income investors heading into the fourth quarter want payouts that don't wobble with the business cycle. The five names below share one thing: dividends funded by recurring, contracted, or fee-based revenue streams that keep flowing whether or not the macro cooperates. Each has raised its payout recently, and each trades on Nasdaq. As a grounding data point, Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ:WTW) alone generated $360 million of first-half free cash flow, roughly double the prior-year period, giving the broker ample room to keep funding both dividends and buybacks.

#revenue #NASDAQ #Dividend
HouWgf7peZ10O2W
2 days ago
Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH), headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, operates as a healthcare services and products company. Valued at $54.6 billion by market cap, the company's services include pharmaceutical distribution, health-care product manufacturing, distribution and consulting services, drug delivery systems development, pharmaceutical packaging, automated dispensing systems manufacturing, and retail pharmacy franchising.
Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as "large-cap stocks," and CAH perfectly fits that description, with its market cap exceeding this mark, underscoring its size, influence, and dominance within the medical distribution industry. As one of the top three U.S. pharma wholesalers, CAH holds a commanding market position. Its diversified pharmaceutical and medical distribution portfolio, broadens its customer base, adds resilience to market swings, and creates multiple revenue streams with cross-selling opportunities.
Billionaire Charlie Munger, Who Died at 99, Skipped Insurance on His Mansion Since He Could Just Write a Check to Rebuild — 'All Intelligent People Do It My Way'
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Just Dropped Huge News for This Cybersecurity Stock
How to Play GME Stock as GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen Buys $20.3 Million in Shares

#market #Health #Manufacturing #systems
cloudglideme
3 days ago
In XRP news today, its 30-day liquidity index on Binance has climbed to 0.0675, the highest reading in about six months. Its 30-day turnover recovered to approximately $4.6 billion after sinking to between $2 billion and $3 billion during July and August.
The rebound signals that XRP liquidity conditions have meaningfully improved, but a deeper order book supports both accumulation and distribution equally well, and is leaving the question of which side actually controls this market unanswered.
The liquidity index measures how easily traders can move XRP in and out of positions without moving the price against themselves, calculated against how quickly XRP turns over relative to what Binance holds on its books. A rising reading means faster turnover and tighter execution, which is exactly what the data shows.
XRP closed August up about 28.5%, its strongest August performance since 2021, while U.S. spot XRP ETF products pulled in $153.55 million of inflows that month.
Now, the flow data from the end of last week complicates a clean bullish read. More than 91 million XRP moved into Binance on the 11th, and over 113 million XRP moved out, both six-month highs in single-day volume. Withdrawals outpaced deposits by 22.7 million XRP, yet Binance's total XRP holdings rose just 0.43% over the full week.

#reading
2TZr9HoiW
3 days ago
NVDA's $5 trillion market cap matches every Forbes 400 billionaire combined but equals just one-tenth of private business owners' $50 trillion collective wealth.
Jensen Huang guided Q3 revenue to $108 billion and projects 70% fiscal 2028 growth, calling the outlook supply-constrained against a $2 trillion cloud backlog.
Economist Owen Zidar estimates 3 million private business owners hold $50 trillion, a figure that dwarfs the $15 trillion held by all 3,795 global billionaires combined.
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On Marketplace Morning Report, economist Owen Zidar delivered a number that reframes how investors should think about American wealth. Asked how much the country's hidden business-owner class actually holds, he answered: "We estimate that there are around 3 million everywhere millionaires who are business owners outside of tech and finance who have at least $5 million" and "Collectively it's around $50 trillion, which is enormous. The Forbes 400 only has about a tenth of that."

#forbes #zidar
pullbasicwitty
3 days ago
If you bought Meta Platforms (META) for its advertising engine, the engine still runs: revenue rose 28% year over year in the June 2026 quarter, and its Advantage+ automated campaigns keep growing. What has changed is where the cash goes afterward. The question for a holder is whether Meta is still the business you bought.
Over the twelve months through the June 2026 quarter, capital spending took 39.1% of revenue, against 18.5% across Meta's history. That money buys servers, data centers and network infrastructure. In late July 2026, Meta also announced a venture with BlackRock to develop a 1 gigawatt data center in El Paso, Texas. The plan is to keep going: management narrowed its 2026 capital-spending range by lifting the bottom of it.
Less cash is left over. TTM free-cash-flow margin is 18.0%, against 32.8% across its history, so on each dollar of sales Meta keeps a little more than half the free cash it used to.
Borrowing fills part of the gap. Debt has risen to 25.0% of total ******* ets, against a historical 7.0%, and the CFO says Meta is adding more debt to lower its cost of capital. Meta still holds more cash and marketable securities than debt.
Together, those three readings are the most unusual combination Meta has shown in 14 years. Taken with the 2026 spending floor that management has raised, the combination reads as a change in the business rather than one quarter of noise.

#quarter #spending #bought #engine

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