For the recently reported second quarter, PicS N.V. (NASDAQ:PICS) outperformed relative to its previous guidance across all profitability metrics. The total account base for the company went up to 70.4 million during the second quarter, showcasing a 10% jump from the prior year. Moving on to the bottom line figures, the adjusted earnings before tax, without factoring in costs ******* ociated with stock-based compensation came in at R$291 million for the quarter. This represented a 2.1% outperformance relative to the company's R$285 million guidance. Similarly, compared to the R$245 million projection, adjusted net income for the period actually stood 15.5% higher at R$283 million.
welcomia/Shutterstock.com
The second quarter concluded with strong financial and operating momentum for PicS. The company recorded a 9% annual and 2% sequential growth in its client base, which went up to 45.4 million active users. The total credit portfolio jumped to R$31.9 billion, exceeding management's guidance by 3%. This outperformance came due to a higher number of mature credit card cohorts, and accelerated origination within secured and partly secured categories. An additional factor that accounted for the credit portfolio growth was management's measured expansion into higher risk areas such as newer platform credit and private payroll lending.
Managerial revenue rose to R$3,730 million, topping guidance by 3.6%, and net interest income reached R$2,002 million, 5.4% above projections, boosted by growing credit income. Total cash in totaled R$136.4 billion, up 17% from a year earlier and 9% from the previous quarter, with customers bringing in an average of approximately R$45.4 billion to the platform each month. Total deposits climbed to R$35.8 billion, a 45% yearly jump and 10% quarterly rise.
Some concerns related to the company's loan portfolio emerged during the quarter. Non-performing loans more than 90 days overdue increased to 9.8% of the credit portfolio during the quarter, up 93 basis points sequentially. Stage 3 exposure, which includes a broader set of credit-impaired loans, reached 12.9% of the total credit portfolio.

#million #credit #quarter #Portfolio

Pravin Desale, SVP, R&D at Lattice Semiconductor(NASDAQ:LSCC), sold 4,279 shares of common stock on Sept. 15, 2026, for approximately $452,000, according to a recent SEC Form 4 filing.
Metric
Value
Transaction value
$452,000

#pravin #lscc #form

Cloudflare's Q2 beat and reaccelerating growth (36% revenue growth, 120% net dollar retention, record large customer adds) pushed NET stock to new highs, but the market has already paid up: NTM EV/Revenue sits at 35.17x, just below its all-time high of 36.30x and well above its roughly two-year average of 22.30x.
Free cash flow margin, the exact metric management points to as evidence of a credible path to GAAP profitability by 2028, has fallen for two straight quarters, from 14.55% in Q1 2026 to 9.71% in Q2 2026, even as severance and restructuring costs climbed toward $165 million for the year.
President Michelle Zatlyn, CFO Thomas Seifert, and director John Graham-Cumming all sold stock in August and September, Zatlyn alone disposing of roughly $44 million across two separate filings, while the company also raised $2.175 billion in convertible debt despite already holding $4.2 billion in cash.
Street consensus, which saw NET stock as 13% to 22% undervalued for most of late 2025 and early 2026, has now caught up: the mean ****** yst target of $336.81 sits just 4% above the September 18 close of $323.60, a far thinner cushion than investors had earlier in the rally.
Cloudflare's second quarter gave bulls plenty to like. Revenue grew 36% year over year to $696.1 million, beating the $665.5 million ****** yst estimate. The company added a record 986 large customers over the trailing year and net dollar retention accelerated to 120%, up six points from a year earlier. Management used that momentum to lean harder into its Act 4 story, the plan to turn Cloudflare's network into infrastructure for agentic commerce through products like Monetization Gateway, Wallets, and cloudflare.pay.

#revenue #dollar

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) primarily generates its revenue by designing, developing, manufacturing, and selling the critical fabrication equipment, specialized factory automation software, and materials engineering solutions utilized to produce integrated circuits for customers globally.
While launching multiple new hardware systems to address technical production challenges in advanced memory scaling, it formalized a joint development agreement for augmented reality optics and reported a 34% operating margin for the quarter ended July 26, 2026.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) primarily generates its revenue by designing, developing, and manufacturing commercial central processing units, discrete graphics processors, and edge computing components, alongside operating its independent wafer fabrication and advanced packaging services.
It finalized a large-scale public common stock offering and confirmed pending organizational workforce reductions within its data center operations, while reporting a 12% operating margin for the quarter ended June 27, 2026.
Revenue establishes a fundamental baseline for investors seeking to measure the total incoming capital a business generates before any operating expenses, interest, or taxes are deducted. This metric reveals whether an organization is successfully attracting customers and growing its overall business volume over time.

#generates #primarily

GDEV Inc. (NASDAQ:GDEV) saw a year-on-year drop in bookings from both its in-app purchases and advertising, during the second quarter fiscal 2026. Consequently, the quarterly revenue figure of $94 million was down 22% compared to Q2 FY25. On the flip side, SG&A expenses and costs related to platform commissions were lower relative to the corresponding period last year. Along with other factors, the lower cost base helped GDEV report $20 million in net profit, up from $17 million in the second quarter of 2025.
Copyright: artush / 123RF Stock Photo
Breaking down the expenses, selling and marketing costs came down by 38% compared to the same quarter last year, clocking in at $33 million. It reflects on management's continued focus on deploying an efficient approach for its user acquisition initiatives. The approach is based on a more targeted performance marketing across certain channels that lead to durable high-value users, instead of broader campaigns for near-term benefits.
The reported quarter marked a turnaround related to the equity accounted ******* ociates. These contributed a $2 million profit share, which was a reversal from a $2 million loss share in Q2 FY25. Most notably, cash flows from operating activities turned from negative $10 million in Q2 FY25 to positive $10 million in the reported period.
Several operating metrics weakened during the reported quarter. Monthly paying users dropped by 23% year-over-year, along with a 15% decline for the entire first half. This was the major underlying reason for a sluggish performance in bookings, which stood at $73 million and $156 million for the second quarter and first half of the year, respectively. These fell short in comparison to $92 million and $173 million recorded in the corresponding periods last year. GDEV also said the decline in first-half platform commissions was driven by lower revenues recognized from PC platforms, while PC's share of bookings fell to 36% from 39%.

#million #lower

Cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD)'s shares are up by more than 100% year to date. With AI continuing to dominate the market narrative, the firm has found itself at the center of the industry's concerns about cybersecurity. While some, such as Anthropic's Dario Amodei, have claimed that their AI software is sufficient for cybersecurity purposes, others have argued that firms such as CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) will play a key role in the industry. Cramer is in the latter camp, and in his morning appearance on September 15th, the CNBC TV host discussed the recent discussions about AI being a threat:
"I had George Kurtz last night, who has partnered both with OpenAI and Anthropic. And he encouraged me to say look, they are doing a lot of things about safeguards. I think he was so much surprised, that there was so much doomsaying, of course, doomsaying being heavily refuted. Now there's a stock, remember that stock was up the most of any stock in the S&P."
While Cramer believes CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) will play an important role in cybersecurity in the AI era, the broader debate about the firm is about its AI-driven cybersecurity initiatives and whether they are sufficient to stay competitive and justify the eye-watering share price performance. On this front, the firm's annual recurring revenue (ARR) grew by 25% and net new ARR grew by 55% in its fiscal second quarter. Additionally, CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD)'s net new ARR set a new record of $333 million. Cramer's bullishness on the firm is also matched by others, such as ******* ysts from Argus. Argus has set a $425 share price target for CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) and argued that growth in agentic AI use presents a major tailwind for the firm.
Yet, in a classic case of the bigger you are, the harder you fall, CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD)'s massive growth creates risk. For its fiscal second quarter, the firm has guided net new ARR to range between $343 million and $347 million to imply growth ranging between 29% to 31%. Considering that the metric grew by 55% in Q1, the new figures do indicate a slowdown. As for catalysts from agentic AI, CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD)'s next-gen SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) ending ARR grew by 60% to $695 million in the second quarter.
Hedge fund interest in CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) grew in Q2. According to Insider Monkey's data, 89 out of 1,006 funds had held a stake in the firm during the period. This marked a jump over the 89 out of the 1,022 funds in Q1. As for valuation, CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD)'s forward P/E ratio of 188 is significantly higher than peer firm Palo Alto's 89 which should increase the pressure to maintain growth. Short interest as a percentage of float is 2.41% for CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) compared to 2.65% for Palo Alto.

#NASDAQ #firm #grew

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) President and co-founder Jason Gechen Zhang reported a non-discretionary disposition of 49,188 shares of common stock on September 12, 2026, according to a recent SEC Form 4 filing.
Metric
Value
Transaction value
$1.3 million

#digital #corporation #gechen

Comparing iShares National Muni Bond ETF (NYSEMKT:MUB) and Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF (NASDAQ:VGIT) reveals a choice between tax-advantaged municipal income and the federal credit safety of intermediate-term U.S. government securities.
Both funds serve as core fixed-income holdings. The iShares fund tracks high-quality municipal bonds, which may provide tax benefits for certain investors. The Vanguard fund targets Treasury notes with maturities between three and 10 years, offering a refuge from credit risk during periods of market uncertainty.
Metric
MUB
VGIT

#income

For the recently reported second quarter, PicS N.V. (NASDAQ:PICS) outperformed relative to its previous guidance across all profitability metrics. The total account base for the company went up to 70.4 million during the second quarter, showcasing a 10% jump from the prior year. Moving on to the bottom line figures, the adjusted earnings before tax, without factoring in costs ****** ociated with stock-based compensation came in at R$291 million for the quarter. This represented a 2.1% outperformance relative to the company's R$285 million guidance. Similarly, compared to the R$245 million projection, adjusted net income for the period actually stood 15.5% higher at R$283 million.
welcomia/Shutterstock.com
The second quarter concluded with strong financial and operating momentum for PicS. The company recorded a 9% annual and 2% sequential growth in its client base, which went up to 45.4 million active users. The total credit portfolio jumped to R$31.9 billion, exceeding management's guidance by 3%. This outperformance came due to a higher number of mature credit card cohorts, and accelerated origination within secured and partly secured categories. An additional factor that accounted for the credit portfolio growth was management's measured expansion into higher risk areas such as newer platform credit and private payroll lending.
Managerial revenue rose to R$3,730 million, topping guidance by 3.6%, and net interest income reached R$2,002 million, 5.4% above projections, boosted by growing credit income. Total cash in totaled R$136.4 billion, up 17% from a year earlier and 9% from the previous quarter, with customers bringing in an average of approximately R$45.4 billion to the platform each month. Total deposits climbed to R$35.8 billion, a 45% yearly jump and 10% quarterly rise.
Some concerns related to the company's loan portfolio emerged during the quarter. Non-performing loans more than 90 days overdue increased to 9.8% of the credit portfolio during the quarter, up 93 basis points sequentially. Stage 3 exposure, which includes a broader set of credit-impaired loans, reached 12.9% of the total credit portfolio.

#million #total

Milena Maria Pappas, a Director at Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK), reported an indirect purchase of 74,400 shares on Sept. 15, 2026, according to an SEC Form 4 filing.
Metric
Value
Transaction value
~$2.1 million

#pappas

Michael K. Burke, a Director at Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST), sold 1,100 shares of Class A common stock on Sept. 3, 2026, according to a recent SEC Form 4 filing.
Metric
Value
Shares sold (directly held)
1,100

#michael #waste #systems

Billionaire John C. Malone, Director Emeritus, reported the purchase of 37,082 Series A Preference Shares of Liberty Latin America Ltd. (NASDAQ:LILA) on Sept. 16 and Sept. 17, 2026. SEC Form 4 filing.
Metric
Value
Transaction value
~$758,000

#john #malone

Chief Legal Officer Soleil Boughton reported a sale of 6,236 shares of Hims & Hers Health (NYSE:HIMS) in a recent SEC Form 4 filing.
Metric
Value
Shares sold
6,236

#hims #chief #soleil #hers

Bonds should be an essential part of a well-balanced portfolio. Factual differences between the Schwab Long-Term U.S. Treasury ETF (NYSEMKT:SCHQ) and the State Street SPDR Portfolio Long Term Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEMKT:SPLB) center on credit quality, as the Schwab fund tracks government debt while the State Street fund targets investment-grade corporate bonds.
Investors seeking exposure to long-dated fixed income typically choose between government-backed securities and corporate credit. While both funds focus on maturities exceeding 10 years, they offer significantly different risk-reward profiles based on their underlying debt issuers and the credit risk investors are willing to accept for higher income.
Metric
SPLB
SCHQ

#nysemkt #state

Jay Chaudhry, CEO & Chairman of Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS), executed a sale of 2,852 shares on Sept. 16, 2026, as disclosed in a recent SEC Form 4 filing.
Metric
Value
Transaction value
~$550,000

#zscaler

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

On September 8, 2026, the Wall Street Journal reported United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)'s fiscal fourth-quarter results, in which adjusted earnings per share of $0.69 beat ***** yst expectations even as revenue of $7.64 billion came in below consensus.
The grocery wholesaler guided for fiscal 2027 net sales of $31.2 billion to $31.8 billion, a return to growth after full-year fiscal 2026 sales declined 2% to $31.2 billion. The business said full-year adjusted EBITDA rose 27% to $701 million and free cash flow hit a record $323 million as it continued executing what CEO Sandy Douglas called its second year of a value-creation strategy.
United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)'s turnaround is improving the financial metrics that matter most for a food distributor. Full-year adjusted EBITDA increased 27%. Net debt fell by $295 million and net leverage improved to 2.2 times. The stronger balance sheet gives UNFI more financial flexibility as it works to return to sales growth.
UNFI's natural-products business is providing an important growth engine. Fourth-quarter natural-products sales increased 6.6%, even as conventional-products sales declined 8.6%. The stronger performance in natural products backs up UNFI's strategy of expanding business with customers that can drive growth as the business restructures its operations.
Management also expects fiscal 2027 sales to reach $31.2 billion to $31.8 billion, up from $31.15 billion in fiscal 2026. Adjusted EPS should reach $3.00 to $3.50 versus $2.65 previously. Management anticipates about 10 basis points of margin expansion at the midpoint, which could help UNFI reach its fiscal 2028 margin target a year earlier than planned.

#billion

Anthony Mathew Eisen, Director at Block (NYSE:XYZ), reported a direct sale of 18,000 shares of common stock, according to a recent SEC Form 4 filing.
Metric
Value
Transaction value
$1.5 million

#mathew

Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) business is in an interesting spot. The company saw a significant sales rebound in the second quarter, with revenue rising 26% year over year to reach $22.5 billion. Recent reports also suggest that the company's share of the U.S. electric vehicle (EV) market has risen sharply amid a substantial sales contraction for the overall industry. And while the company's net income fell 5% annually in the second quarter, the business still recorded net income of $1.11 billion in the period.
On the other hand, positive net income doesn't tell the whole story because the metric doesn't include capital expenditures (capex) that are recorded as ****** ets on the balance sheet. With Tesla betting big on its robotaxi project, Optimus humanoid robots, and other potential growth drivers, the company recorded $5.79 billion in capex in Q2. As a result, the business posted -$1.1 billion in free cash flow (FCF) in the period. With FCF coming up negative lately, the company's $43.5 billion cash position provides a valuable cushion.
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 »
Tesla posted substantial sales growth in the second quarter as some of the pressures facing the brand eased, higher gas prices encouraged EV purchases, and price cuts helped spur demand. On the other hand, it remains to be seen whether this sales growth momentum is sustainable -- and banking on the core EV business to be an earnings driver that can support the company's highly growth-dependent valuation seems unwise.
While Tesla has seen competitors based in the U.S., ****** an, and South Korea reduce their focus on the EV market, BYD and other China-based rivals are making inroads in the market and continue to bet heavily on long-term growth in the category. CEO Elon Musk appears to have a good grasp on the challenging competitive landscape and has been positioning robotaxis, humanoid robots, and semiconductor projects as the core elements of his company's growth strategy.

#NVIDIA

Raffaele Zagari, a Director of Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK), purchased 60,000 shares of common stock on September 15, 2026, according to a recent SEC Form 4 filing.
Metric
Value
Transaction value
$1.7 million

#corp

Brian Michael Bonnell, Chief Financial Officer of ICU Medical(NASDAQ:ICUI), sold 6,381 shares of common stock on Sept. 1, 2026, according to a recent SEC Form 4 filing.
Metric
Value
Transaction value
$1.1 million

#chief #financial #officer

Tor Olav Troim, a Director of Borr Drilling Limited (NYSE:BORR), completed an indirect purchase of 1,000,000 shares of common stock on Sept. 16, 2026, according to a recent SEC Form 4 filing.
Metric
Value
Shares purchased
1,000,000

#drilling

Zhiwu Chen, a member of the Board of Directors at GigaCloud Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:GCT), sold 3,000 shares of Class A Ordinary Shares on September 14 and September 16 as disclosed in a recent SEC Form 4 filing.
Metric
Value
Transaction value
~$158,000

#directors

Stephen McMillan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Teradata Corporation (NYSE:TDC), executed a sale of 10,000 shares of common stock on September 15, 2026 under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The details of the transaction are documented in a recent SEC Form 4 filing.
Metric
Value
Transaction value
$300,200

#executive

VYMI outran SCHY 29% to 23% over the past year while charging a lower 0.07% fee and covering both developed and emerging markets.
IDV delivers the highest yield at 5%, but its 0.50% expense ratio is seven times VYMI's fee, eroding long-term accumulation returns.
SCHY holders switching to VYMI in taxable accounts should check cost basis first, since many carry embedded gains after 2026's international rally.
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SCHD holders reaching for international diversification usually land on one name first: Schwab International Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:SCHY), built on the same Dow Jones dividend-quality methodology that made the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:SCHD) a portfolio staple. SCHY looks like SCHD's international twin because Schwab designed it that way. However, three deep-pocketed rivals from Vanguard, Fidelity, and BlackRock now compete for the same wallet share, and one has quietly outrun SCHY on nearly every metric that matters to a SCHD-style investor.

#international #schwab

Netflix (NFLX) has fallen about 35% over the past year, while the S&P 500 returned about 17%. The complaint is simple. Sales growth is slowing, and management will not show the quality metrics it leans on. That case misses the engine under per-share earnings, a wider margin, and a shrinking share count.
Why Are ***** ysts Pressing Netflix On Its Slowing Top Line?
Management guided revenue growth of 11% excluding currency for the third quarter of 2026, below the second quarter's 12% on the same basis. The CFO put part of that step down to a back-half-weighted year-ago comparison. ***** ysts have also pressed on viewing hours per member, which they say has softened.
The shares trade near $78, about 63% of their 52-week high. At that price the market appears to be paying for a mature business. The buy case has to rest on something other than the top line.
How Do Netflix's Earnings Grow Faster Than Its Sales?

#sales

Bunker fuel prices for ships remain at historically elevated levels, keeping pressure on vessel operating costs even as the marine-fuel supply squeeze that followed disruption around the Strait of Hormuz has eased at major fueling hubs.
In Singapore, the world's largest bunkering center, very-low-sulphur fuel oil, or VLSFO, was ******* sed at about $908 per metric ton this week, while marine gasoil (MGO) stood at $1,448 per ton and high-sulphur fuel oil at roughly $770 per ton, according to ******* yst Ship & Bunker.
At Rotterdam, Europe's busiest port, VLSFO was about $731 per ton, compared with $804 per ton in Houston and $1,005 per ton in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.
The premium at Fujairah, the Middle East's principal bunker hub, shows the continuing impact of constrained traffic and supply-chain disruption in and around the Strait of Hormuz. Bunkering activity at Fujairah has recovered to about 40% of its prewar level, according to industry comments reported from the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference, but remains well below normal.
Costs still far above January

#fuel #strait #hormuz #supply

Michael John Callahan, Chief Administrative Officer of Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN), sold 15,000 shares of Class A Common Stock on September 11, 2026, according to a recent SEC Form 4 filing.
Metric
Value
Transaction value
~$244,000

#john #administrative #officer #NASDAQ

BTI yields 5.83% and beats MO on growth, trading at a cheaper forward P/E of 11 with EPS guidance of 5 to 8% versus Altria's 2.5 to 5.5%.
Altria wins on income reliability, having raised its dividend 60 times in 56 years with a 6.10% yield paid in dollars with zero currency risk.
BTI's Modern Oral segment surged 47% while Altria's nicotine pouch share fell 4 points and cigarette volumes dropped 10% in 2025.
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For a retirement-focused investor weighing high-yield tobacco names, the question is direct: British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) or Altria Group (NYSE:MO), which screens better for income investors right now? Both throw off cash, both trade at single-digit-to-low-teens forward earnings, and both are racing to replace shrinking combustible volumes with nicotine pouches, vapor, and heated tobacco. But when you line them up on the metrics that actually matter for a retiree cashing checks, one name comes out ahead.

#tobacco

Brian T. Marley, a Director at Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO), reported a sale of 10,432 shares of common stock on Sept. 15, 2026, according to a recent SEC Form 4 filing.
Metric
Value
Transaction value
$555,504

#marley #academy #outdoors #form