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Doximity (NYSE:DOCS) held its fourth-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday. Below is the complete transcript from the call.

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Summary

Doximity reported a record $107 million in free cash flow for Q4, with revenue at $145 million, marking a 5% year-on-year increase.

The company is heavily investing in AI, with nearly half of all US doctors using their workflow tools, and significant growth in AI engagement.

Doximity has launched its AI monetization strategy, targeting pharma clients with AI search capabilities, expecting minimal revenue contribution this year but viewing it as a multi-billion dollar opportunity long-term.

The company welcomed new CFO Matt Sonnefeld and President Dr. Steve Zatz, emphasizing their strong backgrounds and fit for Doximity’s growth strategy.

Revenue guidance for fiscal 2027 is set between $664 to $676 million, anticipating 4% growth at the midpoint, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 49%.

Full Transcript

Abby (Operator)

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Abby and I’ll be your conference operator. Today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Doximity fourth quarter 2026 earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker’s remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press Star one again. Thank you. And I would now like to turn the conference over to Perry Gold, Vice President of Investor Relations. You may begin.

Perry Gold (Vice President of Investor Relations)

Thank you, Operator. Hello and welcome to Doximity’s fiscal 2026 fourth quarter earnings call. With me on the call today are Jeff Tangney, co founder and CEO of Doximity, and Matt Sonnefeld, our new CFO. A complete disclosure of our results can be found in our press release issued earlier today as well as in our related Form 8-K, along with a copy of our prepared remarks, all available on our website@investors.doximity.com As a reminder, Today’s call is being recorded and a replay will be available on our website as part of our comments today, we will be making forward looking statements. These statements are based on management’s current views, expectations and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially and we disclaim any obligation to update any forward looking statements or outlook. Please refer to the risk factors in our annual report on Form 10K, any subsequent Form 10Qs in our other reports and filings with the SEC that may be filed from time to time, including our upcoming filing on Form 10K. Our forward looking statements are based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable as of today’s date, May 13, 2023. Of note, it is Doximity’s policy to neither reiterate nor adjust the financial guidance provided on today’s call, unless it is also done through a public disclosure such as a press release or through the filing of a Form 8K. Today we will discuss certain non GAAP metrics that we believe aid in the understanding of our financial results. A historical reconciliation to comparable GAAP metrics can be found in today’s earnings release. Finally, during the call we may offer incremental metrics to provide greater insights into the dynamics of our business. These details may be one time in nature and we may or may not provide updates on those metrics in the future. I would now like to turn the call over to our CEO and Co Founder Jeff Tangney.

Jeff Tangney (Co-Founder and CEO)

Jeff thanks Barry and thanks everyone for joining our fourth quarter earnings call. Today I’ll cover our financials, our AI investment year and a couple of key hires. First, our financials Q4 ended above the high end of our guidance with a record $107 million in free cash flow. Our first ever nine digit free cash flow quarter revenue was $145 million in Q4, up 5% year on year. For the full fiscal year ended March 31, revenue was $645 million, up 13% year on year. On the bottom line, our adjusted EBITDA margin was 45% in Q4 and 55% for the full year. Our full year free cash flow was $317 million, up 19% year on year. Okay, now to our AI strategy, what we’re calling our AI Investment Year. Let me start with the headline. Nearly half of all US doctors now work at hospitals that buy our workflow or scheduling tools and as we become more integrated into their EHRs, we’re increasingly a daily use for them. Our benchmark workflow engagement reached over 800,000 unique quarterly active prescribers in Q4, up roughly 30% year on year, a significant acceleration from the high single digit growth we saw a year ago. Nearly half of all these active prescribers used our AI tools in Q4. We saw record high engagement across our entire platform last quarter as doctors increasingly turned to us to be their AI assistant. In the nine months since we acquired Pathway, our AI search and scribe active users have tripled and last month these users averaged 31 queries each, nearly double January’s usage. In a side by side clinical search evaluation completed by 4,700 physician residents last quarter, respondents chose our AI answers over our nearest competitor by 2 to 1. They prefer our built in drug reference and peer review. Hospitals are choosing us too. As of today, 140 health systems have purchased our clinical AI suite, including seven of the top 20 hospitals. Over 250,000 prescribers now have access to our Clinical AI suite in a single hospital approved HIPAA compliant workflow. The race is on to build the best scribe and search AI for doctors. Our 380 person R&D team is all in to win this and you’ll see a slew of new physician led features and agents from us in the coming months. I’m excited to share two of them today. First we partner with Aledade to provide value based care AI agents for their network of thousands of primary care organizations. They’ll use our scribe and clinical AI suite to save time and money with them. We’re bringing AI assistance not just to big hospitals, but to small town family physicians too. Second, we’ve added E prescribing to our platform so our doctors can write a prescription in a few taps after a telehealth call or while on the go. We save the doctor time and the patient money by letting the patient choose their preferred pharmacy from their phone. Over 1000 prescribers have participated in our beta so far, with strong uptake in usage. The back end is powered by our partner Photon Health. Okay, now to AI monetization, which is an important part of today’s call. Having grown our AI search footprint so much over the last year, we’re ready to monetize against our clients large paid search budgets. We launched at our annual Pharma Client Summit in New York last week with 40 marketing leaders from the world’s largest pharma companies in attendance. Their response was enthusiastic, particularly around using our AI search surface to reach prescribers in the exact moments they’re researching options, something traditional paid search can’t do. We’ve already closed our first few AI search deals with top 20 pharma manufacturers, but these are early innings in a nascent and regulated market and our financial guidance reflects that. We’ve forecasted minimal AI revenue contribution this fiscal year while allowing for a wider range of AI investments related expenses, meaning higher R&D compute and marketing spend that will weigh on near term margins. We think that’s the right trade. Longer term, we believe AI search alone represents a multi billion dollar new TAM on top of the existing pharma marketing budgets we serve today. To put it plainly, we paid $63 million for Pathway AI last summer and now we’re spending against the opportunity it unlocked. This is our AI investment year. Finally, two management updates as we announced last month, Anna Bryson made the difficult decision to step down as CFO after being on medical leave. We all miss her and wish her the very best. Today we’re pleased to announce Matt Sonnefeldt as our new CSO. Over a 25 year career Matt has led IR finance and strategy at LinkedIn, Atlassian and most recently DocuSign. He began on the buy side at Capital Research, giving him a long term perspective across tech. Matt has advised us externally for over a year so we know him well. He’s a strong operator, a great cultural fit and he joins us in our San Francisco office full time in early June. We’re also pleased to welcome Dr. Steve Zatz as our new President. A Cornell, Yale, and Harvard trained physician, Steve spent 20 years at WebMD and Medscape with the last seven as President and CEO. We’ve admired Steve’s work from the other side of the field for years. He’s advised us over the past five months and it’s been great to have him on our side. He’s based near New York City and brings deep long standing relationships across the industry to close. We’ve long been the largest U.S. physician network and this year we’re becoming the largest physician AI platform. It’s a multi billion dollar opportunity and we have the team, the tools and the trust to win. That’s the company we’re investing to build this year. Thank you to my Doximity teammates who continue to work incredibly hard to care for those who care for us. With that, I’ll hand it over to our VP of Investor Relations, Perry Gold

Perry Gold (Vice President of Investor Relations)

Perry Thanks Jeff and thanks to everyone on the call today. Fourth quarter revenue grew to 145 million, up 5% year over year, exceeding the high end of our guidance range. Full year revenue grew to 645 million, up 13% year over year. Our existing customers continue to lead our growth. We finished the quarter with a net revenue retention rate of 109% on a trAIling 12 month basis. Our top 20 customers remAIned our fastest growing with a net revenue retention rate of 114%. We ended the quarter with 125 customers contributing at least 500,000 each in subscription based revenue on a trAIling 12 month basis. This is a roughly 6% increase from the 118 customers that we had in this cohort a year ago and these customers accounted for 83% of our total revenue. Turning to our profitability, non GAAP gross margin in the fourth quarter was 89% versus 91% in the prior year period driven by AI Compute costs. For the full fiscal year, non GAAP gross margin was 91% versus 92% last year. Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter was 66 million and adjusted EBITDA margin was 45% compared to 70 million and a 50% margin in the prior year period. The primary driver for the change in EBITDA margin versus last year is our increased investment in AI Compute driven by a steep ramp in AI usage which is outgrowing overall workflow engagement. We will continue this investment into fiscal 2023 and are excited about the engagement and commercial potential ahead. For the full fiscal year, adjusted EBITDA was 358 million and adjusted EBITDA margin was 55% compared to 314 million and a 55% margin last year. We are proud to continue to run a highly profitable business with 14% year over year growth in our bottom line now turning to our balance sheet cash flow and an update on our share repurchase program. We generated free cash flow in the fourth quarter of 107 million compared to 97 million in the prior year period, an increase of 11% year over year. For the full fiscal year, we generated free cash flow of 317 million compared to 267 million last year, representing growth of 19% year on year. In addition, free cash flow was 49% of revenue for fiscal 2026. We ended the year with 749 million of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. During the fourth quarter, we repurchased $91 million of our shares, bringing the total value of shares bought back in fiscal 2026 to 432 million, a significant step up versus the 116 million repurchased in fiscal 2025. As of March 31, we had 493 million remAIning in our existing repurchase program. Now moving on to our outlook for the first fiscal quarter of 2027, we expect a revenue range of 151 to 152 million, representing 4% growth at the midpoint and we expect adjusted EBITDA in the range of 68.5 to 69.5 million, representing a 46% adjusted EBITDA margin. For the full fiscal year. We expect revenue in the range of 664 to 676 million, representing 4% growth at the midpoint and we expect adjusted EBITDA in the range of 323 to 335 million, representing a 49% adjusted EBITDA margin. Additionally, we expect stock based comp to increase to the low 20s as a percent of revenue in fiscal 2023 and then trend back down starting in 2028. This is primarily the result of our pathway acquisition as well as performance based grants issued in fiscal 2026 for our growing AI team. That sAId, we expect dilution from these new awards to be more than offset by our share repurchases and this year. Now I’ll provide more color on our outlook. We are witnessing a continuation of the trend discussed on our last call. With short term demand in the HCP Digital Pharma ad market soft and visibility still limited. This market environment is the result of policy uncertAInty remAIning elevated and increased macro risk. Taken together, we expect overall market growth to be modest this year, likely at or below 5%, consistent with broader industry trends. Many brands still made meaningful upfront investments, but with more modest growth and shorter planning horizons than typical. As a result, we currently have 65% of our subscription based revenue guidance booked at this point, in line with our three year average. However, with more moderate growth incorporated into our guide than prior years, we’re encouraged to see second half budget activity beginning to materialize from several brands that were initially more cautious during the upfront. That sAId, shorter term spend commitments remAIn the norm across supplemental buys at a number of other brands. Within this environment, the dynamic we’re seeing is relatively consistent. There isn’t much incremental budget avAIlable today and when dollars do free up, brand managers are typically looking for one of two things innovative new offerings or low cost engagement options. In many ways, this feels very similar to what we experienced during the early days of HCP focused programmatic advertising three years ago. We believe we are now well positioned to meet the demand for innovation with the recent launch of our commercial AI search offering, which is already generating strong early interest and allows us to tap into innovation focused budgets. We began selling the product in late April and while we do not expect meaningful contribution in the first half of the fiscal year, we do anticipate a more notable ramp as we move into our fiscal back half. We were deliberate in how we built our AI monetization to be aligned with our physician first commitment. This focused approach has consistently proven to be a long term winner. Importantly, comparing our business to three years ago, our revenue and engagement are both up more than 50%. As a result, we believe we remAIn well positioned to outgrow the market over time. Stepping Back despite the near term market pressure, our underlying fundamentals remAIn strong, engagement is at record levels, product velocity remAIns high and we continue to strengthen our AI differentiation through peer check, our integrated platform approach and our expanding health system distribution footprint. From a profitability standpoint, we remAIn committed to mAIntAIning adjusted EBITDA margins in the high 40s or better in fiscal 2023, even as we continue to invest in AI compute and peer check and increase our brand marketing spend. As Jeff mentioned, workflow active provider growth accelerated to approximately 30% year over year with AI engagement growing even faster, reinforcing that our tools are becoming increasingly embedded in everyday clinical care. We believe we are well positioned to capture a significant share of this emerging growth factor while continuing to deliver strong profitability. As always, we remAIn focused on the long term by investing to expand our platform’s clinical care capabilities and delivering strong and measurable ROI for our customers. We believe we’re still early in a multi year shift towards AI driven healthcare workflows and we’re excited about the opportunity ahead. With that, I will turn it over to the operator for questions.

OPERATOR

Thank you and we’ll now begin the question and answer session. If you’ve dialed in and would like to ask a question, please press Star one on your telephone keypad to raise your hand and join the queue. If you would like to withdraw your question, press Star one a second time. If you’re called upon to ask your question and are listening via speakerphone on your device, please pick up your handset and ensure that your phone is not on mute when asking your question. To be able to take as many questions as possible, we ask that you please limit yourself to one question and one follow up. Again, it is Star one to join the queue and our first question comes from the line of Bryan Peterson with Raymond James. Your line is open.

Bryan Peterson (Equity Analyst)

Thanks for taking the question guys. So Jeff, I wanted to start on the AI search launch and it’s great to see a large customer win. Given that you’ve seen a few innovation cycles in pharma over the years. I’m just curious how should we be thinking about the appetite for customers to invest in AI solutions? And as we’re thinking about a maybe two to three year roadmap, any sense for how big these AI products could be over that time frame?

Jeff Tangney (Co-Founder and CEO)

Thanks Brian. This is Jeff. Yes. Having just come back from New York last week where we were with 40 of these top pharmaceutical marketing executives, I was surprised honestly by the degree to which they are really all leaned in on AI. In fact a number of the top 20 pharma reported to us that they have minimum budget percentages, 10, 20% of their budgets that you know, from a top down perspective are part of their compensation plan that they should be spending on AI. So we are happy to offer them an AI product now that we’ve spent the first year post pathway acquisition here focusing on physicians first, which we always do and building …

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Birchtech (AMEX:BCHT) reported first-quarter financial results on Wednesday. The transcript from the company’s first-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

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Summary

Birchtech Corp completed a $16.4 million capital raise and uplisted to the NYSE American, strengthening its balance sheet and expanding its investor base.

First quarter 2026 revenues increased by 32% to $4.2 million, driven by growth in the air and water segments; gross profit rose to $1.4 million with a 33% gross margin.

The company is actively pursuing enforcement of a $78 million patent infringement judgment and anticipates converting legal settlements into long-term commercial partnerships.

Strategic initiatives include expanding recurring activated carbon sales, scaling the water business, and launching the SEA IX ion exchange product line targeting a $220 million market.

Management emphasized the transition from enforcement targets to commercial partnerships, expecting activated carbon sales to significantly grow and contribute to revenue.

The company reported a net loss of $1.3 million for Q1 2026 but highlighted a strong cash position of $14.7 million post-capital raise, with no debt.

Future plans include converting more licensed utilities into recurring product supply customers and advancing agreements for their carbon rejuvenation facility.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Birch Tech’s first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. During today’s presentation, all parties will be in a listen only mode. Following the presentation, the conference will be open for questions for dial in participants this conference is being recorded today, Wednesday, May 13, 2026 and the earnings press release accompanying this conference call was issued after the market closed today. On our call today is BirchTech’s President and CEO Richard McPherson and CFO Michael Myoska. Before we get started, I’ll read a disclaimer about Forward looking Statements. This conference call may contain, in addition to historical information, forward looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. private Securities Litigation Reform act of 1995 or forward looking information under applicable Canadian securities laws regarding BirchTech. Forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that express the Company’s intentions, beliefs, expectations, strategies, predictions, or any other statements relating to its future earnings, activities, events or conditions. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the Company’s business based in part on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may and are likely to depend on differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in the forward looking statements due to numerous factors discussed from time to time in BirchTech’s periodic filings with the U.S. securities and Exchange Commission or Canadian securities regulators. In addition, such statements could be affected by risks and uncertainties related to factors beyond the Company’s control that may cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward looking statements. During today’s call, the Company will discuss Adjusted ebitda, a non GAAP financial measure. Adjusted EBITDA is presented as a supplemental measure of the Company’s performance and excluding certain items that the Company believes do not reflect the core operations of the Company. Such non GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for GAAP financial information. Additionally, the Company’s definition of these measures may differ from those used by other companies, making comparisons across organizations difficult. And finally, this conference call contains time sensitive information that reflects Management’s best analysis only as of the date and time of this conference call. The Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward looking statements to reflect future events, information or circumstances that arise after the date of this conference call. At this time, I’d like to turn the call over to President and CEO Richard McPherson. Richard, the floor is yours.

Richard McPherson (President and CEO)

Thank you operator and good afternoon everyone. Welcome to our first quarter 2026 financial results conference call. I want to start with a few milestones that reshaped the company’s trajectory during the first quarter. In February 2026, we completed our uplifting to the New York Stock Exchange American with a concurrent public offering raising aggregate gross proceeds of approximately 16.4 million, including the partial exercise of the underwriter’s over allotment option. That capital raise, combined with a senior exchange listing material, strengthened our balance sheet and broadened our investor base at a critical time in BirchTech’s growth. Now, on the legal front, during the first quarter we advanced enforcement of our approximate 78 million final patent infringement judgment entered by the U.S. district Court for the District of Delaware in December of 2025. On February 2, 2026, following the lapse of the 30 day automatic stay, we submitted a formal payment request to the courts defendants. Post judgment interest continues to accrue until the judgment is paid. The defendants filed a notice of appeal but have not posted a bond and we are actively pursuing our enforcement options including discovery of assets, seizures, liens, garnishments and clawbacks if necessary. Since launching our patent enforcement strategy in 2019, approximately 37 million in license fees and settlements have been received and we have the potential to convert other prior infringers to long term commercial partners. Now turning to operations, our business delivered first quarter revenues of approximately 4.2 million with an approximate 33% gross margin driven by our expanding base of licensed utilities and growing product supply relationships. The US Coal market has stabilized and recent federal support for continued coal plant operation reinforces demand for proven emissions control solutions like our patented Sea Platform. We believe this creates a longer operational Runway for our core air quality business. Now allow me to provide additional color on our air business. Our Sea Platform remains the legacy cornerstone of the company and the quarter’s results underscore the resilience of that franchise. What is evolving is the character of the revenue itself. As incumbent supply arrangements conclude for utilities Already licensed under BirchTech’s agreements, our focus turns to converting them to ongoing product supply customers as they adopt our sorbent formulations into their day to day operations and realize the benefits of our applied expertise. First quarter air revenues total approximately 3.5 million, mostly derived from product supply. Importantly, we continue to see a change in how utilities engage with us, with our goal being that licensees that began as enforcement targets can now transition to purchasing activated carbon directly and we expect the pipeline of supply conversions to continue growing as power demand increases in the coming years. That transition from legal resolution to commercial partnership was our core objective in our business first approach to patent enforcement efforts that we began over six years ago. Now, across the past 12 months, we’ve executed a series of additional license agreements moving us ever closer to a critical mass of licensed coal fired utilities. Every new agreement reaffirms the distinctiveness of our SEA process. As licensees fold our sorbent formulations into their day to day operations. We anticipate activated carbon sales comprising a progressively larger share of total revenue and a mix shift that will translate into meaningful year over year growth. As referenced earlier, the 78 million final judgment is the payoff of a multi year patent enforcement campaign. While the defendants have filed an appeal, we remain confident …

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AEye (NASDAQ:LIDR) released first-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Wednesday. Read the complete transcript below.

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Summary

AEye reported a 60% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, driven by its software-defined architecture and long-range sensing capabilities.

The company’s revenue-generating customer count increased from 16 to 21, with significant growth in issued quotes and active engagements, particularly in automotive, trucking, defense, and infrastructure sectors.

AEye’s first-quarter GAAP net loss was $8.3 million, primarily due to higher stock-based compensation and professional fees, with a cash burn of $9.2 million.

The company reaffirmed its 2026 full-year cash burn target of $30 to $35 million, emphasizing its capital-efficient model supported by partnerships rather than owned infrastructure.

AEye’s strategic partnerships with Nvidia, Syntec, and others are strengthening its market position, particularly in defense, automotive, and infrastructure markets.

Management highlighted the importance of providing end-to-end perception solutions rather than just sensors, which aligns with customer demand for integrated capabilities.

The company is optimistic about future growth, with expectations of a revenue inflection in the second half of 2026 as customer engagements convert into program commitments.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Joyce and I will be your conference operator today. At this time I would like to welcome you to AEye’s first quarter 2026 earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker’s remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question at that time, please press star key, then the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star key, the number one again. Thank you. I would like to turn the conference over.

Keen Olson (Investor Relations Manager)

Good afternoon and thank you for joining AEye’s first quarter 2026 earnings call. I’m Keen Olson, investor relations manager for AEye, and with me today are Matt Fish, Chief Executive Officer and Connor Tierney, Chief Financial Officer. Earlier today, AEye announced its financial Results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026. A copy of the press release is available in the Investor Relations section of the company’s website. Before we begin, today’s discussion may include forward looking statements as defined in the securities laws and regulations of the United States with reference to future events, operating results or performance and are based on our current expectations and assumptions. Any forward looking statements are subject to inherent risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by these forward looking statements. You can find more information about the risks, uncertainties and other factors in the reports. AEye files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in a most recent periodic report. The statements to be made are as of today only and AEye does not intend to update any forward looking statements regardless of any new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law. In addition, we will be discussing non-GAAP financial measures on this call which we believe are relevant in assessing the financial performance of the business. These measures are presented as supplemental information only and should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. You can find reconciliations of these metrics to the most directly comparable GAAP measures within the press release. Now let me pass the call over to Matt.

Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer)

Thank you Keen and thank you all for joining our first quarter 2026 earnings call. The quarter unfolded exactly as planned. Steady execution, no surprises, and a commercial pipeline that continued to grow. Our ecosystem partnerships and manufacturing capability remain strong and we now have more commercial engagement than at any point in our history. Our funnel continues to be the best barometer to benchmark our progress as revenue tends to be a lagging indicator. As of today, our revenue generating customer count has grown from 16 to 21 since our last earnings call. I’m also pleased to report that both our issued quotes and active engagements have increased by nearly 40% quarter over quarter. These leading indicators New technical engagements, inbound RFIs and PoC activity across automotive, trucking, defense, rail infrastructure and Intelligent Transportation Systems are all moving in the right direction. These indicators are the data that investors should focus on to understand where we are headed. Quarterly revenue is up almost 60% year over year. This meaningful growth is driven by our software defined architecture and long range sensing performance and reflects the strong pipeline activity building behind it. AEye’s technology gives machines vision, the foundation of physical AEye and the prerequisite for every intelligent autonomous system being built. Today the market is potentially very large and is accelerating. Barclays projects the physical AEye market opportunity should reach as much as $1 trillion by 2035 and LiDAR is the enabling layer that makes it real. AEye software defined architecture positions us at the core of that ecosystem and the LiDAR sector’s ongoing consolidation has only strengthened our relative position. AEye is on stronger footing coming out of that consolidation than going in Better capitalized, leaner in structure and with a commercial pipeline that continues to expand, automotive industry appears to be squarely shifting toward AI driven safety and software defined vehicle architectures and we believe long range LIDAR is becoming essential to that architecture. Not optional. Apollo offers best in class detection range when operating behind a windshield and is the only sensor we know of to be customer proven to reliably detect objects at distances of up to 1km. Our OEM engagement has increased driven by recent robotaxi investment announcements, growing trade policy implications and supply chain resilience concerns. With OEMs in the passenger vehicle segment actively seeking domestically sourced alternatives. AI’s manufacturing partnership directly addresses that demand. Multiple new RFIs horizons you won across both passenger and commercial vehicle segments and OEMs have begun to reengage as L3 and L4 roadmaps are being reactivated and expanded in ground mobility. Evaluations by autonomous trucking companies are deepening. Multiple companies have programs underway and we are now shipping sensors into those evaluations. Apollo should be well suited to serve this expanding addressable market in transportation and infrastructure. Optus is now live at an active intersection in California in partnership with FlashEye and BlueBand. Additional US Smart intersection deployments are in progress. Our APAC expansion strategy is also progressing. An Australian S POC has advanced into a discussion of commercial terms. In Korea, we recently concluded a successful customer roadshow engaging with more than 10 OEMs across its rail and mobility sectors. Our business partnership with AEye Technology, Inc. in China remains strong and we have four additional customers now evaluating our Apollo LIDAR product in Defense, active shipments continue with an existing US Contractor for UAV wire detection. Repeat business is emerging within that account and Apollo is being evaluated for additional applications including UGV and Counter UAV with an expectation of multiple new RFQs. A significant development this quarter is our new commercial relationship with Syntech, a global defense systems company with established ties to meeting defense Primes. Syntechh is actively promoting Apollo to its customers and initial shipments are already underway. This partnership has the potential to unlock international defense and aviation markets outside of the United States, meaningfully expanding our addressable pipeline while complementing the domestic engagements we have already built. What drives Selection across all of these verticals is consistent AI’s proven and reliable 1km detection range with unlimited software driven adjustability. That flexibility is paying dividends. For example, a Defense customer that initially engaged us for a single UAV wire detection application is now evaluating Apollo across three separate use cases without any change to the hardware they have already deployed in the field. This is a key differentiation factor that drives customers to select AI Stratos, the newest addition to our product lineup extends our capability up to 1.5 km of detection range with 500 meter performance behind a windshield at a disruptive price point through our manufacturing partnership with light on AI supply chain is globally diversified providing the flexibility and resilience to navigate geopolitical risk and shifting trade policies that we believe our peers cannot match. Our tech stack is derived from off the shelf telecom components which allows us to compete on cost while delivering the mass manufacturability and high performance our customers require. We continue to build on our partnership with Nvidia as it is the cornerstone of our automotive and industrial market positioning. Apollo is validated on Drive AGX Orin and has been demonstrated on Drive AGX4, Nvidia’s next generation centralized Automotive compute platform In March we joined the Nvidia Halos AI Systems Inspection Lab, the world’s first ANAB accredited AI systems inspection lab. ANAB accreditation is generally viewed by OEMs as a critical marker of confidence, reliability and quality assurance within their supply chain. Our Optus platform, powered by Nvidia Jetson Orin, extends our reach into infrastructure and industrial markets via our diversified software ecosystem. We are giving infrastructure and industrial customers a ready made path into physical AI without having to build perception capability from scratch. I will now turn the call over to Connor to review our first quarter result.

Connor Tierney (Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you Matt. Our strong commercial momentum is broad based showing up across or full addressable market rather than any single vertical. Our active customer base now spans defence, intelligent transportation, rail and logistics and security. A level of diversification we did not have a year ago. And the quality of that growth matters as much as the breadth. We are also seeing a growing pattern of repeat business across the customer base, a meaningful signal of product market fit and a direct validation of the performance advantages of or architecture. Our commercial progress is beginning to attract broader institutional attention. We added new sell-side analyst coverage this quarter and we are seeing a meaningful increase in both sell side and buy side interactions. An external signal that the commercial activity we have been describing is registering with the investment community. The revenue ramp is in its early stages, but the underlying metrics building behind it give us confidence in the trajectory ahead. Before I move to the financials, I want to spend a minute on what we are increasingly hearing from customers in my role bridging the financial and commercial sides of the business. This has become one of the most important strategic aspects investors are interested in right now. Customers today are not buying a sensor, they are buying a solution. The question they are asking is no longer whose lidar has the best spec sheet, it’s who can help me deliver the end to end perception capability that my application needs faster and with less integration risk. That shift is showing up in nearly every RFI and RFQ we see. A customer in the security industry recently put it to us bluntly, they don’t want to buy from a hardware company, they want to buy from the front end solution provider that integrates everything. That dynamic applies across all of or target markets and it is exactly the model AI has built. Financially the implication is meaningful. We do not need to absorb the cost or balance sheet impact of acquiring or building those capabilities orselves to deliver a complete perception solution, a real efficiency advantage as we scale. The proof is in the deal flow. We are seeing a healthy uptick in customer demand for a full end to end physical AI solution, not just a standalone sensor. We have been able to assemble those solutions through or partner ecosystem with a speed and breadth that we believe or peers, constrained by what they own internally cannot match. And as or recent customer additions illustrate, this model is working meaningful. New programs in defence infrastructure and adjacent mobility have come to us through or alongside or partners. Moving on to Financials. The first quarter 2026 revenue was $101,000 up almost 60% compared to $64,000 in Q1 2025 and up slightly versus Q4 2025 first quarter GAAP operating expenses were $8.9 million compared to $8.3 million in Q4 2025, reflecting higher stock based compensation and professional fees alongside continued investment in go-to-market and deployment execution. First quarter non GAAP operating expenses were $7.4 million, slightly lower than $7.5 million in Q4 2025, primarily due to lower payroll costs partially offset by increased professional fees. We reported a GAAP net loss of $8.3 million or $0.18 per share in the first quarter compared to a GAAP net loss of $7.3 million or $0.17 per share in Q4 2025. The increase was primarily driven by higher stock based compensation and professional fees, partially offset by lower personnel costs. On a non GAAP basis, or net loss was $6.7 million or $0.15 per share, essentially flat compared to a non GAAP net loss of $6.8 million or $0.15 per share in Q4 2025. First quarter cash burn was $9.2 million up from $7.5 million in Q4 2025, primarily reflecting Q1 seasonality. Our manufacturing model, built on Tier 1 partnerships rather than owned infrastructure, continues to keep or cash burn among the lowest in the sector. We ended the first quarter with cash cash equivalents and marketable securities of approximately $77.2 …

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Identiv (NASDAQ:INVE) released first-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Wednesday. Read the complete transcript below.

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Access the full call at https://ir.identiv.com/webcast-registration?event_id=35548

Summary

Identiv Inc reported first quarter 2026 sales of $7.4 million, exceeding guidance and showing strong demand from existing and new customers.

The company completed the transition to its Thailand manufacturing facility, improving gross margins significantly from the previous year.

Strategic initiatives include the exclusive supply agreement with IFCO and the development of BLE Smart Labels, with mass production expected in Q4 2026.

Identiv Inc’s outlook for Q2 2026 anticipates sales between $5.4 to $6.0 million, reflecting a pull-forward of orders and some demand softening in consumer-facing sectors.

Management highlighted strong progress in strategic initiatives, including a robust pipeline for new product developments and a targeted approach to expanding customer relationships.

Full Transcript

Tom (Operator)

Good afternoon. Welcome to Identiv’s presentation of its first quarter 2026 earnings call. My name is Tom and I will be your operator this afternoon. Joining us for today’s presentation are the Company’s CEO Kirsten Newquist and CFO Ed Kernbauer. Following Management’s remarks, we will open the call for questions. Before we begin, please note that during this call management may be making references to non-GAAP financial measures or guidance including non-GAAP adjusted ebitda, non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross Margin and non-GAAP operating expenses. In addition, during the call Management will be making forward looking statements. Any statement that refers to expectations, projections or other characteristics of future events, including future financial results, future business and market conditions and opportunities, strategic partnerships and collaborations, and any related benefits and attributes and future plans, strategies, opportunities and goals is a forward looking statement. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward looking statements. For more information, please refer to the risk factors discussed in documents filed from time to time with the SEC, including the company’s 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K as amended and the first quarter 2026 Form 10-Q which will be filed with the SEC in the future. Identiv Inc assumes no obligation to update these forward looking statements. I will now turn the call over to CEO Kirsten Newquist for her comments. Ms. Newquist, please proceed.

Kirsten Newquist (Chief Executive Officer)

Thank you operator and thank you all for joining us for our first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. I will begin with a few highlights from the first quarter as we continue to build strong momentum executing against our perform, accelerate and Transform strategy. As discussed on our last call, we achieved a significant milestone by signing a long term agreement with IFCO to exclusively supply BLE Smart Labels for use on their pool of more than 400 million reusable plastic containers. Since then we have been focused on development activities and expect to begin production for over half a million pilot units shortly with mass production anticipated to start in the fourth quarter of this year. We also made meaningful progress at our Thailand Manufacturing facility which is now fully transitioned from Singapore. This facility is increasing our ability to serve our customers more efficiently and at lower costs while continuing to deliver high levels of product quality and service reflected in the positive feedback we are receiving from customers. In addition, we are continuing to grow our opportunity pipeline, particularly for Identiv ID Blue, our portfolio of BLE Smart Labels for asset tracking and logistics applications. We are seeing strong and growing interest across multiple industries including global logistics, pharmaceuticals and food distributors, and we remain on track to make these products commercially available later in the year. Turning to our first quarter financial performance, I’m pleased to report that first quarter sales of 7.4 million exceeded our guidance with other key financial metrics coming in as expected. As anticipated, we saw a slight decline in gross margin versus the fourth quarter given the product mix and some additional scale up costs for a new customer. We expect to see some margin improvement throughout the year as our operations become more efficient, but we will also have some offsetting costs in the second half due to the scale up of IFCO. We are starting to see some impact from the current macroeconomic environment, primarily in our consumer facing applications where demand for higher end products has softened. At the same time certain suppliers have implemented price increases. We are assessing and will be taking pricing actions to offset these costs while continuing to focus on delivering value to our customers and maintaining our margin profile. Our CFO Ed Kernbauer will now provide a detailed review of our first quarter financial performance and afterwards I’ll share more on our progress across our strategic initiatives.

Ed Kernbauer (Chief Financial Officer)

Thanks Kirsten in the first quarter of 2026 we delivered $7.4 million in revenue which exceeded our previously announced guidance range compared to $5.3 million in Q1 2025. The year over year increase was as expected and included strong demand from current customers, the conversion of new customers and the benefit of one of our larger customers ordering their full year 2026 sales volume in Q1 first quarter GAAP and non GAAP gross margins were 17.4% and 23.8% respectively compared to GAAP and non GAAP gross margins of 2.5% and 10.8% respectively in Q1 2025. The primary factor driving the improvement in gross margin was the transition of production to our state of the art Thailand production facility. This included cost savings and efficiencies achieved in procurement and production, improved facility utilization and the elimination of manufacturing production costs from our Singapore operation in Q1 of 2025. In addition, the gross margin improvement year over year also reflected the benefit from charges recorded in Q1 2020 to cost of revenue related to the write down of obsolete inventory at our Singapore facility of 0.3 million and a warranty claim from one of our customers of 0.2 million. GAAP and non GAAP operating expenses for the first quarter of 2026 including research and development, sales and marketing, general and administrative expenses and restructuring and severance totaled 5.5 million 4.4 million respectively as compared to 5.6 million and 4.5 million respectively in Q1 2025. The year over year decrease in GAAP operating expenses was driven primarily by lower restructuring and severance expenses, partially offset by higher strategic review related costs incurred in Q1 of 2026 compared to the first quarter of 2025. Non GAAP operating expenses in Q1 2026 were comparable to the prior year period, demonstrating our continued disciplined allocation of operating expenses as we execute on our PAT strategic initiatives. First quarter GAAP net loss was 3.4 million or $0.15 per basic and diluted share compared to GAAP Net loss of 4.8 million or $0.21 per basic and diluted share in the first quarter of 2025. This improvement in net loss was primarily due to the increase in sales volume in Q1 2026, lower restructuring and severance costs and as mentioned, the impact of charges to cost of revenue of approximately 0.5 million in the first quarter of 2025. Non GAAP adjusted EBITDA loss for Q1 2026 was $2.7 million compared to 3.9 million in the first quarter of 2025. As mentioned, the decreased loss was the result of production efficiencies achieved at our Thailand facility, charges to cost of revenue in Q1 of 2025 and the disciplined spending of operating expenses as we continue to execute on our PAT strategic initiatives. In the appendix of today’s presentation, we have provided a full reconciliation of GAAP to non GAAP financial information which is also included in our earnings release. Moving now to the balance sheet, we exited Q1 2026 with $124.8 million in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash. Our balance sheet position remains strong with working capital exiting Q1 of 1. $29.6 million. In our 10-Q filing, we will be providing a full reconciliation of year to date cash flows for completeness, we’ve included the full balance sheet in the appendix of today’s earnings release. Finally, I would like to discuss our financial outlook for the second quarter of 2026. We anticipate sales of 5.4 to 6.0 million. As discussed, Q1 sales demonstrated strong growth driven in part by a Significant Full Year 2026 Customer Order placed early to secure product availability. As such, our Q2 sales guidance reflects the pull forward of this volume into Q1. Additionally, the projection incorporates some uncertainty related to softening demand trends among certain consumer facing customers. As mentioned on our March call, we do expect to see margin improvement throughout 2026 as our …

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On Wednesday, Marchex (NASDAQ:MCHX) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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Access the full call at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/291371739

Summary

Marchex Inc reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $10.6 million, a slight decrease from the previous quarter due to platform migration impacts.

The company is at a strategic inflection point, leveraging AI to provide bundled solutions that enhance customer acquisition and optimization, with plans for expansion into new verticals.

A proposed acquisition of Arcania is expected to close in July 2026, aiming to enhance product offerings and drive revenue growth.

Guidance for the second quarter of 2026 anticipates revenue increases and adjusted EBITDA growth to $1.6-$1.8 million, with further growth expected in the third quarter if the Arcania transaction is completed.

The company is focused on improving operating efficiencies, leading to better profit margins and cash flow, despite a decrease in cash reserves due to payroll and severance payments.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us and welcome to March X first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. After today’s prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. I will now hand the conference over to Francis Feeney, Chief Operating Officer. Francis, please go ahead.

Francis Feeney (Chief Operating Officer)

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to Marchex’s business update and first quarter 2026 conference call. Joining us today are Russ Horowitz, our Chairman of the Board, Troy Hartless, our President and Brian Nagel, our Chief Financial Officer. Before we get started, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that our remarks today will include forward looking statements including references to our financial and operational performance and actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by these forward looking statements. Risks and uncertainties that could cause these results to differ materially are set forth in today’s earnings press release and in our most recent annual or quarterly report filed with the SEC. Any forward looking statements that we make on this call are based on assumptions as of today and we undertake no obligation to update these statements for subsequent events. During this call we will present both GAAP and non GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of GAAP to non GAAP measures is included in today’s earnings press release. The earnings press release is available in the Investor Relations SECtion of our website. I will now turn the call over to Russ.

Russ Horowitz (Chairman of the Board)

Thank you Frank. I’m going to start with a few current thoughts and then hand the call over to Troy, Brian and then Frank again. The main item I’d like to share is that we believe the company is crossing a positive inflection point both strategically and operationally. The first half of 2026 is marking an important step in showing how our execution is beginning to translate into improved business performance with the indicators we care about moving in the right direction. We’ve come a long way in evolving our product and technology capabilities and we are beginning to increase penetration of our customer footprint which is starting to create real sales momentum. With this progress and deeper strategic understanding, which is against the backdrop of the very real and massive AI revolution, we’ve gained proprietary insight into what we believe may be a much bigger market opportunity. One where we are now evolving beyond mainly providing strategic analytics to vertical market leading companies to one where we accelerate delivering more comprehensive solutions that open up new revenue opportunities by addressing higher value impact needs across the entire customer acquisition and optimization journey. If you zoom out and consider what our customers most fundamentally rely on, it’s knowing how to leverage AI driven strategic solutions to more efficiently drive growth oriented customer acquisition and optimization. We believe that we are seeing initial signs of validation that there is significant opportunity for us to rapidly expand into highly measurable AI powered bundled solutions which provide the strategic insights our customers need, the automated actions those insights inform and the outcomes those actions achieve. We believe that there are significant untapped opportunities within our existing customer base and within each of our current verticals. We believe selling bundled solutions across this entire customer value chain can accelerate our business and make us more valuable within our vertical markets as AI opens up new product possibilities that can help businesses grow meaningfully while driving efficiencies. At Marchex, we view ourselves as a meaningful AI beneficiary based on how rapidly we are now able to leverage AI to develop and deploy new products into our customer base that can deliver high customer value as well as significant new company revenue opportunities. We see significant new business potential in introducing agent-based workflows for customers who are integrated on our platform. Additionally, AI is making our business more agile and efficient to operate. The combination of these factors, including our vast amount of first party data and vertical expertise are key elements in our improving outlook for meaningful business acceleration as we move through the year. With that, I’ll hand the call to Troy to briefly discuss the first quarter.

Troy Hartless (President)

Thank you Russ. With our previously announced proposed acquisition of Arcania, Marchex and Arcania have been collaborating to jointly develop and sell initial products that reflect the combined capabilities of the two companies. Product examples of this collaboration which leverages Marchex’s data and AI signals and Arcania’s AI toolsets and user interface are AI verified outcomes which drive increased revenue on a pay per event basis and conversational AI agents which increase customer bookings and appointment rate. In the first quarter our focus included continuing to define the initial key products that most leverage our strategic insights into AI based action and outcome solutions that we could present to our installed customer base and so far we have seen very encouraging initial adoption. While we operate in a rapidly evolving and dynamic industry with uncertainty, these sales efforts and customer interactions so far continue to reinforce our belief that we are now in a strong position with our ability to leverage new AI capabilities across the customer acquisition and optimization journey with highly highly impactful insight, action and outcome based solutions. In terms of customers for background, Marchex’s top 100 customers represent about 90% of our revenue and this customer set has been initial focus of presenting the products which leverage the combined capabilities of the companies. To …

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Allogene Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ALLO) released first-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Wednesday. Read the complete transcript below.

This content is powered by Benzinga APIs. For comprehensive financial data and transcripts, visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/.

The full earnings call is available at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/nduedo4c/

Summary

Allogene Therapeutics reported a strong cash position of $266.9 million as of March 31, 2026, with an additional $200.4 million raised in April, extending their cash runway into Q1 2029.

The company’s lead program, Semacel, showed promising results in the Alpha 3 trial, achieving a 58.3% MRD clearance rate compared to 16.7% in the observation arm, with no treatment-related hospitalizations.

Allo 329 is advancing in early clinical development for autoimmune indications, demonstrating initial signs of clinical activity with favorable tolerability.

The company expects continued progress in its clinical programs and plans to provide further updates in Q4 2026.

Management expressed optimism about the future, focusing on execution and scalability, particularly with the potential for outpatient CAR T administration.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Hello. Thank you for standing by and welcome to Allogene Therapeutics first quarter 2026 conference call. After the speaker’s presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising. Your hand is raised to withdraw your question. Please press star 11 again. Please be aware that today’s conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Christine Cassiano, Chief Corporate affairs and brand strategy officer. Ms. Cassiano, please go ahead.

Christine Cassiano (Chief Corporate Affairs and Brand Strategy Officer)

Thank you, operator. And welcome everyone to Allogene’s conference call. After the market closed, Allogene issued a press release that provided a business update and financial results for the first quarter of 2026. This press release and today’s webcast are available on our website. Following our prepared remarks, we will host a Q and A session and will aim to keep the call to under an hour. I am joined today by Dr. David Chang, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Zachary Roberts, Executive Vice President of Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer, and Jeff Parker, Chief Financial Officer. During today’s call, we will be making certain forward looking statements. These may include statements regarding the success and timing of our ongoing and planned clinical trials, data presentations, regulatory filings, future research and development efforts, manufacturing capabilities, the safety and efficacy of our product candidates, commercial market forecasts, potential treatment settings and financial guidance, among other things. These forward looking statements are based on current information, assumptions and expectations that are subject to change. A description of potential risks can be found in our press release and latest SEC disclosure documents. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward looking statements and Allogene disclaims any obligation to update these statements. I’ll now turn the call over to David.

David Chang (President and Chief Executive Officer)

Thank you, Christine. As we move through 2026, next generation cell therapy is shifting from promise to proof. The field is increasingly being defined by differentiated clinical evidence rather than platform ambition alone. At Allogene, our lead program, Semacel, is built around the clear objective to establish a differentiated development path. That strategy is now translating into data that provides support for our approach. Our second program, Alo 329 in Autoimmune Indications, is built on the same principle of product differentiation enabled by our understanding of CAR T design and the biology of allogenic rejection. While these two programs are at different stages of development, the evidence emerging to date is consistent and aligned with the design principles behind each. Starting with Alpha 3, we have taken an innovative approach of treating patients with Semacel in the first line consolidation setting for large B cell lymphoma with a primary goal of improving the cure rates. The key to achieving this goal is democratizing access by breaking the barriers that have historically limited the use of CAR T and by enabling Semacel to be delivered in the outpatient setting. We are very pleased with what we’ve seen in the recently announced interim fertility analysis from the Alpha3 trial. In this 24 patient analysis, Semacel achieved a 58.3% MRD clearance rate compared with 16.7% in the observation arm representing a 41.6% absolute difference. While preliminary, this differential exceeded threshold of MRD clearance reported in other trials that led to groundbreaking clinical outcomes. We also observed a rapid and substantial reduction in circulating tumor DNA or CTDNA in the Semacel arm while the opposite trend was seen in the observation arm where the CTDNA levels increased. Together, these early findings provide evidence consistent with the biological activity of Semacel in the first line consolidation setting as we advance Alpha 3 towards the next key milestone, the interim EFEFS analysis in mid-2027. Importantly, as we consider use in the outpatient community setting, this early biomarker efficacy signal was accompanied by a favorable safety profile. We observed no CRS or ICANS or treatment related hospitalization enabling the majority of patients to be managed in the outpatient setting. These results reflect the trial that was designed to lead, not follow. Under Zach’s leadership. Alpha 3 was built around MRD testing as a point of intervention rather than passive observation, an approach that moved beyond conventional trial design. We set out to test a forward looking thesis and these early data reaffirm my conviction that we are not only in the right path but ahead of the curve. Taken together, we believe these data provide compelling support for a different paradigm, one where SEMISA can be used earlier, made readily available, delivered broadly and potentially integrated into routine care beyond specialized Centers. Turning to Alo 329, the program is progressing through early clinical development in autoimmune indications with the Resolution Basket trial advancing efficiently through dose escalation. This progress embodies the same disciplined and forward looking development approach that underpins Alpha 3. ILO329 incorporates the Dagger technology which is designed to overcome premature rejection of allogeneic CAR T cells. This technology has previously been validated as part of our Allo 316 program in the metastatic solid tumor setting. However, autoimmune disease represents a fundamentally different clinical context with distinct biology and the different threshold for safety and tolerability. With that in mind, we designed a structured and stepwise clinical approach to beginning at a conservative dose level to establish clear understanding of tolerability before progressing to therapeutic dose levels. Patients treated to date are within this initial dosing range. As we evaluate both dose and lymphodepletion strategy, our focus is on characterizing how the therapy behaves in patients by establishing a tolerability profile that supports continued development while also assessing early signs of activity. Within this framework, we are very pleased with the pace of enrollment and are beginning to observe initial signs of clinical activity coupled with favorable tolerability whilst still early. These findings are highly encouraging and have important implications for the overall dosing paradigm which includes not only the dose of Dagger enabled Alo329 but also the required lymphoid depletion regimen. As the program progresses, we expect continued dose escalation and patient follow up to further establish the activity, tolerability and mechanistic profile of L329. We look forward to providing a further update in the fourth quarter. With that, I will turn it over to Zach to walk through the data in more detail.

Zachary Roberts (Executive Vice President of Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer)

Thanks David. I’ll start with Alpha 3 and then turn to Allo329. Alpha 3 was designed around a clear clinical hypothesis that intervening at the point of molecularly detectable disease before clinical relapse can meaningfully alter the course of disease. When we initiated the study, MRD was emerging as a prognostic tool in lbcl. Our objective was to move MRD beyond risk assessment and into a treatment decision point across oncology. We are now seeing the shift in approaching a potential breakout moment. A case in point is the Invigor 11 trial which evaluated Tecentriq in muscle invasive bladder cancer. In the trial, patients who were in remission but remained MRD positive after the standard first line procedure of complete surgical resection were randomized to Tecentriq or placebo with Tecentriq demonstrating improvement in both disease free and overall survival. The results of this trial could establish MRD as a clinically actionable endpoint following standard first line treatment. If approved for this indication, Tecentriq would become the first therapy for which treatment initiation is guided by an ultrasensitive CTDNA MRD assay rather than clinical progression, a defining moment for the field. Against this backdrop, Alpha 3 is positioned at the forefront of how this new paradigm could evolve in large B cell lymphoma. As the first pivotal trial designed to use MRD positivity as the trigger for CAR t therapy, the Alpha 3 study is enrolling patients who have responded to first line therapy but remain MRD positive and therefore at high risk of relapse. Patients are randomized to treatment with Semacel or observation. We partnered with Foresight, Now a wholly owned subsidiary of Natera, to utilize their Clarity MRD assay, enabling a highly sensitive and dynamic view of disease burden over time. This enhanced sensitivity, detecting disease at or even below one in a million or ten to the minus six is central to the design of Alpha 3 study and how we interpreted our interim futility data. At the interim analysis, we evaluated the first 24 patients enrolled in the ongoing two arms a single dose of semacell versus observation. We observed a 58.3% MRD clearance rate in the Semacell arm compared to a 16.7% in the observation arm representing a 41.6 percentage point absolute difference. We also saw a rapid and substantial reduction in circulating tumor DNA at the day 45 time point. The median CTDNA level decreased by nearly 98% in the semi cell arm while the median CTDNA level increased by more than 26% in the observation arm. The Alpha 3 Interim Futility Analysis rests on the assumption that MRD clearance fails foreshadows clinical benefit. This hypothesis is supported by a growing body of evidence in various clinical settings including NLBCL, linking MRD clearance in the range of 25 to 30% with meaningful reductions in EFS events. The magnitude of the difference we just announced exceeds that range. While these external data sets support the relationship between MRD clearance and clinical outcomes, the impact on EFS and durability will ultimately be determined through our planned interim and primary EFS analyses. From a safety and treatment administration perspective, we observed no CRS, ICANS or treatment related hospitalizations enabling the majority of patients to be managed entirely in the outpatient setting. We believe this encouraging tolerability profile is a function of treating patients earlier when disease burden is low, which is inherent to the Alpha 3 design. If the safety profile observed in the interim futility analysis bears out in the study overall, it could mark an important shift towards outpatient CAR T administration and enable semi cell treatment in community practices where most patients with LBCL receive care. As Alpha 3 progresses, interest in the study is growing. First and foremost, we are seeing robust engagement from existing clinical sites resulting in high rates of patient screening. At the same time, new sites are expressing significant interest in joining the study, further reinforcing its momentum. From an execution standpoint, the trial continues to scale. We are now enrolling across more than 60 sites with global expansion underway. We recently announced regulatory approval in Australia and South Korea, where site activations and patient screening have begun. We anticipate the Asia Pacific region to expand the study footprint to over 80 sites worldwide. These are not incremental additions. Australia and South Korea offer established clinical research infrastructure, experienced investigators and highly efficient healthcare systems. This expansion reflects both strong global investigator interest and the operational discipline required to execute at scale. We are also seeing meaningful participation from community cancer centers which contributed approximately one third of screening and semi treatments in our interim futility analysis. This is an important early proof point for the feasibility of broader administration as we look to move beyond specialized centers and into broader clinical practice. Let me now turn to Allo329 which as a first in human phase one trial has a different objective at this stage of development. The program is supported by robust pre clinical data recently published in Nature Communications supporting the design of Allo329. These data demonstrated an optimized CD70 car engineered to protect allogeneic CAR T cells from rejection by eliminating alloreactop host T cells. In those studies, co expression of CD 70 and CD 19 cars drove sustained car T cell persistence, elimination of pathogenic B cells and activated CD70 positive T cells in humanized SLE models, and corresponding reductions in autoantibody production. Importantly, the DAGGER technology which eliminates allureactive host T cells has been clinically validated by our third clinical program and first CD70 targeting program, ALLO316, with recently reported outcome data further supporting the approach and reinforcing our plans to advance the program in the near future. At this stage of development, our focus for Allo329 is to define a tolerability profile that supports continued dose escalation while generating early evidence that Allo329 can achieve meaningful biological activity in autoimmune disease consistent with its differentiated dual targeting mechanism. The Resolution Basket trial, which includes patients with systemic lupus erythematosus with and without …

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Precision Optics Corp (NASDAQ:POCI) reported third-quarter financial results on Wednesday. The transcript from the company’s third-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

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View the webcast at https://app.webinar.net/l90v4RE3K1N

Summary

Precision Optics Corporation Inc reported record quarterly revenue of $8.7 million, doubling from the previous year and achieving positive adjusted EBITDA for the first time.

Key growth drivers included the aerospace and single-use cystoscope programs, with aerospace revenue reaching $3.6 million and cystoscope $2.2 million.

The company increased fiscal 2026 revenue guidance to $29-$31 million and adjusted EBITDA guidance to negative $2.5 to $2.7 million, reflecting strong production volumes and operational improvements.

Operational highlights included a 97% production yield for the aerospace program and significant yield improvements in the cystoscope line, with expectations to reach 95% yields soon.

Strategically, the company is focusing on micro optics capabilities and exploring growth opportunities in medical devices, defense, aerospace, and satellite communications.

The company completed a $10 million public offering to support growth plans, strengthening its balance sheet significantly.

Management expressed confidence in continued profitability growth, backed by a robust development pipeline and ongoing operational enhancements.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good day and welcome to the Precision Optics reports Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. All participants will be in a listen only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today’s presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press the star key, then one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press the star key, then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Robert Bloom, Lipham Partners. Please go ahead.

Robert Bloom (Moderator)

All right, thank you, Darcy, and thank you to everyone joining the call today. As the operator mentioned, on today’s call we will Discuss Precision Optics third quarter fiscal year 2026 financial results and this for the period ended March 31, 2026. With us on the call representing the company today are Dr. Joe Forkey, Precision Optics Corporation Inc Chief Executive, and Wayne Cole, the company’s Chief Financial Officer. At the conclusion of today’s prepared remarks, we’ll open the call for a question and answer session again. If you dialed in through the traditional teleconference line as the operator indicated, please press star then one to ask a question. If you are listening through the webcast portal and would like to ask a question, you can submit your question through the Ask a Question feature in the webcast player. Before we begin with prepared remarks, we submit for the record the following statement. Statements made by the management team of Precision Optics during the course of this conference call may contain forward looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 is amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is amended and such forward looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as may, future, plan, or planned, will or should, expected, anticipates, draft, eventually,, or projected. Listeners are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward looking statements as a result of various factors and other risks identified in the Company’s filings with the securities and Exchange Commission. All forward looking statements contained during this conference call speak only as of the date on which they were made and are based on management’s assumptions and estimates as of such date. The Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward looking statements, whether as a result of the receipt of new information, the occurrence of future events or otherwise. All right, with that said, let me turn the call over to Dr. Joe Forke, Chief Executive Officer, Precision Optics. Joe, please proceed.

Joe Forkey

Thank you Robert and thank you all for joining our call today. Last quarter we said Precision Optics Corporation Inc had strong production demand, but we’re still working through the challenges of scaling a much larger manufacturing business. In the third quarter revenue continued to grow and we began to see the payoff of the investments we’ve made in the last few quarters improving manufacturing processes and efficiency. Revenue was $8.7 million, a new quarterly record for Precision Optics and more than double the quarterly revenue of a year ago. More importantly, we achieved positive adjusted ebitda, a major milestone that that reflects both the strength of our core production programs, and the manufacturing improvements we’ve made over the last several quarters. Our two largest production programs continue to drive the business. Revenue from our top tier aerospace customer reached $3.6 million, a new record representing 44% sequential growth. This was the result of our investment in production capacity, now achieving improved efficiency. Production yields on this line have now increased to 97% consistently, a significant improvement from previous months that were typically in the 85 to 95% range. Because our customer has faced bottlenecks elsewhere in their deployment process, they have asked us to slow production against our existing backlog in Q1 and Q2 of fiscal 2027 with new orders expected for Q3. All indications are that we continue to be the sole source for this assembly and that the long term prospects for this program remain extremely high. Our single use Cystoscope program also contributed record revenue at $2.2 million in the third quarter, an all time high and representing approximately 10% sequential growth. More importantly, we have made dramatic progress in terms of production yields and costs. Here too, yields have increased to current rates above 90%, but not yet to the targeted 95% level which we expect to achieve in Q4. Beyond those two lead programs, we continue to advance newer programs, including our single use Ophthalmic Endoscope program supported by a $3.5 million follow on production order that we just announced last week. Our Ross Optical division also contributed significantly to the quarter’s improved bottom line. Revenue for Ross Optical was approximately $1.3 million compared to 1.0 million in Q2 and 0.8 million a year ago, representing 65% year over year growth. This is important because this business can support higher revenue without a proportional increase in headcount or other fixed costs, so incremental revenue contributes meaningfully to gross profit and adjusted ebitda. As a result of revenue growth and production improvements, our overall gross margin improved to 24% compared to 10% a year ago and 3% in Q2. While we still have work to do, the quarter showed that our operational improvements are beginning to translate into stronger financial performance as our production lines become more stable and the higher revenue levels leverage the manufacturing infrastructure we’ve built over recent quarters. The process and personnel updates that have driven the results are directly attributable to the change we made in our operating leadership, bringing on Joe Trout as Chief Operating Officer in October of last year. Joe has rebuilt the operations team, making changes where needed and empowering others to act with urgency to deliver more product with greatly improved efficiency. Joe and his team have made great progress in six months and I am confident we are seeing just the beginning of what they can accomplish going forward. We also strengthened our balance sheet in March through an oversubscribed $10 million public offering led by existing and new investors and including participation from directors and officers. This capital supports our growth plans and I want to thank all of our investors for their support. Given the strength of our results and our visibility into the remainder of the fiscal year, we are increasing fiscal 2026 revenue guidance to a range of 29 to $31 million compared to our previous guidance of 26 to $28 million. This represents 52 to 62% growth over fiscal 2025 revenue of $19.1 million. We are also increasing fiscal 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance to a range of -$2.5 to -$2.7 million compared to our previous guidance of negative 2.5 to negative 3.0 million dollars. This translates into another quarter of roughly breakeven adjusted EBITDA in Q4. For comparison, adjusted EBITDA was -$3.7 million in fiscal 2025 and -$2.7 million in the first six months of the current fiscal year. As we look forward to Q4 and into fiscal 2027, we anticipate continued strong performance from our lead aerospace and cystoscopy production lines along with our quickly ramping single use ophthalmic endoscope line and with the highest backlog in many quarters, we believe that the recent increases in Ross Optical revenues are sustainable and will continue to contribute to positive margins and bottom line profitability going forward. In addition to the continuation of these strong revenue producing programs, we expect as many as five to six programs in the development pipeline to move to production in fiscal 2027. Three of these are scheduled to enter production over the next six months. A low volume single use device for small joint arthroscopy, an upper GI scope and a robotic surgery articulating rigid scope. While there are always timeline, yield and efficiency challenges when development programs are transitioning to production, our new operations team is deeply experienced and already working closely with the production and product development teams to ensure a smooth transfer and efficient drive to profitable volume production. This was a fantastic quarter for POC and we believe it’s just the beginning of leveraging our improved operational infrastructure with high revenues supported by our existing programs, new programs entering production today and new production slated for the next six to 12 months, along with a strong outlook for Ross Optical revenue and high variable margins, we believe the recent positive trends will continue to drive growing profitability.

Joe Forkey

In light of our operating performance and growing confidence in our production capabilities which contributed to our successful capital raise, we are thinking about strategic investments in our business in two specific areas. First, we are investing in capabilities required to become the leading production company in micro optics, including components and systems, especially those that are small and complex. We have learned through the ramp of the production programs I spoke to before that there are greater requirements to becoming a premier production company than we initially expected.

Joe Forkey

Investments go beyond simply increased production capacity. We require investment in quality assurance, manufacturing, engineering, supply chain management and other functions. We have made several of these out of necessity in recent months and will continue on this path to enhance and stabilize these capabilities to be well prepared for the anticipated ongoing increase in production volumes. Along with this, we continue to evaluate multiple options for potential updates to our manufacturing facilities.

Joe Forkey

Second, we want to grow within the markets we currently serve, all of which continue to exhibit strong growth trajectories able to support the substantial long term growth of poc. We participate in three primary markets medical device defense and aerospace and satellite communications. We have previously considered satellite communications and as part of aerospace, but have begun to treat that segment separately as we work to better understand market drivers and primary participants.

Joe Forkey

Medical Device, which remains our largest and most immediate opportunity, continues to move toward minimally invasive procedures, smaller imaging systems and single use devices. This aligns directly with our core strengths, particularly in micro optics and digital imaging. Market data continues to support these observations with recent reports estimating the disposable income market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 15 to 20% over the next 10 years. This is also where our Unity platform becomes important. Unity was designed to reduce development costs, time to market and execution risk to through a modular imaging architecture that can support reusable and single use endoscopic systems. As more customers look to bring advanced imaging products to market efficiently, we believe Unity can enhance our role as a development and production partner and provide a strong competitive advantage. Today we have one Unity program in our product development pipeline and are in discussions with four additional sales prospects today. The second major market is Defense aerospace which is increasingly driving optical systems to smaller size, weight and power or swap. We believe there are opportunities in a broad range of products from autonomous vehicles to directed energy weapons. Interest and budgets for these types of systems have increased substantially given the …

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Grocery Outlet Holding (NASDAQ:GO) reported first-quarter financial results on Wednesday. The transcript from the company’s first-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

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Summary

Grocery Outlet Holding reported Q1 2026 revenue of $1.17 billion, up 3.6% year-over-year, with comparable store sales down 1%, slightly better than expected.

The company is focusing on restoring customer value perception by increasing the mix of branded opportunistic products and enhancing promotional efforts, with a $20 million investment planned for 2026.

Grocery Outlet Holding completed 34 store refreshes in Q1 and plans to refresh 100 stores by year-end, prioritizing store-level performance improvements.

The company closed 36 underperforming stores, expecting an adjusted EBITDA improvement of approximately $12 million annually due to restructuring.

Grocery Outlet Holding is enhancing analytical tools and insights for independent operators, focusing on improving store performance and engagement.

Management reaffirmed its full-year guidance, expecting improvements in gross margin and sales as opportunistic products increase in the mix.

The company is exploring strategic options for its Ugo business and has made key hires to strengthen leadership, including a new Chief Marketing Officer.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Greetings and welcome to the Grocery Outlet’s first quarter 2026 earnings results conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Ian Ferry, Senior Vice President of Strategic Finance and Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

Ian Ferry (Senior Vice President of Strategic Finance and Investor Relations)

Good afternoon and welcome to Grocery Outlet’s call to discuss financial results for the first quarter ended April 4, 2026. Speaking for management on today’s call will be Jason Potter, President and Chief Executive Officer and Chris Miller, Chief Financial Officer. Following prepared remarks from Jason and Chris, we will open the call for questions. Please note that this conference call is being webcast live and a recording will be available via playback on the Investor Relations SECtion of the Company’s website. Participants on this call may make forward looking statements with the meaning of the Federal SECurities laws. All statements that address future operating financial or business performance or the Company’s strategies or expectations are forward looking statements. These forward looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements. Description of these factors can be found in this afternoon’s press release as well as in the Company’s periodic reports filed with the SEC, all of which may be found on the Investor Relations SECtion of the Company’s website or on SEC.gov the company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward looking statements or information. These statements are estimates only and not a guarantee of future performance. Additionally, during today’s call, the Company will reference certain non Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) financial information, including adjusted items. Reconciliation of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to non Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) measures as well as the description, limitations and rationale for using each measure may be found in the Supplemental Financial Tables included in this afternoon’s press release, on the Investors SECtion of the Company’s website under News and Releases and in the Company’s SEC filings. And now I would like to turn it over to Jason Good afternoon everyone and thank you for joining us on today’s call. In the first quarter we delivered results in line with our guidance as our work to strengthen the business gained traction. We reported Q1 revenue of 1.17 billion, up 3.6% with comparable store sales down 1%, slightly ahead of our outlook for a decline of minus 2.5% to negative 1.5%. Traffic remained positive, up approximately 2% with consistent improvement throughout the quarter. This was offset by continued basket pressure from lower units per transaction. Gross margin of 29.6% was also within our outlook range and included a 50 basis point impact related to our previously announced store closures. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of 43.1 million came in at the top end of our range, while adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.05 was a penny above the guidance range we shared in March. As I mentioned, performance improved as the quarter progressed, with traffic strengthening each month and exiting March at a meaningful higher rate than at the start of the quarter. In the month of March, weekly traffic grew in the range of 2% to 5% year to year, reaffirming that our value oriented product offering continues to resonate with consumers. While we’re encouraged by the progress we’re beginning to see, we’re not satisfied with our current level of performance and are focused on the work we have in front of us. As we said in March, we entered 2026 with a clear agenda restore what makes this brand special, tighten execution where we’ve fallen short, and improve returns. That work is well underway and while it’s still early, the traction we see reinforces our conviction that we are taking the right action. Grocery Outlet has meaningful strengths, a differentiated model, a highly relevant value proposition, strong independent operators, and a format that resonates when we execute well. Our focus is on translating those strengths into a more consistent performance. Our work to achieve this centers on improving comp store performance while continuing to advance important strategic initiatives that deliver stronger long term growth and profitability. Restoring Customer Value Perception Let me start with customer value perception because that’s where our work begins. Our job right now is to make Grocery Outlet a more compelling choice for the customer. In this environment, value matters more than ever. We must make that value visible, consistent fighting and easy to shop. We executed on that in several ways during this last quarter. First and most importantly, we’ve made meaningful strides to increase the mix of branded opportunistic products in our stores. Our best opportunistic deals offer savings up to 70% versus conventional retailers. These savings, when paired with the excitement of a treasure hunt experience, provide a compelling experience that our customers love. Since the start of the year, we’ve increased our opportunistic mix by nearly 2 percentage points with meaningful improvement across inventory, shipments, variety and sales. We’ve made meaningful progress sourcing, increasing product visibility and helping operators further differentiate their stores. That works included upgrading systems and reporting, expanding supplier outreach, shortening delivery times, testing short dated offerings and engaging suppliers more directly. At the leadership level. These efforts enabled us to move quickly in Q1 on excess inventory from several top selling brands, delivering significant savings for customers while creating high margin, high volume opportunities for us and our operators. Second, we invested in reshaping value perception as we work to improve the impact of our opportunistic supply. The near term synthetic promotional support we’re providing is driving customers into our stores. It’s been especially effective around high traffic occasions like this year’s super bowl and Easter where event driven promotions help drive meaningful traffic gains. This is an important first step in restoring comp performance as the momentum from our improving opportunistic product mix begins to translate into stronger transaction trends. Through the first quarter we received positive feedback from both customers and our iOS and as we invest, we’re managing the impact on gross margins through disciplined promotional targeting and our ongoing focus on improving our mix. We continue to expect these investments to be in the range of $20 million for this year. Third, we’re sharpening our value messaging through our Extreme Value campaign. This work is focused on making our value proposition unmistakable, highlighting the significant savings customers can find on branded products, often at meaningful discounts to conventional retailers and reinforcing the excitement of the treasure hunt experience that defines grocery outlet. To support this, we’re driving awareness through targeted at home and digital campaigns that bring our deals and product discovery to life. In market, we’re focused on awareness based media. In store, we’re simplifying signage and elevating key value items to make savings more visible, easier to navigate and more compelling at the shelf. Together, these three initiatives with a singular focus of improving value are beginning to drive a meaningful positive and customer response reflected in improving sales, improving traffic trends, net promoter score and survey data while reinforcing one another. Though there’s much to do to restore comp performance, the trends we’re seeing in traffic are consistent with the initial stages of stabilization that we would expect at this point. Improving the in Store Experience we also continue to improve the in store experience to support stronger store level performance across our fleet. One of the most important of these initiatives is our store refresh program and in the first quarter we completed 34. As of today, we’ve completed 58 stores in total. These refresh stores are benefiting from improvements in layout, signage and merchandising that make the shopping trip easier and reinforce value more clearly. We continue to receive positive feedback from both customers and operators and we are confident that improving the customer in store experience is the right step for grocery outlet and that it will become an important lever over time. The impact of our value restoration initiatives in Q1 reinforces our conviction that an all hands on deck focus on executing Our opportunistic engine is the fastest and most effective path to improving results across the business, with a clear path to deliver on that objective the results that support that focus. We’re prioritizing our initial resources on that work. That requires deliberate choices about how we execute our other priorities this year, including taking a more measured pace on our store refresh program. We will continue to invest in these longer term improvements to our stores while maintaining a near term focus on driving comp sales through opportunistic initiatives that I’ve discussed. As we balance our resources around these efforts, we now expect to complete approximately 100 store refreshes by year end. This sharper focus will reduce distractions and help us return comp growth as quickly as possible. Supporting Independent Operators Independent operators are central to restoring our performance and they’ve been clear about what they need. Better analytical tools, more actionable insight, greater visibility into what is working across the system. And that’s exactly what we’re focused on delivering. In Q1. We made meaningful progress during the quarter. We held regional forms to share best practices across operators. We enhanced benchmarking capabilities and expanded the functionality of our real time order guide. We also streamlined commercial communications to help operators simplify execution at store level. Importantly, we also launched a new annual business review or ABR process across our entire store base. This process benchmarks each store against top quartile peers with similar market characteristics and sales volumes, then translates those performance gaps into clear profit opportunities for our operators to pursue for each store. We can now help operators quantify the potential opportunity across sales, mix shrink and other important operating expenses, while enabling operators to track progress against those opportunities over time. Just as importantly, we pair these insights with best practice recommendations and field support to help operators realize those improvements. While company wide margin performance in Q1 was impacted by strategic promotional investments as well as inventory liquidations associated with our store closures, we’re encouraged by the underlying operational trends we’re seeing at store level. Operators saw encouraging trends in profitability during the quarter, driven primarily by better shrimp performance. If these Q1 improvements are sustained through the balance of the year, they could translate into meaningful incremental annual operator income per store over time. Improvements like these create meaningful upside for grocery outlet through stronger gross profit performance across the system. Our ABR process encourages accountability while giving operators a practical roadmap to improve their business supported by quarterly reviews and ongoing field partnership. And we believe that as operators see benefits from these enhanced analytical tools, engagement with the key company initiatives will also improve. When operators have the right tools, visibility and support to execute effectively, the customer experience improves, store performance improves, operator economics strengthen and the overall business should become more productive and resilient. Optimizing the Store Base and Strengthening Returns As I mentioned earlier, we continue to drive our key strategic objectives as we work to restore comp performance. Among our most important objectives are optimizing the store base and improving our returns. As we outlined in March, we are closing 36 underperforming stores this year. These closures are now complete and have improved fleet quality and will strengthen the earnings profile of the business over time. Based on the progress we’ve achieved to date, we continue to expect adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) improvement of approximately 12 million at the conclusion of our restructuring on an annual run rate basis. We’ve also tightened our approach to new store growth. We continue to believe that there is substantial white space ahead for Grocery Outlet, but growth must be disciplined, productive and supported by the right economics. That means being more selective on real estate, rigorous underwriting and holding ourselves to high standards on capital returns. This approach will position us to grow from a stronger foundation and create more value over time. We are focused not just on growing, but growing in a sustainable way. Finally, as we noted in March, we’re continuing to explore strategic options for Ugo and we’ll provide updates when we have more to share. Securing Top Talent Having the right strategy is critical to our success. So is having the right talent to execute it. We recently welcomed Jim Porterfield as our next Chief Marketing Officer. Jim brings more than 30 years of brand leadership and consumer insight experience to Grocery Outlet. Jim previously served as Chief Marketing Officer at Pinsight Media and as a Senior Vice President at Bernstein Wren Advertising before founding his own firm, Meaningful Works. Most recently, he’s advised several well known retail and restaurant brands including Grocery Outlet. Jim’s experience, strategic judgment and passion for building strong brands make him the right leader to help advance our strategy and strengthen Grocery Outlet’s position as one of America’s most loved brands. Securing top talent is also a priority at our board level. In April we added two exceptional independent directors. Frances Allen brings over 40 years of consumer and food industry expertise across brand strategy, marketing, franchising, technology and operations. Alicia Thornton brings more than 30 years of executive leadership across grocery retail specialty retail with deep expertise in corporate finance, strategic growth and operational restructuring and governance. Both new members have highly relevant experience that will help our efforts to strengthen execution and reinforce Grocery Outlets long standing leadership in value. Finally, in closing, when taken together, we believe that our near term actions and continued execution against our strategic priorities position us for improved performance While we still have work ahead, we’re making solid progress that’s beginning to be reflected in the business. We’re executing our plan, improving consistency and building a more durable foundation. I’m confident that the work underway will position Grocery Outlet to become a stronger, more productive and more profitable business for many years to come. I want to thank our independent operators, our team members and our supply partners for their hard work and their commitment. I’d also like to thank our shareholders for your continued support as we move the business forward with focus and attention. I’ll now turn it over to Chris to walk through the quarter and the financials in more detail. Thank you.

Jason Potter (President and Chief Executive Officer)

Thanks Jason. Our first …

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On Wednesday, Staar Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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Summary

Staar Surgical reported strong financial performance in Q1 2026, with net sales of $93.5 million, reflecting a 19.6% year-over-year increase. This growth was driven primarily by strong sales in China and the U.S.

The company made substantial advancements in its strategic initiatives, including the successful launch of EVO plus ICL in China, normalization of inventory levels, and continued scaling of the Swiss manufacturing facility to supply lenses to China without import tariffs.

Staar Surgical achieved a significant milestone of surpassing 4 million ICLs sold globally, and it reported a meaningful improvement in profitability with adjusted EBITDA turning positive at $24.4 million, compared to a loss in the prior year quarter.

The company remains cautious about providing forward guidance due to macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties, despite a positive outlook and strong Q1 performance.

Management emphasized continued focus on revenue growth, expanding profitability, and advancing innovation, with a strategic priority on maintaining spending discipline and enhancing operational efficiency.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Greetings and welcome to the Staar Surgical First Quarter 2026 Results Call and webcast. During today’s presentation, all parties will be in a listen-only mode. I would now like to turn the call over to Connie Johnson, Director of Investor Relations.

Connie Johnson (Director of Investor Relations)

Thank you Operator. Good afternoon and thank you for joining us. On the call today are Warren Faust, Interim Co CEO, President and Chief Operating Officer of Staar Surgical and Deborah Andrews, Interim co CEO and Chief Financial Officer of Staar Surgical. Earlier today we reported a first quarter 2026 results via a press release and Form 8K. We posted our results release and shareholder letter to our Investor website@investors.staar.com Today’s call is scheduled for one hour and will include Q and A for publishing analysts. Webcast participants can also send questions for today’s Q and a session to IR.com before we get started, I want to remind you that during today’s call we will be making forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. I encourage you to read the disclosures in today’s release as well as disclosures in our filings with the SEC. Except as required by law, STAR assumes no obligation to update these forward looking statements to reflect future events or actual outcomes. In addition, during today’s discussion we will reference certain non GAAP financial measures including adjusted EBITDA and constant currency sales. Please refer to today’s release for definitions and reconciliations of non GAAP metrics for brevity. Unless otherwise specified, all comparisons on today’s call will be on a year over year basis versus the relevant period. Finally, a quick reminder, we intend to use our website as a means of disclosing material non public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Such disclosures will be included on our website in the Investor Relations SECtion. Accordingly, Investors should monitor our investor website in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. And with that I would like to turn the presentation over to interim co CEO Warren Faust.

Warren Faust (Interim Co CEO, President and Chief Operating Officer)

Warren Good afternoon everyone and thank you for joining us. Deborah and I are excited to be with you once again and to update you on the progress that we have made in our first 100 or so days since we began leading the company as interim co CEOs. I’m really happy to talk about Q1 of 2026 as we have now largely moved past many of the challenges that that we faced in 2025. Significant disruption stemming from the potential Alcon merger process, elevated channel inventory in our largest market and risks of rising tariffs to name a few. Those issues are behind us now. Turning to Q1, we see that we’re off to a very positive start as reflected in our first quarter results. I would point to solid execution across the business and continued momentum broadly across our key markets. We made substantial advancements in pursuit of our core objectives, in particular relative to revenue growth and expansion of our profitability. We remain focused on these efforts as well as working to strengthen our product portfolio and developing our next generation pipeline. In the first quarter we delivered strong net sales growth both sequentially and year over year. We also delivered a meaningful improvement in profitability in the quarter with adjusted EBITDA turning positive. This performance was driven primarily by strong results In China, our first greater than 6 million dollar quarter in the United States and solid growth from each of our three regions. We were also excited to reach a significant milestone surpassing 4 million ICLs (Implantable Collamer Lenses) sold globally. I’m proud of our committed teams and distribution partners around the world who are driving revenue growth. At the same time, we are maintaining spending discipline and improving profitability through focused execution. I believe that our results are an early indication that our approach is beginning to work beyond the financial results. The quarter also included several important business milestones that reinforce our confidence in star’s long term opportunity. First, we made further advancements in the launch of EVO+ ICL in China and began shipping meaningful volumes into the market. Second, we entered Q1 with inventory levels in China normalized and aligned with our contractual targets and we were able to grow sales while maintaining and even slightly reducing inventory levels during the quarter. Third, our Niedau, Switzerland manufacturing facility continues to scale and is planned in 2026 to supply 100% of the Evo and Evo plus lenses shipped to China without import tariffs. And finally, we are progressing through the rollout of our new Oracle ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system with limited business disruption to date and expected benefits in visibility, coordination and scalability over time. Together, these milestones are important because they support both our near term execution and our longer term ability to scale the business more efficiently. Let me now provide more context on China, which was the primary driver of our first quarter and remains a key focus area for STAR in China. Our first quarter performance reflected continued share gains in premium lens based refractive surgery. The key messages were clear continued strength in EVO ICLs (Implantable Collamer Lenses), strong early demand for EVO+ ICLs (Implantable Collamer Lenses), normalized inventory levels, better downstream visibility and a more stable market environment. Refractive market conditions in China were more stable in the first quarter than during the volatile period from 2022 to 2024. The macro environment remains mixed, but based on what we are seeing and hearing from customers, refractive procedure demand continues to grow at a moderate pace. We are encouraged by our team’s performance in Q1 and the early response to Evo plus, an important step in our innovation strategy where strong surgeon adoption and clinical differentiation have already required higher output from our Swiss manufacturing site. Moving forward, we remain focused on disciplined execution and sustaining this momentum over the course of the year while carefully monitoring macroeconomic factors in the market. Now, as we look at the United States, we are encouraged by our first quarter sales that exceeded $6 million and we continue to view this market as an important long term growth opportunity for star. We also received FDA approval expanding the EVO ICL indication to patients aged 45 to 60, further increasing our addressable market. Net sales grew 22% year over year against a backdrop of continued sluggishness of laser vision correction procedures that require removal of corneal tissue. The continued adoption of EVO ICL reinforces our belief that the future of refractive surgery is largely lens based. We believe our performance reflects increased surgeon adoption, improved commercial execution and a more focused marketing strategy around customers who are incorporating EVO ICL more meaningfully into their refractive offerings. The US remains underpenetrated relative to more mature ICL markets, which is why we continue to view it as an important long term growth opportunity. Outside China and the U.S. several markets experienced geopolitical and trade related disruption during the quarter, particularly in parts of the Middle east. The impact on net sales was limited to less than $2 million. We continue to monitor these developments closely along with the broader macro uncertainty in Europe and in parts of Asia. We also continue to see attractive long term opportunities in markets such as India, even though near term price sensitivity and macro volatility remains require a measured approach. More broadly, as we pursue global growth opportunities, we are being disciplined in how we allocate capital and resources. We are prioritizing markets and commercial programs where we see the strongest potential while continuing to benefit from the cost reduction efforts we initiated in 2025. As sales grow, we expect this approach to support operating leverage going forward. Overall, our view is unchanged. The global shift toward lens based refractive surgery remains a meaningful long term growth driver for star. Taken together, these updates reflect the progress we are making commercially and operationally while maintaining the discipline needed to build more consistent performance over time. With that, I’ll turn the call over to Deborah to walk through the financials in more detail.

Deborah Andrews (Interim Co CEO and Chief Financial Officer)

Deborah thank you Warren. Our first quarter results reflect strong execution across both sales growth and profitability. Consistent with the framework we outlined in our fourth quarter shareholder letter. Net sales were 93.5 million, increasing one 19.6% year over year driven by strong China sales and double digit growth in the Americas. China net sales were 47.4 million in the first quarter driven by the commercial launch of Evo plus and continued demand for EVO distributor inventory remained comparable to year end 2025 levels and within our targeted range to appropriately service the refractive market. Excluding China, net sales grew 6% which we view as solid given the macroeconomic environment. First quarter net sales were bolstered by a solid quarter in the US market despite the downtrend in laser vision correction in the country, partially offset by macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds in the Middle east and India. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) was 24.4 million compared to an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) loss of 26.3 million in the prior year quarter. Reflecting higher net sales, improved gross profit and the benefits of the cost actions we’ve implemented since 2025, we are beginning to see operating leverage emerge consistent with our path to sustainable profitability. Gross profit margin in the first quarter of 2026 was 73.6% of total net sales compared to 65.8 in the prior year quarter. The year over year improvement was primarily driven by the elimination of period costs related to the ramp up of manufacturing in Switzerland, a reduction in advanced manufacturing expenses, lower inventory provisions and decreased freight and other cost of sales as a percentage of sales. These benefits were partially offset by higher per unit manufacturing costs resulted from lower production volumes in 2025. Total operating expenses for the first quarter of 2026 were $60.9 million compared to 85.4 million in the prior year quarter. Excluding restructuring and merger related costs, operating expenses were 51.5 million compared to 62.7 million in the prior year quarter, a decrease of 18% reflecting the cost reduction efforts initiated in 2025 and continued spending discipline. The company remains on track with its spending target of $225 million in 2026. Operating income for the first quarter of 2026 was 8 million compared to a loss of 57.4 million in the prior year quarter. Net income for the first quarter of 2026 was 5.2 million or $0.10 per diluted share compared to a net loss of 54.2 million or $1.10 per diluted share in the prior year quarter the year over year improvement in net income was primarily attributable to higher gross profit and lower operating expenses, demonstrating our ability to grow net sales while maintaining spending discipline. We ended the quarter with $163.9 million in cash, cash equivalents and investments available for sale with no outstand outstanding debt on a sequential basis. Cash declined from the fourth quarter of 2025, primarily due to costs including seasonal bonuses and other employee incentives, global sales meetings, severance and costs associated with the cooperation agreement with Broadwood Partners. With these items now behind us, we expect to build cash throughout the remainder of the year. Overall, we are encouraged by the profitability and operating leverage demonstrated by our first quarter results. We remain focused on balancing growth with disciplined investment and maintaining financial flexibility. With that, I’ll turn the call back over to Warren. Warren thank you Deborah.

Warren Faust (Interim Co CEO, President and Chief Operating Officer)

To close Q1 was a strong quarter. It demonstrates the progress we are making toward building a stronger STAR with differentiated technology, greater operating discipline and a clearer path to sustainable growth and profitability. We believe STAR is better positioned today than it was entering the year. In the quarter we demonstrated strong growth, return to profitability, improved adjusted EBITDA margins and operational improvements. We launched EVO plus ICL in China, advanced our Swiss manufacturing capabilities, continued the rollout of our Oracle ERP and strengthened our cost structure. At the same time, our long term opportunity remains compelling. STAR possesses differentiated polymer material and advanced optical technology in evoiclav. Additionally, we see growing global adoption …

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BitGo Holdings (NYSE:BTGO) released second-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Wednesday. Read the complete transcript below.

This content is powered by Benzinga APIs. For comprehensive financial data and transcripts, visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/.

The full earnings call is available at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/974937511

Summary

BitGo Holdings Inc reported a 113% year-over-year increase in total revenue to $3.8 billion, though sequentially it fell by 39% due to a shift in trading from spot to derivatives, impacting revenue reporting.

The company launched several strategic initiatives, including derivatives trading, which saw $3 billion in notional volume in Q1, and expanded partnerships with firms like 21Shares and OKEx to enhance institutional settlement infrastructure.

Future guidance suggests that digital asset sales revenue is expected to remain stable in Q2, with anticipated growth in stablecoin services and a continued focus on strategic growth areas like tokenized equities and stablecoin infrastructure.

Despite market headwinds, the company increased its client base by 42% year-over-year to 5,569 and reported a 29% year-over-year growth in normalized assets on platform.

Management emphasized that periods of market volatility are opportunities to strengthen the business, focusing on product development, regulatory capabilities, and expanding client engagement.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us and welcome to BitGo first quarter 2026 earnings call. After today’s prepared remarks, we will have a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question at that time, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, press star 1 again. I will now hand the call over to Rachel Dye, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Rachel Dye (Head of Investor Relations)

Hello everyone. Good afternoon. Thank you for joining BitGo’s Q1 2026 earnings conference call. Our remarks today will include forward looking statements including those regarding our future operating results and financial condition, such as our business strategy, market growth and objectives for future operations. Actual results may vary materially from today’s statements. Information concerning risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause these results to differ are included in our SEC filings, including those that are stated in the Risk Factors section of our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 and in our other filings with the SEC. These forward looking statements represent our outlook only as of the date of this call. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward looking statements. Additionally, the matters we discussed today will include both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of any non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are set forth in our earnings press release. Non GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for GAAP measures. Joining me today on the call are Mike Belshee, Founder and CEO, as well as Ed Reginelli, CFO. With that, I will now turn the call over to Mike.

Mike Belshee (Founder and CEO)

Thank you Rachel and thank you everyone for joining us. We delivered strong underlying business performance in Q1 despite continued softness across the broader digital asset market. While market activity created pressure on our headline financial results, underlying monetization across the businesses remained strong and we continued to gain market share across assets under custody, trading volume and several of our product verticals during the quarter. We also continue to invest across product platform and go-to-market capabilities while making meaningful progress across several strategic growth areas that we believe will matter over the long term. Before I go deeper into the quarter, I want to address an important point regarding the accounting presentation of our results as we expect this will be an area of investor focus. Bitgo today operates multiple businesses across trading, staking, financing, stablecoin, infrastructure, settlement and other related services under GAAP. Different parts of the platform are recognized differently for accounting purposes, with certain activities reflected on a gross basis and others reflected on a net basis. As the business continues to Scale and diversify. Reported revenue alone does not always capture the underlying economics or monetization profile of the platform. At the start of January, we launched derivatives within our digital asset sales. Business adoption has been encouraging with approximately 3 billion in notional derivatives trading volume in Q1 alone. As a result, a portion of our client activity shifted from spot trading to derivatives products. That mix shift matters when evaluating our reported revenue because spot trading activity is reflected on a gross basis while the derivatives are reported on a net basis. As a result, the sequential decline in total revenue does not fully reflect the underlying platform economics and reported revenue. Comparisons to prior periods are not directly comparable. More broadly, we believe investors should evaluate the business through the underlying margins, take rates and net economics after direct transaction related costs associated with each of our core revenue streams. We are building institutional grade digital asset infrastructure, the secure regulated control layer that institutions rely on to build within digital assets. Our clients increasingly want integrated workflows across regulated custody, trading, financing, settlement, stablecoin infrastructure and related services through a single trusted partner. We continue to strengthen that foundation throughout Q1 and we believe its importance will only increase as the market matures. We view custody as the entry point to the broader Bitgo platform and the foundation of our client relationships. Clients establish trust, bring assets onto the platform and increasingly expand into our other products and services with a single integrated framework. This land-and-expand strategy is central to how we deepen client engagement. It’s how we increase workflows across the platform and drive long term platform value. We also continue to see growing participation in the space from traditional financial institutions, including asset managers, issuers and other large counterparties. In our view, this remains one of the most important long term tailwinds for Bitgo. These institutions are generally not building infrastructure from scratch. They are looking for trusted partners that can support digital asset adoption in a regulated and scalable way. This is exactly where Bitgo is focused and where we believe we are differentiated. Our advantage is the combination of regulatory standing, security architecture and the breadth of capabilities we provide within a single integrated platform. Operationally, this was reflected in a continued deepening of client engagement across the platform, increasing our number of clients served to 5569, up 42% year over year and users to 1.2 million. Despite broader market headwinds, reported assets on platform at the end of Q1 were approximately 63 billion and reported assets staked were 11.8 billion, both down from prior periods in dollar terms, primarily as a result of lower digital asset prices during the quarter. Because digital asset prices can materially impact reported asset values. We also evaluate underlying asset growth on a price normalized basis. We believe this more accurately reflects the fundamental growth of the business, client inflows and Bitgo’s continued market share gains independent of the market price movement using current quarter digital asset prices. Across all periods, normalized assets on platform actually grew 29% year over year and 10% sequentially. Normalized stake balances grew 21% year over year and 27% sequentially. Bitcoin and Ethereum balances on the platform grew 131% year over year and 7% sequentially. Taken together, we believe these demonstrate continued underlying momentum across the business despite the broader market volatility. Let’s now dive into some key operational and commercial highlights from quarter one a key focus throughout Q1 was continuing to broaden the reach of our institutional platform through expanded commercial relationships and partnerships. For example, in Q1 we significantly expanded our partnership with 21 shares with one of the world’s largest issuers of cryptocurrency exchange traded products. This highlights the underlying demand for regulated crypto exposure in key markets around the world, including throughout Europe, and builds upon Bitco’s existing markets. Additionally, just a few weeks ago we announced plans with OKEx, a leading crypto exchange, to bring automated off exchange settlement infrastructure to institutional clients trading on OKEX in the US this is an example of Bitco helping solve structural challenges for institutional trading, which has historically required institutions to pre fund assets on exchanges and take counterparty risk against those exchanges. It addresses the growing demand from institutions to separate custody from trading risk. We believe this is a major milestone for the industry, clearly establishing Bitgo as the leader in institutional settlement. Beyond these announced partnerships, we also deepened relationships across a broader set of institutional clients, exchanges, asset managers and ecosystem partners during the quarter, including several strategic engagements that have not yet been publicly disclosed. These partnerships are important not simply because of their headline value, but because they reflect the increasingly strategic role Bitgo plays within the institutional digital asset workflows. They demonstrate that institutions are choosing Bitco not only for custody, but as a premier core infrastructure partner to support broader operational and financial activity. Throughout the quarter. We continue to extend our product capabilities into strategic growth areas. As I touched on earlier, we launched derivatives trading in January to support growing client demand for tools that help manage volatility, hedge exposure, generate yield and structure risk more efficiently. Adoption in the first quarter of launch has been encouraging and we have already seen meaningful engagement across the platform. Importantly, some existing spot clients are now incorporating derivatives into broader workflows within Bitco which is exactly the type of cross product adoption we want to drive over time. Stablecoins is another area where we made meaningful progress and where we continue to see significant long term opportunity. We have said consistently that stablecoin infrastructure can become one of the most important growth areas for Bitcoin over time and this quarter reinforced that view. Stablecoin infrastructure is one of the clearest examples of how Bitgo’s platform extends beyond trading into broader financial and payments workflows. During and shortly after quarter end, we launched Bitco Mint, a one stop portal where clients can mint burn and convert stablecoins from one type to another. We also continue to support clients and partners across reserve management, transaction processing and the broader operational stack around stablecoins. When we look at client conversations today, the range of stablecoin use cases is getting broader across payments, Treasury Management, settlement, tokenized asset infrastructure and embedded financial applications. We believe Bitco is well positioned to benefit from these trends and we’re pleased to announce several stablecoin related commercial partnerships and including with Stablec, SOFI and the Better Money Company on financing and broader institutional workflows. We launched our Unified Financing platform and further expanded Prime Services capabilities including additional Risk management, Structured products financing and treasury tools. These investments are strategically important. Each time we add a new capability that helps clients keep more workflows inside the Bitco ecosystem, we deepen client engagement and increase the overall utility of the platform and make Bitgo more central to how those clients operate. Geographic expansion has also remained an important priority this quarter. Bitco was named issuer and primary custodian for fyusd, a US dollar backed stablecoin designed for institutional adoption across Asian markets in Europe. Beyond the 21Shares partnership, we added new traders to Bitcoin Prime’s liquidity network in April, improving execution for our clients on our regulated infrastructure. I’d like to now provide some context on the financial results before I hand this over to Ed for a more detailed discussion. We were not insulated from the market environment, softer market conditions, reduced activities in parts of the business and the non cash markdown on our digital assets. Treasury weighed on GAAP earnings. However, despite this environment, the underlying economics of the business remained resilient while relative to broader market conditions as they were supported by continued market share gains, improved monetization across several of our core business lines and ongoing client engagement across the platform. At the same time, we continue to invest in the strategic areas we believe will drive durable long term growth such as product platform, regulatory capability and go-to-market execution. Having operated through multiple up and down cycles in our 13 year history. We believe periods like this often create the best opportunities to strengthen the business and deepen our long term competitive position. Looking ahead, some parts of the business remain sensitive to market activity and token prices, while other parts are benefiting from onboarding, product expansion and continued traction with clients and partners. Ed will take you through that in more detail, including the financial bridge for the quarter and the key drivers across each business line. Before I hand it over, I want to close with a broader perspective on where we see the industry heading Institutions continue to move into digital assets. Stablecoins continue to become more relevant to real world payments and financial workflows. Tokenization continues to create new infrastructure needs. At the same time, regulatory clarity continues to improve across key jurisdictions, including constructive momentum in the United States around market structure and digital asset legislation such as the Clarity Act. We believe greater regulatory clarity is one of the key factors that can further accelerate institutional adoption and BICO’s total addressable market over time, particularly as traditional financial institutions seek clearer regulatory frameworks before committing additional capital and resources into the digital asset market. As the market matures, clients increasingly want trusted regulated integrated partners rather than fragmented piecemeal solutions. We believe those structural trends continue to support the long term demand environment for Bitco. Periods like this often separate businesses that are simply exposed to market activity from businesses that are building durable value. Our role is not to call the market. Our job is to continue strengthening the platform and deepening the client relationships and positioning the business to emerge stronger as adoption expands. We did that in Q1. Now I’ll turn it over to Ed.

Ed Reginelli (Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you Mike and thank you everyone for joining us today. Let me start with the consolidated financial view and then walk through each of our major offerings. In the first quarter, total revenue was $3.8 billion, up 113% year over year and down 39% sequentially. The year over year increase reflects a larger digital asset sales business and a broader contribution from stablecoin as a service relative to prior year quarter. The sequential decline was primarily the result of lower digital asset sales activity in a soft crypto market environment. As Mike noted, the headline percentage change overstates the decline in trading revenue as a portion of spot trading activity has shifted to derivatives, which are reported on a net rather than gross basis. For that reason, we do not think that analyzing total revenue alone fully captures the underlying economics of the quarter. While total revenue declined 39% sequentially, direct costs also declined at a similar rate. At the same time, margins and take rates improved across digital asset sales staking and stablecoin as a service. As a result, the sequential decline in total revenue was more pronounced than the change in the underlying economics of the business. Adjusted EBITDA loss was $1.7 million in the quarter compared with a positive $3.9 million in Q1 of last year and a positive $12.1 million in Q4. The year over year and sequential change reflected weaker market conditions, lower subscriptions and services revenue and continued investment in the business. It also included approximately $3 million of one time legal, professional costs and other one time charges associated with the IPO process and other strategic initiatives. GAAP net loss was $60.7 million in the quarter compared with a net loss of $25.7 million in Q1 of last year and a net loss of $50 million in Q4. The primary driver of that result was negative mark to market adjustments on digital assets as well as elevated IPO-related stock based compensation expense which we expect to normalize from Q1 26 levels going forward. Let me now move to the offerings starting with digital asset sales. Revenue for digital asset sales was $3.7 billion, up 128% year over year and down 39% sequentially. While overall trading activity reflects a weaker market environment, the underlying economics of the business improved during the quarter on a normalized basis excluding the accounting impact of the derivatives mix shift. Our underlying trading economics outperformed the broader market sequentially and significantly outperformed on a year over year basis. We believe this reflects continued market share gains in institutional digital asset trading. Overall margin was 32 basis points compared with 20 basis points a year ago and 24 basis points in Q4, primarily driven by the contribution from derivatives activity following the launch of the offering on January 1st of this year. Strategically, we view derivatives as an important extension of Bitco’s platform. Clients increasingly want integrated workflows that include risk management, hedging, yield generation and structured solutions alongside spot execution. Expanding those capabilities strengthens client engagement and increases strategic relevance of our trading platform over time. Turning to staking revenue was $49.4 million, down 66% year over year and 15% sequentially, primarily reflecting lower token prices. Staking take rates increased 16.1% from 7.6% in Q4 and 12.5% in the prior year quarter driven by additional token onboarding and a more favorable validator mix including the contribution of the higher economics of the Canton related activity. While the current mix may vary over time, the broader takeaway is that we are improving the economic quality of this business line while continuing to expand token support, subscriptions and services. Revenue was $25.6 million up 11% year over year and down 35% sequentially. The sequential decline primarily reflected a lower level of one time ecosystem and implementation oriented projects compared with Q4 when activity in this area was elevated. While these projects are not recurring in nature, they remain strategically important because they often support token onboarding, client implementations and broader downstream revenue opportunities across the platform. As a result, we do not view the sequential revenue decline as representative of the underlying health of the recurring revenue base. Stablecoin as a service continued to be the bright spot during the quarter. Revenue was $38.2 million up 44% sequentially. Take rate improved to 7.4% from 5.5% in Q4. Growth was driven by continued client adoption, product enhancements and new partnerships. We view stablecoin infrastructure as a significant long term growth opportunity for Bitco supported by expanding adoption across payments, settlement, treasury management and broader financial applications. Finally, interest income was $0.9 million up 259% year over year and 89% sequentially. Turning now to expenses, the …

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Mountain Province Diamond (TSX:MPVD) reported first-quarter financial results on Wednesday. The transcript from the company’s first-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

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Summary

MPVD reported a strong operating performance in Q1 2026 with higher grades, but faced a $600,000 EBITDA loss due to a weaker diamond price environment.

Total tonnes treated decreased by 18% compared to Q1 2025, yet over 2 million carats were produced, a record high for the company.

Diamond market remains challenging with geopolitical tensions and tariff uncertainties affecting sentiment; particularly, smaller diamond categories are under pressure.

The company’s working capital position is negative, though slightly improved from year-end, with significant accounts payable increases linked to winter road deliveries.

MPVD sold twice the volume of carats compared to Q1 2025, but at less than half the price, resulting in a $65.1 million net loss after tax for Q1 2026.

Management highlighted the strategic importance of navigating liquidity challenges and maintaining safety standards, working closely with stakeholders to resolve financial issues.

The company is exploring options to address liquidity challenges, including support from De Beers and working capital injections from Mr. Dermot Desmond.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Mountain province Diamonds Inc. Q1 2026 webcast and conference call. At this time, all lines in a listen only mode. Following the presentation, we’ll conduct a question and answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. I would now like to turn the conference over to Jonathan Comerford, CEO of Mountain Province Diamonds. Please go ahead.

Jonathan Comerford (President and CEO)

Good day to everyone who has dialed in to listen to our Q1 2026 results call. My name is Jonathan Comerford and I’m the President and CEO of the Company. Also present on this call is Steve Thomas, our CFO Reid Mackey, our Vice President, Diamond Sales and Marketing. At the conclusion of this presentation, the team will then be available for any questions you may have. Firstly, I would like to draw your attention to our cautionary statement regarding forward looking information. This presentation will be posted on our website for anyone who needs additional time to review this statement. Mountain Province Diamonds produces Canadian diamonds to the highest standard of corporate social responsibility and that is something that we continue to be proud of. We own 49% of the Gahcho Kué mine in the Northwest Territories with De Beers Group, a division of Anglo American plc owning the remaining 51%. Today I will speak to our Q1 2026 results and provide some insight into our operational and financial performance. Following that, Steve, our CFO will discuss the Q1 financial performance of the company and Reid will comment on the overall diamond market. I will then make some closing remarks to complete the presentation and answer any questions that you may have. I will start the review of Q1 results with safety. Gahcho Kué’s operations have continued to be lost time injury free and we are now approaching a full year without a lost time injury. The very challenging winter months are behind us and the operations are now focused on safely navigating the freshet period which is now upon us. Q1 results highlights I’m now going to run through some highlights from our first quarter of 2026. The story of Q1 is one of strong operating performance with higher grades offset by a weaker diamond price environment resulting in a 600,000 EBITDA loss for the quarter. Turning first to the operations, total tonnes treated in Q1 2026 were down 18% compared to the same period in 2025. Despite this, we delivered a record quarter in terms of carats recovered with over 2 million carats produced on the mining side. Total tonnes mined were also lower year on year. This reduction reflects both the challenging winter conditions and by the joint venture partners to pause mining at Tuzo with a focus on conserving cash and maintaining operational flexibility. Importantly, grade in Q1 was 2.64 carats per tonne compared to 0.82 carats per tonne in Q1 2025. We continue to outperform budget on grade. However it is worth noting that the size frequency distribution has been below expectations with a greater proportion of recovered stones in the small categories which are currently under the most pressure in the market. In summary, operation safety performance these remain strong and carat recovery is ahead of plan despite lower tonnes treated and reduced mining rates. Turning briefly to the diamond market, Reid will cover this in more detail. At a high level the market remains very challenging with ongoing uncertainty around US tariffs and geopolitical tension in the Middle east weighing on sentiment on in kind elections and stakeholder discussions. We are in the middle of a critical and sensitive process. While I appreciate the importance of this topic, I’m not in a position to provide further detail at this stage. I would however like to thank the government for its support to the diamond industry, De Beers for its patience in allowing the company time to resolve its liquidity issue, and Mr. Dermot Desmond providing working capital to the company again giving it time to explore these discussions. With that I will hand over to Steve to take you through the financials.

Steve Thomas (Chief Financial Officer)

Steve thank you Jonathan and good morning everyone. Noting all numbers discussed will be in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated. In Q1 2026 we sold twice the volume of carats compared to Q1 2025, but at less than half the price due to continued volatility as a tariff regime for which exemption of rough diamonds has been indicated is not yet enacted. Cost of sales in Q1 2026 are higher than Q1 2025, but when normalized per carats sold were comparatively much lower.

Steve Thomas (Chief Financial Officer)

The quarter saw minimal net depletion of the ore stockpile, although 860,000 tonnes less than at the end of Q1 2025. As in that period, carats recovered were drawn heavily from the stockpile. The company’s working capital position at minus $63.1 million is slightly less negative than it was at the year end with the increase in current assets of rough diamonds on hand and consumables from the winter road deliveries offsetting the marked increase in accounts payable balances which I will discuss shortly. Q1 2026 saw a slight strengthening in the US dollar resulting in an unrealized foreign exchange loss on US dollar debt conversion with $4 million less revenue in Q1 26 than Q1 25 and $10 million higher. Cost of sales operating income was $14 million lower than the comparative period in 25, but with increased finance expenses and a higher FX loss, net income was $31 million lower and cash from operations $16 million lower than Q1 2025. Turning to the balance sheet since the year end the most significant changes are inventories increased by $54 million to 206 million which is comparable to the balance at the same time last year.

Steve Thomas (Chief Financial Officer)

That increase has been driven by a $47 million increase in consumables, notably 55 million litres of fuel from the winter road deliveries. Rough diamond values increased by 6.5 million, reflecting a volume increase from 643,000 carats at the year end to 768,000 carats at the end of Q1. And lastly all stockpile value stayed relatively flat at about $53.5 million despite a slight decrease in total tonnes from 2.31 million to now 2.28 million …

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Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INO) reported first-quarter financial results on Wednesday. The transcript from the company’s first-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

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Summary

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc reported a net loss of $19.7 million for Q1 2026, with operating expenses dropping by 13% compared to the previous year.

The company’s lead candidate, INO 3107, is under active FDA review with an anticipated PDUFA date of October 30, 2026, and is being considered for accelerated approval.

Inovio is advancing its commercial readiness plans for INO 3107, leveraging insights from the RRP community and preparing for a potential U.S. launch.

The company is collaborating with Akizo Inc. to evaluate INO 5412 for glioblastoma treatment, and is advancing its next-gen DNA medicine platform, including DProt technology for rare diseases.

Inovio strengthened its balance sheet with a $16 million public equity offering, projecting cash runway into Q1 2027, with a net cash burn of approximately $18 million for Q2 2026.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc First Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. At this time all lines are in listen only mode. Following the presentation we will conduct a question and answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. I would now like to turn the conference over to Jenny Wilson. Please go ahead.

Jenny Wilson (Moderator)

Good afternoon and thank you for joining the INOVIO First Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. Joining me today on Today’s call are Dr. Jackie Shea, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Mike Sumner, Chief Medical Officer Steve Egy, Chief Commercial Officer and Peter Keys, Chief Financial Officer. Today’s call will review our corporate and for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 as well as provide a general business update. Following prepared remarks we will conduct question and answer segment. During the call we will be making forward looking statements regarding future events and the future performance of the company. These statements relate to our business plans to develop Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc’s DNA Medicines platform, including the FDA’s ongoing review of our BLA for INO 3107 including the October 30, 2026 PDUFA target date and our yet scheduled meeting with the FDA to discuss eligibility for the Accelerated Approval program. Our belief that INO 3107 fulfills the criteria for accelerated approval the potential benefits of INO3107, including our belief that it has a positively differentiated product profile and the potential to become the preferred product by patients and their physicians if approved the anticipated commercial launch of INO3107 if approved and our engagement of commercial partners in preparation for a potential launch our collaboration with Akizo Inc. To evaluate INO 5412 in combination with a novel dual checkpoint inhibitor for the potential treatment of gbm the advancement of our DPROT technology platform, capital resources, including our estimated operational net cash burn of approximately 18 million for the second quarter of 2026 and the expected sufficiency of our cash resources into first quarter of 2027 and our expectations regarding competition, market size and acceptance of INO 3107 if approved. All of these statements are based on the beliefs and expectations of management as of today. Actual events or results could differ materially. We refer you to the documents we file from time to time with the SEC which under the heading Risk Factors, identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed by the Company. Verbally as well as statements made within this afternoon’s press release. This call is being webcast live and a link can be found on our website ir.inovio.com and a replay will be made available shortly after this call is concluded. I will now turn the call over to Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc’s President and CEO, Dr. Jackie Shea.

Dr. Jackie Shea

Good afternoon and thank you to everyone for joining today’s call. These are very busy times at Inovio as we remain focused on achieving our top priority advancing our lead candidate, INO3107 through the regulatory process and toward its October 30th target PDUFA date. Our goal is to ensure that every patient with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis or RRP, has access to a therapeutic option that can work for them to reduce the need for surgery if approved. We believe that our innovative therapy has the potential to become the preferred product

Dr. Jackie Shea

for patients suffering from rrp, a rare and debilitating disease of the respiratory tract with a critically high unmet need for effective non surgical treatment options. The BLA for 3107 has been in active review since December when the FDA accepted the file for review under the Accelerated Approval Program. While Mike will provide a more in depth regulatory update, I’d like to comment on a couple of key highlights. The FDA recently completed their standard mid cycle review with no new significant issues being raised and scheduled the late cycle

Dr. Jackie Shea

review for the third quarter. As you will recall from our last quarterly update, the FDA had previously agreed to an informal meeting to discuss the potential review issue they noted in their file acceptance letter regarding eligibility for review under the Accelerated Approval Program. As a part of communications about the mid cycle review, they reiterated their intent to schedule that meeting and we look forward to the discussion. While we make progress with 3107 on the regulatory front, we’ve been advancing our commercial readiness plans, including continuing to gather key strategic insights from the RRP community, and while the majority of our resources are focused on 3107, we’re continuing to leverage the power of partnerships to advance other promising candidates in our pipeline, including an exciting opportunity to work with Akizo and the Dana Fabra Cancer Institute to build on our previous Immuno Oncology work in glioblastoma or gbm. We’re also advancing our innovative next generation candidates and are pleased to have recently presented promising preclinical data on our DNA encoded protein or DProt technology work targeting factor 8 production in hemophilia A and announced two new rare disease targets in fabri disease and hypophosphatasia for the platform.

Dr. Jackie Shea

We are laser focused on these strategic priorities and excited about what’s ahead for Inovio as we work to deliver on the promise of DNA medicine for patients. I’ll now turn it over to Mike for some additional details on our regulatory progress with 3107.

Mike Sumner (Chief Medical Officer)

Mike thanks Jackie. As Jackie noted, since our BLA for INO 3107 was accepted for review under the Accelerated Approval Program In December of 2025, the FDA has been actively reviewing our submission. We have been responding to routine requests for information and meeting regular milestones in the review process, including the FDA completing its mid cycle review of our bla where no new significant issues were raised at the time of the mid cycle review.

Mike Sumner (Chief Medical Officer)

The FDA indicated that it is continuing to review the assessment aid we submitted in February which outlined our rationale for accelerated Approval program eligibility. They also reiterated their intent to schedule the previously agreed to informal meeting to discuss this potential review issue, which they noted in their file acceptance letter. In addition, we reported last quarter that we had submitted an updated protocol for our confirmatory trial to the ind, which is required under the Accelerated Approval Program. We are waiting for feedback from the agency on both the informal meeting and the confirmatory trial protocol so we can finalize the study design. We look forward to having the opportunity to discuss these issues further with the FDA and to emphasize why we believe that 3107 fulfills the criteria for accelerated approval by meeting a significant unmet need and providing a meaningful therapeutic benefit over existing treatments. I’d like to take a moment now to elaborate on that rationale. Based on published FDA guidance, our eligibility depends on the ability of 3107 to provide a meaningful therapeutic benefit over existing treatments and the ability to meet a remaining critical unmet need among patients. We believe that 3107 meets both of these criteria based on three factors. First, effectiveness as demonstrated in our phase 12 trial where the vast majority of patients experienced a 50 to 100% reduction in surgery in year one and with continued clinical improvement in year two. Second, an improved safety profile that does not include required surgery to maintain minimal residual disease during the dosing window and third, a differentiated mechanism of action that does not come with the risk of reduced clinical effectiveness due to known immune factors that impact the efficacy of the approved product, including pre existing neutralizing antibodies or an immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment, thus providing an important opportunity to treat patients who are not served by existing therapy. It is important to emphasize again that at the heart of our belief in 3107’s eligibility for accelerated approval are the patients, patients who face the risk of permanent damage to the vocal cords and significant social, …

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Alibaba Gr Hldgs (NYSE:BABA) reported fourth-quarter financial results on Wednesday. The transcript from the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

Benzinga APIs provide real-time access to earnings call transcripts and financial data. Visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/ to learn more.

The full earnings call is available at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/npqai6e2/

Watch the full earnings call below:

Summary

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd reported a 11% year-over-year revenue growth for the quarter, with Cloud Intelligence Group’s external revenue accelerating by 40% and AI-related product revenue achieving triple-digit growth for the 11th consecutive quarter.

The company highlighted substantial investments in AI and cloud infrastructure, aiming to make AI-related product revenue the primary growth engine for the cloud business, with expectations for AI product revenue to surpass 50% of cloud revenue within a year.

Total adjusted EBITDA decreased by 84% due to strategic investments, while GAAP net income increased by 96% year-over-year, driven by gains from equity investments.

The Quick Commerce segment showed significant improvements in unit economics and maintained stable market share, expecting positive UE by fiscal year 2027.

Management discussed strategic priorities focused on AI commercialization, cloud infrastructure, and consumption businesses, with expectations for significant long-term growth and improved margins.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good day ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Alibaba Group’s March quarter and full fiscal year 2026 results conference call. At this time all participants are in listen only mode. After management’s prepared remarks, there will be a Q&A session. I would now like to turn the call over to Lydia Liu, Head of Investor Relations of Alibaba. Please go ahead. Good day everyone. Thank you for joining Alibaba Group’s March quarter and full fiscal year 2026 earnings call. On the call with me are Joe Cai, Chairman Eddie Wu, Chief Executive Officer Toby Xu, Chief Financial Officer Jiang Fan, Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba E-Commerce Business Group. As a reminder, this call is being webcast live. A replay of the call will be available on our website later today. On this call we may make forward looking statements and discuss certain non Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) financial measures. The forward looking statements reflect management’s current expectations that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Our Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) results and reconciliations of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to non Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) measures is included in today’s earnings press release and investor presentation. Our comments will be on year over year comparisons unless we state otherwise. And with that, let me turn the call over to Eddie.

Eddie Wu (Chief Executive Officer)

Welcome to Alibaba Group’s fiscal year 2026 fourth quarter earnings call. Over the past quarter, Alibaba’s high intensity investment in our two strategic priorities of AI Cloud and consumption is rapidly translating into tangible business results. With group revenue growing 11% year over year this quarter, Cloud Intelligence Group’s external revenue growth accelerated to 40% and AI-related product revenue achieved triple digit growth for the 11th consecutive quarter, China E-Commerce Customer Management Revenue (CMR) grew 8% year over year on a like for like basis and the quick commerce market achieved significant unit economics improvement while maintaining market share. We are at a pivotal inflection point in the evolution from Conversational Chatbots to autonomous AI agents, which is directly driving explosive growth across three core workload categories, training, inference and agent orchestration. Against this backdrop, Alibaba’s AI’s moved beyond the initial investment phase and progressed commercialization at scale. Next, let me walk you through four areas in detail, AI commercialization, cloud infrastructure, the AI application ecosystem and our consumption business. First, the AI and cloud commercialization inflection point has arrived. This quarter, Cloud Intelligence Group’s annualized AI-related product revenue has surpassed 35.8 billion RMB. Continuing to maintain triple digit growth, AI-related product revenue now accounts for 30% of cloud intelligence Group’s external revenue. We expect that in about one year, AI-related product revenue will cross the 50% threshold, becoming the primary engine driving the cloud business’s revenue growth. As a result, Cloud Intelligence Group’s external revenue growth is expected to continue accelerating beyond its current 40% rate over the coming quarters. Given the certainty of long term AI demand and our full stack technology advantages, we expect this trajectory to sustain strong growth over the medium to long term. This reflects AI’s role in driving a comprehensive upgrade of Alibaba Cloud’s entire business. As its growth engine fully pivots from traditional compute and storage to models, AI Compute and agent services, we’re also seeing exponential growth in AI model and application services revenue. A new revenue engine driven jointly by foundation model services and AI-native software. Over the past three months, Token Consumption volumes on our model services platform grew substantially quarter over quarter as enterprise customers accelerated their shift from simple tasks to production scale and complex workloads, driving continued growth and demand for model and application services. On the Model Studio platform, we expect model and application services annualized recurring revenue Annualized Recurring Revenue (ARR) inclusive of the Model Studio platform to to surpass 10 billion RMB in the June quarter and 30 billion RMB by year end. The higher margin profile of this revenue stream is becoming increasingly apparent, making it a source of healthy high quality growth. Second, our AI infrastructure underpins our full technology stack and constitutes a durable moat. T Head’s proprietary GPU chips have achieved scaled mass production with over 60% of compute capacity already serving external customers across Internet financial services and autonomous driving verticals. As the only AI Cloud provider in China capable of delivering self developed AI chips at scale, we’ve secured autonomy over our compute supply chain while providing customers with highly competitive AI inference and training services. In an environment of compute scarcity, this structural advantage is favorable to our revenue growth and gross margin improvement. At the same time, our cloud products are accelerating their AI-oriented upgrade. The surge in agent workloads has significantly elevated demand for traditional cloud products built around CPU storage and containers, and we’re upgrading these into infrastructure solutions optimized for the agent era. Third, at the application layer, we’ve built a complete closed loop spanning AI-native software to a full agent ecosystem. Alibaba Token Hub ATH continues to launch new products connecting consumer and enterprise environments with breakthrough progress in AI-native software and coding agents. The Q1 model continues to iterate across reasoning, coding and agentic capabilities. On the enterprise side, we’ve launched a range of products spanning intelligent workplace tools, AI coding and business operations management, helping enterprises unlock greater productivity. On the consumer side, the Kuwin app, fully integrated Taobao and Tmall’s commerce service capabilities on May 7 with this Kuwan app is now deeply embedded across the ecosystem spanning Taobao, Alipay, Amap and Fliggy, making it China’s first all in one personal assistant to seamlessly bridge everyday life, productivity and learning. Fourth, across our consumption business and at the group level, we’re prioritizing long term value beyond AI Our consumption strategy continues to progress steadily with Customer Management Revenue (CMR) growth rebounding significantly this quarter. Customer Management Revenue (CMR) grew 8% year over year on a like for like basis as we continue to improve user experience and merchant operating efficiency. The quick commerce business achieved significant unit economics improvement while maintaining stable market share market scale. In summary, the return on our investments in AI, cloud and consumption are increasingly clear. AI plus Cloud revenue growth is accelerating with improving margins model and application services. Annualized Recurring Revenue (ARR) continues to grow at pace and operating efficiency across our consumption business continues to improve. Facing the historical opportunity that AI represents, Alibaba is at a pivotal juncture where our technology investments are beginning to pay off commercially. We’ll maintain our strategic resolve and leverage our full stack AI capabilities to support long term growth. That concludes my prepared remarks. Next, I’ll hand over to Toby to walk you through our financial results. Thank you.

Toby Xu (Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you Eddie. Our strategic priorities remain laser focused on AI cloud and consumption businesses. Multiple growth catalysts including technological advancement and business innovation are aligning to create strong tailwinds on AI cloud. Our full stack capabilities span models, cloud infrastructure and applications with established leadership in every layer. The strong growth of our AI cloud businesses and the clear path to monetization of our Model as a Service (MaaS) platform give us confidence to make significant investments to extend our leadership on consumption. We achieved a strong CMR growth on a like for like basis during the quarter and our quick commerce business continued to improve User Experience (UE) and Average Order Value (AOV) quarter over quarter. Now let’s look at the financial results for this quarter on a consolidated basis. Total revenue was Renminbi (RMB) 243.4 billion excluding revenue from Sun Art and Intime revenue on like for like basis would have grown by 11%. Total adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) decreased 84% primarily due to our strategic investments in technology businesses, quick commerce and user experience partly offset by the improved operating results supported by continued growth in consumer management service in the cloud business and enhanced operating efficiencies across various businesses. Our GAAP net income was Renminbi (RMB) 23.5 billion, an increase of 96% primarily attributable to the year over year increase in net gain from mark to mark changes of our equity investments and disposal losses of sundown and Intime. In the same quarter last year, partly offset by the decrease in adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA). Operating cash flow was an inflow of Renminbi (RMB) 9.4 billion. Free cash flow was an outflow of Renminbi (RMB) 17.3 billion. We are reinvesting our operating cash flow to enhance our competitive advantage in AI. As of March 31, 2026, we held approximately US$38 Billion in net cash excluding debt with maturities beyond five years, our net cash position stands at approximately 59 billion. This balance sheet strength gives us confidence to invest for growth. Now let’s look at our consumption businesses. Revenue from China E Commerce group was Renminbi (RMB)122 billion, an increase of 6%. Customer management revenue increased by 1%. To help merchants grow their businesses and increase willingness to spend our platform, we upgraded our business development program for select merchants during the quarter under which the level of platform subsidies for these merchants is directly tied to their marketing spend on our platform for accounting purpose. Such subsidies, previously recorded as sales and marketing expenses are now recorded as a contract revenue item to CMR. Accordingly, CMR grow 1% year over year during the quarter excluding the contract revenue impact from the program on a like for like basis, CMR would have grown 8% year over year. Revenue from our quick commerce business increased 57% to Renminbi (RMB) 20 billion. The quick commerce business further improved User Experience (UE) and increased the Average Order Value (AOV) quarter over quarter primarily driven by order mix optimization. Alibaba China E Commerce Group adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) was on the 24 billion, a decrease of 40% primarily due to the investment in quick commerce user experience and technology. While there’s positive contribution from customer management service excluding loss from our quick commerce …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Compass Pathways (NASDAQ:CMPS) reported first-quarter financial results on Wednesday. The transcript from the company’s first-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

Benzinga APIs provide real-time access to earnings call transcripts and financial data. Visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/ to learn more.

Access the full call at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/144892287

Summary

Compass Pathways PLC reported a productive quarter with positive data from both Phase 3 studies of COM360, which demonstrated rapid and durable efficacy for treatment-resistant depression (TRD).

The company is preparing for a potential accelerated launch of COM360, with plans to be launch-ready by the end of the year, supported by strong financials that extend into 2028.

Strategic initiatives include ongoing collaboration with the FDA for a rolling NDA submission and engagement with the DEA for potential rescheduling of COM360, as well as advancing trials for PTSD.

Operational highlights include building out a commercial team, leveraging strategic collaborations for market readiness, and securing CPT3 codes for psychedelic treatment reimbursements.

Management expressed high confidence in the regulatory process and the potential market impact of COM360, noting strong interest and readiness among treatment centers.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good day ladies and gentlemen and welcome to The Compass Pathways 1st Quarter Results Conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. Now, I’d like to introduce your host for today’s call, Stephen Schultz. You may begin. Welcome all of you and thank you

Stephen Schultz (Senior Vice President Investor Relations)

for joining us today for this conference call. I’m Steve Schultz, Senior Vice President Investor Relations at Compass Pathways and today I’m joined by Kabir Nath, our Chief Executive Officer, and Lori Engelbert, our Chief Commercial Officer. Terry Loxam, our Chief Financial Officer and Dr. Steve Levine, our Chief Patient Officer will be available for the Q and A. The call is being recorded and will be available on the Compass Pathways investor relations website shortly after the conclusion of the call and will be available for a period of 30 days. Before we begin, let me remind everyone that during the call today, we will be making statements about our future plans and prospects that constitute forward looking statements. Each forward looking statement is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those projected in that statement, including those risks and uncertainties described under the heading Risk Factors in our most recent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward looking statements represent our views only as of today and we specifically disclaim any obligation to update or revise any forward looking statement, even if our estimates or assumptions change. I’ll now hand the call to Kabir Nat.

Kabir Nath

Thank you Steve. And thank you all for joining us today. It has been a very exciting and productive quarter for Compass. The company continues to lead the way in psychedelic science, validated by the confirmation of a rolling NDA submission and review and the award of a Commissioner’s national priority voucher or CNPV. With our 005 and 006 data announcement in February, we have delivered positive data from Both our Phase 3 studies. COMP360 has therefore demonstrated what no approved drug for TRD offers. Clinically meaningful efficacy with both rapid onset and extended durability. In fact, these extraordinary results redefine rapidity and durability for TRD patients with only one drug approved and actually used for TRD today, we are confident that COMF360, with its differentiated and compelling profile, will be an important option for the millions of patients that have been failed by the many approved treatments for MDD. After we announced results of our first positive phase 3 trial last year and based on discussions with the FDA, we began preparing for a potential accelerated launch. As we’ve said before, we will be launch ready by the end of this year. We’ve aligned with the FDA on our rolling submission and review plan and have begun submitting modules for the COMP360 NDA. We will continue to submit additional modules on a rolling basis over the coming months. Part B data from 006, which we continue to expect in early Q3, will be the final data set to complete the submission. Given the award of the cmpv. We are already working closely with the FDA to enable as much efficiency and acceleration as possible. In addition, based on the Executive Order, we are accelerating our engagement with the DEA since there is the potential for federal rescheduling to be completed sooner than the current statutory 90 days post FDA approval. Our two large phase 3 trials, blinded to an unprecedented 26 weeks for psychiatry trials supported by our large phase 2b trial, has resulted in over 1000 patients in the program with comprehensive and strong preclinical toxicology, safety and CMC data. We are confident that we will have a robust NDA submission that supports a COMP360 approval. We’ve also continued to make great progress in our commercial preparedness which Laurie will cover in detail. Our strategic collaborations across diverse settings of care, including the interventional psychiatry infrastructure, have provided significant learnings together with our foresight in establishing CPT Category III codes specifically for providers to get fully reimbursed for psychedelic monitoring. This has set us up well for a potential near term launch. We are ramping up rapidly building out the commercial team with outstanding highly motivated talent and initiating all activities in anticipation of approval. In addition to TRD, we are also progressing our program in PTSD which affects 13 million Americans. PTSD is another significant area of unmet need and an opportunity to expand COMP360 to individuals that have few medical options. We believe COMP360 can be an important new treatment for PTSD and it is a very logical next target indication for compass. Our work with the Contract Research Organization (CRO) and sites for our late stage PTSD trial is underway and we look forward to updating you as it progresses. With both the successful financing and warrant exercises in the first quarter, we have a strong balance sheet with cash that carries us well beyond launch and into 2028. Let me now hand the call to Laurie for more on our commercial preparations.

Lori Engelbert

Thank you Kabir hi everyone and thank you for joining today. There are 4 million patients with MDD who are considered treatment resistant. Spravato (esketamine), the only drug indicated and used for TRD, is expected to reach 3 billion in revenue by 2027 and as of 2025 was treating less than 2% of the TRD patient population. We believe that if approved, COMP360 will reach blockbuster potential by offering a transformative new treatment for the millions of patients who deserve more options. As Kabir noted, we are pleased to have been selected for the Commissioner’s Priority Review Voucher. One benefit of being selected for the voucher includes the potential for an ultra accelerated review timeline of one to two months after final NDA submission. This provides helpful clarity on timing expectations and allows for more thoughtful and focused planning efforts based on the current timelines for data and submission. We remain focused on being launch ready by the end of the year. Last month the White House also issued an Executive order recognizing the profound urgency of the mental health crisis facing millions of Americans and the potential impact FDA approved psychedelics could have. In that executive order, timely rescheduling of approved treatments was stated as a priority. As a Schedule 1 product, COMP360 will need to be rescheduled at both the federal and state level after approval in order to be prescribed. We are accelerating work with the DEA to ensure rescheduling at the federal level goes as rapidly and smoothly as possible. We have also been working at the state level with the past two years to ensure that the states follow the federal rescheduling decision in a timely manner. Over the past two years we have made significant progress and today almost 90% of the US population live in a state that intends to reschedule COMP360 within 30 days after FDA approval and DEA rescheduling. Through this work we have markedly reduced the timeline to launch and for patients to access COMP360 after approval. Enabling broad and equitable access includes ensuring that both COMP360 and provider monitoring time are adequately reimbursed. Kabir mentioned earlier the work we did a few years ago on securing psychedelic specific CPT Category III codes which will ensure that sites are reimbursed fully for the time required for psychedelic treatment monitoring. These codes are billable by the hour and were designed to cover clinical work and practice expenses incurred with multi hour psychedelic treatments. We are also accelerating reimbursement and formulary discussions for COMP360 with payers. TRD has a significantly greater impact on individuals lives and accounts for a disproportionate share of health care costs versus MDD. TRD patients accrue 62% more mental health care costs and experience 41% higher work related cost costs than MDD patients. COMP360 has consistently demonstrated through three late stage trials, clinical effects and a well tolerated safety profile in a TRD patient population and we expect payers to respond favorably to the emerging clinical profile and potential value that COMP360 can bring to the healthcare system. Along with enabling access to COMP360, we want to ensure that the clinical experience for the patient is the site of care is positive. This requires thoughtful consideration of how we deploy the field force and how we educate, train and prepare patients and the sites that will be administering COMP360. Through the insights generated through our growing Medical Science Liaison team, through market research and through continued close work with our strategic collaborations, we have a deep understanding of what is required to enable a well prepared and well supported COP360 experience. Lastly, but notably, we have been rapidly building the commercial organization in preparation for launch. This includes bringing an extremely experienced commercial leadership team that has collectively launched over 50 products. This level of experience is remarkable and we are privileged to have such an impressive team leading launch preparation for COMP360. COMP360 has the potential to fundamentally change the way that patients living with depression are cared for. A COMPASS is committed to helping as many patients as possible. With COMP360 expected to be first to market in a highly anticipated new class for mental health, COMPASS is at the forefront of shaping the future of psychiatric patient care. We are strongly positioned to successfully launch COMP360 and I look forward to updating you more on our progress. Thank you and let me hand the call back to Kabir for closing remarks.

Kabir Nath

Thank you Laurie. This is an incredibly exciting and defining time for patients and compass. We are confident in the rigor and robustness of our development program to demonstrate the benefit of COMP360. We have conducted our program to the highest standards which we believe must be paramount in this new field of psychedelic science. We now have data from three robust, well controlled clinical trials that enrolled over 1,000 participants, including over 800 from two successful pivotal phase three trials. I do want to underscore the difficulty of establishing efficacy in Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD) with only two medicines ever having been approved. Despite multiple efforts that COMP360 has consistently demonstrated a clinically meaningful, rapid and durable effect and a generally safe and well tolerated profile is a remarkable achievement and one that promises to be a transformative new offering for those living with trd. I want to sincerely thank our investigators, trial site teams and most importantly the participants whose commitment and trust has made this progress possible. Thank you and let me now pass the call to the operator for Q and A.

OPERATOR

Thank you. The floor is now open for questions. If you have dialed in and would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad to raise your hand and join the queue. If you would like to withdraw your question, simply press star one again. If you are called upon to ask a question and are listening via a loudspeaker on your device, please pick up your handset and ensure that your phone is not on mute when asking your question. Your first question comes from the line of Andrew Tsai of Jefferies. Your line is open. Hi, good morning. Congrats on the great progress and the great news. I had two questions. The first one is, you know, based on your guys ongoing FDA discussions, has the FDA given you any inclination whether there will be an ADCOM or not for comp360? Because on one hand the review timelines could be really accelerated and you know, FDA does, but then FDA does seem to be doing away adcoms and then I can’t help but think that Lyco’s got one and maybe it could be prudent for the FDA to hold one. So I’d be curious to know what you guys, where you guys lean here. Thank you.

Kabir Nath

Thank you. Andrew, it’s Kabir. I’m just checking that you can hear us clearly. I can hear you. Yeah. Great, thanks. So, thank you. Yes. So it is the FDA’s decision and the FDA’s decision only around whether or not to hold an advisory committee. They will only make that determination once they see the totality of the data we’ve submitted. We will be prepared for one and that is in our planning if necessary. But at the moment we do not have an indication of whether or not that’s likely to happen.

Andrew Tsai (Equity Analyst)

Got it. And then secondly, when you share the 26-week Part B data from COMP360, the second one in early Q3, would you consider sharing a cut of the additional 26 week long Part C portion of the 005 study,, your first study in conjunction with that top line release? If not in early Q3, then can we expect maybe a cut before you’re possibly approved? I figure it’s open label and then sharing additional long term data could be helpful or important for pricing or labeling discussions..

Kabir Nath

So. Thanks Andrew. Yes. So I mean from a timing perspective you’re right that the 52 weeks of 005 clearly run in parallel with that. We haven’t made a final determination of what we’ll share at one point, but I hear you clearly in terms of the Value potentially for payers and for commercial purposes. So that’s a decision we will come to in due course.

Andrew Tsai (Equity Analyst)

Great, thank you. Thanks.

Francois Brisebois (Equity Analyst)

Your next question comes from the line of Francois Brisebois of LifeSci Capital LLC. Your line is open. Yep, thank you. Very well said on the. Francois. Yeah, that’s great. So just quickly here in terms of the third-quarter data for implications, can you help us understand maybe what the expectations are and you know, why is it still a gating factor to complete the filing based on the developments that have happened recently, I just want to kind of better understand what that data is and how important it is for launch here.

Kabir Nath

Thanks. And Francois, may I call you Frank, please. Frank is totally fine. Thanks. Thanks for the question, Frank. So, yeah, clearly and just for complete clarity, we had already aligned on our rolling submission plan with the FDA before the executive order and the award of the cmpv. So we had already fully aligned with the psychiatry division on what we were going to do and the timeframes in which we were going to do it. That hasn’t changed. And I think it’s really important to note that the CMPV potentially accelerates the end part of this process, the final review. But it’s been very clear in our discussions with the agency that in no way does it change the evidentiary basis needed for approval. So from our perspective, we remain on track with the filing strategy we laid out with a rolling submission, and that does Indeed include the 26 weeks of 06, which we see as significant in terms of really finalizing the profile and again for commercial purposes.

Francois Brisebois (Equity Analyst)

Okay, great. Thank you. And then can you give us a little more color on the reimbursement and maybe the CPT Category III codes where maybe the evolution of it. Is there anything else that we need from the CPT angle between now and approval and after. And then just a little more color on. There’s a lot of discussions about the support, the psychological support, and kind of the prep. And then, you know, maybe the amount of people that you would expect to be in a room and their qualifications. Just on the commercial side, you know, thoughts around those, those ideas. Thank you.

Kabir Nath

I’ll hand that question to Steve.

Steve Levine (Chief Patient Officer)

Thanks, Kabir. Hi, Frank. On the CPT portion of the question, in terms of the work remaining for the CPT Category III codes, they are in a Category 3 form at the moment, which is their tracking form. As those codes are reported more and they have started to be reported in a limited number of cases, it really will require our approval and launch for them to be reported in greater quantity. But as they’re reported, that will enable the American Medical association with their RUC (Relative Value Scale Update Committee), which is an acronym for the Relative Value Unit Update Committee with representation from American Psychiatric Association (APA), to do their work to understand the work involved in delivering this treatment and the practice expenses in order for them to …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Activist hedge fund Saba Capital has emerged victorious in a battle to take control of a London-listed investment fund, ousting its chair and five other board members in a shareholder vote, after it sold 35% of its holdings in Elon Musk‘s SpaceX.

A Bitter Feud Over A Potential SpaceX IPO

Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust shareholders voted on April 30 to remove Chair Jonathan Simpson-Dent and the five other directors, to install three nominees backed by Saba Capital.

The result hands control of the firm, which is focused on growth investments in cutting-edge tech companies, to Boaz Weinstein‘s firm. The activist feud was ignited over EWIT’s decision to sell off a portion of its stake in SpaceX last year.

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According to media reports in December, EWIT had made a 950% return on its 2018 investment in a private offering of shares in Musk’s space exploration company. Saba Capital demanded transparency on the timing of the sale, ahead of a potential blockbuster IPO for SpaceX.

Saba had criticized EWIT’s sale of around 35% of its SpaceX stake in October, which they said was to support a “self-serving” merger with parent company Baillie Gifford‘s U.S. Growth Trust.

Saba Extends Its UK Revolution With Herald Deal

Saba has been targeting several UK investment funds, and its win against EWIT has led to a standstill agreement with Herald Investment Trust.

Trending: From Apple to Tesla — The Stocks Driving a Leveraged ETF Revolution for Retail Traders

On Thursday, the trust proposed a 66% tender offer to halt any further action from Saba, which owns a 30% stake in the fund. It was also announced that Aberdeen Investments will become the manager of Herald, with lead manager Katie Potts joining Aberdeen as part of the deal.

Saba has also agreed to similar deals regarding eight other London-listed Aberdeen investment trusts, with combined assets of $17 billion, assuming their boards agree, CNBC reported.

“This is what shareholder engagement looks like when boards act in the interests of the people they serve,” Weinstein said on Thursday. “And it is what Saba will keep demanding across the UK investment trust sector.”

See Also: From the International Space Station to everyday use — this NASA-tested diagnostics platform is moving toward at-home lab testing

Hunting Private Credit Deals With $1B Capital Raise

Saba Capital is now looking to raise $1 billion to invest in the struggling private credit sector, Reuters reported. Saba Capital emerged as a spin-out from a proprietary team that Weinstein founded at Deutsche Bank.  

Weinstein has reportedly said in interviews that he is “buying ​pessimism” after some high-profile losses in the sector, which brought redemption pressure from investors. 

Interest in alternative and thematic investing has also fueled demand for more personalized portfolio tools. Some platforms now allow investors to create custom indexes built around specific sectors, trends or market ideas using AI-powered investing technology.

Read Next: This …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

David Woodcock, director of the Division of Enforcement at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, flagged private funds as an area the agency is watching closely amid turmoil in the private credit space.

The $3.5 trillion private credit market is facing increasing scrutiny amid rising concerns about liquidity, valuations, and risks tied to AI. Major banks have reported more than $108 billion in exposure.

“Private investment markets and efforts to broaden access to retail investors can be quite positive, but we must, and will, remain vigilant. We are attuned to potential risks relating to liquidity, fees, valuations, and conflicts of interest—not only at the private fund adviser level but throughout the distribution chain. Firms must ensure their representatives understand the products they sell and the investment profiles, risk tolerance, and liquidity needs of their clients,” Woodcock said during the MFA Legal & Compliance conference.

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Coding tools could make companies with weak, replaceable software more vulnerable in the artificial intelligence era, according to PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ:PYPL) co-founder Max Levchin.

“It’s long overdue to get rid of bad software,” Levchin said on the “Sourcery” podcast last month.

He also called the idea of rebuilding DoorDash (NYSE:DASH) with AI the “silliest” claim, saying not all software-driven companies face the same risk.

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The App Isn’t The Hard Part 

Levchin used the food delivery company to show why not every software-driven business is easy to rebuild with coding tools. 

“DoorDash is not important by way of having a great app,” Levchin told podcast host Molly O’Shea. “It’s important because it integrates with all your favorite restaurants.”

Levchin said the company is unlikely to be replaced unless AI tools can handle calling restaurants, negotiating with owners, installing the right tablets and software, and extracting menus.

The Bar For Software Is Rising Fast

Levchin identified the most vulnerable companies as those selling software without proprietary data or any unique advantage.

“The bar for quality of software is going up rapidly,” he said.

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Levchin told O’Shea that some software could still be used even if it had a bad interface, as long as it served an important function. He said that not wanting to hire engineers or build the same thing no longer works.

“If you really hate some piece of software that you’re using and it just doesn’t have some deep sort of proprietary data, proprietary source of value, it will get replaced,” he said.

The Prototype Era Got A Shortcut 

Large language model-powered tools can help builders move from an idea to a prototype and toward production-ready software much faster, Levchin said on the podcast. 

Developers who understand software can use these tools to build products themselves, not just prototypes, he said. He pointed to building his own iOS app to replace a home remote-control setup, saying tools helped him move past the setup work and focus on the functionality he wanted.

“The barrier to entry into an area of programming that you’ve never done before is nil,” Levchin said.

Levchin’s comments reflect a broader shift in how AI is reshaping software development and digital work. Some investors are also watching startups building next-generation productivity platforms, including one pre-IPO company whose immersive workspace technology is already used by more than 1.5 million professionals.

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Building a …

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Jensen Huang boarded Air Force One during a refueling stop in Anchorage on Tuesday, joining President Donald Trump’s Beijing summit at the last minute, just as short seller Culper Research published a 40-page report alleging that Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) never really left China.

NVDA topped a $5.5 trillion market cap on Wednesday, the first company in history to hit the level. Earnings land May 20.

The Culper Allegations

Culper, which disclosed it is short the stock, alleges that more than 20% of Nvidia’s FY 2026 compute revenue was still driven by China through illegal GPU diversion and Southeast Asian intermediaries, despite Huang’s repeated claim that the company is “100% out of China.”

The report’s central claim involves Megaspeed International, reportedly Nvidia’s largest chip buyer in Southeast Asia.

Culper says corporate filings show Megaspeed’s Malaysian …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

The question surrounding Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) heading into its next earnings report is not whether the company belongs among the AI trade’s biggest winners. That debate ended a long time ago. The more pressing question is whether a business already generating tens of billions in AI-related revenue can keep growing fast enough to justify a valuation that has briefly crossed $2 trillion.

Citi’s answer, for now, is yes. Analyst Atif Malik raised his price target on the stock from $475 to $500 on May 12, kept his Buy rating in place, and named Broadcom his top semiconductor pick for 2026. The timing was deliberate. Broadcom reports its fiscal second-quarter results on June 3, and Malik is going on record ahead of the print rather than reacting to it afterward, a meaningful signal of conviction given how far the stock has already traveled.

The Numbers Behind the Confidence

The bullish case starts with what Broadcom has already delivered. In its most recent quarter, the company posted revenue of $19.3 billion, up 30% year over year, with AI semiconductor revenue coming in at $8.4 billion, more than doubling from the same period a year earlier. Those are not the numbers of a company riding a temporary wave. They reflect a business that has become structurally embedded in how the world’s largest technology firms build their AI systems.

Management has guided for revenue of roughly $22 billion in the June quarter, representing nearly 47% year-over-year growth, with AI semiconductor revenue projected at $10.7 billion. Analysts are modeling earnings per share of around $2.32, compared with $1.60 in the same quarter last year.

Underpinning …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Birkenstock Holding plc (NYSE:BIRK) shares fell on Wednesday after the company reported second-quarter adjusted EPS below estimates and margin pressure tied to unfavorable currency translation, evolving U.S. tariff policies and ongoing instability in the Middle East.

Despite the softer profitability, the German shoemaker posted double-digit constant-currency revenue growth across all regions, led by APAC, and reaffirmed its 2026 sales and adjusted EPS guidance.

What Happened?

Birkenstock reported second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 59 cents, missing the analyst consensus estimate of 70 cents. Quarterly sales of $724.068 million outpaced the Street view of $723.930 million.

Revenue increased 8% on a reported basis and 14% in constant currency.

The company reported double-digit constant-currency revenue growth across all regions, led by APAC with 30% growth, followed by the Americas at 14% and EMEA at 11%. On …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Anthropic will meet behind closed doors with the House Committee on Homeland Security today to walk lawmakers through Mythos, the company’s cybersecurity-focused AI system. The session lands as Washington’s anxiety about artificial intelligence safety and national security keeps climbing.

Three people familiar with the plans reported that the discussion is expected to center on Mythos’ “capabilities, national security implications, and policy considerations.” 

The briefing is scheduled as a private meeting with the panel. Anthropic representatives expected to lead the presentation include Logan Graham, head of Anthropic’s Frontier Red team, and Josh Tilstra, who works in the company’s national security programs and policy.

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is pressing Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) for more details about its stablecoin creator payment plans, raising concerns about potential risks.

“The lack of transparency regarding the details of Meta’s stablecoin-related plans is deeply troubling,” Warren said in a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg dated May 6, warning the plans “could have serious implications for competition, privacy, the integrity of our payments system, and financial stability.”

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Warren, the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, said Congress must understand Meta’s plans as it considers cryptocurrency market structure legislation. The Clarity Act bill is scheduled for a vote by the committee soon.

Warren asked Meta about privacy guardrails, illicit finance controls and whether there is any profit-sharing agreement with the third-party stablecoin issuer.

Warren also asked if Meta has decided on a stablecoin. 

However, Meta last month said it now supports Circle Internet Group’s (NYSE:CRCL) USDC stablecoin for creator payments in Colombia and the Philippines. The service requires creators to use third-party wallets, with Meta suggesting popular options such as MetaMask and Phantom.

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Warren and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) in a 2025 letter to Zuckerberg over reported Meta stablecoin plans warned about the volatility of stablecoins, citing a 2023 USDC depegging event following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which held some of the token’s reserves.

Meta’s cryptocurrency moves have been subject to intense scrutiny since its attempt to launch the Libra token project. The project announced in 2019 was shut down in 2022 amid significant regulatory pushback. The token would have allowed Meta to exploit user transaction data for its advertising business, Warren said in her letter last week. 

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Building a resilient portfolio means thinking beyond a single asset or market trend. Economic cycles shift, sectors rise and fall, and no one investment performs well in every environment. That’s why many investors look to diversify with platforms that provide access to real estate, fixed-income opportunities, professional financial …

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eToro Group Ltd (NASDAQ:ETOR) reported upbeat earnings for the first quarter on Tuesday.

The company posted quarterly earnings of 91 cents per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of 73 cents per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $2.439 billion which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $229.869 million.

“I’m incredibly proud of the eToro team for delivering our strongest quarterly financial results as a public company, while continuing to accelerate product innovation. In the first quarter, we introduced 24/7 trading for commodities, equities and indices, added Japanese equities, and launched crypto trading in New York. …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA) on Tuesday reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and raised its fiscal-year 2026 adjusted earnings per share guidance above estimates.

Zebra reported adjusted earnings per share of $4.75, beating the consensus estimate of $4.25. In addition, it posted revenue of $1.49 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion.

Zebra raised its fiscal-year adjusted earnings per share guidance from between $17.70 and $18.30 to between $18.30 and $18.70, versus the consensus estimate of $17.74. It expects revenue growth between 10% and 14%.

The company anticipates second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of between $4.20 and $4.50, versus the consensus estimate of $4.15. Zebra expects revenue growth between 14% and 17%.

“Our strong first quarter results demonstrate the durability of demand for our innovative technology, …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

In some quiet corner of Omaha, Nebraska, there sits the largest private collection of Treasury bills ever assembled in the history of capitalism.

If it were physical, and in the highest denomination ever made to the public ($10,000 bill), it would weigh nearly 84,000 pounds – requiring a logistic operation on par with the national mint.

However, for the last four decades, T-bills have been stored in a book-entry system, which is lucky for Greg Abel, Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE:BRK) new CEO. They’re merely a digital entry on the Federal Reserve’s Fedwire system.

Yet avoiding the logistics still doesn’t free Abel from the key question: what to do with the money?

The Cash Fortress

Berkshire is still selling more stocks than it buys. According to Kingswell, the conglomerate has now been a net seller for 14 consecutive quarters, even as it sits on a concentrated portfolio dominated by Apple, American Express, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, and Chevron.

Berkshire ended the first quarter with a record $380.2 billion cash position, towering over its $288 billion …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) is in the process of raising money for its third private equity fund.

The new fund, which will hold assets for longer than usual, will seek to invest in 8 to 10 companies, with cheque sizes totaling $800 million to $1 billion, Bloomberg reported.

Sources familiar with the topic told Bloomberg that the firm has told investors that it will make a more formal fundraising pitch for its core private equity fund sometime this year.

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Qnity Electronics Inc (NYSE:Q) on Tuesday delivered a stronger‑than‑expected fiscal first quarter and boosted its full‑year 2026 outlook.

Qnity posted adjusted EPS of $1.08, topping the 92 cent estimate, on revenue of $1.32 billion that came in ahead of the $1.27 billion consensus.

Qnity increased its full‑year 2026 outlook to net sales of $5.23 billion to $5.38 billion, adjusted operating EBITDA of $1.54 billion to $1.63 billion, adjusted EPS of $3.80 to $4.14, and adjusted free cash flow of $500 million to $600 million.

“Qnity had a tremendous start to the year, outperforming our expectations and delivering our eighth consecutive quarter of strong profitable organic growth with double-digit gains in both segments,” said Jon …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Cathie Wood‘s ARK Invest joined Kalshi’s $1 billion Series F last week at a $22 billion valuation, slotting the prediction market behind only SpaceX and OpenAI in the ARK Venture Fund.

Wood called prediction markets “a powerful new layer of financial infrastructure.” Kalshi will be hoping this prediction is more accurate than many of her previous ones.

A Decade Of Big Calls That Did Not Land

Morningstar analyst Amy Arnott labeled the ARK fund family the worst wealth destroyer of any U.S. fund group in 2024, estimating roughly $14.3 billion in shareholder value erased from 2014 to 2024.

That was more than double the second-worst family.

ARK Innovation ETF (NYSE:ARKK) made Teladoc Health (NYSE:TDOC) its largest position around $80 a share. Teladoc is trading under $7 today.

She loaded up on Zoom Communications (NASDAQ:ZM) near $300; the stock trades …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Ouster Inc. (NASDAQ:OUST) shares are surging on Wednesday. This rally follows a partnership announcement on Tuesday involving NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA).

Nasdaq is up 1.09% and the S&P 500 has gained 0.61%.

• Ouster stock is showing exceptional strength. Why is OUST stock up today?

Nvidia Integration Drives Momentum

Ouster announced that its new Rev8 OS digital lidar sensors are now qualified for the Nvidia Drive Hyperion platform. This platform accelerates Level 4 autonomous vehicle development.

The company’s software now features optimized plugins for the Nvidia DriveWorks SDK. This allows high-density point clouds to be ingested directly into Nvidia’s hardware.

Breakthrough in Native Color Lidar

The Rev8 family introduces the world’s first native …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

UiPath Inc. (NYSE:PATH) shares traded lower on Wednesday, while the Nasdaq is up 1.40% while the S&P 500 has gained 0.71%.

The move comes as investors weigh competitive pressure from Anthropic, which recently launched new agentic AI tools.

Investors worry these tools might disrupt the core business model of the automation leader.

On Tuesday, UiPath announced its UiPath for Coding Agents platform. This integration aims to bridge the gap between AI-generated code and enterprise governance.

Short Interest Reaches New Highs

Bearish sentiment has increased recently. Short interest in UiPath rose from 108.52 million to 115.09 million shares. Approximately 31.49% of the company’s float is now held short. At an average daily volume of 22.27 million shares, it would take short sellers 5.17 days to cover …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Vestis Corp (NYSE:VSTS) on Tuesday reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results.

Vestis reported quarterly earnings of 16 cents per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of 8 cents per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $659.400 million which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $655.311 million.

“During the second quarter, Vestis continued to advance its strategic transformation through targeted initiatives aimed at enhancing operating leverage and profitability,” said Jim Barber, President and CEO. “We realized the early benefits of these actions, with Adjusted EBITDA increasing year-over-year, supported by the first …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Arvinas Inc (NASDAQ:ARVN) reported downbeat results for the first quarter on Tuesday.

The company posted quarterly losses of 90 cents per share which missed the analyst consensus estimate of losses of 87 cents per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $15.600 million which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $18.097 million.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) announced that it is entering an exclusive global licensing agreement with Arvinas and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) for its oral PROTAC drug, VEPPANU (vepdegestrant).

“The approval of VEPPANU is a defining achievement for Arvinas and reflects the …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Global-E Online Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLBE) shares traded lower on Wednesday, even as the company reported strong momentum in cross-border commerce, supported by healthy consumer demand, expanding premium brand partnerships, and improving profitability trends.

What Happened?

The company reported first-quarter earnings of 17 cents per share, matching analyst estimates. Revenue rose 33% year over year to $252.1 million, exceeding Wall Street expectations of $250.8 million.

Adjusted gross profit increased 37% to $118.5 million, while adjusted gross margin expanded to 47% from 45.4% a year earlier.

Global-E said it continued to gain momentum across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, adding fashion, motorsports, luxury retail and specialty lifestyle brands to its platform. New European partnerships included Quadrant, Coperni, Paraboot and the Audi Revolut Formula 1 Team. In APAC, the company added …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Ralliant Corp (NYSE:RAL) on Tuesday reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and raised its FY2026 guidance above estimates.

Ralliant reported quarterly earnings of 57 cents per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of 49 cents per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $534.600 million which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $515.108 million.

Ralliant raised its FY2026 adjusted EPS guidance from $2.22-$2.42 to $2.53-$2.69, and also increased its sales guidance from $2.100 billion-$2.200 billion to $2.185 billion-$2.245 billion.

“Our first quarter performance exceeded the high end of guidance, and we are raising 2026 full year guidance,” said Tami Newcombe, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Following three consecutive quarters of sequential improvement, Test & Measurement not only …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Polymarket’s volume slid for the first time in eight months in April while rival Kalshi set another record, widening a gap that has flipped from near-parity in early March to 59-41 in Kalshi’s favor.

Monthly notional volume on Polymarket’s offshore exchange and US app slipped roughly 9% to $10.3 billion in April, per Bloomberg. Kalshi’s volume rose 13% to a record $14.8 billion.

Kalshi has pulled further ahead since, capturing 72.1% of combined weekly volume in the week ending May 4, per DeFi Rate.

Active Traders Walked Out The Door

Polymarket’s active trader count dropped from roughly 733,000 in March to about 643,000 in April, per data from The Block.

The 12% user decline tracks closely with the volume drop and suggests the slide is not purely a technical artifact.

A Polymarket spokesperson attributed the dip to …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Legend Biotech Corp (NASDAQ:LEGN) reported downbeat results for the first quarter on Tuesday.

The company posted quarterly losses of 3 cents per share which missed the analyst consensus estimate of losses of 2 cents per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $305.100 million which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $307.035 million.

“We believe CARVYKTI’s continued adoption and strong year‑over‑year growth reinforce our leadership in BCMA CAR‑T and the strength of our underlying operating model,” said Ying Huang, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Legend Biotech. “As scale continues to build, we are seeing operating leverage translate into improving margins, supporting our path toward sustainable profitability. This continued progress is enabling us …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS) reported mixed first-quarter results on Tuesday.

D-Wave reported a loss of 5 cents per share, beating the consensus estimate of a 9 cent-loss. In addition, it reported revenue of $2.85 million, missing the consensus estimate of $4.13 million and representing an 81% decrease from the prior-year first-quarter.

D-Wave also reported first-quarter bookings of $33.4 million, up 1,994% year-over-year from $1.6 million in the first quarter of 2025 and up 149% from $13.4 million in the fourth …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS) reported first-quarter 2026 results on Tuesday that topped Rosenblatt Securities forecasts, despite landing below a broad range of street estimates.

Rosenblatt Securities analyst John McPeake maintained a buy rating and a $43 price forecast on the stock, signaling significant upside from its current $22.11 price level.

Revenue Miss Attributed to Timing of System Sales

While first quarter revenue were 17% above Rosenblatt’s estimates, they trailed the wider street consensus. McPeake noted that the discrepancy stems from “mis-modeled” system sales.

McPeake said Wall Street likely pulled some system sales into the first quarter that are now expected to materialize in the second half of the year. He noted that the FAU machine and another unit are expected to ship in the second half of 2026.

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Anduril announced its Series H Funding round has raised $5 billion, putting the defense technology company’s valuation at $61 billion. The funding round was led by Josh Kushner‘s Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.

“This financing gives us the ability to continue investing aggressively in manufacturing capacity, research and development, and the infrastructure required to build and field advanced defense systems at scale,” Brian Schimpf CEO of Anduril said in an announcement made on X.

This funding round has doubled the company’s valuation from $30.5 billion in mid-2025. The firm has grown significantly from its $4.7 billion valuation in 2021, driven by AI-powered autonomous systems and surging revenue.

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A nurse who has already paid off $83,000 in student loans says the emotional and physical toll of aggressively attacking her remaining debt is starting to affect her relationship.

During a recent live on-stage episode of “The Ramsey Show,” Norah explained that she has $76,000 left to pay and is working nonstop overtime shifts to become debt-free by December 2027.

Burnout Starts To Set In

“I’m a nurse feeling burnt out from working so much overtime,” she said, adding that nearly her entire paycheck goes toward student loans.

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While the financial progress has been significant, the pace is becoming difficult to maintain. Norah admitted her partner doesn’t understand why she’s putting so much money toward debt instead of simply making minimum payments and saving the rest.

“My whole check goes towards this,” she said. “He doesn’t understand why not just pay the minimum and just save the rest?” 

When host Ken Coleman asked whether she had walked her partner through Dave Ramsey‘s Baby Steps plan, Norah laughed and revealed the bigger issue.

“He thinks it’s a cult,” she said.

The comment drew laughter from the crowd, with Coleman joking, “It’s not our fault. It’s the way you people act.”

Still, the conversation quickly shifted toward a more serious discussion about burnout, relationships and sustainability.

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Coleman praised Norah’s discipline but warned that pushing too hard can come at a cost.

“You have to listen to your heart, and you have to listen to your mind and you have to listen to your body,” he told her. “You aren’t all of a sudden a bad, lazy fake-gazelle intense person who’s not worthy of the Baby Steps if you have to dial it back a little bit.” Slowing down temporarily doesn’t erase progress.

Debt Freedom Vs. Personal Well-Being

Co-host Rachel Cruze suggested Norah build recovery periods into her debt payoff journey, including taking one or two months off from overtime work.

“It’s amazing what two months would do if you’re like, ‘Okay, I’m not going to work extra for two months,’” Cruze said.

She also suggested milestone-based breaks, such as pausing once certain debt balances are reached.

“Once I reach $50,000 left, I’m going to take a breather,” Cruze said, describing how some people mentally manage long payoff journeys.

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While Ramsey often promotes intense debt payoff strategies, many people take years to fully eliminate debt.

Cruze focused more heavily on the emotional side of the situation, especially the lack of support Norah feels from her partner. “I don’t want this to be a point of tension for you guys because you feel like you are working your butt off and no one sees you in it,” she said.

Co-host George Kamel closed the segment by encouraging Norah to release some of the pressure she has placed on herself.

“Just calculate and go, ‘Okay, I’m going to pay it off April …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Intuitive Machines Inc (NASDAQ:LUNR) shares are surging on Wednesday. The move comes as the company secures a key government contract and prepares for its first-quarter earnings report.

The Nasdaq is up 0.52% while the S&P 500 has gained 0.20%.

U.S. Space Force Selects LUNR

The primary catalyst is a new Andromeda IDIQ contract from the U.S. Space Force. Under this agreement, the company will compete to design next-generation Space Domain Awareness (SDA) capabilities.

“Our focus is to provide innovative and dependable SDA mission solutions for the U.S. Space Force,” the company stated via X on Wednesday.

The project aims to track objects in geosynchronous orbit to maintain space superiority through 2030.

This award represents the first major selection since the …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Private artificial intelligence (AI) companies are now trading at valuation multiples that public software investors have not achieved.

Data from Forge Global shows that private-market enthusiasm around AI continues to dramatically outpace valuation discipline in public equities. 

Private AI Valuations Soar Beyond Public Peers

Forge’s Private Magnificent 7, which includes OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks, xAI, Stripe, SpaceX and Anduril, has ballooned from a combined valuation of $264 billion at the beginning of 2023 to roughly $1.2 trillion.

Those seven companies alone surged 96% over the past year, compared with 34% growth for the public Magnificent 7 (Meta, Alphabet, Tesla, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia) tech stocks. This gap illustrates how aggressively private investors are pricing AI dominance relative to public-market peers, where investors are more focused on profitability, margins and cash flow efficiency.

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Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) shares are trending higher Wednesday. The move follows a wave of positive analyst adjustments after Tuesday’s robust first-quarter earnings report.

The Nasdaq is up 0.90% while the S&P 500 has gained 0.49%.

Analysts Raise Price Forecasts

Wall Street sentiment improved after Plug Power delivered a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss and stronger revenue growth.

Susquehanna analyst Biju Perincheril maintains a neutral rating but raised the price forecast from $2.75 to $3.75.

Meanwhile, George Gianarikas of Canaccord Genuity maintains a hold on the stock. He notably increased his price forecast from $2.5 to $4.

Plug Power Revenue Beats Growth Estimates

The hydrogen fuel cell company reported revenue of $163.5 million. This represents a 22% year-over-year increase. The figure easily cleared the $141.2 million estimate provided by Benzinga Pro.

The company reported a quarterly loss of 8 cents per share, narrower than analysts’ expectations of a 9-cent loss.

Management highlighted continued demand from key …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

One beginner investor thought they were doing everything right. They opened a Roth IRA in 2017, made weekly contributions without fail and assumed the brokerage firm was automatically investing the money for retirement.

Years later, they discovered the account had mostly just been sitting in cash.

“For almost 4 years, my money just sat there in cash. No growth. Nothing,” the person wrote in a recent post on Reddit’s r/RothIRA forum that quickly gained attention from others who admitted they had made similar mistakes.

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The poster explained that they didn’t realize an IRA itself isn’t an investment. Instead, it’s simply an account that holds investments. After money is deposited, the account owner still has to choose where to put it, whether that’s stocks, ETFs, mutual funds or index funds.

Many Investors Said They Made The Same Mistake

One commenter said their father unknowingly kept his retirement savings entirely in bonds for more than 20 years and “lost out on millions just from never bothering to look into where that money is being invested.”

Another person admitted they left retirement money sitting idle for years before realizing something was wrong. Others shared stories about relatives, military workers and coworkers who accidentally kept their retirement savings in cash or ultra-conservative funds that barely grew.

“I did the exact same thing,” one commenter wrote.

Another added: “I know so many people who have accidentally made this error.”

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Several people blamed the problem on poor financial education in schools. “Financial literacy is woefully undertaught in schools, or not at all,” one commenter wrote.

The original poster said they genuinely believed the IRA worked more like a savings account.

“I was young, I wasn’t following the market,” they said. “I didn’t even know IRA invested in the market. Thought it was something similar to a savings account.”

Debate Over Advisors, Index Funds And Stock Picking

The thread eventually turned into a broader debate about how beginners should invest once their money is actually in the market.

Many commenters urged new investors to keep things simple with broad index funds  instead of trying to pick individual stocks.

“The trick to making money in the markets is achieving average returns for an above-average amount of time,” one investor wrote.

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Others said beginners who don’t fully understand investing may benefit from using a financial planner or advisor instead of trying to pick individual stocks on their own.

Still, many focused less on criticizing the mistake and more on encouraging beginners to learn from it.

“The important thing is that you figured it out and are now in the market,” one person wrote.

The original poster agreed and said they shared the story mainly to help newer investors avoid making the same costly mistake.

“If you’re new, double-check your account,” they wrote. “Make sure your contributions …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Tech stocks ripped higher on Wednesday despite a sharply hotter-than-expected April Producer Price Index reading that rekindled inflation anxieties and rate-hike fears, as strength in semiconductors fueled investor sentiment.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) rallied for the sixth straight session to above $226 per share, with the company’s market cap soaring above $5.5 trillion ahead of next week’s highly awaited earnings report.

Speaking via Truth Social shortly before landing in Beijing, Trump told followers the trip – joined by Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook and a last-minute addition of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang – was aimed at “fixing the broken deal” with China while also pressing Xi to help “end the Iran problem.”

On the macro front, April wholesale prices jumped 1.4% month-over-month, nearly triple the 0.5% consensus, and headline PPI surged to 6% year-over-year against expectations of 4.8%, the hottest print in over three years.

Core PPI rose 1.0% versus 0.4% estimates, underscoring that Iran-war-driven energy inflation is now bleeding into broader pipeline pricing.

Rate traders quickly revised Fed policy path, with fed funds futures now pricing a hike more likely than a hold by year end.

Across U.S. equity markets by midday Wednesday, the tape was a classic split – large-cap growth higher, rate-sensitive cyclicals and small caps lower.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% to 7,437.67 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.4% to 49,571, dragged by 189 points of weakness in its bank and industrial components.

The Nasdaq 100 outperformed with a 0.7% gain to 29,265.56, leaning on a strong semis and clean-energy bid alongside Nvidia’s continued march. The Russell 2000 slipped 0.1% to 2,839.74.

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U.S. stocks traded mixed midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining over 1% on Wednesday.

The Dow traded down 0.24% to 49,638.96 while the NASDAQ gained 1.18% to 26,395.66. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.60% to 7,445.55.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares jumped by 1.6% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities stocks fell by 1.4%.

Top Headline

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE:BABA) shares gained around 6% on Wednesday after the e-commerce and cloud-computing company reported mixed fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 results.

The company reported quarterly revenue of $35.28 billion, up 3% from a year earlier and slightly ahead of analyst estimates of $35.23 billion. Excluding the divested Sun Art and Intime businesses, revenue increased 11% on a like-for-like basis.

Adjusted earnings per American Depositary Share came in at 9 cents, missing analyst expectations of $1.12.

Equities Trading UP
           

• Velo3D Inc (NASDAQ:VELO) shares shot up 47% to $20.66 …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Top Wall Street analysts changed their outlook on these top names. For a complete view of all analyst rating changes, including upgrades, downgrades and initiations, please see our analyst ratings page.

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Alex Bond initiated coverage on Coinshares PLC (NASDAQ:CSHR) with an Outperform rating and announces Price Target of $9. CoinShares shares closed at $6.11 on Tuesday. …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Corporacion America (NYSE:CAAP) released first-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Wednesday. Read the complete transcript below.

This transcript is brought to you by Benzinga APIs. For real-time access to our entire catalog, please visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/ for a consultation.

View the webcast at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/311785257

Summary

Corporacion America reported strong financial performance in Q1 2026, with a 7% increase in passenger traffic and a 19% rise in total revenues, driven by international travel growth, particularly in Argentina.

The company achieved a 26% increase in adjusted EBITDA with margin expansion, supported by strong contributions from Argentina, Armenia, and Brazil, while maintaining a strong balance sheet and reducing net debt.

Strategic highlights include a 35-year concession extension in Armenia with a new investment program, ongoing engagements in Iraq and Angola, and potential introduction of a dividend policy due to strong cash flow and financial flexibility.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good morning and welcome to Corporacion America Airports first quarter 2026 conference call. A slide presentation accompanies today’s webcast and is available in the Investor section of the company’s website. As a reminder, all participants are in listen only mode. There will be an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the presentation. At this time I would like to turn the call over to Patricio Iñaki Esnola, Head of Investor Relations. Patricio, please go ahead.

Patricio Iñaki Esnola

Thank you. Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us today. Speaking during today’s call will be Martina Ornequiano, our Chief Executive Officer and Jorge Arruda, our Chief Financial Officer. Before we proceed, I would like to make the following safe harbor statement. Today’s call will contain forward looking statements and I refer you to the Forward Looking Statements SECtion of our earnings release and recent filings with the SEC. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements to reflect new or changed events or circumstances. Please note that throughout this call, all references to revenues, cost, adjusted EBITDA and margin will refer to figures excluding IFRIC 12. Also, all comparisons discussed are year over year unless otherwise noted. I will now turn the call over to our CEO Martina Ornequianoo.

Martina Ornequiano

Thank you Inaki and good morning to everyone joining us today. We started 2026 with a strong first quarter performance across the business. We saw solid traffic growth, continued revenue momentum, strong profitability and further strengthening of our balance sheet. Passenger traffic increased 7% year over year supported by positive trends across all our countries of operation. International traffic remained the main driver of growth with particularly strong performance in Argentina with additional routes, higher frequencies and solid summer demand continue to support the recovery in international travel. Revenue performance was particularly encouraging with top line growth well ahead of passenger traffic. This was supported by healthy growth in international passengers and our ability to continue increasing revenue per passenger in our commercial activities. Profitability showed strong progress in the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA increased at the faster pace on traffic and margins expanded as higher revenues from flow through the cost base. Evidencing our disciplined management Argentina and Armenia were the largest contributors to EBITDA growth while other countries also posted positive year over year performance. We closed the quarter with a strong balance sheet. Leverage declined further providing significant flexibility to invest in our operations, pursue disciplined growth opportunities and consider the implementation of a dividend policy. Finally, it is important to highlight the resilience of Armenia. Despite the regional geopolitical situation, the business continued to perform well supported by increased connectivity and the lower than anticipated impact from the Middle East conflict. Overall this was a strong start of the year and reinforces the resilience of our portfolio and the benefits of our diversified platform. Moving on to passenger Traffic on slide 4, we posted a strong performance across our operations with nearly 22 million passengers traveling across our airports. Growth was mainly driven by international travel, which increased nearly 14% with positive contributions from every country in the portfolio and double digit growth in Argentina, Italy and Ecuador. Domestic traffic was broadly stable in the quarter. Growth in Brazil and Ecuador offset software domestic volumes in Argentina and Italy, where performance was affected by capacity constraints, operational disruptions and In Argentina, the 24 hour nationwide strike in February. Looking at the main markets in Argentina, passenger traffic increased close to 6% year over year. International traffic growth remained very strong, up 19%, driven by traffic with Brazil and the Caribbean and solid demand during the Summer and Carnival periods. Domestic traffic was slightly lower, mainly reflecting temporary free constraints at some of the airlines, together with a one day nationwide labor strike in February that disrupted operations. Even with these headwinds, key leisure destinations such as Bariloche, Cordoba, Iguazu and Mendoza performed well during the quarter. In Italy, traffic grew just over 7% driven by international passengers, which accounted for close to 80% of total traffic and increased more than 10% year over year. Both Florence and Pisa contributed to this performance. Domestic traffic was modestly lower, mainly due to reduced activity at Florence, while adverse weather in January also led to some cancellations and diversions. In Brazil, Traffic increased by 12%, reflecting a better environment after the constraints seen in the aviation sector in prior periods. Domestic traffic grew by nearly 6%, transit passengers increased by more than 20% and international traffic also contributed positively. Brasilia continued to benefit from its geographic location and large infrastructure, allowing it to maintain its role as an important domestic hub in the country. Passenger traffic in Uruguay increased by nearly 4%, supported by the summer season and additional frequencies. Both new and resumed routes connecting Montevideo and Punta del Este with destinations in Brazil and Argentina, including services from Gol, Gol Linhas, Argentinas and Azul, helped support demand during the quarter. In Armenia, Traffic was up 8.5%, supported by expanded airline activity, additional routes and higher frequencies. The new East Air Base at Yerevan, launched in late 2025, continue to support connectivity with Europe. March was affected by regional disruptions related …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

MediPharm Labs (TSX:LABS) held its first-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday. Below is the complete transcript from the call.

This transcript is brought to you by Benzinga APIs. For real-time access to our entire catalog, please visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/ for a consultation.

Access the full call at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/116870256

Summary

MediPharm Labs reported Q1 2026 revenue of $9.0 million, down from $10.8 million in Q1 2025, with a gross profit of $3.3 million, representing a 37% gross margin.

The company achieved positive adjusted EBITDA of $0.1 million, reflecting improved margin quality and lower operating expenses.

MediPharm Labs is focusing on expanding its presence in international regulated medical markets, particularly in Europe and Australia, and is preparing to enter markets in France and Brazil.

The company is strategically positioning itself to benefit from the US Schedule 3 rescheduling of cannabis, leveraging its FDA-inspected facility and pharmaceutical-grade capabilities.

Operational highlights include a positive cash position of $9.9 million, no debt, and ongoing efforts to optimize product mix and control costs amidst changing market conditions.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Thank you for standing by and welcome to the MediPharm Labs conference call to discuss the company’s 2026 Q1 results. Our speaker on today’s call is Greg Hunter, Interim CEO and Chief Financial Officer. As a reminder, all participants are in a listen only mode and the conference is being recorded. After management’s presentation, we will take questions from the analyst community on the telephone and then take written questions through the Q and A feature on the webcast. The information during this call should be considered together with the more detailed information, disclosure, financial data and statements available on the Company’s website and in the SEDAR Plus profile at SEDAR Plus CA as set out on the webcast slide. I would like to note that remarks during this earnings call may contain forward looking information and forward looking statements within the meaning of applicable security laws. This includes, without limitation, statements about medifarm Labs and its current and future plans, expectations, intentions, financial results, operations, levels of activity, performance goals or achievements, and other future events, trends, profitability, business growth or developments. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward looking statements. The statements made are based on the Company’s current expectations, estimates and beliefs as of today’s date. The Company’s remarks may also contain references to certain non IFRS financial measures including adjusted ebitda. These measures do not have any standardized meaning according to International Financial Reporting Standards or ifrs and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Please review the Company’s most recent disclosure materials filed on SEDAR Plus for the risks associated with forward looking information and the use of non IFRS financial measures, including the section titled Reconciliation of Non IFRS Measures and the Company’s most recent MDNA available on Setter Plus. Please note that all dollar amounts mentioned on today’s call are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted. And now I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Greg Hunter, please go ahead.

Greg Hunter (Interim CEO and Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you operator and good morning everyone. This morning I’ll briefly revisit MediPharm’s core differentiators, outline how we’re building on that foundation to drive growth in 2026, and then walk through our first quarter results including the return to positive adjusted EBITDA. As we discussed in our Q4 call, MediPharm is not a single market or single product company. We operate across four distinct revenue channels supported by a regulatory and licensing platform that is both rare and difficult to replicate from a regulatory standpoint. MediPharm holds a unique combination of licenses which takes years to obtain and millions of dollars to develop. Notable licenses include a Health Canada Drug Establishment License, EU GMP certification and ANVISA GMP certification from Brazil, TGA compliance in Australia, an FDA inspected facility with prior shipments of pharmaceutical grade APIs into the United States for research and clinical studies and we maintain licenses and registrations that support natural health product development should that pathway evolve. In Canada, these capabilities are operational enablers. They determine where we can participate, which formats we can offer and the type of partners we can support. As a result, MediPharm is often selected because we are a trusted, compliant and dependable partner, not because we are the lowest cost option in regulated medical and pharmaceutical channels. That distinction matters and it underpins both our commercial relationships and our long term strategy. As regulatory standards continue to evolve globally, this platform increasingly differentiates MediPharm in regulated medical and pharmaceutical channels. That differentiation was reinforced by the recent US Schedule 3 announcement which lowered barriers to clinical research and pharmaceutical development involving cannabis derived products. We believe MediPharm is well positioned to support these regulated pharmaceutical and research activities given our FDA inspected facility, Health Canada Drug Establishment license and experience supplying pharmaceutical grade cannabinoids for research and clinical use. Building on what makes MediPharm unique, I would like to take some time to expand on our strategy for growth which is deliberate, diversified and disciplined spanning both organic execution and selected inorganic opportunities. Organically, our growth strategy is focused on maximizing the value of the platform we have spent years and millions of dollars to build. International medical remains a key growth engine. We continue to expand our Beacon and Wildlife branded products in Germany which supports more stable demand a stronger margin profile over time. At the same time, we remain active in white label flower opportunities only participating where margin thresholds and partner quality meet our standards. We continue to invest in non smokable and pharmaceutical grade formats including oils and inhalation technologies which align with tightening regulatory expectations and patient demand while differentiating MediPharm from commodity suppliers. Australia remains a key market and we are adapting to pricing and prescribing changes by protecting the premium beacon positioning in addition to launching products in the value segment, our wildlife portfolio allowing us to cover a broader portion of the market without diluting our core brand. We are pursuing targeted geographic expansion in regulated medical markets such as France, Brazil, New Zealand the UK where we have had recent success and our licensing and pharma grade credentials deliver a competitive advantage in domestic medical. Our growth strategy is centered on protecting and optimizing high value regulated patient base. We remain focused on continuity of care, service quality and reliability, particularly for veteran patients where trust and consistency matter most following the recent veteran reimbursement changes we discussed on the Q4 call. Our approach is grounded in operational discipline including cost control, procurement efficiency and thoughtful product mix management while continuing to prioritize patient outcomes. We are expanding third party medical partnerships and platform listings, increasing access to MediPharm products beyond our own channels and broadening SKU availability where it makes economic sense. Our clinic platform continues to provide capital, efficient patient access, supporting engagement, education and retention. Overall, domestic medical continues to be a core channel where disciplined execution and patient loyalty are paramount. In pharma and B2B, we continue to leverage our drug establishment license, clinical trial experience and our expansive manufacturing capabilities to support long term pharmaceutical optionality and capital light contract manufacturing opportunities in adult use and wellness. MediPharm’s strategy remains intentionally focused, selective and margin driven. We continue to defend our number two leadership …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Cerebras Systems is set to be the largest IPO of 2026 so far, with the AI chipmaker on track to raise up to $4.8 billion at a $48.8 billion valuation after its order book closed roughly 20 times oversubscribed.

The Sunnyvale company lifted its price range to $150 to $160 per share from $115 to $125 and bumped the offering to 30 million shares. At the high end, the deal would be the largest US listing in nearly five years.

Cerebras designs specialized AI chips built around its Wafer Scale Engine, a processor the size of a dinner plate that packs more than 4 trillion transistors onto a single piece of silicon.

The company is focused on inference, the computing required to run trained AI models, rather than training. The pitch is faster and cheaper inference performance than Nvidia

Full story available on Benzinga.com

MediPharm Labs (OTC:MEDIF) reported first-quarter financial results on Wednesday. The transcript from the company’s first-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

This transcript is brought to you by Benzinga APIs. For real-time access to our entire catalog, please visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/ for a consultation.

View the webcast at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/116870256

Summary

MediPharm Labs reported Q1 2026 revenue of CAD 9.0 million, a decrease from CAD 10.8 million in Q1 2025, attributed to typical seasonality and market adjustments in Australia.

The company achieved a positive adjusted EBITDA of CAD 0.1 million, reflecting improved margin quality and reduced operating expenses.

Strategically, the company focuses on leveraging its regulatory and licensing platform to drive growth in international medical markets such as Germany, France, and Brazil, and maintaining a strong presence in Australia.

MediPharm Labs is well-positioned to benefit from the US Schedule 3 announcement by supporting regulated pharmaceutical and research activities with its FDA-inspected facility and relevant licenses.

The company is pursuing a deliberate and disciplined growth strategy, combining organic execution and selective M&A opportunities, with an emphasis on margin quality and regulatory alignment.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Thank you for standing by and welcome to the MediPharm Labs conference call to discuss the company’s 2026 Q1 results. Our speaker on today’s call is Greg Hunter, Interim CEO and Chief Financial Officer. As a reminder, all participants are in a listen only mode and the conference is being recorded. After management’s presentation, we will take questions from the analyst community on the telephone and then take written questions through the Q and A feature on the webcast. The information during this call should be considered together with the more detailed information, disclosure, financial data and statements available on the Company’s website and on the Sedar Plus profile at SedarPlus CA as set out on the webcast slide. I would like to note that remarks during this earnings call may contain forward looking information and forward looking statements within the meaning of applicable security laws. This includes, without limitation statements about medifarm Labs and its current and future plans, expectations, intentions, financial results, operations, levels of activity, performance goals or activities, achievements and other future events, trends, profitability, business growth or developments. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward looking statements. The statements made are based on the Company’s current expectations, estimates and beliefs as of today’s date. The Company’s remarks may also contain references to certain non IFRS financial measures, including adjusted ebitda. These measures do not have any standardized meaning according to International Financial Reporting Standards or ifrs and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Please review the Company’s most recent disclosure materials filed on Sedar Plus for the risks associated with forward looking information and the use of non IFRS financial measures, including the section titled Reconciliation of Non IFRS Measures in the Company’s most recent MD&A available on Sedar Plus. Please note that all dollar amounts mentioned on today’s call are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted. And now I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Greg Hunter. Please go ahead.

Greg Hunter (Interim CEO and Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you operator and good morning everyone. This morning I’ll briefly revisit MediPharm’s core differentiators, outline how we’re building on that foundation to drive growth in 2026, and then walk through our first quarter results including the return to positive adjusted EBITDA. As we discussed in our Q4 call, MediPharm is not a single market or single product company. We operate across four distinct revenue channels supported by a regulatory and licensing platform that is both rare and difficult to replicate from a regulatory standpoint. MediPharm holds a unique combination of licenses which takes years to obtain and millions of dollars to develop. Notable Licenses include a Health Canada Drug Establishment license, EU GMP certification and ANVISA GMP certification from Brazil, TGA compliance in Australia, an FDA inspected facility with prior shipments of pharmaceutical grade APIs into the United States for research and clinical studies and we maintain licenses and registrations that support natural health product development should that pathway evolve. In Canada, these capabilities are operational enablers. They determine where we can participate, which formats we can offer and the type of partners we can support. As a result, MediPharm is often selected because we are a trusted, compliant and dependable partner, not because we are the lowest cost option in regulated medical and pharmaceutical channels. That distinction matters and it underpins both our commercial relationships and our long term strategy. As regulatory standards continue to evolve globally, this platform increasingly differentiates MediPharm in regulated medical and pharmaceutical channels. That differentiation was reinforced by the recent US Schedule 3 announcement which lowered barriers to clinical research and pharmaceutical development involving cannabis derived products. We believe MediPharm is well positioned to support these regulated pharmaceutical and research activities given our FDA inspected facility, Health Canada Drug Establishment license and experience supplying pharmaceutical grade cannabinoids for research and clinical use. Building on what makes MediPharm unique, I would like to take some time to expand on our strategy for growth which is deliberate, diversified and disciplined spanning both organic execution and selected inorganic opportunities. Organically, our growth strategy is focused on maximizing the value of the platform we have spent years and millions of dollars to build. International medical remains a key growth engine. We continue to expand our Beacon and Wildlife branded products in Germany which supports more stable demand and a stronger margin profile over time. At the same time, we remain active in white label flower opportunities on only participating where margin thresholds and partner quality meet our standards. We continue to invest in non-smokable and pharmaceutical grade formats including oils and inhalation technologies which align with tightening regulatory expectations and patient demand while differentiating MediPharm from commodity suppliers. Australia remains a key market and we are adapting to pricing and prescribing changes by protecting the premium beacon positioning in addition to launching products in the value segment under our Wildlife portfolio, allowing us to cover a broader portion of the market without diluting our core brand. We are pursuing targeted geographic expansion in regulated medical markets such as France, Brazil, New Zealand and the UK where we have had recent success and our licensing and pharmaceutical-grade credentials deliver a competitive advantage in domestic medical. Our growth strategy is centered on protecting and optimizing high value regulated patient base. We remain focused on continuity of care, service quality and reliability particularly for veteran patients where trust and consistency matter most following the recent veteran reimbursement changes we discussed on the Q4 call. Our approach is grounded in operational discipline including cost control, procurement efficiency and thoughtful product mix management while continuing to prioritize patient outcomes. We are expanding third party medical partnerships and platform listings, increasing access to MediPharm products beyond our own channels and broadening SKU availability where it makes economic sense. Our clinic platform continues to provide capital, efficient patient access, supporting engagement, education and retention. Overall, domestic medical continues to be a core channel where disciplined execution and patient loyalty are paramount. In pharma and B2B, we continue to leverage our drug establishment license, clinical trial experience and our expansive manufacturing capabilities to support long term pharmaceutical optionality and capital light contract manufacturing opportunities in adult use and wellness. MediPharm’s strategy remains intentionally …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

A 50-year-old woman says divorce completely changed how she thinks about money, retirement and financial independence after watching her retirement accounts get “decimated” during the split.

Posting on Reddit’s r/FinancialPlanning forum, she said that she had spent most of her marriage letting her spouse handle the finances. Now, after the divorce, she says she’s scrambling to rebuild her financial future while learning personal finance “in a speed run.”

A Wake-Up Call After Divorce

“Don’t be dumb like me and rely on a parent or spouse to manage these things for you,” she warned younger readers.

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• Explore whether your retirement strategy is optimized for income, taxes, and long-term withdrawals — take the AdviserMatch quiz today.
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The woman said she still has some financial stability. She has a four to six month emergency fund in a high-yield savings account, no credit card debt, no car loans and a manageable mortgage with about 10 years remaining.

But she also said that she still has $32,000 in student loan debt at a 4.75% interest rate and only contributes 6% to her 401(k) to capture her employer match.

“My searches online have found some basic financial order of operations,” she wrote while asking whether she should prioritize maxing out her retirement contributions or aggressively paying down debt.

Many commenters told her the situation felt much worse emotionally than it actually looked financially.

After she later revealed she still had about $700,000 left in her 401(k), several people pointed out she was far from financially ruined.

“You are 15 years away from 65,” one commenter wrote. “Without contributions, you are likely looking at close to $2M. Then add in social security… you sure you can’t live off of that?”

Others encouraged her to continue investing heavily because time in the market mattered more than rapidly paying off relatively low-interest debt.

Trending: More Than Half of Americans Aren’t Prepared for Retirement — Including 62% of Gen Y

Long-Term Care Fears Changed Everything

The discussion shifted when the woman explained why she had become so anxious about retirement planning.

“$2m + SSN? Sure. But healthcare, long-term care, etc., scare the sh*t out of me,” she admitted.

She said her concerns intensified after helping move her father into an $8,000-per-month memory care facility. According to her, his long-term care insurance isn’t paying out as they’d hoped.

“It put a lot of things in perspective for me that I need to be prepared for the unpleasant end of life portion of retirement, not just the relax and not work anymore part,” she wrote.

That comment resonated with many readers, especially older users who said caring for aging parents completely changed how they viewed retirement savings.

See Also: Discover How AI Can Turn Your Investment Ideas Into Tradable Assets — See How

Several commenters urged her not to spiral into worst-case thinking. One said too many retirees become obsessed with catastrophic scenarios and end up living unnecessarily frugal lives despite having substantial wealth.

The thread also sparked a broader discussion about financial literacy inside relationships.

While some commenters debated marriage, divorce and asset splitting, many agreed on one lesson: every adult should understand their household finances, regardless of who pays the bills or manages investments.

The woman herself acknowledged she wasn’t trying to blame her ex-spouse …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) held its first-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday. Below is the complete transcript from the call.

This content is powered by Benzinga APIs. For comprehensive financial data and transcripts, visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/.

Access the full call at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/835507019

Summary

TORM reported a strong first quarter for 2026, with TCE revenue of $286 million and a net profit of $122 million, benefiting from firm freight rates and operational efficiencies.

The company increased its full-year guidance to TCE of $1.15 to $1.45 billion, driven by positive market conditions and solid earnings visibility.

TORM continued its fleet renewal strategy by acquiring six MR resale vessels, enhancing fleet flexibility and future earnings capacity.

Management highlighted the impact of geopolitical factors, including the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which significantly disrupted global energy flows and elevated tanker rates.

The company declared a dividend payout ratio of 58%, impacted by a working capital build-up due to increased freight rates and bunker prices.

Full Transcript

Angela (Conference Operator)

thank you for standing by. My name is Angela and I will be your conference operator today. At this time I would like to welcome everyone to the TORM first quarter 2026 conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker’s remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during that time, please simply press STAR followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press STAR one again. Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Jacob Melgard, CEO. You may begin.

Jacob Melgard (CEO)

Thank you and welcome to everyone joining us today. We started 2026 with a very strong first quarter, delivering results that demonstrate both the earnings power of our platform and the strength of our execution in a supportive freight market. This morning we released our Q1 2026 results and we are pleased with the performance. However, before I go into the details of the quarter, I would like to take a step back and briefly talk about TORM and the foundation that underpins these results then continues to differentiate us in the market. Again, our performance was driven by a combination of strong freight rates, disciplined execution and a one TORM platform. While we remain attentive to global developments, we continue to align ourselves with market changes and believe we have a unique ability to react quickly to movements in spot prices. This is something we are often asked about. The answer is that it represents a quantifiable advantage over our peers. What we refer to as the one TOM advantage. It is now embedded in the way we operate and is a capability our competitors would undoubtedly like to replicate. Importantly, this advantage is the result of a journey over many years journey that continues to evolve. We are able to track this across a range of performance indicators. For example, over a three year period, our MR Fleet generated TCE revenue that exceeded the peer average by approximately US$200million, reflecting the strength and efficiency of our operating model through higher utilization, disciplined cost control and strong commercial execution. This culture of operational excellence is supported by our centralized management platform that coordinates and accelerates our decision making. This is good news for our investors because it means we are now extremely well placed for the complex landscape ahead and we remain confident that the shifting sense of geopolitical uncertainty continue to to present opportunities for us. Thus, it’s no surprise to us that TORM Share are currently in focus among the investment community as a route to unlock value from this uncertainty. And now please to slide number four. As always, I’ll start with the key financial outcomes for the quarter to give you a clear picture of how the business is developing. During the first quarter we delivered TCE of US$286million, representing a clear continuation of the positive earnings trajectory seen over recent quarters. This was significantly higher than the same quarter last year, driven by consistently firm freight rates throughout the period, which strengthened further towards quarter end. These conditions reflect a value chain currently characterized by abnormal trade flows and structural inefficiencies, resulting in elevated margins not only for tanker companies like us, but also for our customers who are capturing strong profitability across the trading and refining segments. That such dynamic performance translated into an EBITDA of US$201million and a net profit of US$1,122 million, reflecting both the strength of the market environment and our ability to convert rates into earnings through disciplined commercial execution and operational leverage, supported by the continued strength we see across our markets and the solid momentum entering the remainder of the year. We are therefore increasing our full year guidance to US$1.15 to 1.45 billion, underscoring our confidence in sustaining profitable growth. Also, we continued active fleet renewal, adding younger secondhand vessels and committing further acquisitions while divesting older tonnage after quarter end. And we also agreed to acquire 6 MR Resales with expected delivery of 4 in 2027 and 2 in 2028. These acquisitions further enhance fleet flexibility and earnings capacity while preserving a prudent age profile. As of quarter end, our fleet consisted of 95 vessels. Once all the before mentioned transactions are completed, the fleet will increase to 103 vessels on a fully delivered basis. Please turn to slide 5 before moving to the broader market, let me briefly address our current operating status. Safety remains our highest priority. We currently have one vessel inside the Persian Gulf and I’m pleased to say that the crew are doing well, morale is high and provisions are not an issue. As we will describe on this call, the market impact has been significant, tightening effective supply and contributing to the sharp increase in freight rates. Bunker prices have also moved higher. Although availability remains secure throughout this period, our approach has been clear and unchanged. We take a safety first approach in all operating decisions. Please turn to Slide 7. Following a strong close to 2025, product tanker markets entered the first quarter of 2026 with rates stabilizing at levels well above historical averages. This strength was supported by broader momentum in the crude tanker market which benefited from record volumes of cargo underwater as well as a return of Venezuelan exports to the compliant fleet and generally more cautious use of sanctioned vessels globally. And on top of this, the development was further Supported by the consolidation of the ownership in the VLCC segment, the outbreak of the U S. Israel Iran war in late February and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz marked a further and unprecedented escalation in tangle rates. This is clearly reflected in our commercial performance with Q2 average bookings to date above 70,000 USD per day across vessel sizes. Taken together, these dynamics have created one of the strongest cross segment market environments we’ve seen in several years, underpinned by both structural and event driven factors and kindly turn to the next slide. Turn to slide 8 please. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz had an immediate and profound impact on global energy flows. Approximately 14% of global clean petroleum product volumes and around 30% of crude oil movements that would normally transit the Strait was certainly constrained. Combined, this correspond to approximately 20% of global daily oil production consumption. In scale and immediacy, this represents the largest oil supply disruption the market has ever experienced. On the clean product side, the impact was uneven. naphtha and jet fuel were disproportionately affected, reflecting the Persian Gulf’s central role in global exports, accounting for 37% of global naphtha exports and 21% of jet fuel. Under normal conditions, diesel and gasoline were relatively less exposed. As the next slide will show, only a fraction of these lost volumes have been replaced so far, underscoring how structural this shock has been. Please turn to slide 9. In crude markets, part of the lost Persian Gulf supply has been mitigated through pipeline redirection from Saudi Arabia and the UAE alongside increased flows from the Atlantic basin. However, reduced crude availability at Asian refineries has forced meaningful run costs, which in turn has sharply reduced clean petroleum product exports from the region. By the end of April, global clean petroleum product trade was down by roughly 16% as incremental supply from Western markets booked insufficient to offset the loss of Middle Eastern and Asian export crude oil trades saw a decline of similar magnitude. Despite this contraction in traded volumes, product tanker rates remained elevated. Some of this reflects longer replacement voyages and urgency premiums. But the more important explanation lies on the tonnage supply side, which I’ll address on the next slide. And here please turn to the next slide to slide 10. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz caused significant vessel dislocation, with more than 200 crude and product centers stranded inside the Persian Gulf. This equates to roughly 3% of the global product Sancter fleet and 6% of the crude fleet. As vessels were rerouted toward regions where with replacement volumes, we saw higher ballast Ratios and materially increased inefficiencies. In simple terms, ships spending more time sailing empty to reach the next Cargo in the Mr. Segment increased east to west balloting was partially offset by stronger west to east cargo flows as Asian product supply tightened. At the same time, we saw an unprecedented shift of LR2 vessels into crude trading, the so called dirty ops. By the end of April, the number of LR2s trading clean products had fallen by more than 50 vessels compared with the start of the year despite the delivery of 27 new buildings. As a result, effective CPP trading fee capacity declined by around 4% even before accounting for the vessels stranded in the Gulf. Please turn to slide 11. It is however important to recognize that this migration of LR2s into crude trading began well before the Strait of Hormuz closure. Since 2025, the Aframax and LR2 segments have faced extensive vessel sanctioning largely linked to Russian crude trades. In 2025 alone, more than 200 Aframax and other two vessels were sanctioned. This has created a growing disconnect between new building deliveries and effective fleet growth. Since the start of 2025, nominal product tanker capacity is up 8%. Yet the capacity actually trading clean today is around 4% lower. The scale of sanctions is noticeable. One in four vessels in the combined airframe max LR2 segment is currently under US, EU or UK sanctions. This comes on top of an already balanced order book due to the high share of older vessels. With 60% of the sanction fleet older than 20 years. The prospect of these ships returning to the mainstream …

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Finning International (TSX:FTT) reported first-quarter financial results on Wednesday. The transcript from the company’s first-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

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Summary

Finning International delivered its strongest Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.02, with a 6% increase in global product support and a 13% rise in Canada.

The company’s mining business, particularly in Canada, saw a significant increase in truck population, contributing to long-term product support opportunities.

Revenue for Q1 was $2.5 billion, with strong growth in product support and a 32% year-over-year increase in backlog, driven by mining and power segments in Canada.

Finning International is opening new branches in Canada and investing in inventory to support growth, while maintaining a disciplined approach to cost and capital.

The company reported a 2% rise in Q1 revenue year-over-year, driven by higher product support, despite lower equipment sales in South America.

Finning International’s net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio was 1.6 times, and the company announced a 7.4% dividend increase, marking 25 consecutive years of dividend growth.

The company is optimistic about future growth in mining and power sectors, particularly in Canada and Argentina, despite some moderation in Chile.

Management highlighted strategic market share gains in construction equipment sales, particularly in Canada.

Full Transcript

David Primrose (Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you Operator. Good morning everyone and welcome to Finning’s first quarter earnings call. Joining me on today’s call is Kevin Parks, our President and CEO. Following our remarks, we will open the line to questions. This call is being webcast on the Investor relations section of Finning.com we have also provided a set of slides on our website that we will reference and an audio file of this call and the accompanying slides will be archived. Before I turn it over to Kevin, I want to remind everyone that some of the statements provided during this call are forward looking. Please Refer to slides 10 and 11 for important disclosures about forward looking information as well as currency and specified financial measures, including non-GAAP financial measures. Please note that forward looking information is subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors as discussed in our annual information form under Key Business Risks and in our MDA under Risk Factors and Management and Forward Looking Information. Disclaimer Please treat this information with caution as our actual results could differ materially from current expectations. In addition, unless otherwise noted, this presentation reflects the results of continuing operations only. Kevin, over to you.

Kevin Parks (President and CEO)

Thank you Dave and good morning everyone. Thank you for joining us and thank you to our teams, our customers and Caterpillar for your hard work, support and partnership. Let me start with the headline Finning is Executing. We delivered our strongest Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.02. Year over year, product support grew for the eighth consecutive quarter and we maintained our disciplined approach to cost and capital allocation. Most importantly, we continue to build the installed base and backlog in our operating regions, driving long term product support opportunities and value. Helping our customers solve their toughest challenges and increase the performance from their investments is the foundation of what we do, which in turn helps build population, improve utilization and increase product support opportunities. As with the last quarter, my prepared remarks will concentrate on the long term. I’ll then turn the call over to Dave who will provide details on our results in the quarter. Please turn to slide 2 Momentum from 2025 carried into Q1 Revenue was $2.5 billion driven by strong product support growth, up 6% globally and 13% in Canada. Our mining business is a real strength. Over the past two years we increased the Canadian large mining truck population by 25%. These assets operate in high intensity applications and create decades of product support opportunities. Mining in Chile moderated as expected, driven by a few of our large mining customers who are recalibrating their mining plans and equipment requirements. We are excited about mining in Argentina. Last week I attended a very important mining conference in the San Juan province and we are pleased to see investment starting to flow. Backlog was up 32% year over year up in all segments, most notably more than doubling in mining and power and energy In Canada. Sequentially, backlog is up 20% from December 31, 2025, up in all regions driven by Canada mining. I want to highlight our power and energy business backlog ended in the quarter at $1.2 billion across. Prime Power, oil and gas and data center standby solutions similar to mining engines deployed within our operating regions create a long term population and product support opportunity with customers where our penetration is high even in standby applications. It is also pleasing to see construction backlog building in all regions with South America and the UK and Ireland both up more than 50% since the end of the year. Construction performance remains solid across all regions despite the lack of any shovel ready major projects. We are controlling what we can by expanding coverage and taking share. Rental discipline remains a real priority. We are investing in our capabilities and capacity to support our growth. We will open two new branches in Canada this month alone and continue to make thoughtful investments in our inventory. Despite these targeted investments and higher LTIP expense On a trailing twelve month basis, our SGA margin declined 60 basis points, evidence in our progress in optimizing our cost structure. Invested capital turns held at 2.3% as we continue to see further opportunity to optimize both cost and capital intensity. Maintaining a lower fixed cost base and turning our larger invested capital base with more velocity will support more resilient earnings and return on invested capital in the future. Turning to slide three, here we are illustrating the growth in ultra class and large mining trucks across our Western Canada and and South American regions since 2021. As I commented earlier, a growing truck population is critical as a base for future product support revenue. You can see from the chart that truck population has consistently grown year over year, suggesting that that growth is influenced by a broader set of factors beyond mining production volumes and commodity prices. As customers evolve their brownfield operations, mining operations can move further away from the processing facilities. This, combined in some cases with lower ore grades, can lead to opportunities for increased equipment requirements. We are also seeing greenfield operations and contractors add to their fleet population. As you can see on the slide, since 2021, mining truck population in our Western Canada and South America regions has increased 35% and during the same period our total product support revenue has increased by 59%, demonstrating the importance of equipment population as a key driver for product. Of course, we remain committed to supporting our customers to lower their cost per tonne through increased truck utilization. Optimizing repair and maintenance and deploying technology are essential to helping our customers solve this difficult challenge. A good example of this and partnering with our customers is the upcoming trial with Codelco in Chile for the innovative CAT Dynamic Energy Transfer System. This system transfers electricity directly to the trucks while they’re in motion and is designed to enhance efficiencies while managing energy demands. This trial will involve 798 trucks and is expected to start in Q2 2026. To close and to reinforce my remarks, we are building population, helping our customers increase utilization and lowering costs, and penetrating the aftermarket more than ever while remaining disciplined on cost and capital. This is how we compare value over the long term. With that, I’ll hand the call back over to Dave.

David Primrose (Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you, Kevin. I’ll now turn to slide 4. Our Q1 revenue of $2.5 billion was up 2% compared to Q1 2025, primarily driven by higher product support revenue in Canada offset by lower mining equipment deliveries in South. We are pleased with our consistent execution momentum as we start 2026 where our team continues to deliver outstanding results under our strategic pillars. We are also encouraged by the overall positive business momentum across our diversified end markets with notable growth in power and energy opportunities as well as improving construction activities. Our first quarter earnings were adjusted for $16 million of severance costs in South America for headcount reductions related to changes in our organizational structure aimed at simplification and consolidation while strengthening service resiliency. Excluding the severance cost, adjusted EBIT was comparable to Q1 2025. LTIP expense, was $15 million this quarter or $0.09 per share of earnings driven by strong share price apprecia in Q1 2025 LTIP expense, was $7 million or $0.04 per share of earnings. Adjusted EPS of $1.02 was up 7% from Q1 2025 EPS, primarily reflecting lower finance cost on lower average debt level and the benefit of share repurchases. Meanwhile, our balance sheet and working capital velocity remained business and increase our shareholder returns through our 7.4% dividend increase, marking our 25th consecutive year of dividend growth. Our net debt to adjusted ebitda ratio was 1.6 times at the end of March. Our invested capital turns and adjusted return on invested capital were 2.3 times and 18.7% respectively, all within our target ranges. On slide 5, we show changes in our revenue by line of business compared to Q1 2025 and the composition of our equipment backlog by market sector. New equipment sales were down 4% primarily due to lower mining equipment deliveries in South America, partially offset by strong sales in Canada. Across all market sectors, used equipment sales were down 13% as Q1 2025 had higher conversions of rental equipment with purchase options in Canada. Product support was up 6%, primarily driven by strong mining activity in Canada. Our equipment backlog reached a new record of $3.8 billion at the end of March, up 32% from March 2025 and up 20% from December 25, reflecting order intake outpacing deliveries across all market sectors, particularly in mining and construction sectors. In mining, order intake was up approximately 70% compared to Q1 2025 led by Argentina, as Kevin mentioned earlier and also the oil sands in Canada. We currently have over 140 ultra class and large mining trucks in backlog with deliveries into 2027 and 28 demonstrating strong customer confidence in their markets and our partnership in construction order intake was up approximately 30% compared to Q1 2025, higher across all regions, reflecting early signs of increased activity level and emerging new projects in Canada. We are also pleased to see our team capturing a higher market share with a refreshed sales and marketing strategy. In the power and energy sector, our backlog is approaching $1.2 billion, primarily supported by data center orders in the UK and Ireland as well as gas compression equipment orders in Canada. Overall, our current backlog continues to provide confidence for our business in terms of activity levels and future product support opportunities. We expect to deliver the majority of our backlog in 2026. Turning to our EBIT performance on slide 6, gross profit margin was comparable to Q1 2025SG and a margin was up 20 basis points to 16%, primarily reflecting higher people costs to support business growth along with $8 million higher LTIP expense, accounting for approximately 30 basis points of SG and a margin. Looking ahead, we will continue to seek opportunities to reduce overheads, improve efficiency and operating leverage and build more resilience to drive higher earnings capacity. Q1 adjusted EBIT margin was 11.1% in South America, 8.1% in Canada and 5.1% in UK and Ireland. Moving to our South American results and outlook which are Summarized on slide 7 in functional currency, new equipment sales were down 26% from Q1 2025 primarily due to lower mining deliveries. In addition, we delivered a large equipment package to a construction customer in Q1 2025 which did not repeat. Product support revenue was up 2% driven by higher construction activity and mining rebuilds in Chile. Adjusted ebit margin of 11.1% was up 50 basis points from Q1 2025 EBIT margin primarily driven by a higher mix of product support revenue, partially offset by higher SGA margin in Chile. Our outlook for longer term remains positive, underpinned by growing global demand for copper, strong copper prices, capital deployment into large scale brownfield expansions under supportive priorities from the new government and customer confidence to invest in greenfield projects, we are seeing a broad based level of quoting tender and award activity for mining equipment, product support and technology solutions. However, in the near term we expect some moderation of product support activity levels as customers adjust the line plans and existing equipment fleets. While demand for skilled labor remains high, we expect a more stabilized Labor Environment through 2028 as we have successfully concluded negotiations with all major unions as of Q1 2026. In the Chilean construction sector, we continue to see healthy demand from large contractors supporting mining operations and we expect infrastructure construction activity to remain steady. In the power and energy sector, activity remains strong in the industrial and data center markets. In Argentina, we continue to closely monitor the government’s rules and policies and are carefully positioning our business to capture growth opportunities, particularly in the oil and gas and mining sectors. We are seeing an increase in quoting activity for equipment and encouraged by …

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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took the stand yesterday in the third week of the blockbuster trial brought by Elon Musk, telling jurors that Musk wanted to “take a chainsaw through” the company’s research staff during his time on the board.

Altman said Musk pushed co-founders Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever to rank researchers by accomplishment so the bottom could be cut. The exercise did “huge damage for a long time to the culture of the organization,” Altman testified.

A Morale Boost When Musk Left

Altman said Musk’s 2018 departure from the OpenAI board was “a morale boost in some ways” because researchers thought, “we’re not going to have to work this way any more.”

He also detailed what he called a “particularly hair-raising moment” when co-founders asked Musk what would happen if he died while in control. Musk allegedly replied: “I hadn’t thought about it …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Rocket Lab USA Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) shares are climbing on Wednesday, extending a rally fueled by record-breaking quarterly results.

The stock recently hit an all-time high of $123.94 before seeing brief profit-taking. The Nasdaq is down 0.06% while the S&P 500 has shed 0.18%.

Needham Boosts Price Forecast

On Monday, Needham analyst Ryan Koontz reaffirmed a buy rating for the space leader, raising the price forecast from $95 to $120.

This move followed first-quarter revenue of $200.35 million, which landed 5% above consensus estimates. Koontz highlighted a record $2.2 billion backlog, including a significant HASTE contract with Anduril.

The SpaceX IPO Factor

A potential SpaceX IPO in mid-2026 is creating a proxy bid for liquid space names. Rocket Lab CFO Adam Spice noted that a SpaceX listing will separate “haves and have-nots.”

“What’s going to happen is the good companies are going to get dragged up by SpaceX,” Spice told retail investors. “And I think the less quality names …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Buda Juice (AMEX:BUDA) held its first-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday. Below is the complete transcript from the call.

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The full earnings call is available at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/605302226

Summary

Buda Juice reported a 17.7% year-over-year revenue growth for the first quarter of 2026, driven entirely by its existing customer base.

The company faced a temporary gross margin decline due to a spike in lime costs caused by supply chain disruptions in Mexico, but expects recovery in the second quarter.

Buda Juice announced a major expansion into 256 Walmart stores across nine states, significantly increasing its store count by more than 75%.

Operational efficiencies were highlighted with labor costs as a percentage of revenue improving by over 150 basis points year-over-year.

Despite increased general and administrative expenses due to public company costs, the company remains profitable and debt-free, ending the quarter with $20 million in cash.

Management emphasized continued strategic focus on expanding distribution and maintaining profitability while diversifying its geographic footprint beyond Texas.

Full Transcript

Dennis (Operator)

Hello and thank you for standing by. My name is Dennis and I will be your conference operator today. At this time I would like to welcome everyone to the Buda Juice first quarter 2026 earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker’s remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press STAR followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one again. I would now like to turn the call over to Brian Siegel, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Brian Siegel (Investor Relations)

Thank you Dennis. During today’s call, Horatio Lanzdel Hands, Buda Juice’s Chief Executive Officer and Clint Bowers, Buda Juice’s Chief Financial Officer, will discuss Buda Juice’s financial and operational results that were reported this morning. Any forward looking statements made during this conference call, during the prepared remarks or in the question and answer session, whether general or specific in nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results in the future to differ materially from those discussed on today’s call. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, specific risks and uncertainties disclosed in Buda Juice’s periodic and annual SEC filings. BUDA assumes no obligation to update any forward looking statements or to update the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that they forecast. Please note that our earnings release is available on the investor relations page of the Buda Juice website has also been filed on Form 8K with the SEC. Finally on this call we will refer to non GAAP measures including non GAAP net income and eps free cash flow and adjusted ebitda. Please see our earnings release for an explanation of our use of non GAAP measures and reconciliations to GAAP measures. Now I’d like to turn the call over to Horatio.

Horatio Lanzdel Hands (Chief Executive Officer)

Thank you Brian. Good morning, everyone and thank you for joining us. The first quarter of 2026 was our first full quarter as a public company. Revenue grew 17.7% year over year which is about the mid teens outlook we discussed in our last earnings call. Importantly, that growth came entirely from our existing customer base. Gross margin during the quarter was impacted by the temporary disruption in citrus supply. In February, lime costs spiked significantly following disruptions in western Mexico that interrupted normal supply routes. This was a temporary issue and conditions have now stabilized. Even with that temporary pressure, labor cost as a percentage of revenue improved by more than 150 basis points year over year which reflects continued operational efficiency across the business. We enter 2026 from a position of strength profitable, debt free and well capitalized following our IPO which we believe positions us well for long term expansion. Looking beyond our first Quarter On Monday this week we announced a major milestone for our company expansion of our products into 256 stores across nine states including Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky, all with a new customer, Walmart. This expansion takes us from one state to nine states and increases our store count by more than 75%. The Buda Juice Fresh Cherry Limeade is now available in these Walmart stores In both the 12 ounce single serve and 32 ounce multi serve formats. The products are being merchandised in the fresh produce department, reinforcing our ultra fresh within the retail environment. These new products are manufactured at our Dallas facility where we recently invested in additional capacity and automation following our IPO to support future growth. When we went public this year we had built a strong and profitable business concentrated primarily in Texas. This expansion now diversifies both our geographic footprint and customer base as we continue building the business beyond our historical Texas concentration. …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Shares of VNET Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNET) are trading higher on Wednesday, following news of new strategic investors entering the company.

The stock’s movement comes as VNET announced that PJ Millennium I Limited and PJ Millennium II Limited have entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire nearly 650 million shares at approximately $1.44 per share, equivalent to $8.69 per American Depositary Share (ADS).

The new investment is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, pending shareholder approval.

This move will allow the buyers to hold approximately 38.1% of the total issued shares of VNET, which could significantly influence the company’s strategic direction.

As of December 31, the aggregate amount of the company’s cash and equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments was $941.1 million.

“Looking ahead, we will work closely with our strategic partners to deepen collaboration across technology and supply chains, and to jointly …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Palatin Techs (AMEX:PTN) held its third-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday. Below is the complete transcript from the call.

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Access the full call at https://www.webcaster5.com/Webcast/Page/2953/54002

Summary

Palatin Techs reported $3.9 million in collaboration and license revenue for Q3 2026, marking an increase from no revenue in the prior year, primarily due to the Altanisbac agreement.

The company recorded a net loss of $1.4 million, significantly improved from a $4.8 million net loss in the previous year, driven by increased revenue.

Palatin Techs is advancing its melanocortin 4 receptor therapies for rare obesity disorders, focusing on improving tolerability and usability, with plans to submit an IND for their peptide program in Q4 2026.

The company has strategic partnerships, including with Bergel Ingelheim and Altanisbac Labs, providing non-dilutive capital and future royalty opportunities.

Management is confident in developing best-in-class therapies, highlighting improvements in selectivity and potency, especially in their oral small molecule program.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Hello everyone. Welcome to Palatin’s third quarter fiscal year 2026 operating results conference call. At this time, all participants are on a listen only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press 0 on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. Before we begin our remarks, I would like to remind you that the statements made by Palatin are not historical facts and may be forward looking statements. These statements are based on assumptions that may or may not prove to be accurate and that the actual results may differ materially from those anticipated and due to the variety of risks and uncertainties discussed in the Company’s recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Please consider such risks and uncertainties carefully in evaluating these forward looking statements by Palatin’s prospects. Now I would like to turn the call over to your host, Dr. Carl Spana, President and Chief Executive Officer of Palatin. Please go ahead. Thank you.

Dr. Carl Spana (President and Chief Executive Officer)

Good morning and welcome to the Palatin third quarter fiscal year 2026 call. I’m Dr. Carl Spana, CEO and President of Palatin. With me on the call today is Steve Wills, Palatin’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Earlier today we issued a press release reporting Palatin’s financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2026 and are now providing a corporate update. Today we will highlight our Progress advancing our melanocortin 4 receptor based obesity pipeline review recent strategic and financial milestones and outline our priorities as we move through 2026 followed by a question and answer session. First, I will turn the call over to Steve for the financial and operating results.

Steve Wills (Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer)

Steve thank you Carl and hello everyone. I will briefly review our financial results for the fiscal third quarter ended March 31, 2026. Beginning with revenue for the third quarter we recognized 3.9 million in collaboration and license revenue compared to no revenue in the prior year period. The increase was primarily related to the revenue recognition of the upfront consideration under the Altanisbac agreement. Turning to operating expenses, total operating expenses for the quarter were 5.5 million compared to 4.8 million in the prior year period which included a 0.4 million gain on purchase commitment. The increase was primarily attributable to higher compensation costs and professional fees. Net cash used in operations for the quarter was 4.4 million compared to 5.4 million in the prior year period. The reduction in cash used in operations was primarily driven by collaboration and license revenue recognized during the quarter. Net loss for the third quarter of fiscal 2026 was 1.4 million or 37 cents per basic and diluted common share, compared to a Net loss of 4.8 million or $9.13 per basic and diluted common share for the prior period. The improvement in net loss was primarily related to collaboration and license revenue recognized during the quarter. Turning to our balance sheet and liquidity position, as of March 31, 2026, Peloton had cash and cash equivalents of 10.2 million, in addition to approximately 2.2 million of other receivables which are expected to be collected during the quarter ending June 30, 2026. Based on our current operating and development plans and our ability to manage the timing of certain operating expenses, we believe our existing cash resources and expected receivables will be sufficient to Fund operations through June 30, 2027. With that, I will turn the call back to Carl.

Dr. Carl Spana (President and Chief Executive Officer)

Carl thank you Steve. This quarter Palatin continued to execute on its strategy of advancing our melanocortin 4 receptor agonist therapies for rare obesity disorders with a focus on improving tolerability, usability and long term outcomes in chronic treatment settings. The melanocortin 4 receptor pathway is a clinically and commercially validated target. We strongly believe the next phase of innovation will be defined not just by efficacy but by improvements in overall treatment profile, particularly tolerability and patient friendly delivery to support long term patient adherence. In this context our goal is is very straightforward. This has developed best in class mitochondrial 4 receptor agonists for the treatment of rare syndromic and genetic obesity disorders. We are uniquely positioned to achieve this with our extensive experience in the design of monoclonal 4 receptor selective agonists, along with our recent advancements in the understanding of receptor ligand interactions in rare obesity disorders such as hypothalamic obesity, Prader Willi syndrome and Barde Beidal syndrome. Patients face severe hyperphagia, rapid weight gain and significant metabolic complications. These are chronic conditions that require lifelong treatment and current therapeutic options often present challenges for long term use. As a result, improving tolerability and usability is critical to achieving meaningful sustained outcomes for patients. Updating our obesity pipeline our melanocortin 4 receptor agonist peptide program is designed to achieve sustained efficacy with a treatment profile optimized for high selectivity for the melanocortin 4 receptor and ONCE weekly delivery. Our ONCE weekly melanocortin 4 receptor selective peptide Agnus remains on track for an initial new drug application submission in the fourth quarter of calendar 2026 and represents our lead clinical asset in our oral small molecule program, we are advancing Next Generation Oral melanocortin 4 receptor selective agonist candidates based on data and learnings from earlier compounds and including PL7737, recent data from our research work in medicinal chemistry and our advancements in understanding detailed receptor ligand interactions in internal preclinical studies. Our candidates demonstrate significantly improved monocortin 4 receptor selectivity with minimal monocortin 1 receptor activity and increased potency at the monocortin 4 receptor compared to earlier compounds. We believe this improved selectivity and potency will result in lower dosing requirements and a meaningful reduction in the potential elimination of hyperpigmentation. I want to emphasize the importance of the last point. Hyperpigmentation is a known class effect associated with melanocortin 1 receptor activity and remains a limitation of current therapies. Our approach is specifically designed to minimize melanocortin 1 receptor off target interactions and the selectivity data we have supports this conclusion. Our goal is to develop best in class therapies with superior efficacy and long term patient compliance. In addition to advancing our obesity programs, we continue to leverage the broader potential of our melanocortin receptor platform through strategic partnerships and business development activities. Our partnership with Bergel Ingelheim for Retinal Diseases continues to provide non dilutive capital, milestone opportunities and potential long term royalty participation. During the second half of calendar 2025 we received upfront and milestone payments totaling 7.5 million euros or approximately $8.8 million. We also completed the sublicensing of PL9643 for dry eye disease to Altanis back labs in January of 2026, receiving 3.8 million in upfront consideration while retaining the potential for future payments and royalties. In addition, RPL8177 ulcerative colitis program remains positioned for potential partnering following positive phase two proof of concept results. These transactions reflect our strategy of leveraging the breadth of our melanocortin receptor platform to generate non dilutive …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

U.S. stocks were mixed, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining more than 100 points on Wednesday.

Shares of Vishay Intertechnology Inc (NYSE:VSH) rose sharply after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and issued second-quarter sales guidance above estimates.

Vishay Intertechnology reported quarterly earnings of 5 cents per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of 3 cents per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $839.242 million which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $822.815 million.

Vishay Intertechnology shares jumped 10% to $36.99 on Wednesday.

Here are some other big stocks recording gains in today’s session.

• Velo3D Inc (NASDAQ:VELO) shares jumped 35.5% to $19.05 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results.
•  VNET Group Inc – ADR (NASDAQ:VNET) gained 32.5% to $11.95 after the company announced that PJ Millennium I Limited and PJ Millennium II entered into a share purchase agreement to purchase from the Sellers in aggregate up to 650,424,192 Class A ordinary shares at $1.4486 per share.
• C4 Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ:CCCC) gained 19.4% to $3.78 following upbeat quarterly results.
• Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:KC) surged 18.6% to $18.16.
• Tower Semiconductor Ltd (NASDAQ:TSEM) rose 17.5% …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

On Wednesday, Titan Mining (TSX:TI) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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The full earnings call is available at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/aiut5n3e/

Summary

Titan Mining reported a 22% year-over-year increase in revenues for Q1 2026, reaching approximately $19.6 million, supported by consistent zinc sales volumes.

The company commenced graphite concentrate shipments and announced a new germanium recovery initiative, aligning with its domestic critical mineral strategy.

Titan Mining’s zinc operations generated an adjusted EBITDA of approximately $3.9 million, maintaining cost discipline with C1 cash costs at $0.98 per pound.

The Kilborne project is advancing with a fully funded feasibility study, and exploration results indicated significant resource expansion potential.

Management highlighted a cooperation agreement with Tech Metals to recover germanium, aiming to leverage existing operations without requiring new mining activities.

Future guidance targets 62 to 60 million payable pounds of zinc for 2026, with plans to continue advancing graphite and germanium projects.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Titan Mining’s Q1 2026 analyst and investor Update Call. At this time all participants are in a listen only mode. Please be advised that today’s conference is being recorded. After the speaker’s presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question, please press star 11 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Irina Kuznetsova, Director of Investor Relations at Titan Mining.

Irina Kuznetsova (Director of Investor Relations)

Thank you operator and thank you everyone for joining Titan Mining’s first quarter 2026 analyst and investor Update Call. We are pleased to be introducing this quarterly update format as part of our efforts to provide more regular insight into our progress and priorities. The quarter marked important milestones for the company including the commencement of graphite concentrate shipments from its end to end US operation and the recent announcement of a germanium recovery initiative with TAG Metals, further advancing Titan’s domestic critical mineral strategy. I would like to draw your attention to the cautionary statements on slide 2 as we will be making several forward looking comments during our prepared remarks and likely in the Q and A as well. On the call to assist with the presentation and answer questions are Rita Adiany, our President and CEO and Joel Rio, our Vice President of Operations. I will now turn the call over to Joel to discuss the operational highlights.

Joel Rio (Vice President of Operations)

Thank you Irina. In the first quarter, Titan delivered solid operational and strategic progress including revenue growth, positive operating cash flow and important advancements across our U.S. critical minerals platform. Our zinc business continues to provide a stable cash flow foundation that supports our growth strategy. In Q1 we delivered consistent production in line with the mine plan and maintained cost discipline reinforcing the strength of our operating platform. I’ll now turn the call over to Rita to discuss our strategic initiatives and corporate developments.

Rita Adiany (President and CEO)

Thank you Joe. Today we announced a cooperation agreement with TAG Metals to evaluate the recovery of germanium from our existing process stream. This represents a potential high value, low capital byproduct opportunity leveraging our current operations. I’ll provide details on this initiative shortly. Turning to Graphite we achieved a key milestone during the quarter with commencement of graphite concentrate shipments from our demonstration facility, marking the first end to end domestic natural flake graphite production in the US in decades. This is a critical step in advancing customer qualification and transitioning from development to commercial execution. The facility enables product testing, metallurgical optimization and operating validation at scale, supporting ongoing engagement with customers across industrial advanced technology and defence related supply chain. These discussions are progressing through qualification, an important step towards establishing long term commercial relationships through offtake. In parallel, the fully funded feasibility study for a 40,000 metric ton per year Kilborne project is progressing alongside continued drilling and permitting activities. Exploration results released during the quarter confirmed mineralization extending beyond the current resource boundary, highlighting meaningful expansion potential. Kilborn is well positioned to advance efficiently supported by existing infrastructure, operating expertise and cash flow from our zinc business. As we move toward establishing a scalable and domestic supply solution. With production underway, commercial engagement advancing and multiple near term catalysts in place, our focus remains on disciplined execution and continued progress towards commercial scale activities. I’ll now turn on to discuss the germanium opportunity in a little bit more detail. Germanium is a critical mineral with applications across defense, semis and advanced optics and global supply remains highly concentrated and subject to Chinese export restrictions. The US is heavily reliant on imports with China controlling approximately 60% of global production with export restrictions having had a significant increase in pricing. Against this backdrop we see a compelling opportunity to unlock value from our existing operations. Through our cooperation agreement with Tech, we are evaluating the recovery of approximately 13,000 kgs per year of containing germanium from material that has already been mined and forms part of our existing zinc process stream. This is a capital …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Global copper demand is rising, driven by electric vehicles, data centers, renewable energy and the overhaul of the aging power grid. 

Copper is playing a major role in those transformations, largely because it is affordable and highly conductive. Plus, it dissipates heat efficiently, resists corrosion in harsh environments and can be reused without losing performance. According to one estimate, the global copper market is projected to reach $388.8 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 5.9% between now and then. 

Electric vehicles require roughly four times as much copper as internal combustion cars. Solar farms, wind turbines and the grid expansions that connect them are copper-heavy. Meanwhile, hyperscale data centers, the physical backbone of AI and cloud computing, are being rolled out at unprecedented speed. All of that is leading to copper prices that are surging toward historic highs of $6.40 per pound. 

One company that looks poised to benefit from all that demand is NovaRed Mining Inc.(OTC:NREDF), the mineral exploration company focused on the identification, acquisition, exploration and development of copper-gold porphyry projects in British Columbia (BC).

The company’s Wilmac Copper-Gold Project, which covers 16,078 hectares in BC’s Quesnel porphyry belt in the Similkameen Mining Division, is massive, roughly 2.7 times larger than Manhattan Island and equivalent to nearly 30,000 American football fields, reports the company.  

The sheer size of its project, even though it’s in the exploration phase, is important. Major copper …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

The explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure has hit a critical constraint—memory chips—driving a newly launched ETF to staggering gains and pushing top semiconductor stocks to record heights.

The AI Memory Squeeze

Since its April 6th debut, the Roundhill Memory ETF (BATS:DRAM) has surged 90%, rapidly accumulating over $6.25 billion in assets.

The fund’s meteoric rise underscores a stark reality in the tech sector: the global supply of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) cannot keep pace with surging data center demand.

“Investors are waking up to the fact that the biggest bottleneck in the AI buildout is actually memory chips,” Dave Mazza, CEO of Roundhill Investments, told CNBC.

He pointed to an “incredible amount of supply and demand imbalance” that is rapidly transforming the historically cyclical memory sector into a sustained structural boom.

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Videos claiming that paying taxes is optional have been circulating on TikTok, with creators saying people can claim exempt status on their tax forms, stop submitting tax returns and avoid consequences for years.

“How is it possible that people are filing exempt and then not filing a tax return and not getting caught for this?” a person asked on Reddit’s r/tax after seeing such videos and reading comments from people claiming they hadn’t filed taxes in over a decade without getting caught.

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Why People Think They Can Get Away With It

“They’re also totally misinterpreting the word voluntary,” the original poster wrote. “Voluntary doesn’t mean that you don’t have to pay taxes or file. It means that you’re responsible for self-reporting this information!”

The discussion quickly filled with tax professionals, IRS workers and regular people explaining that the word “voluntary” has been twisted online for years. Multiple commenters said the phrase refers to the U.S. system of “voluntary compliance,” where taxpayers calculate and report what they owe themselves.

“The voluntary argument comes from a misread of a Supreme Court ruling that used that word in a specific legal context,” one commenter said. “It doesn’t mean what people think it means.”

“Voluntary in that context means self-assessed, not optional,” another person added.

Still, many in the thread acknowledged that some people do manage to avoid filing taxes for years, especially if they live largely outside the financial system or work cash-heavy jobs.

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One commenter claiming to work for the IRS said some people can go years without filing as long as they avoid situations requiring proof of income.

“Most people can go their entire life without ever filing taxes,” the commenter wrote. “As long as you never need a mortgage or business loan, never go to college or have a child that needs to, and never need SSA benefits.”

Others said problems often begin once people try to buy homes, apply for loans, collect unemployment benefits or qualify for Social Security.

The Consequences Usually Catch Up

A recurring theme throughout the thread was that avoiding taxes is less about escaping forever and more about delaying consequences.

“The IRS will get to them eventually,” one commenter warned.

Several people shared personal stories about friends or relatives who ignored taxes for years before facing wage garnishments, liens, frozen bank accounts and massive penalties.

“The state is what came after me,” one commenter said after years of not filing. “Then when I filled out all those back returns, the state sent them to the IRS. It was a wild ride, definitely don’t recommend. Cost me a lot of money to make problems go away.”

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Commenters also pushed back against the idea that IRS staffing shortages make people immune from enforcement. Many explained that tax matching systems are heavily automated because employers and financial institutions still send W-2 and 1099 forms directly to the IRS.

“If you have a W-2 they will find you eventually,” …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

U.S. stock futures were mixed this morning, with the Dow futures falling around 100 points on Wednesday.

Shares of QuickLogic Corp (NASDAQ:QUIK) fell in pre-market trading after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter financial results.

QuickLogic reported quarterly losses of 8 cents per share which missed the analyst consensus estimate of losses of 5 cents per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $5.051 million which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $5.508 million.

QuickLogic shares dipped 6.6% to $17.80 in pre-market trading.

Here are some other stocks moving lower in pre-market trading.

• Ring Energy Inc (NYSE:REI) fell 18.4% to $1.45 in …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

During times of turbulence and uncertainty in the markets, many investors turn to dividend-yielding stocks. These are often companies that have high free cash flows and reward shareholders with a high dividend payout.

Benzinga readers can review the latest analyst takes on their favorite stocks by visiting Analyst Stock Ratings page. Traders can sort through Benzinga’s extensive database of analyst ratings, including by analyst accuracy.

Below are the ratings of the most accurate analysts for three high-yielding stocks in the energy sector.

Delek Logistics Partners LP (NYSE:DKL)

• Dividend Yield: 8.69%
• Mizuho analyst Gabriel Moreen maintained a Neutral rating and raised the price target from $45 to $52 on April 21, 2026. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 79%
• Citigroup analyst Douglas Irwin downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral and raised the price target from $47 to $52 on March 6, 2026. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 70%.
• Recent News: On May 12, Delek Logistics Partners, LP and Delek Logistics …

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Bitcoin will reach $1 million in the next five years in a run that will mirror the rise of the gaming industry, according to VanEck Head of Digital Assets Research Matthew Sigel.

“When you look at the demographic trends and the intentions of young investors to allocate to Bitcoin, it’s going to be like the video game industry, where, 30 years ago, it was just kids playing video games, now Elon Musk plays video games,” Sigel told CNBC on May 6.

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Sigel also pointed to central bank buying of Bitcoin. While he did not specify the central bank, the Czech National Bank in November announced that it had bought Bitcoin for its test portfolio. The central bank has also made a case for a 1% Bitcoin allocation in reserves.

However, Sigel told CNBC that Bitcoin’s run to $1 million will not happen in a straight line. 

“There’s no bailouts in Bitcoin, so it’s going to be cycles along the way,” he said.

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Sigel’s remarks came as Bitcoin has edged higher in recent weeks, reaching a high near $83,000. He attributed the asset’s run to broader macroeconomic conditions, saying its correlation with the Nasdaq 100 index is at a five-year high.

Sigel expressed confidence that Bitcoin can continue higher, citing a lack of “froth in the derivatives markets.”

Sigel is not the only Bitcoin proponent with a long-term $1 million price prediction. Others include Bitwise investment chief Matt Hougan, Ark Invest‘s Cathie Wood and Strategy’s (NASDAQ:MSTR) Michael Saylor.

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Connect Invest

Connect Invest is a real estate investment platform that allows investors to access short-term, fixed-income opportunities backed by …

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On CNBC’s “Halftime Report Final Trades,” Jim Lebenthal, partner at Cerity Partners, said Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) continues to bring money while energy prices are high.

Lending support to his choice, Exxon Mobil, on May 1, reported better-than-expected results for the first quarter. Adjusted earnings were $4.9 billion, or $1.16 per share, while earnings excluding identified items and estimated timing effects were $8.8 billion, or $2.09 per share.

Jason Snipe, founder and chief investment officer of Odyssey Capital Advisors, picked ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW).

According to recent news, the company outlined last week a path to more than $30 billion …

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Top Wall Street analysts changed their outlook on these top names. For a complete view of all analyst rating changes, including upgrades, downgrades and initiations, please see our analyst ratings page.

• Truist Securities analyst William Stein upgraded Sensata Technologies Holding PLC (NYSE:ST) from Hold to Buy and raised the price target from $43 to $58. Sensata shares closed at $44.51 on Tuesday. See how other analysts view this stock.
• B of A Securities analyst Madeline Brooks upgraded Akamai Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:AKAM) from Neutral to Buy and boosted the price target from $130 to …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Protalix BioTherapeutics (AMEX:PLX) released first-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Wednesday. Read the complete transcript below.

Benzinga APIs provide real-time access to earnings call transcripts and financial data. Visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/ to learn more.

View the webcast at https://viavid.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1762414&tp_key=330c698581

Summary

Protalix BioTherapeutics reported a $25 million milestone payment from Chiesi due to European Commission approval of a new dosing regimen for El Fabrio, ending the quarter with $51 million in cash.

The company reaffirmed its 2026 revenue guidance of $78 to $83 million, with key revenue drivers being El Fabrio and PRX115’s Phase 2 study and ongoing partnerships.

The company plans to capture 15-20% of the global Fabry market by 2031, with strategic focus on expanding El Fabrio’s presence in Europe and advancing PRX115 for uncontrolled gout.

First-quarter revenue was $33.8 million, with an increase in R&D expenses to $5.4 million due to the PRX115 Phase 2 study, while maintaining a strong financial position with no debt.

Management expressed confidence in achieving long-term growth through strategic partnerships and pipeline advancement, with expectations for significant revenue growth in the second half of 2026.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

. Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Protalix BioTherapeutics First Quarter 2026 Financial and Business Results Conference Call. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to our host, Mr. Mike Moyer of LASCI Advisors, Investor Relations for Protalix. Thank you. Please go ahead.

Mike Moyer (Investor Relations)

Thank you Operator and welcome to Protalix BioTherapeutics Q1 2026 financial results and Business Update Conference Call. With me today are Dror Bashan, President and CEO of Protalix, and Gilad Mamlach, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. A press release announcing the financial results and corporate updates were issued this morning and are available now on the Protalix website. Please take a moment to read the disclaimer about forward looking statements in the press release. The earnings release and this teleconference include forward looking statements. These forward looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. They may cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. Factors that could cause actual results to differ are described in the disclaimer and in Protalix’s filings with the U.S. securities and Exchange Commission. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Dror Bashan.

Dror Bashan

Thank you Mike and thank you everyone for joining our Q1 2026 financial results and Business Update for I want to begin by highlighting two points that underscore the strength of our business today. First, during the quarter we received the $25 million milestone from Chiesi following the European Commission approval of a Elfabrio every four weeks dosing regimen. As a result, we ended the first quarter of this year with $51 million in cash, providing us with a strong balance sheet and substantial financial flexibility and sufficient funds to support our ongoing operations as well as our phase two release study with PRX115. Second, we are reaffirming our 2026 guidance. We continue to expect total revenue for the year to range from approximately 78 to 83 million dollars inclusive of the 25 million dollar milestones received from Chiesi. Within that outlook, we anticipated Elfabrio revenues excluding milestones of approximately 33 to 35 million and PRX-102 revenues of approximately 20 to 23 million. Taken together, this guidance reflects the strength of our commercial partnerships and our confidence in execution across our business for the year ahead. We entered 2026 with a good momentum with the regulatory progress for in Europe which triggered the $25 million milestone payment, the continued enrollment of our PRX115 Phase 2 release study and a growing focus on our rare renal disease preclinical pipeline, we remain confident in our strategy for the years ahead. Our partner Chiesi continues to execute well with Elfabrio across approved markets. Following the European Commission recent approval of every four weeks regiment, we believe Elfabrio is well positioned to meaningfully reduce treatment burden for eligible patients in the European Union without compromising efficacy. This added dosing flexibility strengthens the Elfabrio competitive position and supports broader adoption over time. In the United States, the FDA approved dosing regimen remains unchanged. Looking longer term with the global Fabry market projected to approach approximately 3.2 …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Americans’ financial struggles are “not even a little bit” motivating his administration’s negotiations with Iran, arguing that preventing Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons remains the administration’s only priority.

Speaking to reporters on the White House South Lawn before departing for China, Trump was asked how much Americans’ financial situation was influencing efforts to reach a deal tied to the Iran conflict.

“Not even a little bit,” Trump responded.

“The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump added. “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation, I don’t think about anybody.”

Trump’s remarks also came a day after hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data showed prices rising faster than expected in April. Inflation climbed to 3.8%, above economists’ expectations of 3.7%, as higher energy and gasoline prices linked to disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz continued to increase costs for consumers.

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Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA) will release earnings for its first quarter after the closing bell on Wednesday, May 13.

Analysts expect the Panama City, Panama-based company to report quarterly earnings of $4.42 per share, up from $4.28 per share in the year-ago period. The consensus estimate for Copa’s quarterly revenue is $1.03 billion (it reported $899.18 million last year), according to Benzinga Pro.

On Tuesday, Copa Holdings posted 16.7% capacity and traffic growth in April.

Shares of Copa Holdings fell 0.9% to close at $115.96 on Tuesday.

Benzinga readers can access the latest analyst ratings on the Analyst Stock Ratings page. Readers can sort by stock ticker, company name, analyst firm, rating change or other variables.

Let’s have a look at how Benzinga’s most-accurate analysts have rated the company in …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Brown-Forman (NYSE:BF), the company that produces Jack Daniel’s, has reportedly turned down a $15 billion acquisition bid from its competitor, Sazerac.

Sazerac’s $32 per share cash offer was declined by Brown-Forman earlier this week, reported the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. The majority of the voting stock of Brown-Forman, a publicly traded company, is controlled by the Brown family, while Sazerac is a privately owned family business.

Sazerac’s all-cash bid, backed financially by Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) and Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO), would have given Brown-Forman Class A shareholders the option to sell their shares for cash or …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

The Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) rally to $82,000 is raising red flags that a short squeeze rather than organic buying may be the underlying fundamental driver.

Open Interest Jumped $10 Billion In A Month

According to a Wintermute report, open interest jumped from $48 billion to $58 billion in a month as Bitcoin started rising above $70,000. 

Short sellers piled in, got liquidated, and then bought back positions to cover. Funding is still predominantly short, meaning more squeeze could be coming.

The problem is that leverage, not spot demand, fueled this move. Spot buying confirms bull markets. Perpetual futures are driving this rally, and short covering does not reflect real conviction.

Spot Volumes Hit Two-Year Lows

Bitcoin …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

The most oversold stocks in the utilities sector presents an opportunity to buy into undervalued companies.

The RSI is a momentum indicator, which compares a stock’s strength on days when prices go up to its strength on days when prices go down. When compared to a stock’s price action, it can give traders a better sense of how a stock may perform in the short term. An asset is typically considered oversold when the RSI is below 30, according to Benzinga Pro.

Here’s the latest list of major oversold players in this sector, having an RSI near or below 30.

Consolidated Water Co Ltd (NASDAQ:CWCO)

• On May 11, Consolidated Water posted downbeat quarterly earnings. “In Q1, consolidated revenue declined due to revenue declines in our manufacturing and retail segments,” said Consolidated Water CEO Rick McTaggart. The company’s stock fell around 10% over the past month and has a 52-week low of $24.32.
• RSI Value: 29
• CWCO Price Action: Shares of Consolidated Water fell 7.7% to close at $30.34 on Tuesday.
• Edge Stock Ratings: 91.92 Momentum score with Value at 93.51.

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) will release earnings for its second quarter after the closing bell on Thursday, May 14.

Analysts expect the company to report quarterly earnings of $2.68 per share, up from $2.39 per share in the year-ago period. The consensus estimate for Applied Materials’ quarterly revenue is $7.69 billion (it reported $7.1 billion last year), according to Benzinga Pro.

Ahead of quarterly earnings, Citigroup analyst Atif Malik, on Tuesday, maintained a Buy rating on Applied Materials and raised the price target from $420 to $520.

With the recent buzz around Applied Materials, some investors may be eyeing potential gains from the company’s dividends too. As of now, Applied Materials has an annual dividend yield of 0.49%, which is a quarterly dividend amount of 53 cents per share ($2.12 a year).  

So, how can investors exploit its …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

U.S. stock futures were mixed on Wednesday after Monday’s mostly lower close. Dow Jones futures fell, whereas S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices were rising.

This follows President Donald Trump‘s visit to China along with Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang, Tesla Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Elon Musk, Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) Tim Cook, BlackRock Inc.‘s (NYSE:BLK) Larry Fink, and Qualcomm Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:QCOM) Cristiano Amon.

Before leaving, Trump said on Tuesday that Americans’ financial struggles are not a factor in his decision-making as he seeks to negotiate an end to the Iran war, saying ​that preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon is his top priority, reported Reuters.

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.46%, and the two-year bond was at 3.99%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 97.6% likelihood of the Federal Reserve leaving the current interest rates unchanged during June’s meeting.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, respectively, were higher in premarket on Wednesday. The SPY was up 0.21% at $739.76, while the QQQ was higher 0.73% to $712.37.

Stocks In Focus

Nextpower

• Nextpower Inc. (NASDAQ:NXT) soared 13.78% in premarket on Wednesday after it announced better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and raised its FY27 sales guidance. The company announced it will acquire assets of Zigor Corporation’s power conversion business and its U.S.-based subsidiary, Apex Power.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that NXT maintains a strong price trend in the short, medium, and long terms, with a moderate value score.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) will release earnings for its third quarter after the closing bell on Wednesday, May 13.

Analysts expect the company to report quarterly earnings of $1.03 per share, up from 96 cents per share in the year-ago period. The consensus estimate for Cisco’s quarterly revenue is $15.56 billion (it reported $14.15 billion last year), according to Benzinga Pro.

The company has beaten analyst estimates for revenue in 15 straight quarters.

Shares of Cisco rose 0.6% to close at $99.29 on Tuesday.

Benzinga readers can access the latest analyst ratings on the Analyst Stock Ratings page. Readers can sort by stock ticker, company name, analyst firm, rating change or other variables.

Let’s have a look at how Benzinga’s most-accurate analysts have rated the company in the recent …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Annie Duke, the former World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions winner and author of Thinking in Bets and Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away, said investors often make costly mistakes by confusing lucky outcomes with strong investing decisions during speculative market rallies.

Speaking in an interview with MarketWatch published Tuesday, the poker pro turned investing coach outlined a three-step framework for evaluating markets that appear overheated. She said investors should first study historical market behavior, then ask whether current conditions are genuinely different from prior cycles, and finally prepare in advance for the possibility that their investment thesis may be wrong.

“The starting point is what I call the base rate,” Duke said, referring to how similar market environments behaved historically. She said investors should examine whether valuations, momentum and investor behavior resemble periods that previously ended in corrections or bubbles.

Duke used Amazon during the 1999 dot-com era as an example of a company that appeared overvalued at the time but ultimately justified higher valuations because its business model differed significantly from traditional retailers.

She also advised investors to imagine scenarios where their investment thesis fails and identify warning signs early rather than becoming emotionally attached …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

In today’s rapidly changing and fiercely competitive business landscape, it is essential for investors and industry enthusiasts to thoroughly analyze companies. In this article, we will conduct a comprehensive industry comparison, evaluating IREN (NASDAQ:IREN) against its key competitors in the Software industry. By examining key financial metrics, market position, and growth prospects, we aim to provide valuable insights for investors and shed light on company’s performance within the industry.

IREN Background

IREN owns data centers powered by renewable energy in Canada and the US for bitcoin mining and AI cloud infrastructure. The company is in the process of converting its existing bitcoin capacity for AI purposes and securing new power and land supply to expand its data center operation. IREN works closely with industry leaders in AI, such as Microsoft, to support their cloud infrastructure ambitions.

Full story available on Benzinga.com

SoftBank Group Corp. (OTC:SFTBY) reported a massive annual gain for its Vision Fund business on Wednesday, driven largely by the soaring value of its investment in artificial intelligence company OpenAI.

Massive Gains for Vision Fund Business

According to the CNBC report, the Vision Fund recorded a $46 billion gain for the fiscal year ended March 2026, with nearly $45 billion tied to OpenAI-related investments. The Japanese giant invested more than $30 billion in the ChatGPT maker.

In the March quarter alone, the Vision Fund posted gains of around $20 billion, with OpenAI accounting for nearly all of the increase.

The strong performance from OpenAI offset losses from several other investments in SoftBank’s portfolio, including stakes in Coupang, DiDi Global and Klarna.

SoftBank Bets Big …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Anthropic on Tuesday unveiled expanded legal tools for Claude Cowork, enabling law firms to connect existing software and automate complex legal tasks at scale.

The release integrates platforms including Thomson Reuters‘ Westlaw, CourtListener, Definely, Courtroom5, Box and OpenAI-backed Harvey. Lawyers can now access case law databases, manage contracts and run deep legal research within a single interface.

From General Tool To Custom-Tailored

Unlike the initial Cowork launch in February, whose legal and sales plugins sparked the “SaaSpocalypse” sell-off, Tuesday’s tools are specifically designed for specialized practice areas such as employment, privacy and product law.

Anthropic’s Claude Code Security launch marked the second enterprise software disruption the company triggered that month, unsettling cybersecurity incumbents by autonomously scanning codebases for vulnerabilities and recommending patches, …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) will eliminate or relocate 1,000 corporate workers as part of its plan to combine its global technology and product teams to boost efficiency.

According to the Wall Street Journal report, the shift is tied to a broader effort to tighten internal coordination and place more teams inside the company’s main office locations.

Job Restructuring Plan

A memo from Daniel Danker, head of global AI acceleration, and Suresh Kumar, head of global technology, said some groups were tackling overlapping work, and that impacted employees can seek other openings inside the company. “In some cases, we’ve had different teams working on similar problems,” Danker and Kumar wrote in the memo.

The retailer has frequently reduced its workforce in recent years to consolidate its units and move employees to its main corporate hubs, particularly its headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. (AR).

This time, many affected workers have been asked to relocate to Walmart’s headquarters in Bentonville or to offices in Northern California. Walmart employs about 1.6 million people in the U.S., with most in hourly roles.

Earlier this year, Walmart filed a layoff notice in N.J. (NJ) tied to plans to cut about 100 positions at its Hoboken offices.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is aiming at major defense contractors, calling out exorbitant maintenance costs and pushing for a bipartisan law that would grant the U.S. military the legal right to fix its own equipment.

The “$47,000” Knob

During a recent Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Warren highlighted a glaring example of taxpayer waste involving Black Hawk helicopters, which are manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp.‘s (NYSE:LMT) Sikorsky.

She pointed out that a small navigational knob frequently breaks, which the Army could theoretically replace for a mere $15. However, strict vendor lock-in prevents military mechanics from doing the work.

“Because the Army doesn’t have the right to repair, the whole helicopter goes offline, and the contractor charges $47,000 to replace the entire screen,” Warren stated. “Let that sink in: $15 or $47,000.”

…

EV demand across the globe surged in April as steep gas prices and uncertainty over the Iran war continued to drive a shift in consumer perception of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

EVs Decline In North America, Europe Posts Gains

Despite an uptick in registrations for EVs and plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), Benchmark Mineral Intelligence data, cited by Reuters on Tuesday, showcased a 28% decline in registrations across North America to 120,000 units in April. Global registrations for EVs and PHEVs came in at 1.6 million, illustrating a 6% YoY jump from April 2025, the report said.

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Auto Industry Urges Trump To Block Chinese EVs In US Ahead Of Xi Jinping Meet: Report

The S&P 500 slipped from record levels on Tuesday as rising oil prices and sticky inflation concerns pressured technology shares, but Polymarket traders are betting the benchmark index will rebound at Wednesday’s open.

The S&P 500 closed 0.16% lower at 7,400.96 after touching fresh highs earlier this week. However, a May 13 contract on Polymarket showed an 83% chance that the index would open higher on Wednesday.

Why That Number Matters

Investor focus has shifted toward inflation after April consumer prices rose at the fastest annual pace in nearly three years.

Markets are now awaiting April’s producer price index data due Wednesday morning, with economists polled by Dow Jones expecting …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed some improvement in the overall market sentiment, while the index remained in the “Greed” zone on Tuesday.

U.S. stocks settled mixed on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 falling from a record high during the session after a hotter-than-expected April inflation report consolidated worries that the Federal Reserve will not cut interest rates this year.

Headline Consumer Price Index accelerated to 3.8% year-over-year in April from 3.3% prior, the highest reading since March 2023 and above the 3.7% consensus, driven largely by gasoline prices.

President Donald Trump criticized an Iranian counteroffer to end the war, and said the month-long ceasefire is “unbelievably weak”.

In earnings, Under Armour Inc. (NYSE:UA) (NYSE:UAA) shares fell almost 17% on Tuesday after the company reported fourth-quarter results that …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) has dropped out of the top ten EV companies in the Chinese domestic market as the Elon Musk-led EV giant’s retail sales fell in April.

Tesla Drops Out Of Top 10

In a report by CnEVPost on Tuesday, citing the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) data, BYD Co. Ltd. (OTC:BYDDY) (OTC:BYDDF), Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. (OTC:GELHY) (OTC:GELYF), Changan, Stellantis NV-backed (NYSE:STLA) Leapmotor and Xiaomi Corp. (OTC:XIACF) (OTC:XIACY) made up the top five new energy vehicle (NEV) automakers in the country.

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SoftBank Group (OTC:SFTBY) held its fourth-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday. Below is the complete transcript from the call.

This content is powered by Benzinga APIs. For comprehensive financial data and transcripts, visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/.

Access the full call at https://group.softbank/en/event/earnings_2025q4#1

Summary

SoftBank Group reported a record net income of 5 trillion yen, marking the highest EBITDA profit in Japanese corporate history.

The company has made significant investments in AI infrastructure, including AI models and AI chips, with a major focus on strategic collaborations with OpenAI and ARM.

SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund reported a cumulative investment gain of 45.7 billion, driven by significant recovery and growth in portfolio companies, particularly OpenAI.

The company’s investment strategy includes a commitment of 38.5 billion in areas like AI and robotics, with a strong focus on maintaining a healthy financial position.

Management remains optimistic about the future, focusing on becoming a leader in AI and maintaining a disciplined financial policy to support strategic initiatives.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Thank you very much for waiting everyone. Now we would like to start the Softbank Group Corp. Earnings result announcement for fiscal year ended March 31, 2026. First of all I would like to introduce today’s participant. From left we have Yoshimi Tsugoto, Board Director and CFO Kazuko Kimiwada, corporate officer senior vice president and CEO. Navneet Govil, executive partner and cfo SB investment advisors and SB global advisors. Jason Child, executive vice president and cfo. Today’s announcement is live broadcast over Internet. Now I’d like to invite Yoshimi Tsugoto to present you the earnings results and business overview. Thank you very much for joining our earnings announcement today during your busy schedule. So I would like to update you with our one full year results when we announced the third quarter announcement. I remain seated and make a presentation. I still have some in the recovery process for my knee so let me stay seated for the presentation. Thank you very much for your understanding for this year. Masa and together with us actually made every effort and I believe we were able to make quite a good results and outcome market and environment which you all know that AI became even bigger buzzword making our influence to the variety of places and segments and industry, this influence becoming bigger and stronger and that is actually creating the good expectation as well as risk consideration as well. So I understand there are many discussions taking place here and there. From the Softbank’s group point of view. We made quite a good capital intensive investments in the big AI infrastructure and now we start seeing the physical AI actually utilized in practice and at the same time AI agent, real full fledged execution is now discussed at the same time. Also sometimes this AI service can be replacing existing or traditional business in some extent and at the same time it may create the materializing the risk which has not been seen in the past. In our vision based on all those circumstances we aim to become the number one ASI platform provider and now that we are continuing our journey and this was a kind of a starting year for this fiscal year. We have shared this slide in many occasions by me, myself and Masa himself and there are four major pillars when it comes to ASI AI Model, AI Chip, physical AI and AI Infrastructure. And here I would like to share that how we’ve been developing in these areas especially I would like to highlight those two which is AI model and AI chip. For AI model we have invested in OpenAI and at the same time they’ve been making a good growth as we expect and we’ve been having a Good discussion. When it comes to strategic collaboration that is another good benefit in terms of increasing our knowledge in AI and for AI chip of course this is the main focus by arm. And recently we saw market cap very near to the record level $221 billion. For AI model. Let me deep dive here. So in October this year, once we finish all those investment that we committed, that gonna lead us to 64 point which will be nearly 10 trillion yen under the current forex. And at the same time we’ve been expanding strategic collaboration with OpenAI for AI chip which led by ARM. Of course Ampere is going to be in this section. And the biggest move that ARM made was to announce first in house CPU chip. Recently also we have completed the acquisition of Ampere which I would like to touch is on data pages. And also we have Jason CFO ARM. So if you have any question, please do not hesitate to ask any questions to him. Physical AI this is actually a long history in US Pepper. You may recall the humanoid robots that we started with. So Physical AI section. Has several good portfolio companies of which about 20 of those portfolios has been covered together under Robo Holdings. And in addition as we announced, We have announced the acquisition the major robotics company ABB Robotics business. So in coming few months we expect that we will be able to close this acquisition transaction. And that can be another good strength for our physical AI segment. And that can be a great value added to our group. Last but not least, AI infrastructure which is led by SB Energy in United States. This entity is leading a main role. And also we announced the major Japan US public private project which is the Ports Technology Campus which is a symbolic project for this AI infrastructure segment. Not only this project, but we also looking at the development of further data center sites led by mainly by SB Energy. And we are. We are looking forward to have further development and the progress of such projects. And with these efforts, how does has that been contributed to our numbers here? Profit actually highest ever 5 trillion yen level in net income. And this net income as far as we understand, we believe this is highest EBA profit in Japanese corporate history. From the net income highest eba back in 2020 we achieved 4.9 trillion yen. That was the highest in this time we were able to exceed that number. In addition, when you see to enterprise value, actually this is even more important indicator than P L which is net asset. So from the our assets held this net debt. And here we looking at 40.1 trillion yen for the net asset value for this quarter latest number Pro forma basis actually as of this morning on an estimated basis 47.7 trillion yen. That’s a net number. So this is this after this net interest bearing debt. Consolidated results, Net sales gain, loss on investments, income before income tax and net income in our segments we were able to made a significant growth across all profit measures As a key performance indicator, net asset value as of the end of March this year 40.1 trillion yen and the latest number pro forma basis above 48 trillion and the loan-to-value which is net debt divided by Equity value of holdings 17.0% as of the end of March. Again when you look at the previous year and actually making an even improvement even after the bigger investments that we have made and the pro forma base latest number I would say 1515 ish percent but the balance sheet moves around so this is just a four year reference. So as of March end I can say we’ve been improving actually since then in terms of loan-to-value and cash position. As on financial policy we always like to maintain our cash position to cover two year equivalent of the bond redemption and actually this covers even more than that and as a result it comes to 3.5 trillion yen for the cash position as of the end of March. Now. Let me touch upon our major contributors to the financial result. First ARM again they announced first in house chip There were some rumor in the past but officially announced in March this first in house chip and also they had the record high market cap. Since listing their market value was 52 billion. It’s been growing for over four times over the last less than three years. In terms of revenue they have been increasing revenue year on year and FY2025 in Japan calendar they recorded 4.9 billion or up 23% year on year. So they have been growing very steadily. As you can see on the slide left hand side in a cloud market they have gained more shares AWS, Microsoft, Google they used ARM’s CPU and on the right hand side in the area of Compute Subsystem (CSS) or COMPUTE subsystem which has a very high margin since they have capability to deliver combined technology which allows customers to develop on their own very easily. So again in the Compute Subsystem (CSS) area they have been growing and they have acquired up to 23 contracts including Microsoft and Samsung. In terms of EPS again they had the record high EPS. They have spent a lot in R&D for their future growth. However the revenue offset such R&D expenses and they are able to hit the record high EPS. And let me remind you why ARM is strong as you can see ARM. Provides IP license to semiconductor makers. So they have a business model to deliver source of the semiconductor industry. Without ARM the industry wouldn’t stand and they have a compute platform most popular in the world. And total chips ever shipped is over 350 billion. And global population using products or services percentage wise 70% of the people in the world use ARM in any way. And there is a huge developer community based upon ARM’s technology to develop varieties of semiconductors. In fact 22 million developers are making use of ARM technology. So ARM is leading the whole industry. Like I said, they announced the first in house CPU chip. So they provide licenses and royalty to customers traditionally. So on top of that with the in house CPU chip they are going to deliver more. So let me show you a short video clip Rene talking about the background why they decided to build their CPU chip in the last number of months has been this explosion of agents. As we move to agenta query the number of tokens per human go up by 15x if not greater the data center is choking these accelerators which are very expensive that generate the tokens now need to send those tokens back through the cloud. So what you see is a huge bottleneck now. So what does that mean? You need more and more CPUs. That’s why they decided to offer most efficient Agentix CPU in the world or ARM AGI cpu. They developed ARM AGICPU with Meta and there are launch partners supporting them including OpenAI. Those major brands are supporting them and they have been communicating each other based upon the new business model how ARM’s financial performance is going to look like. Announcement was made in March and like I said their revenue in FY25 was 4.9 billion. But in 2030 or in the five years they are expecting to hit five times bigger revenue and also EPS. They expect five times bigger EPS over the next five years. So ARM is ready to hit those numbers and from profitability perspective they have already have an IP business which has high margin and and with this chip manufacturing ARM I think it’s going to draw a new growth story going forward. Now let us go into the OpenAI slides. There are three highlights for OpenAI I believe. First valuation compared to a year before which was 260 billion in March 2025 and that became $730 billion and investment amount in fiscal 2025. As of the end of March, $32.4 billion has been made in OpenAI and from April to October over three times that in total we will be making follow on investments of 30 billion. And that has already been agreed. The first tranche in April, 10 billion has been already paid. And this is the OpenAI by the Asian movement at initial investment in OpenAI back in September 2024. Back then OpenAI valuation was $150 billion. Last year we had additional investments of 30 billion. At that time when we made a commitment of 30 billion, additional investment valuation was $260 billion in March 2025. And after then they had financial round, another financial round. And this February in 2026 we made a follow on investment commitment and that moment valuation was $730 billion. So since the initial investment it took about two years and a half and actually made about five times of devaluation. I assume you are also a good user of ChatGPT and the service that provided by OpenAI that you’ve been experiencing. And I think that you can understand why they are making such a great growth in variation. And also this is the investment amount in OpenAI 2.2 billion in fiscal 2024 last year, $32.4 billion and additional follow on additional 30 billion. So total investment in October this year reaching to $64.6 billion. In that moment, ownership will be somewhere around 13% once again out of 30 billion. 10 billion has already been funded in April this year as a first tranche. And this is a growth of the ChatGPT service. And then these are the data that are shared by and disclosed by OpenAI and weekly active user here 900 million plus number of users are actually counted for February 2026, which is accounted for 15% of global Internet users and also paid subscribers. It’s over 50 million subscribers. Now. ChatGPT initially focused on the retail or the consumer market. So you been seeing these numbers, but actually Open Air has been also putting an effort in enterprise business and they are accelerating this business as well. Right now it’s about 40% enterprise share of the total revenue and that is expected to be 50% by the end of 2026. So as a result, consumer business and enterprise business will be about the same size. That’s how we see around the end of this year. And also paying E Business users as of this April that they have already reached and exceed 9 million users. …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Qnity Electronics (NYSE:Q) reported first-quarter financial results on Tuesday. The transcript from the company’s first-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

This transcript is brought to you by Benzinga APIs. For real-time access to our entire catalog, please visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/ for a consultation.

Access the full call at https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/5304863/13B583BE38AAAC829D30E77A12130D1F

Summary

Qnity Electronics Inc reported an 18% year-over-year increase in net sales for Q1 2026, with strong performance in both semiconductor technologies and interconnect solutions.

The company highlighted its strategic initiatives, including collaborations with Nvidia and Apple’s American Manufacturing program, and expansion of manufacturing facilities in Delaware and Taiwan.

Future outlook is positive with raised full-year guidance, anticipating net sales of $5.225 billion to $5.375 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $1.535 billion to $1.625 billion, driven by AI-related demand and advanced technology development.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good morning and welcome to the Qnity Electronics Inc first quarter 2026 conference and webcast call. Currently, all callers have been placed in a listen only mode and following management’s prepared remarks, the call will be open for your questions. I will now turn the call over to Meg Miller, Vice President of Global Communications. You may begin. Thank you and welcome to our first quarter 2026 earnings call. I’m joined by John Kemp, Qnity Electronics Inc’s Chief Executive Officer, and Mike Goss, Qnity Electronics Inc’s Interim Chief Financial Officer. Earlier today we issued our earnings release along with the supplemental slide presentation which can be found on our Investor Relations website. Before we begin, I’d like to remind you that today’s discussion will include some forward looking statements. These statements represent our best view of predictions and expectations for the future, but numerous risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ. Please refer to our earnings release and SEC filings for a discussion of these risks. We’ll also be discussing certain non GAAP financial measures and I encourage you to read our earnings materials for information regarding our non GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measure. And now it’s my pleasure to turn it over to John Kemp.

John Kemp (Chief Executive Officer)

Thank you for joining this morning. Our strong performance this quarter demonstrates how Qnity Electronics Inc creates value first, through a powerful integrated portfolio, second, a differentiated ability to innovate alongside our customers roadmap and third, leadership in advanced materials that are foundational to the exponential growth in AI and emerging technologies. For decades, Moore’s Law has been the driving force behind technological advancements in the semiconductor industry. Innovation meant shrink smaller transistors and higher density to improve performance and power. Now those gains are increasingly constrained by physical limits. Shrink built the last era stack will define the next. That means even while shrink remains important, we’re moving from 2D design to 3D architectures, stacking chips to unlock the next frontier of computing. That shift from flat to vertical elevates the importance of materials integration and reliability and ultimately redefines where value and leadership are created. This inflection plays directly to Cunity’s strength and how our business segments work together to power the stack. In semiconductor technologies, customers rely on our materials to smooth shape and precisely engineer surfaces at the wafer and device level. This is the foundation of performance yield and reliability. As AI investments accelerate, stacking creates increasingly complex advanced packages and systems with a multiplier in both process steps and material intensity for every additional layer. And the challenge shifts from individual steps at the chip level to managing integration at scale. That’s where Our Interconnect Solutions business Segment builds on SEMI’s work addressing system level constraints like power efficiency, heat management, signal integrity and long term reliability, all while capturing more content as stacks grow taller. Together, Qnity Electronics Inc brings these strengths into one differentiated platform, helping customers build, scale and operate next generation computing platforms. With these unique capabilities, supported by our local for local model that keeps us closely connected to customers around the world, Cunity is well positioned as the partner of choice for many of the industry’s leading fabricators and OEMs pioneering next generation technologies. This advantaged position reinforces our confidence in delivering sustainable long term value for our shareholders. That long term confidence is reflected in our near term execution. Let’s turn to our first quarter results where we delivered our eighth consecutive quarter of strong profitable organic growth. Organic sales increased by 17% versus 2025 with double digit growth across both segments. Adjusted operating EBinformation technologyDA increased by 22% and adjusted earnings per share grew by 33%. These results clearly reflect the ongoing momentum from AI exposed end markets and next generation technologies along with our ability to drive strong operating leverage. In Semi, we grew organic sales 12% year over year driven mostly by advanced nodes led by advanced logic and high bandwidth memory. We also benefited from ongoing improvements in mature nodes and NAND across the board. fab utilization rates continue to improve in line with our expectations as wafer mix continues to shift toward the leading edge. With more advanced nodes we’re well positioned for continued growth driven primarily by increasing content per wafer. Higher node complexity brings more CMP process steps, incremental demand for our most advanced clean and requires increasingly intricate lithography Patterning. Volumes at 3 nanometer continue to scale and we’re starting to see meaningful activity at 2 nanometer. Beyond this, we’re increasingly excited about Angstrom era nodes like 16, 14 and 10, which is the primary focus of our R&D engagement with customers and keeps us tightly aligned to their roadmaps. In ICS, we had an exceptional quarter with organic sales growing 22% year over year driven by content and share gains in advanced packaging and interconnects and thermal management. Advanced packaging is expected to be a core growth driver for years to come as the move from shrink to stack accelerates. As I mentioned earlier, more sophisticated architectures means larger package sizes, higher layer counts and more community content in every device. In advanced interconnects, we’re winning new business with AI, PCB, fab for the leading hyperscalers and premium smartphone OEMs where signal integrity and reliability requirements continue to rise as data center Demand Accelerates Managing heat is a critical objective Our industry leading thermal management portfolio is designed to remove heat across the entire system, supporting increasing content and higher device performance. Our growth momentum is a testament to the depth of our customer relationships and the strength of our innovation engine. We’re in a strong process of record or POR position across both segments due to the investments we’re making in R&D and innovation, giving us visibility into our growth potential over the next few years. Built on decades of partnership, we’ve earned our customers trust and with it comes a clear mandate to innovate and to move fast because in this industry that’s what it takes to win. During the quarter, we underscored that trust through several key announcements, including a new collaboration with Nvidia focused on advancing materials research and development for next gen AI, high performance computing and advanced packaging. By combining our materials expertise with Nvidia’s modeling and simulation capabilities, we’re working to accelerate development and improve manufacturing capabilities. That same commitment to collaboration and execution is reflected in our inclusion in Apple’s American Manufacturing program. Recognizing our role as a long term trusted partner to support customer roadmaps and supply ramps for the most advanced chip, we continue to execute our capital allocation strategy to further bolster manufacturing capacity and strengthen our local for local operating model. In the US we expanded our footprint with the March opening of a 385,000 square foot facility in Delaware. And in Taiwan we announced a new state of the art site with advanced production, clean rooms, warehousing and and R&D labs scheduled to be fully operational in early 2027. These investments significantly expand our manufacturing capacity for critical CMP materials, strengthen our operational agility, ensure …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

OrganiGram Holdings (NASDAQ:OGI) held its second-quarter earnings conference call on Tuesday. Below is the complete transcript from the call.

This transcript is brought to you by Benzinga APIs. For real-time access to our entire catalog, please visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/ for a consultation.

The full earnings call is available at https://events.q4inc.com/analyst/574618022?pwd=FVnom6fM

Summary

Organigram Global Inc faced challenges in Q2 with Canadian recreational market growth slowing and operational issues impacting vapes and pre-rolls.

The company is addressing these issues by tightening quality controls and launching new high-potency vape products.

International sales showed improvement, with expectations for continued growth in Q3, supported by the Sanity Group acquisition.

Despite challenges, the company maintained its position as the number one LP in Canada by market share, driven by strong performance in flowers and edibles.

Financial metrics showed a 9% year-over-year decline in net revenue, with adjusted EBITDA at 0.9 million, down from 4.9 million the previous year.

Future guidance includes net revenue exceeding 350 million for fiscal 2026, with expected improvements in gross margin and adjusted EBITDA.

Management highlighted a strategic focus on leveraging growth opportunities in Europe through Sanity Group and monitoring potential US market developments.

Full Transcript

Ed (Operator)

Good morning, My name is Ed and I’ll be your conference operator today. At this time I would like to welcome everyone to the Organigram Global Second Quarter Fiscal 2026 Earnings Conference Call. After the Speaker’s prepared remarks, there’ll be a question and answer session. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow up. You may request additional questions. Thank you. I’ll now turn the call over to Max Schwartz, Director of Investor Relations.

Max Schwartz (Director of Investor Relations)

Thank you very much and good morning everyone. Thank you so much for joining us today. As a reminder, this call is being recorded and a replay will be available on our website within 24 hours. Today’s call will include forward looking statements. Actual results could differ materially due to a number of risk factors outlined in our filings and cautionary statements included in our Q2 fiscal 2026 press release and MD&A. We’ll also reference certain non IFRS measures such as adjusted EBITDA, adjusted Gross Margin and free cash flow. Definitions and reconciliations are available in our disclosure materiallys unless otherwise noted. Market share data is sourced from HiFyre Weed Crawler, Provincial Boards, retailers and our own internal sales tracking. Discussing our results today are James Yamanaka and Greg Guyatt, CEO and CFO of Organigram Global respectively. Once again I welcome you to today’s call and with that I will turn the call over to James.

James Yamanaka (CEO)

Thank you Max and good morning everyone. Thank you for joining us today. It’s now been about four months since I joined Organigram and after an initial period of deep operational review across the business, my focus remains on execution, leveraging our strengths, addressing areas for improvement and fully realizing the financial and strategic contributions of Sanity Group in Q3 and beyond. Overall, the company has meaningfully repositioned itself for expansion. However, Q2 was a challenging quarter with the Canadian recreational market growth being called down from 5% to 2.2%, operational issues temporarily impacting our performance in vapes and infused pre rolls and improving but elevated levels of out of spec International Flower which we continue to work through. Before getting into our quarterly highlights, I’ll walk through these challenges and how we are addressing them in pre rolls. Coated IPR quality inconsistencies following the internalization of pre rolled production at Aylmer and the use of new production equipment introduced higher variability and fill rates and lower overall product consistency as we calibrated our processes. The result was lower repurchase rates and a 1.6 point share loss in overall pre rolls versus the prior period that is not acceptable to us. In response, we tightened quality control processes and implemented production changes to enhance consistency Pre rolls coming off the line today are already more consistently filled and coded and we expect to introduce IPR coating automation in the near term to ensure consistency remains at acceptable levels. In vapes, segments of our portfolio fell below competitive benchmarks on both pricing and potency, contributing to share erosion across five 10s and all in ones. A key driver of the 6.1 point year over year share decline was our over indexing toward lower potency 1.2 gram vapes as consumer demand shifted toward higher potency 1 gram formats. To address this, we are launching higher potency offerings and refreshing both product and hardware including BoxHot, Liquid Diamond, all in ones in the coming weeks. On International Flower on spec pass rate have improved from Q1 due to adjustments we’ve made to our post office processes. Quarter over quarter growth in international sales from 5.0 million in Q1 to 6.1 million in Q2, reflecting that progress. However, there is more work to be done here to bring our on spec volumes up to international levels. We expect continued improvement in Q3, supporting both revenue and margin expansion in the back half of the year. Despite these challenge challenges, we delivered strength across a number of other areas. In flower, we gained 2.2 share points year over year driven by strong performance from big bag of buds and key cultivars such as Purple Punch out and Ultra Sour as well as very strong reception for our new root beer cultivar. These gains reflect continued improvements in flower potency, quality and consistency, strengths we expect to carry into upcoming pre roll and milled flour launches and our summer shred retail activations. In edibles, we gained 1.8 share points year over year while beverages and concentrates grew 0.7 and 3.1 3.1 points respectively. We attribute this growth to innovation including new beverage launches such as shred shots featuring our fast technology as well as continued momentum in products like Shreddems, Max 10s and box hot with Diamonds. While we saw increased competition in milled flour and modest share declines year over year, we returned to growth sequentially and held a leading 38.9% share in that segment. Overall. Organigram remains the number one LP in Canada by market share. In Q2 we maintain leadership positions in the key markets of Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta while continuing to build momentum. In Quebec, we Now rank number three in the province reaching 11.3% market share as of the end of March, a 2.6 point increase year over year, and are the fastest growing LP in Quebec fiscal year to date. This performance has been driven by strong Quebec Vape and flower sales contributing approximately 25 million in retail sales in the province during the quarter. Across our portfolio of industry leading brands, Shred Box Hot and Big Bag of Buds were all ranked within the top eight brands nationally. Big Bag of Buds is the fastest growing flower band in the country, BoxHot is a number one concentrates and number two vape brand and Shred alone would rank as a top 10 LP by its market share. Taken together with the operational remediation and product enhancements underway in vapes and infused pre rolls, we are confident in our ability to regain share and drive stronger growth in the back half. Moving on to our international business, the completion of our Sanity acquisition in April marks a significant milestone for Organigram, creating a combined entity with leadership positions in the world’s two largest federally legal cannabis markets, Canada and Germany. With growth initiatives underway in Switzerland, the uk, Poland and the Czech Republic, Sanity is expected to generate on average approximately 25 million euros in quarterly revenue over the next year and serves as a platform to scale across Europe as the market continues to evolve toward more structured medical frameworks. From an integration standpoint, Sanity will operate fairly independently in the first year, allowing the team to remain focused on execution and growth within its core markets while receiving strategic support and supply from global organigram resources where appropriate. Outside of Europe, we continue to supply flour to partners in Australia, where we also recently launched vape and edible SKUs under our box Hot and Edison brands, expanding beyond wholesale flower into branded sales. Our products are expected to be available to more than 4,000 pharmacies nationwide as distribution rolls out. Regarding recent cannabis rescheduling in the US we are watching closely. It is too early to determine which pathways, if any, to accessing the US medical markets are viable for us. Our two US Strategic investments will likely benefit from these developments and we continue to evaluate opportunities as the regulatory landscape evolves. Finally, with respect to EU GMP certification, in April we provided all additional documentation requested by the regular regulator to date to support the closure of all major findings identified in our certification audit. Given the increased scrutiny of licensed producers seeking EU GMP status, it is difficult to predict timing, but we expect an update on certification in the coming months. Turning to operations Notwithstanding the quality control improvement we’ve already implemented in IPR production, we are seeing continued improvement in several areas. In Q2 we achieved a record quarterly harvest of over 32,000 kg supported by yield improvements, while average THC at our Moncton facility facility reached 29.8%, the highest level to date. Looking back at Q2 last year, our yield improvements equate to a 56% increase in capacity without expanding our facility footprint and and reducing our cultivation costs while we also continue to advance our genetics programs including the identification and deployment of powdery mildew resistant cultivars discussed last quarter, two resistant cultivars were launched in March. These advancements are contributing to lower plant care requirements, reduced input costs and improved yields. We are now expanding the program to target additional traits including terpene and aroma expression, color and broader resistance to mold and yeast. This work also dovetails with our seed-based cultivation strategy which remains a key focus area in Q2. Approximately 25% of our harvest was grown from seed and we continue to evaluate opportunities to expand this approach to further reduce costs and increase consistency. Finally, in Winnipeg we continue to ramp up our beverage production line to meet the growing demand of the market and and we are already seeing a strong reception for our recently launched Shred Sodas which are expected to drive additional beverage growth in Q3. Overall, Q2 presented challenges that impacted our results and required us to move quickly to competitive and operational adjustments that we expect will support more sustainable performance over the back half of the year. Those adjustments …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

OrganiGram Holdings (TSX:OGI) reported second-quarter financial results on Tuesday. The transcript from the company’s second-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

This content is powered by Benzinga APIs. For comprehensive financial data and transcripts, visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/.

View the webcast at https://events.q4inc.com/analyst/574618022?pwd=FVnom6fM

Summary

Organigram Global Inc reported a challenging Q2 with a decline in net revenue to 59.8 million, primarily due to issues in vapes and infused pre-rolls, and competitive market pressures.

Despite challenges, the company gained market share in flower and edibles, with notable performance in products like Big Bag of Buds and Shred shots.

The completion of the Sanity acquisition marks a strategic move into the European market, with expectations for significant revenue contributions from Sanity and ongoing growth in international markets.

Operational issues in pre-roll production and vape potency were addressed, with improvements expected in Q3 and Q4, supported by new product launches and operational enhancements.

Organigram Global Inc maintains its position as the number one licensed producer in Canada by market share, with strong performance expected in the latter half of fiscal 2026 driven by both domestic and international growth.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good morning, My name is Ed and I’ll be your conference operator today. At this time I would like to welcome everyone to the Organigram Global Inc Second Quarter Fiscal 2026 Earnings Conference Call. After the Speaker’s prepared remarks, there’ll be a question and answer session. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow up. You may request for additional questions. Thank you. I’ll now turn the call over to Max Schwartz, Director of Investor Relations.

Max Schwartz (Director of Investor Relations)

Thank you very much and good morning everyone. Thank you so much for joining us today. As a reminder, this call is being recorded and a replay will be available on our website within 24 hours. Today’s call will include forward looking statements. Actual results could differ materially due to a number of risk factors outlined in our filings and cautionary statements included in our Q2 fiscal 2026 press release and MD&A. We’ll also reference certain non IFRS measures such as adjusted ebitda, adjusted Gross Margin and free cash flow. Definitions and reconciliations are available in our disclosure materiallys unless otherwise noted. Market share data is sourced from High Fire Weed Crawler, Provincial Boards, retailers and our own internal sales tracking. Discussing our results today are James Yamanaka and Greg Guyet, CEO and CFO of Organigram Global respectively. Once again I welcome you to today’s call and with that I will turn the call over to James.

James Yamanaka (CEO)

Thank you Max and good morning everyone. Thank you for joining us today. It’s now been about four months since I joined Organigram and after an initial period of deep operational review across the business, my focus remains on execution, leveraging our strengths, addressing areas for improvement and fully realizing the financial and strategic contributions of Sanity Group in Q3 and beyond. Overall, the company has meaningfully repositioned itself for expansion. However, Q2 was a challenging quarter with the Canadian recreational market growth being called down from 5% to 2.2%, operational issues temporarily impacting our performance in vapes and infused pre rolls and improving but elevated levels of out of spec International Flower which we continue to work through. Before getting into our quarterly highlights, I’ll walk through these challenges and how we are addressing them in pre rolls. Coded Indica Pre-Rolls (Indica Pre-Rolls) quality inconsistencies following the internalization of pre rolled production at Aylmer and the use of new production equivalent introduced higher variability and fill rates and lower overall product consistency as we calibrated our processes. The result was lower repurchase rates and a 1.6 point share loss in overall pre rolls versus the prior period that is not acceptable to us. In response, we tightened quality control processes and implemented production changes to enhance consistency Pre rolls coming off the line today are already more consistently filled and coded and we expect to introduce IPR (Indica Pre-Rolls) coding automation in the near term to ensure consistency remains at acceptable levels. In vapes, segments of our portfolio fell below competitive benchmarks on both pricing and potency, contributing to share erosion across five 10s and all in ones. A key driver of the 6.1 point year over year share decline was our over indexing toward lower potency 1.2 gram vapes as consumer demand shifted toward higher potency 1 gram formats. To address this, we are launching higher potency offerings offerings and refreshing both product and hardware including Box Hot, Liquid Diamond, all in ones in the coming weeks. On International Flower on spec pass rates have improved from Q1 due to adjustments we’ve made to our post office processes. Quarter over quarter growth in international sales from 5 million in Q1 to 6.1 million in Q2 reflects that progress. However, there is more work to be done here to bring our on spec volumes up to international levels. We expect continued improvement in Q3, supporting both revenue and margin expansion in the back half of the year. Despite these challenge challenges, we delivered strength across a number of other areas. In flower, we gained 2.2 share points year over year driven by strong performance from big bag of buds and key cultivars such as Purple Punch out and Ultra Sour as well as very strong reception for our new root beer cultivar. These gains reflect continued improvements in flower potency, quality and consistency, strengths we expect to carry into upcoming pre roll and milled flour launches and our summer shred retail activations. In edibles, we gained 1.8 share points year over year while beverages and concentrates grew 0.7 and 3.1 3.1 points respectively. We attribute this growth to innovation including new beverage launches such as shred shots featuring our fast technology as well as continued momentum in products like Shreddham’s Max 10s and box hot with Diamonds. While we saw increased competition in mills flour and modest share declines year over year, we returned to growth sequentially and held a leading 38.9% share in that segment. Overall. Organigram remains the number one LP in Canada by market share. In Q2 we maintain leadership positions in the key markets of Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta while continuing to build momentum. In Quebec, we Now rank number three in the province reaching 11.3% market share as of the end of March, a 2.6 point increase year over year, and are the fastest growing LP in Quebec fiscal year to date. This performance has been driven by strong Quebec Vape and flower sales contributing approximately 25 million in retail sales in the province during the quarter. Across our portfolio of industry leading brands, Shred Box Hot and Big Bag of Buds were all ranked within the top eight brands nationally. Big Bag of Buds is the fastest growing flower band in the country, Box hot is a number one concentrates and number two vape brand and Shred alone would rank as a top 10 LP by its market share. Taken together with the operational remediation and product enhancements underway in vapes and infused pre rolls, we are confident in our ability to regain share and drive stronger growth in the back half. Moving on to our international business, the completion of our Sanity Group acquisition in April marks a significant milestone for Organigram, creating a combined entity with leadership positions in the world’s two largest federally legal cannabis markets, Canada and Germany. With growth initiatives underway in Switzerland, the uk, Poland and the Czech Republic, Sanity Group is expected to generate on average approximately 25 million euros in quarterly revenue over the next year and serves as a platform to scale across Europe as the market continues to evolve toward more structured medical frameworks. From an integration standpoint, Sanity Group will operate fairly independently in the first year, allowing the team to remain focused on execution and growth within its core markets while receiving strategic support and supply from global organigram resources where appropriate. Outside of Europe, we continue to supply flour to partners in Australia, where we also recently launched vape and edible SKUs under our box Hot and Edison brands, expanding beyond wholesale flower into branded sales. Our products are expected to be available to more than 4,000 pharmacies nationwide as distribution rolls out. Regarding recent cannabis rescheduling in the US we are watching closely. It is too early to determine which pathways, if any, to accessing the US medical markets are viable for us. Our two US Strategic investments will likely benefit from these developments and we continue to evaluate opportunities as the regulatory landscape evolves. Finally, with respect to EU GMP certification, in April we provided all additional documentation requested by the regular regulator to date to support the closure of all major findings identified in our certification audit. Given the increased scrutiny of licensed licensed producers seeking EU GMP status, it is difficult to predict timing, but we expect an update on certification in the coming months. Turning to operations Notwithstanding the quality control improvement we’ve already implemented in IPR production, we are seeing continued improvement in several areas. In Q2 we achieved a record quarterly harvest of over 32,000 kg supported by yield improvements, while average TFC at our Moncton facility TFC reached 29.8%, the highest level to date. Looking back at Q2 last year, our yield improvements equate to a 56% increase in capacity without expanding our facility footprint and and reducing our cultivation costs while we also continue to advance our genetics programs including the identification and deployment of powdery mildew resistant cultivars discussed last quarter, two resistant cultivars were launched in March. These advancements are contributing to lower plant care requirements, reduced input costs and improved yields. We are now expanding the program to target additional traits including terpene and aroma expression, color and broader resistance to mold and yeast. This work also dovetails with our seed based cultivation strategy which remains a key focus area in Q2. Approximately 25% of our harvest was grown from seed and we continue to evaluate opportunities to expand this approach to further reduce costs and increase consistency. Finally, in Winnipeg we continue to ramp up our beverage production line to meet the growing demand of the market and and we are already seeing a strong reception for our recently launched shred sodas which are expected to drive additional beverage growth in Q3. Overall, Q2 presented challenges that impacted our results and required us to move quickly to competitive and operational adjustments that we expect will support more sustainable performance over …

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Millicom Intl Cellular (NASDAQ:TIGO) released first-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Tuesday. Read the complete transcript below.

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Summary

Millicom International Cellular SA reported a strong start to 2026 with service revenue reaching $1.9 billion, a 45% year-on-year increase, driven by acquisitions and organic growth.

Postpaid net additions were $5.6 million, with organic service revenue growth at 4.9% year-over-year, indicating continued momentum and a healthy customer base.

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $857 million with a margin of 43.2%, despite integration and restructuring charges, and equity free cash flow improved by $48 million year-over-year to $225 million.

The company completed significant acquisitions in Colombia, including EPM and Telefonica’s stakes, and is applying its operational playbook in Chile following the acquisition of Telefonica Chile.

Millicom’s strategy focuses on pre to postpaid migration, cost efficiencies, and network improvements, with strong performance noted in Guatemala and a positive outlook in Colombia and Chile.

Management highlighted a successful integration in Ecuador and Uruguay, supporting adjusted EBITDA expansion and cash flow improvements, with ongoing initiatives to improve margins.

The company expressed optimism about its strategic initiatives, particularly in Colombia and Chile, expecting them to contribute positively to future financial performance.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Hello everyone and welcome to our first quarter 2026 results call. This event is being recorded. Our speakers today will be our CEO Marcelo Benitez and Bart Van Areen, CFO of the company. The slides for today’s presentations are available on our website along with the earnings release and our financial statements. Now please turn to Slide 2 for the safe harbor disclosure. We will be making forward looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties which could have a material impact on our results on slide 3. We define the non IFRS metrics that we will be referencing throughout this presentation and you can find reconciliation tables in the back of our earnings release and on our website. With those disclaimers out of the way, let me now turn the call over to our CEO Marcelo Benitez.

Marcelo Benitez (Chief Executive Officer)

Marcelo thank you Luca and thank you everyone for joining our call today. We are off to a solid start in 2026, both operationally and from a financial perspective. From an operational standpoint, postpaid net additions amounted to $5.6 million while home net adds amounted to $1.5 million. These significant increases reflect the relevance of the Colombia acquisition and the opportunity that lies ahead. Importantly, even excluding inorganic growth, postpaid net additions amounted to 250,000 and home net additions amounted to 46,000. This is a testament of the health of our underlying business and the strength of our customer value proposition. From the financial perspective, organic service revenue growth was a robust 4.9% year over year. This not only represents a solid continuation of the momentum achieved in our seasonally strong fourth quarter in 2025, but also reinforces the expectation of our top line acceleration throughout 2026. The quarter ranks among one of the strongest growth performances in recent history. As a result, total service revenue for the quarter reached $1.9 billion. This robust top line performance, combined with our tireless focus on cost efficiencies, delivered expanding operating leverage. As a result, adjusted EBITDA in The quarter totaled 857 million, representing a margin of 43.2%. This is a very solid outcome, particularly as it already reflects the impact of integration and restructuring charges related to the Coltel acquisition. Excluding Coltel, the adjusted EBITDA margin would have reached 47.9%. Our relentless focus on efficiencies also improved equity free cash flow by 48 million year over year, reaching a strong 225 million for the quarter. This is a robust entry point for the year, especially when considering that EFCF excluding LATAM transaction would have increased 90 million year over year. As we mentioned in our fourth quarter call. We acquired Telefónica Chile together with NJJ and we have started to apply the Millicom International Cellular playbook in that market. During the quarter, we also took important steps to strengthen our position in Colombia. We completed the purchase of EPM, 50% ownership stake in Tigo UnE and Telefónica’s 2/3 stake in Coltel. Since we acquired the majority ownership of Coltel at the beginning of the quarter, we are already fully consolidating Coltel’s performance in our results. Importantly, we finalized the transaction and acquired the remaining stake in Coltel from Lanacion just two weeks ago. By unifying these operations, we are creating the resilience and the scale that needed to move faster, invest more effectively and ensure that our infrastructure supports the long term sustainable development of the country. I will come back to both Colombia and Chile later in the call. Now let’s turn to our mobile business performance on slide number six. Our mobile business continued to perform very well in the quarter. Underlying customer growth was 4% year on year, with postpaid customer increasing 25% and prepaid customers growth largely flat due to our pre to post migration efforts, seasonal effects and customer base cleanup initiatives including acquisitions. Reported growth was 38% reflecting the addition of Coltel. In Colombia, the customer base is steadily migrating toward postpay which now comprises roughly and 29% of our mobile customers, highlighting the substantial opportunity ahead to continue executing our pre to post migration strategy. In the center of this slide you can see the progress we are making on set Strategy. Today, almost 7 out of every 10 postpaid sales are migration sales, an increase of over 10% points year on year. This reflects the strong execution of our commercial teams and the attractive value proposition we are offering to our customers. Bringing all this together, mobile Service revenue totaled 1.1 billion, including 120 million contributions from two months of operation in Coltel. Excluding inorganic growth, mobile service revenue grew 7% or 63 million year on year. This represents a clear acceleration over previous quarter and shows that our commercial strategy continues to gain traction. Now let’s turn to our home business on slide number seven. Our efforts to provide the best network experience and higher speeds continues to resonate with customers. Our home customer base expanded 4.6% organically year on year, reaching 4.2 million customers. This growth was mostly driven by broadband only customers which increased 5% year on year. Here too, the recent Coltel acquisition meaningfully increases our customer base, adding 1.5 million customers, reaching a total of 5.7 million customers. More importantly, the fixed Networks are highly complementary. Tigo is comparatively stronger in managing, whereas colortel is more dominant in Bogota. We have also made significant progress in fixed mobile convergence. Almost 36% of our customer base now have both fixed and at least one mobile line with us. This is important for two reasons. First, it shows that our convergent offer is compelling for customers and second, it materially improves the customer Lifetime value as churn for converging customers is almost 50% lower than for non convergent customers. We are very pleased with this progress and we will continue working to expand our convergent customer base. As a result, home service revenues continue its recovery trend reaching 374 million flat year on year. On an organic basis. We remain committed to building the right foundation to return this business to positive revenue growth in the near future. Now let’s turn to B2B on slide number eight. Our B2B business continues to play an important role in our growth strategy. Digital service revenue, which increased almost 19% year over year, continues to be a key growth driver, supported mainly by strong demand for cybersecurity …

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On Tuesday, Ambiq Micro (NYSE:AMBQ) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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Summary

Ambiq Micro Inc reported strong first-quarter 2026 financial results, with net sales of $25.1 million, a 59.3% year-over-year increase driven by demand for Edge AI solutions.

Strategic expansion into non-wearable markets such as medical, industrial, and smart home sectors is gaining traction, expected to contribute significantly to revenue growth.

The company anticipates a 75% year-over-year sales increase in the second quarter of 2026, supported by rising demand for Apollo 5 and diversification across new product lines.

Ambiq Micro Inc’s gross margin was 46.2%, with ongoing investments in R&D and SG&A to support product development and market expansion.

Management highlighted strong momentum in Edge AI markets, with plans to accelerate growth through product innovations such as Apollo 340 and Atomic series, projecting meaningful revenue growth for 2026.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good morning and welcome to Ambic micro first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. After today’s prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press Star one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press Star one again. I’d now like to turn the call over to Ms. Charlene Wan, Ambic’s Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Investor Relations. Charlene, please go ahead.

Charlene Wan (Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Investor Relations)

On today’s call, Ambic CEO Humi Asaka will provide an overview of the Company’s performance and strategy. CFO Jeff Winsler will then discuss the quarter’s financial results and second quarter outlook. Following their remarks, Scott Hansen, Ambiq Micro Inc’s Founder and cto, and Aaron Gracchian, EVP of Global Sales and Marketing, will join Humi and Jeff for Q and A. Our earnings release is available on the Investor Relations page of our website at www.ambig.com. we have also posted our earnings presentation on the Investor Relations section of our website. Before I turn the call over to Humi, I’d like to remind our listeners that during the course of this conference call management will discuss non GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these non GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in our earnings release available on the Company’s investor Relations website. In addition, today’s call will contain forward looking statements representing management’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date made. Our most recent annual report on Form 10K and other filings with the SEC provide more information on specific risks that may cause the actual results to differ materially from current expectations and presentations and now it’s my pleasure to turn the call over to Ambiq Micro Inc CEO Humi Asaka.

Humi Asaka (Chief Executive Officer)

Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us. We have started 2026 with exceptional momentum. The market for Edge AI is growing rapidly and is outpacing our expectations from the start of the year. Against this backdrop, our ultra low power Spot platform is driving market expansion, gaining share and reinforcing Ambiq Micro Inc as a partner of choice in a fast growing category. We expect this momentum to continue throughout the rest of the year. At the same time our pipeline continue to grow and diversify and we are investing strategically to further scale the business and extend our technology advantage. Turning to the first quarter performance, Net sales exceeded guidance with strong year over year and sequential growth from the fourth quarter of 2025. This performance was driven by broad based demand for Edge AI across our customer base. With more than 80% of units running AI algorithms order ramps for the upcoming customer, product launches and a new customer entering production. Inventory level remains lean and we are seeing an increasing number of expedited requests which reinforces our view that demand is healthy across our end markets. For the second quarter, we expect net sales to grow approximately 75% year over year with momentum continuing in the second half of the year. This outlook is supported by four key factors. First, strong and growing end user demand for Edge AI solutions. Wearables continue to evolve from basic consumer products to more sophisticated health and wellness platforms and we are seeing continued diversification across form factors including watches, display, less bands, rings and eyewear. Second, strong growth in Apollo 5 as our customer upgrade to enable next generation edge AI capabilities while maintaining ultra low power performance. Third, broader deployment of our solutions across customer portfolios with upcoming product launches and expansion into new form factors and fourth, we expect a new scaled global customer to enter mass production this year. While wearables remains a key growth driver adoption is expanding into healthcare, industrial and smart home and buildings markets as customers deploy AI directly onto devices. Increasingly, end customers expect real time insights and faster response time, driving the need to process more data directly at the edge. This rise of LLM driven agents is accelerating this shift, increasing demand for contextual real time intelligence at the edge and tighter integration between device data and the cloud. Our solutions are purpose built to support this evolution, positioning AMBIC as a partner of choice for leading players in the edge AI ecosystem. We’re building on this foundation with focused action to expand into additional high value markets and develop new products that will further extend our power and performance advantage. Starting with diversification, our personal device business continue to grow and diversify. We have added multiple new customers and secured new design wins across emerging form factors including display, less bands, smart eyewear and rings. At the same time, customers are deploying more sophisticated AI capabilities on our platform including a recently secured design WIN with one of our largest customers for a next generation product line expected to enter production in 2027. Beyond personal devices, our expansion into medical, industrial and smart homes and buildings markets is gaining meaningful traction and we expect revenue from these segments to more than double in 2026. With our broad SOC platform, we offer a scalable and diverse portfolio that supports applications from entry level designs to more advanced feature rich use cases. As a result, AMBIC serves as a critical enabler of Edge AI, allowing customers to select and deploy the right solutions across a wide range of applications including real time health monitoring, intelligent audio, predictable maintenance and smart sensing and automation. We’re complementing this with a steady cadence of software tools that enhance edge AI capabilities with a focus on how customers capture, process and derive value from a data at the edge. For example, by combining our ultra low power hardware with our compression kit software, customers will be able to maintain multi day battery life while storing large volumes of raw physical data and enabling real time anomaly detection at the edge. Expanding what is possible in Next generation Medical devices we are encouraged by the early traction we are seeing and believe AMBIC is well positioned to deliver growth and the diversification across customers and end market and high value use cases. Looking ahead, we expect our expanding product roadmap to further accelerate this momentum. We continue to make progress on Apollo 340, Atomic 110 and Atomic 120 which are being developed in parallel to support strong customer demand. Atomic 110 remains on track for tape out towards the end of this year with initial customer ramp in late 2027. For Atomic120 we are actively engaged with several potential alpha customers and are encouraged by the strong interest we are receiving, especially in smart glasses where customers are seeking the combination of performance and auto low power that Atomic is designed to deliver. Apollo 340 is also generating meaningful traction with multiple customers expressing interest driven by its compelling price to value positioning. We see 340 as an …

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On Tuesday, Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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Summary

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc reported a total revenue of $5 million for Q1 2026, with U.S. Wycanth product revenue increasing by 25.4% compared to Q1 2025.

The company is advancing its global Phase 3 program for common warts, achieving over 50% enrollment in the first trial and planning to initiate a second trial by mid-2026.

Verrica is working on expanding the availability of WYCANT globally, with recent launches in Japan and plans to submit for approval in the EU.

The company introduced WycanthRx, a non-dispensing pharmacy, to improve access and fulfillment of prescriptions, which is seeing positive early adoption.

Verrica’s net loss for Q1 2026 was $9.7 million, with cash reserves expected to fund operations into Q1 2027.

Management highlighted the potential of BP315 for basal cell carcinoma, emphasizing its strong Phase 2 results and ongoing market research to gauge reception.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good day ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. After the speaker’s remarks, there will be a question and answer session. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to our host, Kevin Gardner of LifeSite Advisors. You may begin your conference.

Kevin Gardner (Moderator)

Thank you Operator. Hello everyone and welcome TO Verica Pharmaceuticals First Quarter 2026 Corporate Update Conference call. With me on the line this evening are Jason Rieger, President and Chief Executive Officer, Noah Rosenberg, Chief Medical Officer, John Kirby, Interim Chief Financial Officer, David Zawitz, Chief Operating Officer and Chris Chapman, Chief Commercial Officer. As a reminder, during today’s call, management will make forward looking statements. These forward looking statements are based on the company’s current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Verrica’s actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in. In such forward looking statements, please see Verica’s SEC filings for important risk factors. Verica cautions you not to place undue reliance on forward looking statements and undertakes no duty or obligation to update any forward looking statements as a result of new information, future events or changes in expectations. In addition, during today’s call, management will discuss certain non GAAP financial measures. These non GAAP financial measures are in addition to and not a substitute for or superior to measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with gaap. There are a number of limitations related to the use of these non GAAP financial measures compared to their closest GAAP equivalents. The earnings release that the company issued today includes GAAP to non GAAP reconciliations for these measures and is also available on the Investor Relations section of Verica’s website. I’ll now turn the call over to Verica’s President and CEO Jason Rieger.

Jason Rieger (President and Chief Executive Officer)

Thank you, Kevin. Good evening everyone and thank you for joining us on our first quarter 2026 corporate update call. I am pleased to report that in the first quarter we saw accelerating growth in market demand for WYCANTT, setting new records for dispensed applicator units during the quarter and in the month of March. This growth continued after the end of the quarter as we observed further increased demand in April. WYCANTT also achieved another significant milestone in February as our partner, Tory Pharmaceutical launched WYCANTT in Japan for patients with molluscum following their regulatory approval last year. Our hope is that Japan is only the beginning of our global expansion efforts for WYCANTT as we are actively working to expand the availability of WYCANTT into new markets around the world. While we grow the WYCANTT business, we’re also advancing our product portfolio. As you may recall, in January we announced that the first patient had been dosed in our global Phase three program for the treatment of common warts, which represents a critical milestone in our strategy to expand into new indications. I’m proud to announce that we have achieved more than 50% of the currently targeted enrollment in the first phase 3 trial, also known as COV2, and have begun enrolling patients in the long term follow up study in this program. Our target is to initiate the second Phase 3 trial, known as CoV3 in this program by mid-2026. We also continue to advance our Phase 3 ready asset, BP315 for the treatment of basal cell carcinoma. As we’ve begun efforts to secure clinical supplies and select a CRO to support initiation of the Phase 3 program, BP 315 is garnering increasing attention within the dermatology community. Based on compelling proof of concept data from our Phase II program, I’ll now provide a detailed update on our WYCANTP commercial business. In the first quarter of 2026 we reported total revenue of $5 million, including U.S. wycamp product revenue of $4.3 million which was up 25.4% over the first quarter of 2025. First quarter, U.S. wicamp dispensed applicator units increased to 15,302, growing 51.3% over the 1st quarter of 2025. On a sequential basis, U.S. wicanth revenue and dispensed applicator units increased 15.3% and and 12.1% respectively compared to the 4th quarter of 2025. As noted in our last call in March, while demand for WYCANTT in January was likely impacted by severe winter weather across the east coast, demand accelerated sharply in February and continued into March which saw the best monthly dispensed applicator unit total since the launch of wicant. As we have now seen preliminary results for April, I am pleased to note that April dispensed applicator units also increased from March’s then record level and our team worked diligently every day to help more healthcare providers treat molluscum with what we believe to be is the best treatment available. Licamp as we’ve noted in prior quarters, as we continue to prioritize the ease of access for healthcare providers and their patients, we continue to make substantial investments in our copay assistance program which is impacted during the first few months of each year by the annual reset of insurance plan deductibles in January. To ensure the broadest access to WYCANT for healthcare providers, we launched WycanthRx, our non dispensing pharmacy, in the fourth quarter of 2025. WycanthRx simplifies the process for both the healthcare provider and patient by performing an initial benefit investig and then triaging to an in network dispensing pharmacy based upon the patient’s unique healthcare coverage. Although ycamp Rx is still in the early stage of rollout, is being well received and in our view will help further drive demand and coverage for wicanth. We would again like to congratulate Tory Pharmaceutical, now a subsidiary of Shinogi, on their February commercial launch of WYCANTT in Japan for patients with molluscum. This milestone reflects the culmination of significant efforts by many team members from both companies. The launch of WYCANTT in Japan means that the commercial supply we provide to Tori has begun to offset Erica’s portion of the clinical costs for the CommonWART program. As we announced in February. We also brought on board Chris Chapman as our new Chief Commercial Officer in the first quarter. Chris and his team are already doing an outstanding job in optimizing our resources to maximize the productivity of the WYCANT commercial efforts. Finally, as noted on our fourth quarter call, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency provided positive feedback that supports the filing of a marketing authorization application for WYCANT as a treatment for Molescam. With no further phase 3 clinical trials required for product approval, we are actively progressing through the next steps for submission in the eu. The EU represents a substantial market opportunity for wycamp and we look forward to evaluating potential commercialization partnerships in this large and underserved region. With respect to our pipeline, the Commonwealth and basal cell carcinoma clinical programs include continue to move ahead, representing what we believe can be multi billion dollar opportunities. As I mentioned, in December 2025 we dosed the first patient in the first phase 3 trial. CoV2 evaluating Wycan for CommonWARTS, which continues to enroll patients. The second phase 3 trial in the CommonWART program, CoV3 with sites in both the United States and Japan, is targeted to be initiated by mid2026. If the Phase 3 program is successful, Wicanth could become the first therapy ever approved in the United States and Japan to treat common warts, a condition that impacts over 22 million people in the US alone. As a reminder, Verica and TORI will split the cost of the program 5050 with Tori funding the first $40 million of trial costs, representing approximately 90% of the current trial budget. We expect to repay our portion by offsetting future transfer payments, milestones and royalties relating to wicant sales in Japan. As a reminder, all of the efforts we are undertaking for the commercialization of wicant for molluscum lay the foundation for ultimate commercialization for the Commonwealth indication if approved, and there will be significant overlap in the clinicians treating both molluscum and commonwealts with the ability to access the same applicator through the same distribution channels. With respect to VP315 for basal cell carcinoma, our program continues to drive strong interest with clinicians and patients alike as potential alternative approach to the existing surgical and non surgical options. In our phase 2 study, treatment with VP315 demonstrated a 97% objective response rate and an 86% reduction in overall tumor size, with more than half of the treated lesions achieving complete histological resolution. We continue to share additional data from the ongoing analysis of the results from the Phase two at scientific conferences. As reported last week, we will formally be presenting at the 2026 Society for Investigative Dermatology, or SID, at their annual meeting in Chicago later this week and will be sharing additional data regarding the abscopal like observations from the phase 2 study. With a strong scientific foundation from our phase 2 results and regulatory engagement. We have also recently completed several market research activities to better understand how VP315 would be received by various stakeholders. This work supports broad potential utilization and acceptance across general dermatologists, medical oncologists and MOHS surgeons as well as office managers and payers. We also conducted market research to evaluate the patient perspective which indicated that a substantial majority of patients would elect to try VP315 before other existing therapeutic options regardless of whether they had previously been treated for skin cancer. While the best outcome for patients is to completely eliminate the tumor, which we have observed in many patients, in our phase 2 study overall tumor size was reduced on an average by 86%, which we view as clinically meaningful. This highlights the potential for VP315 to improve the patient experience by reducing the size …

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Federal student loan interest rates in the U.S. are expected to rise slightly for the 2026-27 academic year, according to an analysis shared with CNBC on Tuesday by higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.

The projected increase would apply to federal student loans issued between July 1, 2026, and June 30, 2027. The federal government sets student loan interest rates once each year based partly on Treasury yields.

Federal student loan rates are typically fixed for the life of the loan, meaning new borrowers next academic year could face higher repayment costs over time, according to CNBC’s reporting on Tuesday.

Kantrowitz based his estimates on the U.S. Treasury Department’s May auction of the 10-year Treasury Note, where the high-yield rate reached 4.47% Tuesday.

Kantrowitz estimated undergraduate federal student loan rates could rise to 6.52% from 6.39%. Graduate student loan rates may increase to 8.07% from 7.94%, while Parent PLUS loan rates could climb to 9.07% from 8.94%.

The analysis showed borrowing $10,000 under the projected undergraduate rate would result in monthly payments of about $113.64 under a standard …

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Copper futures climbed to a record high above $6.60 a pound early Wednesday as supply disruptions, tightening inventories and booming AI-related infrastructure demand fueled a rally in the metal and the United States Copper Index Fund (NYSE:CPER).

The ETF, which tracks the copper futures contracts on the COMEX exchange, surged to a new record high of $40.46 on Tuesday. It has risen 15.7% since the start of the year and nearly 10% over the past month.

With assets under management of $735.9 million, CPER trades in an average daily volume of 727,000 shares and has a steep expense ratio of 1.06%.

Copper Price Surges

In a Tuesday post on X, The Kobeissi Letter said copper prices are now up roughly 75% since October 2023 and more than 40% over the past 12 months. “The surge comes amid tight supply, declining inventories in China, and surging demand for data center construction,” according to the letter.

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Jamie Dimon, the chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), said the bank could reconsider its multibillion-dollar London headquarters expansion if the UK becomes “hostile to banks” again through higher taxes and stricter regulations.

Speaking to Bloomberg TV on Tuesday during JPMorgan’s Global Markets Conference in Paris, Dimon was asked whether political uncertainty in the UK and the possible replacement of Prime Minister Keir Starmer could affect the bank’s investment plans for new headquarters in London.

“Not political instability but if they become hostile to banks again, yes,” Dimon said.

Dimon said JPMorgan has already paid roughly $10 billion in extra taxes in the UK over time.

“I’ve always objected to the fact, we didn’t damage the UK in any way,” Dimon said. “I don’t think that’s right or fair. If that happens too much, we will reconsider.”

Governor Jay Robert “JB” Pritzker (D-IL) called President Donald Trump a “liar” on Tuesday, accusing the administration of causing a surge in fuel costs amid the war with Iran.

Donald Trump Is A Liar

In a post on X, Pritzker quoted a post by GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan, who shared that the state of Illinois had set a record for diesel prices at $6.06/gallon. “Donald Trump is a liar,” Pritzker said in the post.

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As the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution enters its next critical phase, the Founder of Niles Investment Management, Dan Niles, is looking past current market darlings, betting that Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) is poised for a massive hardware resurgence.

Rise Of Agentic AI

While Wall Street watched Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) see its GPUs “explode higher” during the initial AI training boom, Niles argues the landscape is fundamentally shifting.

The catalyst is “Agentic AI”—systems capable of executing complex, multi-step tasks across various applications rather than just returning simple chat responses.

This transition requires an orchestration engine to organize data, which is exactly what CPUs do best. According to Niles, Agentic AI requires “10 to 100 times more tokens” than basic chat-based AI.

Consequently, the hardware demand ratio, which previously stood at about eight GPUs for every one CPU, is rapidly moving closer to one-to-one.

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With U.S. stock futures trading mixed this morning on Wednesday, some of the stocks that may grab investor focus today are as follows:

• Wall Street expects Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) to report quarterly earnings at $1.03 per share on revenue of $15.56 billion after the closing bell, according to data from Benzinga Pro. Cisco shares gained 0.2% to $99.53 in after-hours trading.
• MaxCyte Inc. (NASDAQ:MXCT) reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results. MaxCyte shares jumped 11.9% to $0.92 in the after-hours trading …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

BlackRock Inc. (NYSE:BLK) CEO Larry Fink warns that the staggering capital required to sustain the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution will fracture global markets, creating a “K economy” in which only a select few dominant players thrive. At the same time, smaller competitors are forced into consolidation.

The AI Capital Divide

Speaking at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference session, Fink outlined this stark vision of corporate inequality during a joint panel with Brookfield Corp. (NYSE:BN) CEO Bruce Flatt.

Fink argued that the sheer cost of AI integration will aggressively separate market winners from losers. “With the AI economy in every industry, we’re going to see a K economy,” Fink stated.

“You’re going to have one or two or three winners in each economy, in each industry, and many smaller firms are going to be forced to merge or do something.”

He emphasized that the massive capital expenditures required just to participate in AI will permanently cement this division.

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On Tuesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took the stand in an Oakland federal courthouse in the Musk-Altman trial. Over more than three hours of questioning from both sides, Altman reportedly addressed the key allegations at the heart of the case.

Elon Musk‘s lawsuit alleges that Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman “looted” OpenAI’s nonprofit structure through their partnership with Microsoft Inc. (NASDAQ:MSFT) for personal benefit.

Here are the top 5 moments from Altman’s Tuesday testimony.

Running For California Governor

Altman testified under oath that he had previously considered running for California governor, clarifying that a 2017 email referencing his “political goals” was likely about that interest in state politics. He said he was thinking about a potential gubernatorial run at the time, Business Insider reported, though Gavin Newsom ultimately won the 2018 election.

‘Complicated’ Feelings For Musk

Musk’s lawyer, Steven Molo, questioned Altman about a 2023 message in which the billionaire thanked Musk and credited him as essential to OpenAI’s creation, CNBC reported.

When asked if his views had changed since then, Altman said he now feels very differently about Musk. Molo then suggested Altman might say what others want to hear rather than what he believes is true, which Altman denied, saying his feelings about Musk are “complicated” before being interrupted by the lawyer.

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Transport Secretary Sean Duffy has slammed his President Joe Biden-era counterpart, Pete Buttigieg, for causing the Notice To Air Mission/Airmen (NOTAM) system to break down under his tutelage, amid air traffic control modernization efforts.

First Nationwide Grounding Since 9/11

In a post on X on Tuesday, Duffy shared a video outlining the NOTAM outage in 2023 due to a glitch that led to the closure of American airspace. “Under Pete Buttigieg, the NOTAM system that alerts pilots about information like weather, airspace & runway closures BROKE DOWN – grounding planes nationwide for the first time since 9/11,” Duffy said.

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Fitness Champs Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ:FCHL) shares are trending on Wednesday.

FCHL shares jumped 44.36% to $1.92 in after-hours trading on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

The surge follows a sharp reversal from the regular session, where shares fell 16.35% to close at $1.33, according to Benzinga Pro.

The Alleged Scheme

The after-hours rally comes despite a class action lawsuit filed by New York-based law firm Pomerantz LLP. The lawsuit alleges that FCHL was used in a coordinated pump-and-dump scheme, a form of securities fraud in which a stock’s price is artificially inflated through false or misleading statements. The alleged perpetrators then sell at the peak and exit their positions, leaving retail investors with steep losses.

According to the complaint, impersonators posing as financial advisors drove FCHL shares to $7.20 on Sep. …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

System1 Inc. (NYSE:SST) shares tumbled in after-hours trading Tuesday after the company reported a wider quarterly loss and a sharp decline in revenue.

System1 shares fell 33.26% to $2.97 in after-hours trading Tuesday after gaining 16.19% during the regular session to close at $4.45, according to Benzinga Pro data.

System1 operates consumer internet brands including coupon site CouponFollow, mapping platform MapQuest and privacy-focused search engine Startpage.com, alongside an AI-powered digital advertising platform.

Revenue Drop Weighs On Shares

The company reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $37.2 million, down from $74.5 million during the same period last year.

System1 also posted a GAAP net loss of $57.6 million, compared with a net loss of $19.9 million a year earlier.

Operating loss widened to approximately $51 million, while the company recorded a $36.8 million impairment charge tied to long-lived assets.

CEO Michael …

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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has outlined that engine reliability is a crucial aspect for rocket reusability, being equally important to heat shield integrity.

‘Crazy Hard Problem’

Responding to user @GeniusGTX on X, who had shared a clip of Musk illustrating the importance of heat shields and figuring out a way to make reusable heat shields on rockets.

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Discovering that your spouse secretly piled up $17,000 in sports betting debt is bad enough. Finding out the money was spread across multiple hidden credit cards makes things even worse.

That was the situation facing a 25-year-old Missouri woman named Shelby, who shared her story on “The Ramsey Show” recently. 

Shelby said she discovered screenshots of sports betting activity on her husband’s phone before he finally admitted he had three credit cards tied to the gambling losses.

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Hidden Debt And Financial Chaos

Shelby said the situation wasn’t entirely new for their marriage. She added they had struggled with credit card debt before, though not related to gambling.

The recent discovery caused Shelby to temporarily leave the house with their two children.

“I grabbed our two babies, and I got in the car, and I left, and I told him to fix it,” she said.

Her husband has since taken on two jobs, working as a teacher’s aide during the day and a retail job at night. Shelby said he has been “working his butt off” for the past six months trying to clean up the debt.

But personal finance expert Dave Ramsey wasted little time noticing that the progress had been slow. The couple had only reduced the debt from $17,000 to just under $15,000 over a six-month period.

Shelby explained that financial problems kept piling up. They had fallen behind on bills while her husband was unemployed, their hot water heater broke, and they were involved in a car accident.

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Then came the part of the story that stunned Ramsey.

Even with mounting debt and a credit card charging more than 30% interest, the couple financed a $30,000 vehicle after the accident.

“Did you take out a car payment in the middle of this?” Ramsey asked.

Shelby admitted she had recently started listening to Ramsey and realized it was a mistake.

“No, you already knew how dumb it was,” Ramsey replied. “You were behind and you had a 30% credit card and then you went and took out a car payment.”

‘Stupid On Steroids’

Ramsey argued the high-interest credit card wasn’t actually the biggest problem.

“The 30% loan interest on the credit card is not your problem,” he said. “It’s the symptom of all these other problems.” 

He said the couple needed a complete financial reset, including strict budgeting, marriage counseling and total transparency with money.

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Ramsey also warned Shelby that her husband could never gamble again.

“He’s never, on threat of ending your marriage, going to do any betting, sports betting ever again,” Ramsey said. “and he’s never going to hide any debt from you ever again.”

Co-host Rachel Cruze focused more on the behavioral side of the situation, warning that sports betting can quickly become addictive, especially for young men.

“The sports betting world, it can be such a downward slope so fast,” she said.

But Ramsey saved his harshest criticism for the car purchase. “You need …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Ross Gerber, Co-founder of the investment firm Gerber Kawasaki, criticized the administration’s policies on Tuesday for igniting inflationary pressures and turmoil in the U.S. bond market.

In a post on X, Gerber said, “We all have to pay the price, one way or another, for the decisions of our government. Fortunately the election is around the corner.” Notably, the U.S. midterms are due in November 2026.

Bond Yields On Rise

Gerber’s comments came in response to a post from The Kobeissi Letter, which stated the “U.S. bond market is in a complete meltdown,” when investor attention remains focused on artificial intelligence and the Iran conflict.

The 30-year Treasury yields advanced …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) on Tuesday decried the slowdown in America’s EV push, slamming President Donald Trump and the Republican Party for allowing China to take the lead in the global EV sector.

‘China Stronger Than Ever,’ Says Gavin Newsom

In a post on the social media platform X, Newsom’s official Press Office handle lamented the current EV scenario. “Before Donald Trump, America was on a path to beat China,” the post said, outlining strong EV manufacturing and supply chains, as well as “good-paying American jobs” in the sector and a “more secure” nation.

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Former U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), on Tuesday, criticized President Donald Trump over rising inflation and surging gas prices, saying that America did not vote for this outcome.

In a post on X, Greene said that inflation is rising, with gas prices jumping to over $4.50 per gallon. Trump’s war with Iran is driving the prices higher.

She stated, “Not at all what America voted for.” This remark came as the midterm election is around the corner on November 3, 2026.

Inflation Climbs

Her comments came in response to a post by The Kobeissi Letter, which indicates that U.S. inflation is accelerating.

According to the Letter, U.S. CPI inflation rose 3.8% year over …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Major U.S. indices closed Tuesday on a mixed note, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.11% to 49,760.55. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 slipped 0.16% to 7,400.96 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.71% to 26,088.20.

These are the top stocks that gained the attention of retail traders and investors through the day:

Oklo Inc. (NYSE:OKLO)

Oklo shares fell 5.76% to close at $73.63, with an intraday high of $76.68 and a low of $70.30. In the after-hours trading, the stock fell 2.89% to $71.50.

Oklo reported a first-quarter loss of 19 cents per share, slightly better than analyst estimates for a 20-cent loss. The company posted a net loss of $33.07 million and an operating loss of $51.25 million for the quarter.

Oklo said it used $17.9 million in operating cash year-to-date and $359 million for investing activities. The company ended the quarter with approximately $1.6 billion in cash and cash equivalents, along with $900 million in marketable securities, which it said would be sufficient to fund operations for at least one year as it targets deployment of its first Aurora powerhouse in 2028.

Nextpower Inc. (NASDAQ:NXT)

Nextpower’s stock dipped 0.70%, closing at $125.37, with a daily high of $127.8 and a low of $120.06. The stock popped 10.71% to $138.80 in the …

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A 29-year-old California homeowner is questioning whether long-term financial planning even makes sense anymore.

Posting on Reddit recently, the woman described feeling trapped between traditional financial advice and fears about climate change, economic instability and social decline. 

She built good credit, contributed to retirement accounts, saved money and bought her first home with her partner last year. But instead of feeling secure, she says, “It feels absolutely pointless.”

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Between Planning And Escaping

“I know that collapse isn’t overnight. It’s like watching a car crash in slow motion,” she wrote. “But the uncertainty, the constant worry, and the ever accelerated rate at which things are digressing makes me seriously question the traditional route we’ve taken with our life.”

She said she often fantasizes about selling everything and leaving modern society behind, “joining an eco village or back to earth movement that’s established in a climate better suited for agriculture and farming.”

The post quickly filled with replies from people wrestling with many of the same fears. Some advocated for learning practical skills like gardening, raising livestock, storing water and installing off-grid power systems. Others argued that financial planning is still the most rational option because no one knows when or if a true societal collapse would happen.

“If the world doesn’t end, then I will be really glad I planned for my future and would be really unhappy if I didn’t and had to go into old age with no cushion at all,” one commenter said.

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Others felt the opposite.

“I’m not putting forth energy for me no longer just want to enjoy life what’s left of it,” another person wrote.

A surprising number of commenters described abandoning long-term thinking entirely and focusing instead on present-day happiness, relationships and experiences.

Searching For Meaning In An Uncertain Future

The thread revealed how deeply collapse anxiety has blended into conversations about money, housing and adulthood.

For the original poster, and some other commenters, homeownership no longer feels like stability, especially in expensive states like California, where rising insurance costs, droughts and wildfire risks add constant financial pressure.

Others focused less on money and more on community. “In extreme collapse, the most valuable thing is a strong relationship with your immediate physical neighbors,” one person wrote.

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That idea resonated with many people in the discussion, especially those who said they no longer believe individual wealth or retirement accounts can fully protect anyone from large-scale instability.

Still, even among the pessimism, some commenters tried to strike a balance between preparing for the future and appreciating the present. A few people also pointed out that talking with a financial advisor could help people build more flexible plans that account for uncertainty instead of making emotional all-or-nothing decisions.

“Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water; after enlightenment, …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

On Tuesday, Digimarc (NASDAQ:DMRC) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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The full earnings call is available at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/gpffvgvb

Summary

Digimarc reported a 9% sequential growth in ARR for Q1 2026, with an expansion of subscription gross margin by 400 basis points year over year.

The company made significant strategic progress, including signing its first commercial order for a secure gift card solution and advancing rollout plans with 15 North American retailers.

Operating expenses were reduced by 36% to $11.7 million, leading to an improvement in non-GAAP net loss per share from $0.40 to $0.07 year over year.

Despite a decrease in total revenue to $7.6 million, Digimarc secured upsell deals for its anti-counterfeiting solution and continued to see market pull for its digital trust and integrity solutions.

Future outlook remains positive with expectations for significant ARR growth in 2026, driven by increased engagement in strategic areas like digital trust and AI security solutions.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Greetings and welcome to the Digimar Corporation First Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance, please press Star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Charles Beck. Thank you. You may begin.

Charles Beck (Chief Financial Officer)

Welcome everyone to our first quarter earnings call. I’m Charles Beck, Digimarc CFO and I’m joined today by Riley McCormick, Digimarc CEO. On the call today, Riley will provide a business update and I will discuss first quarter 2026 financial results. This will be followed by a question and answer forum. We have posted our prepared remarks in the Investor Relations section of our website and we’ll archive this webcast there. For those of you dialing in, this is a reminder that we are simulcasting the presentation we will walk through today. If you would like to follow along with the slides, I would encourage you to join our webcast as referenced in our earnings press release shared earlier today. Before we begin, let me remind everyone that today’s discussion contains forward looking statements that have risks and uncertainties. Please refer to our press release for more information on the specific risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially. Riley will now provide a business update.

Riley McCormick (Chief Executive Officer)

Thank you Charles and hello everyone. On this call we will walk through Digimarc’s Q1 performance, highlight our strategic progress across product innovation and commercial execution, share updates on financial metrics such as Annual Recurring Revenue and free cash flow and provide clarity on where we are focused in 2026. In Q1 we made significant progress in advancing adoption of our secure Gift card solution. As we shared on our Last call during Q1 we achieved a critical milestone by signing our first commercial order covering six closed loop and open loop brands. We also made headway in laying the rails for additional orders and are currently advancing initial rollout plans with 15 North American retailers including eight of the 20 largest as measured by sales, an increase from eight and four respectively since our call only two months ago. We secured upsells with three existing customers of our anti counterfeiting solution. We continue to execute against a large opportunity in digital trust and integrity, securing a six figure upsell with an existing customer while progressing a natural and exciting extension of our trust layer strategy that provides a critical unmet need for scalable autonomous AI. And we continue to add key talent across our company, especially in our go to market functions including the recent addition of two accomplished sales leaders who have hit the ground running. Touching on our financial highlights. In Q1 we grew ending AR 9% sequentially while also expanding our subscription gross margin 400 basis points year over year. We ended the quarter with $10 million of cash and investments and no debt and we expect to implement our new corporate structure shortly, allowing us to realize the benefits discussed on our last call. As a reminder, our three focus areas are retail loss prevention, product authentication and digital trust and integrity and we serve these markets with the seven solutions you see listed on this slide. In addition, we continue to selectively engage outside our three focus areas when the opportunities represent low distraction revenue and or advance our positioning in longer term strategic areas. Starting with an update on retail loss prevention, we continue to make progress towards gaining widespread adoption of our secure gift card solution aided by the industry’s hyper focus on finding an answer to the fraud that is creating an existential threat to their business. Results to date demonstrate the power of our solution significant fraud reduction, improved checkout experience and high scalability across printers, brands and retailers, all without any adverse impact on sales. As a reminder, we have posted a Gift Card Investor supplemental on the Investor Relations section of our website, a hyperlink to which can be found on this slide. We appreciate the feedback we have received regarding the benefit the supplemental has provided in helping investors better understand the opportunity ahead. We are experiencing a noticeable uptick in market pull for our solution as the level of retailer, brand and gift card network engagement has increased meaningfully. Meaningfully even from our last earnings call just two months ago. Before I provide more details on that increased engagement, I want to provide an update on the two rollouts we shared on our last call. First, the rollout to all Chinooks locations is underway. Next, the summer rollout with the other retailer mentioned will be more limited than originally planned with the full almost 600 location rollout now targeted for January 2020. As discussed in our March call, the greatest source of timing risk has been the scanner vendors shipping generally available versions of their firmware running our latest software. While eight scanner models were general availability in the requisite time frame we highlighted on that call, two were not, including one model critical to this retailer’s front end. This delay had nothing to do with our software. Instead it was related to base functionality, key to enabling the retailer to push any firmware update in a scalable fashion leading to the smaller summer launch. The scanner vendor has subsequently shipped the updated firmware which is currently undergoing normal acceptance testing by the retailer. Importantly, this retailer’s commitment to their customers and their belief that our solution will help protect those customers remains unchanged. We look forward to partnering with them in the months and years ahead. April is a busy month in the gift card industry as both large gift card networks host summits enabling their ecosystems to coordinate ahead of the holiday season. As a result of these summits as well as many other meetings, including an event at our headquarters attended by representatives from two very large retailers and a leading program manager, we are now advancing rollout plans with 15 North American retailers, including eight of the 20 largest. As measured by sales, this represents a meaningful increase in both metrics since our Q4 call only two months ago. This momentum is being driven not only by us but also by key industry participants and in the last few weeks alone we have heard about retailers proactively engaging with major brands to encourage their adoption of our solution as well as with other retailers to increase incentive for widely sold brands to speed their adoption. Similar momentum building actions are being undertaken by the networks and key brands and we are focused on orchestrating the multiple moving parts to ensure initial rollouts proceed as quickly and excellently as possible. As discussed on our Last call in Q1, we we closed our first secure gift card commercial order representing over $500,000 of Annual Recurring Revenue. This order included gift cards from six closed loop and open loop …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

On Tuesday, Karman Holdings (NYSE:KRMN) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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View the webcast at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/332112348

Summary

Karman Holdings Inc reported record first-quarter revenue of $151 million, reflecting a 51% increase year-over-year, with all-time high gross profit and adjusted EBITDA.

The company raised its full-year revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance due to strong performance and high visibility, expecting full-year revenue of $720 to $735 million.

Significant growth was driven by the acquisition of Siemen Composites and MSC, contributing to half of the quarterly revenue growth.

Operational highlights include an all-time high backlog exceeding $1 billion, and strategic investments in capacity expansion like a new facility in Salt Lake City.

Management emphasized ongoing strong relationships with major customers, securing multi-year production commitments potentially exceeding $1 billion in revenue.

The demand environment is favorable, with substantial increases in production for key programs, supported by the President’s FY 2027 defense budget request.

Karman Holdings Inc is focused on both organic growth and strategic acquisitions, expecting to pursue one to two acquisitions per year.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us and welcome to the Karman Holdings Inc first quarter fiscal year 2026 earnings conference call. After today’s prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. I will now hand the conference over to Steven Gitlin, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications. Steven, please go ahead.

Steven Gitlin

Good afternoon and thank you for joining Karman Holdings Inc’s first quarter fiscal 2026 earnings conference call. I’m Stephen Gitlin, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications and I’m pleased to welcome you today. Joining me on today’s call are John Rambo, our Chief Executive Officer, Mike Willis, our Chief Financial Officer and Jonathan Bodwine, our Chief Operating Officer. Before we begin, please note that on this call certain information presented contains forward looking statements that are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions and that involve risks and uncertainties. These are Described on page 2 of the earnings presentation we posted to our website this afternoon and in detail in Karman Holdings Inc’s reports filed with the SEC and the form 8k filed today with the SEC. I would also like to note that we will discuss a number of non GAAP financial measures today that we believe can be useful in evaluating our performance. Such non GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation or a substitute for results prepared in accordance with GAAP. Our earnings release which we filed today can also be found under the heading News and Events on the Investors SECtion of our Company website and contains a reconciliation of any non GAAP financial measure to the most comparable GAAP measure. The content of this conference call contains time sensitive information that is accurate only as of today, May 12, 2026. The Company undertakes no obligation to make any revision to any forward looking statements contained in our remarks today or to update them to reflect the events or circumstances occurring after this conference call. Now I would like to turn the call over to John Rando.

John Rando

Thank you Steven and good afternoon. Today I’ll begin by summarizing our record first quarter performance. Then Mike Willis will review our financials, followed by Jonathan Bodwine who will discuss the demand environment and our capacity expansion initiatives. I’ll wrap up with our outlook before we take your questions. Before we review our results, I want to acknowledge the service and sacrifice of the men and women who protect our nation both at home and abroad, especially during these challenging times. Allow me to also recognize the achievements of our Astronaut Corps and the dedicated teams at NASA and throughout the space supply chain. At Karman Holdings Inc, we’re proud to serve these individuals every day with the critical systems that help protect and propel them to new heights. It’s been an exciting and rewarding six weeks since I joined Karman Holdings Inc. In that time I visited six of our sites across the country, from California to Pennsylvania, from Mukilteo to Mississippi. I’ve gotten to know the people and the technology that have made Karman Holdings Inc successful. I’ve also spoken with customers who consistently praise the value Karman Holdings Inc delivers. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many investors, some already shareholders and others who may join us in the future. Your feedback has been constructive and is always appreciated. Two questions I’m often asked are number one, what prompted me after 30 years working at a defense prime to join Karman Holdings Inc? And 2 what do I plan to do differently here to the first I spent 30 years in defense, yet when I began studying Karman Holdings Inc, I saw something I hadn’t seen before. The company’s growth trajectory, product line pedigree and unique merchant supply position as a provider to the primes across defense, space and launch made this an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. So the second I believe Karman Holdings Inc strategy is working well, so I don’t see a need for substantial changes in strategy or the trajectory of the company. My focus is on the continued strength of relationships with our customers and our investors and on meeting our commitments to our customers with on time product and system delivery and to our shareholders via continued organic and inorganic growth and bottom line returns. Finally, I’m focused on the continued optimization and integration of capabilities across the company to unlock the full value of the Karman Holdings Inc enterprise as we come through the balance of 2026. I look forward to ongoing engagement with employees, customers, investors and analysts and to your questions and feedback. Now let’s turn to our results. Our team delivered another set of record results in the first quarter as shown on page four of our earnings presentation. Highlights include record quarterly revenue of $151 million with year over year growth across all three end markets and the addition of our new Maritime Defense Systems end market. Record quarterly gross profit of 64 million, record quarterly adjusted EBITDA of 45 million, all time high backlog of more than a billion dollars and given our strong performance and high visibility, we are now raising our full year revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance. As I’ll detail shortly, our Siemens Composites and MSC acquisition, which closed in January, contributed two months of revenue this quarter. This represented about half of our year over year quarterly revenue growth. Just two weeks ago I visited our sites in Horsham, Pennsylvania Gulfport, Mississippi, and I was impressed by the depth of capabilities, breadth of solutions and the energy of our team, an impression that’s been consistent across every site I’ve visited. Some of the sites I visited produce critical components for the space industry. One of the most exciting recent developments was a successful Artemis 2 moon mission in April. Karman Holdings Inc supplied key subsystems for the Space Launch System launch vehicle and the Orion capsule. Our space and launch market produced 29.5% year over year revenue growth, underscoring our key position in the space ecosystem, and is highlighted with our inclusion in Morgan Stanley’s recent Space Trade list. The Artemis II success and the restructuring of the Artemis program with annual missions now planned through and beyond 2029 have increased both customer engagement and contracting momentum. Karman Holdings Inc has a long, proven track record in space and we look forward to continuing to support all major US Launch providers, both established and emerging, as well as our integration of a lunar lander for NASA’s CLPS program. We’re off to a strong start in 2026 and we believe market dynamics point to continued opportunity through the end of the decade and beyond. With that, I’ll turn it over to Mike for a detailed financial review.

Mike Willis (Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you, John A record first quarter demonstrates Karman Holdings Inc’s continued strength and momentum. As shown on page 5, revenue of 151 million was up 51% from Q1 fiscal 2025. Gross profit of 64 million grew 62% with a gross margin of 42%. Net income was 8 million compared to a 5 million loss last year. Adjusted EBITDA reached 45 million, up nearly 50% year over year. As compared to Q1 fiscal year 25. Adjusted EPS increased more than 100% to $0.11 per diluted share from $0.05 and backlog grew 61% year over year to more than 1 billion. Each of our three legacy markets produced strong year over year growth in Q1, as shown on page 6. Hypersonics and Strategic Missile Defense revenue grew 19% to 36 million, driven by increases in strategic programs. Space and Launch revenue grew 29% to 44 million, driven by the timing of orders for critical content supporting both legacy and emerging launch providers and …

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On Tuesday, Upexi (NASDAQ:UPXI) discussed third-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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Summary

Upexi reported a challenging fiscal third quarter, impacted by a decline in Solana prices and crypto market conditions, but saw Solana rebound towards quarter-end.

The company executed strategic initiatives, including repurchasing 2.5 million shares and issuing a $36 million convertible note to reduce credit risk and enhance Solana per share.

Efforts to reduce expenses included transitioning brand operations to third-party providers and targeting a self-sustaining treasury by July 1st through cost management and staking yield.

Despite an unrealized loss of $178.8 million on digital assets, Upexi increased its Solana holdings by 9% sequentially and saw a rise in revenue from $3.2 million to $4.6 million year-over-year.

Management remains optimistic about Solana’s long-term prospects, focusing on its fundamentals and potential independent valuation from Bitcoin in the future.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good day and welcome to the Upexi Inc. Fiscal Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Valter Pinto, Managing Director at KCSA Strategic Communications. Please go ahead.

Valter Pinto (Managing Director)

Thank you Operator Good evening and welcome everyone to the Upexi fiscal third quarter 2026 financial results conference call. I’m joined today by Alan Marshall, Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Nordstro, Chief Financial Officer and Brian Ruddick, Chief Strategy Officer. Before we begin, I’m going to remind everyone the statements made during today’s conference call may be deemed forward looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor of the Private Securities Litigation Reform act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors. For a detailed discussion of some of the ongoing risks and uncertainties in the Company’s business, I’ll refer you to the press release issued this evening and filed with the SEC. On Form 8K, as well as the Company’s reports filed periodically with the SEC, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless otherwise required by law. In addition, during the course of the call we may refer to non GAAP financial measures, including that are not prepared in accordance with the accounting principle generally accepted in the United States and they may be different from non GAAP financial measures used by other companies. The reconciliation of non GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are contained in our earnings release issued this evening unless otherwise noted. I’d now like to turn the call over to Upexi’s CEO Alan Marshall.

Alan Marshall (Chief Executive Officer)

Thank you Valter and welcome everyone to our fiscal third quarter 2026 earnings conference call. I’m happy to review our quarterly results and discuss why we’re particularly optimistic about the future. Our fiscal third quarter was characterized by a challenging environment, most notably a continued decline in both the price of Solana and industry multiples. Both had a direct impact on our stock and were the result of a general bear market in crypto. That said, Solana has rebounded from its intra quarter low of approximately 77 to currently 96 and our multiple is also well off the lows and now sitting above NAV and our fully loaded measure. Brian will cover our thoughts on the downturn and why we believe prices and valuations can and will improve in the future. And while we, like any treasury company, are heavily impacted by token prices and valuation multiples, we are not simply waiting around for the environment to improve, but rather are taking a proactive approach with several efforts afoot. One key initiative which will always be a core component to the company is intelligent capital issuance. Like peers, we generally traded at a discount to nav. During the quarter we took advantage by buying back approximately 2.5 million common shares for roughly $2 million or $0.80 per share. As a reminder, buying shares below 1 times NAV increases our Solana per share. In addition to the buybacks, we remained active on the issuance front issuing a $36 million in kind convertible note in January which materially reduced credit risk given the in kind nature and will also increase our Solana per share should the notes convert given a conversion price above NAV at the time of the issuance. Lastly, we completed an approximately $7 million equity plus warrants offering which was done above NAV and also increased our Solana per share. Despite the difficult environment, we demonstrate an ability to utilize the capital markets to create value with both buybacks and issuances. Second key initiative during the quarter was an intense focus on expenses including both treasury related and for our brands business. On the treasury side, expenses have been elevated since the launch of our treasury due to initializing the strategy but will now normalize going forward. On our brand business, we moved from in house operations including manufacturing, warehouse and logistics to outsourced operation with third party providers. Importantly, our costs are now right sized and are more closely tied to the revenue generated. All in and Assuming a continued 6 to 7% staking yield, we expect that by July 1st the ongoing cash expenses for operations and interest will be less than the treasury staking revenue and our goal is to have the lowest expense base of Solana treasury company peers. The last key initiative during the quarter was yield generation where we aimed to increase the native 7% Solana staking yield in a low risk and recurring manner. We continue to examine traditional sources of yield and are working towards a strategy that if successful would materially increase the total yield earned on the Treasury. We believe the market would pay for the additional yield earned beyond the native staking yield if the yield is low risk and recurring and if we are correct and successful, this would be accretive to our multiple, potentially giving us a sustained premium valuation that we can monetize and perhaps even perpetually enabling the digital asset treasury company Capital Markets flywheel. With that I’d like to turn the call over to our Chief Strategy Officer Brian Ruddick.

Brian Ruddick (Chief Strategy Officer)

Thanks Alan and hello everyone. Solana fell from roughly 125 per token to about 83 per token during the quarter for a 33% decline. This compares to Bitcoin’s 22% fall over the same period. We believe the main reason for the decline in the price of Solana during the quarter was the decline in the price of Bitcoin, whether due to investors lumping all of crypto together combined with Solana’s much smaller market cap, or to programmatic funds trading digital assets together. Solana tends to trade with a beta to Bitcoin and Bitcoin fell materially due to a myriad of reasons including OG token holder selling, four year cycle fears, fallout from the October 10th deleveraging event, precious metals stealing the show, digital assets competing with alternative investment opportunities like AI and more which fold Solana lower While we believe the biggest determinant of the price of Solana …

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On Tuesday, Curis (NASDAQ:CRIS) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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Summary

Curis Inc reported a net loss of $24.2 million for Q1 2026, up from $10.6 million in Q1 2025, due to changes in warrant liabilities.

The company is progressing with its Take Aim Lymphoma Study and anticipates accelerated submissions in the US and Europe.

A proof of concept study for CLL is underway, with initial data expected in December 2026.

Research and development expenses decreased to $6.4 million, while general and administrative expenses increased to $5.1 million due to financing activities.

Curis Inc holds $15 million in cash and expects additional proceeds from warrant exercises to fund operations into the second half of 2027.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Curis Inc. first quarter 2026 business update conference Call. At this time all lines are in listen only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press 0 for the operator. This call is being recorded on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. I would now like to turn the conference over to Diane Feduval, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead. Thank you and welcome to the Curis first quarter 2026 business update call. Before we begin, I’d like to encourage everyone to go to the Investor section of our website at www.curis.com to find our first quarter 2026 business update press release and related financial tables. I would also like to remind everyone that during the call we will be making forward looking statements which are based on our current expectations and beliefs. These statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially. For additional details, please see our SEC filings. Joining me today on today’s call are Jim Dentzer, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Jonathan Zung, Chief Development Officer, and Dr. Ahmed Hamdi, Chief Medical Officer. We will also be available for a question and answer period at the end of the call. I’d now like to turn the call over to Jim.

Jim Dentzer (President and Chief Executive Officer)

Thank you Diane Good afternoon everyone and welcome to our First Quarter Business Update call. We continue to make steady progress in our Take Aim Lymphoma Study in primary CNS lymphoma, one of the most rare and most difficult to treat of the NHL subtypes. As a reminder, the Take Aim Lymphoma Study is a single arm registrational study with an ORR endpoint that is evaluating EMAvucertib in combination with ibrutinib after a patient has progressed on BTK inhibitor therapy and after collaborative discussions with both FDA and EMA. We expect the study to support accelerated submissions in both the US And Europe. We anticipate providing updated EMAvucertib clinical data from the Take Aim Lymphoma Combination Study with Ibrutinib and in patients with relapsed refractory PCNSL in the first half of 2027. We continue to make good progress on enrollment on this registrational study and appreciate the ongoing support of our clinical investigators, key opinion leaders, and regulatory authorities. As you recall, last year we engaged with a number of key opinion leaders who were excited and highly supportive about expanding our emavucertib studies into additional NHL subtypes. They were especially interested in exploring emivacertib’s potential to fundamentally change the treatment paradigm for CLL patients where the current standard of care is BTK inhibitors. Over the last decade, BTK inhibitors have become standard of care in CLL and NHL because of their ability to help patients achieve objective responses. However, these responses are typically partial responses not complete remission. The result is that patients treated with a BTK inhibitor end up having to stay on it in chronic treatment for the rest of their lives. Additionally, because they never achieve complete remission, many of these patients develop BTK inhibitor resistant mutations and ultimately their disease progresses. We’re looking to improve upon the current standard of care by adding emavucertib to a patient’s BTK inhibitor regimen, applying a dual blockade to the two biologic pathways driving cll. This dual blockade can enable patients whose NHL subtype partially responds to a BTK inhibitor to achieve deeper responses with the combination, including the ability to achieve complete remission or undetectable disease and the potential for time limited treatment. If we are successful, adding emovacertib to BTK inhibitor could change the treatment paradigm in cll, reducing the risk of developing a treatment resisting mutation and improving a patient’s overall quality of life.

Jim Dentzer (President and Chief Executive Officer)

The first step in testing this hypothesis in CLL is our proof of concept study in patients currently on BTK inhibitor monotherapy who have achieved partial remission but have been unable to achieve complete remission or undetectable mrd. We anticipate the dosing of the initial five patients in the Take Aim CLL combination study with zanabrutinib by mid-2026 and we expect to have initial data in December. In January we one of our collaborators, Dr.

Jim Dentzer (President and Chief Executive Officer)

Patrick Grierson of the Seitman Cancer center at Washington University in St. Louis presented a poster with initial clinical data in gastric and esophageal cancer at the ASCOGI Cancers Symposium. In this study, patients are treated with emivacertib in combination with FOLFOX and anti PD1 plus or minus Herceptin as first line therapy for metastatic or unresectable gastroesophageal cancers. The initial data showed results for 16 valuable patients demonstrating both a manageable toxicity profile and encouraging preliminary results.

Jim Dentzer (President and Chief Executive Officer)

As you can see, we had a very productive quarter and look forward to an exciting 2026 as we advance our registrational study in PC and SL and our proof of concept study in cll. With that, I’ll turn the call back over to Diane for the financial update. Diane, thank you.

Diane Feduval (Chief Financial Officer)

Curis reported a net loss of 24.2 million or $1.25 per share for the first quarter of 2026 as compared to a net …

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GrowGeneration (NASDAQ:GRWG) reported first-quarter financial results on Tuesday. The transcript from the company’s first-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

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Summary

GrowGeneration Corp reported first quarter 2026 net sales of $38.4 million, a 7.5% increase compared to the same period last year, driven by commercial B2B business and storage solutions segment growth.

The company focused on expanding its commercial B2B platform, proprietary brands, and improving operating efficiency through cost reduction initiatives, which have led to improved profitability and a strong balance sheet with $41.1 million in cash and no debt.

Guidance for 2026 includes expected second-quarter revenue of $42 million to $44 million and approximately breakeven adjusted EBITDA for the full year, with strategic initiatives centered on revenue quality and proprietary brand penetration.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Hello everyone and welcome to GrowGeneration’s first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. My name is Matthew and I will be your operator for today’s call. At this time participants are in a listen only mode. Following prepared remarks, we will open the call to questions from analysts with instructions to be given at that time. This conference call is being recorded and a replay of today’s call will be available on the investor Relations section of GrowGeneration Corp website. I will now hand the call over to Phil Carlson with KCSA Strategic Communications for introductions and the reading of the safe harbor statement. Please go ahead Phil

Phil Carlson

thank you operator and welcome everyone to GrowGeneration’s first quarter 2026 earnings results conference call. With us today from GrowGeneration are Darren Lampert, Co Founder and Chief Executive Officer and Greg Sanders, Chief Financial Officer. The company’s first quarter 2026 earnings press release was issued after close of market today. A copy of this press release is available on the Investor Relations section of the GrowGeneration website at ir.growgeneration.com I would like to remind everyone that certain comments made on this call include forward looking statements which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform act of 1995. These forward looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs concerning future events and are subject to several risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward looking statements. Please refer to today’s press release and other filings with the SEC for a detailed discussion of the risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any of the forward looking statements made today. During the call, we’ll use some non GAAP financial measures as we describe business performance. The SEC filing as well as the earnings press release which provide reconciliations of non GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are all available on our website. Following prepared remarks we will be happy to take your questions. We ask that you please limit yourself to one question and one follow up. If you have additional questions, please re enter the queue and we’ll take them as time allows. Now I will hand the call over to GrowGeneration’s co founder and CEO Darren Lampert. Darren, please go ahead.

Darren Lampert (Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer)

Thanks Phil. Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for joining us to review GrowGeneration’s first quarter 2026 financial results and to discuss our outlook for the rest 2026. Over the past several years we have transformed GrowGeneration into a more focused and efficient business. Our first quarter results reflect our continued progress highlighted by our second consecutive quarter of year over year growth, improving profitability and continued expansion of our proprietary brand mix. While the first quarter is typically our seasonally slowest period, revenue exceeded our expectations driven by momentum in our commercial business and meaningful contribution from our Storage Solutions segment. As we move through 2026, we remain focused on three priorities expanding our commercial B2B platform, growing our proprietary brands across additional channels and continuing to improve operating efficiency through the cost reduction initiatives we have implemented over the past several years. Together, these initiatives are helping improve revenue quality, support margin expansion over time and position the business for more sustainable profitability. As I mentioned, our commercial B2B business remains the core driver of our growth strategy. Through GrowGen Pro, we continue to expand relationships with multi state operators, greenhouse growers and other commercial cultivation customers across North America. Within our commercial business, we continue to see increased adoption of proprietary brands such as Charcoir and Drip Hydro as customers standardize around recurring consumable programs. At the same time, we continue to reposition our legacy retail footprint into commercial sales and service centers, allowing our technical sales team to deepen customer relationships and support larger commercial accounts more efficiently. Beyond our core commercial business, we’re also expanding our proprietary brands into adjacent channels and new customer categories. Because these brands were developed for professional cultivators, we believe they are well positioned to expand into broader horticulture and consumer markets.

Darren Lampert (Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer)

Early adoption has been very positive. During the quarter, we continue expanding distribution into lawn and garden channels through online big box retail and our direct to consumer platform the Harvest Company. We also continue expanding our commercial presence in Canada and advancing additional international distribution relationships. Importantly, these initiatives leverage the same proprietary brand portfolio and supply chain infrastructure already supporting our commercial business, allowing us to pursue growth opportunities without materially increasing complexity across the organization. We also continue to benefit from the structural cost reduction initiatives implemented over the past several years. Much of this work is now reflected in our operating structure, positioning the business to generate, improving profitability as revenue scales. We also continue to maintain a strong balance sheet, ending the quarter with 41.1 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities and no debt. This financial flexibility supports continued investment in our strategic priorities while maintaining a disciplined approach to capital allocation including our share repurchase.

Darren Lampert (Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer)

Turning to the quarter itself, first quarter revenue exceeded our expectations and marked our second consecutive quarter of of year over year revenue growth despite operating with a smaller and more efficient footprint. This performance was driven primarily by continued momentum in our commercial business, expanding proprietary brand penetration and strong growth in our storage solutions segment Proprietary brand sales represented 37% of cultivation and gardening revenue during the quarter, reflecting continued progress in shifting our sales mix towards higher value recurring consumable proprietary branded products. We also saw strong performance from our Storage Solutions segment where revenue increased 35.5% year over year. This segment continues to benefit from increasing capital investment activity across a broader range of end markets and contributed meaningfully to both revenue growth and profitability during the quarter. Overall, we believe the quarter reflects continued progress against our strategy to build a more focused, commercially driven and profitable business from a profitability standpoint.

Darren Lampert (Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer)

Our first quarter results highlight our continued progress in improving the quality and efficiency of our business. While gross margins were impacted by factors related to store consolidation activity and product mix during the quarter, we believe these pressures are largely short term in nature. At the same time, we continue to see meaningful benefits from the cost reduction initiatives implemented over the past several years which contributed to improved profitability during the quarter.

Darren Lampert (Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer)

As we move through 2026, we expect improving gross margins, continued operating discipline and increasing operating leverage. Looking to the second quarter, we expect revenue in the range of 42 million to 44 million along with a return to positive adjusted EBITDA for the full year. We remain focused on expanding proprietary brand penetration towards our approximately 40% target and achieving approximately breakeven adjusted EBITDA for 2026. Before I hand the call to Greg, I’d like to briefly comment on the regulatory environment. On April 22, the Acting Attorney General signed an order moving state licensed medical Cannabis to Schedule 3 of the Controlled Substance act, providing immediate 280 e tax relief to qualifying operators. This is a meaningful tailwind for our customers and as their financial position strengthens, their capacity to invest in the cultivation infrastructure we provide grows with it. While the process remains ongoing, we believe GrowGeneration is well positioned to support our customers as the industry continues to mature and evolve.

Darren Lampert (Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer)

That concludes my remarks. Now I’ll turn the call over to our CFO Greg Sanders.

Greg Sanders (Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you Darren and good afternoon everyone. I’ll begin with a review of our first quarter 2026 results and then I’ll provide additional context on our outlook for the year. Overall, our first quarter performance was consistent with our expectations and reflected continued progress on our key operating priorities including proprietary brand mix expansion, cost discipline and improving adjusted EBITDA. For the first quarter of 2026, GrowGeneration reported net sales of 38.4 million, up 7.5% compared to 35.7 million during the same …

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National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) held its first-quarter earnings conference call on Tuesday. Below is the complete transcript from the call.

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Summary

National CineMedia reported a total revenue of $34 million and an adjusted OIBDA of negative $10.5 million, within guidance ranges, with advertising revenue at $31.9 million.

The company announced a partnership to deploy large digital displays in 77% of AMC theaters, enhancing digital out-of-home inventory and expanding advertiser engagement.

National CineMedia is enhancing its programmatic capabilities with a reported twofold increase in programmatic orders, although revenue was softer due to advertisers focusing on the Winter Olympics.

Operational transformation efforts are underway, expected to generate $11 million in annualized cost savings, with $3 million actioned to date.

The company remains optimistic about 2026, with a strong film slate slated for the back half of the year and continued advertiser demand, supported by positive industry sentiment from CinemaCon.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good day and welcome to the National CineMedia first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Today’s conference is being recorded. At this time I would like to turn the conference over to Chan Park, Senior Vice President of Finance. Please go ahead.

Chan Park (Senior Vice President of Finance)

Thank you Operator and good afternoon. I’m joined today by our Chief Executive Officer Tom Luscinski and our Chief Financial Officer Ronnie Ng. I would like to remind our listeners that this conference call contains forward looking statements within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended. All statements other than statements of historical facts communicated during this conference call may constitute forward looking statements. These forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors that can cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s expectations are disclosed in the risk factors contained in the Company’s filings with the sec. All forward looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by such factors. Further, our discussion today includes some non GAAP measures in accordance with Regulation G, we have reconciled these amounts back to the closest GAAP basis measurement. These reconciliations can be found at the end of today’s earnings release or on the Investor Relations page of our website at ncm.com now I’ll turn the call over to Tom.

Tom Luscinski (Chief Executive Officer)

Thank you Chan and good afternoon everyone. We appreciate you joining us for our first quarter 2026 earnings call. We entered the year with strong momentum from the holiday period, both in attendance and advertiser demand, and our first quarter played out largely as we anticipated. Our results reflected typical seasonality, heightened competition tied to the Winter Olympics and the impact of the one week shift in the fiscal calendar that we highlighted last quarter. Adjusting for that timing difference, revenue would have increased modestly year over year, driven by moviegoer enthusiasm for box office hits at both ends of the quarter. On a reported basis, NCM delivered total revenue of 34 million and adjusted Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization (OIBDA) of negative 10.5 million, both within the guidance ranges we provided last quarter. In terms of the first quarter, the domestic box office grew approximately 25% year over year, with attendance across our network reaching 83 million, up 15% versus the prior year. The gap to the broader box office primarily reflects the one week calendar shift in our fiscal period and the impact of the Winter Olympics, neither of which impacted the first quarter of last year. Adjusting for that shift and including spotlight in the prior year, attendance would have been up approximately 18% on a comparable basis within the quarter, performance was anchored by carryover strength from fourth quarter tentpoles including the new Avatar and SpongeBob movies before picking up in the final two weekends. Powered by Project Hail Mary and early contributions from the Super Mario movie, the late quarter acceleration reinforces our view that that 2026 is shaping up to be a more consistent and durable year for theatrical exhibition and positions us well as we enter into the second quarter. That momentum carried into our advertising results demand remained healthy with six advertisers spending at or above the $1 million mark on cinema campaigns in the quarter. Total Advertising revenue was 31.9 million, approximately in line with the prior year driven by strength in insurance, media, automotive and the pharmaceutical categories. This level of advertiser engagement is a testament to the value of NCM’s industry leading inventory and our demonstrated ability to deliver measurable, impactful outcomes for brands. We remain focused on strategically expanding the breadth of and quality of our inventory, unlocking new opportunities to deepen our engagement with advertisers. In April, we announced a partnership to deploy large digital displays in high impact lobby placements across 77% of AMC theaters nationwide, focusing on its highest traffic locations. Theater lobbies are a valuable high dwell time environment and represent a natural opportunity for brands to extend their engagement with receptive audiences further across the movie going journey. The new lobby format complements our existing networks and expands our access to digital out of home advertiser budgets alongside our core premium video business. This digital lobby expansion presents a meaningful opportunity to deepen exhibitor and advertiser relationships and further strengthen our value proposition across the full moviegoing journey. We are continuing to develop our programmatic capabilities as well and we continue to see the growing advertiser adoption and deeper engagement across our client base. In the first quarter we saw approximately two times more programmatic orders than in the prior year period, reflecting the effectiveness of the just in time nature of the spine channel. However, due to a small number of larger advertisers not returning as they focus their budgets on the Winter Olympics, programmatic revenue was softer versus the prior year first quarter. This variability is characteristic of a channel that is still maturing where deal concentration and timing can have an outsized impact on any given period. That said, second quarter programmatic revenue is is pacing ahead of the prior year and the underlying trends give us confidence that we’re building programmatic in the right direction for growth. In 2026, local advertising revenue was 4.4 million in the first quarter. As we outlined on our last call, we are continuing to rebuild a stronger foundation for growth in our local business as we remain focused on the targeted investments in talent structure and execution underway to improve performance. While results will take time to affect these efforts, we are encouraged by the progress we are making as second quarter booked revenue is already ahead of last year’s second quarter and we remain confident in the long term opportunity for local Turning to NCMX, our proprietary data platform, we continue to enhance targeting, planning and measurement capabilities for advertisers. During the quarter, we announced a new partnership with videoamp further integrating cinema into a unified cross platform planning premium video ecosystem. This marks the first time advertisers and agencies can plan cinema alongside linear TV, Connected TV (CTV) and digital video within a single view. We also extended NCMX coverage to our recently acquired Spotlight Inventory, an important step in unlocking the full value of that high end inventory and deepening our appeal to premium and luxury advertisers. Alongside these continued investments, we’ve taken proactive steps to better align our operating model with the evolving needs of the business. During the first quarter, we implemented an operational transformation to streamline the organization and accelerate our adoption of AI where it creates the most leverage. These efforts are concentrated in areas that enhance efficiency across our supporting infrastructure while preserving the strength and momentum of our revenue generating teams and commercial initiatives. Collectively, these actions are expected to generate approximately 11 million in annualized cost savings on a run rate basis, positioning us for more agile and efficient execution and create capacity to continue reinvesting in the platform for future growth. Ronnie will provide additional details on this in a few moments. While we continue to evolve the business, our core value proposition remains unchanged, connecting advertisers with highly engaged, sought after audience demographics in a premium environment on the biggest screens in America at scale. Looking ahead, we remain encouraged by a compelling 2026 film slate designed to reach diverse audience segments. This year’s box office performance is expected to be weighed toward the back half of the year, supported by a mix of beloved franchise installments and reimagined classics with built in audience appeal alongside a broader range of highly anticipated new IP titles. This robust slate, including such films as Toy Story 5, the Devil Wears Prada, the Mandalorian and Grogu and Moana, is expected to draw a broad range of audience cohorts, further supporting advertiser demand. Further, we are encouraged by strong exhibition industry sentiment at this year’s CinemaCon in April, where each of the major studios voiced concerted support for the theatrical business, underscoring the importance of the big screen with the broader entertainment ecosystem. Notably, Amazon reconfirmed its commitment to at least 15 theatrical releases per year while Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery reiterated plans to release approximately 30 films theatrically, reinforcing confidence in the consistent cadence of future releases. Taken Together, this year’s CinemaCon commentary supports a positive outlook for the exhibition landscape. With strong industry tailwinds and continued focus on operational optimization, NCM is well positioned to capitalize on box office strength in the quarters ahead. Now I’ll turn the call over to Ronnie to provide you with more details on our operating results and outlook.

Ronnie Ng (Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you, Tom, and good afternoon everyone. As Tom noted, first quarter performance was shaped by typical seasonal softness, increased competition for advertising spend driven by the Winter Olympics, and the one week shift in the fiscal period that we discussed on our last earnings call. Each of these factors was expected and the quarter was broadly consistent with what we projected entering the year. Total revenue for the first quarter was 34 million within our guidance range and reflecting the anticipated factors I just outlined. First quarter total advertising revenue was 31.9 million, compared with 32.3 million in the prior year period. On a comparable basis, when adjusted for the calendar shift and pro forma for the inclusion of Spotlight in the prior quarter of 2025, total …

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On Tuesday, Resideo Technologies (NYSE:REZI) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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Summary

Resideo Technologies Inc exceeded its Q1 2026 financial targets with total net revenue of $1.9 billion (8% growth) and adjusted EBITDA of $215 million (20% growth).

The company plans to raise prices in Q2 to combat inflation, with customer collaboration expected to mitigate increased costs.

Resideo reaffirmed its 2026 outlook, anticipating steady execution despite macroeconomic uncertainties, with a focus on product innovation and operational efficiencies.

The separation of the ADI business is on track, with key milestones achieved, including a public filing of ADI’s Form 10, and an expected spinoff completion between Q3 and Q4 2026.

Management highlighted the continued strong performance of the Products and Solutions segment, while ADI’s growth was impacted by a soft residential market but showed strength in security products.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us and welcome to the Resideo first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. After today’s prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press Star one again. I will now hand the conference over to Chris Lee, Global Head of Strategic Finance. Please go ahead.

Chris Lee (Global Head of Strategic Finance)

Thank you and good afternoon everyone. Thank you for joining us for Resideo’s first quarter 2026 earnings call. On today’s call is Jay Geldmacher, Resideo’s Chief Executive Officer Mike Carlet, Chief Financial Officer Rob Arnus, President of Resideo’s ADI Global Distribution Business and Tom Saran, President of Resideo’s Products and Solutions business. We would like to remind you that this afternoon’s call contains forward looking statements. Statements other than historical facts made during this call may constitute forward looking statements and are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward looking statements. As a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in Residio’s filings with the securities and Exchange Commission, the Company assumes no obligation to update any such forward looking statements. We identify the principal risks and uncertainties that affect our performance in our annual report on Form 10K and other SEC filings. In addition, we will discuss non GAAP financial measures on today’s call. These non GAAP financial measures, which can sometimes be identified by the use of adjusted in the description of the measure, should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for or in isolation from our GAAP results. A reconciliation of GAAP to non GAAP financial measures is included in the Financial Data Workbook which is accessible on the Investor Relations page of our website@investor. Unless stated otherwise, all numbers and results discussed on today’s call other than revenue are on a non GAAP basis. With that, I will now turn the call over to Jay.

Jay Geldmacher (Chief Executive Officer)

Thank you Chris and thanks to everyone for joining us today. I’m very pleased with the continued execution demonstrated by the entire team. Resideo exceeded the high end of the first quarter outlook ranges for all metrics. Total net revenue grew 8% year over year to over 1.9 billion. Total adjusted EBITDA grew 20% year over year to 215 million. Total adjusted earnings per share grew 3% year over year to $0.65. Our first quarter results reflect the solid health of our operating fundamentals. Our Products and solutions segment reported 9% net revenue growth year over year driven primarily by increases in both price and volume across most sales channels. Our adi segment report 8% net revenue growth year over year primarily from strength in our security business, partially offset by declines in our residential AV business. The strength of our combined operations coupled with the elimination of the indemnification agreement results in strong bottom line results. Resideo’s execution continues to be steady in an uncertain global macroeconomic environment and with end markets still soft. I would like to make two important points on recent macro events that are relevant to Resideo. First, on inflationary cost dynamics. We have largely absorbed cost inflation, primarily related to higher costs for freight. In our reported first quarter results. We intend to raise prices later in the second quarter to combat increasing costs. There is broad understanding from our customers for the need to share the inflationary pressures and we expect to work collaboratively with our customers as we have historically. Second, on the impact of cost inflation on customer behavior. Macroeconomic conditions have generally had an impact on consumer confidence and affordability. While the high end residential audio visual market has been softening, Resideo remains well positioned with its existing products, its upcoming new product introductions and its exceptional distribution footprint to take advantage of the markets we serve. Notwithstanding these macroeconomic conditions, as a result of our outperformance in the first quarter and other actions we are taking, Resideo is reaffirming its 2026 outlook. We believe our solid execution and proactive mitigation tactics will enable Resideo to manage through the uncertain environment for the rest of the year. Mike will speak more about this in his comments. Before I hand over the call to Tom to discuss the performance of the products and solutions business segment, let me give you an update on our separation activities. We’ve achieved key milestones in our business separation process including yesterday’s public filing of ADI’s Form 10. I’m very pleased with the high caliber management team and board of directors that Adi will have as a standalone company, which is a testament to Rob and the entire ADI team for the business they have built and for Resideo. Tom has built a world class team within products and solutions that will carry the business forward. We have accomplished a tremendous amount of work to get us to this point and we have done so while continuing our strong business execution including providing high level products and services to our customers. Additional details will be shared at a later date, but we plan to hold Investor Day events for Resideo and ADI in New York during mid July where we will introduce the full leadership teams and discuss each company’s go forward business strategy and value creation model. As we noted in our announcement yesterday, we expect the spinoff to be complete between the middle of the third quarter and the middle of the fourth quarter. I’m very pleased with the focus, discipline, dedication and leadership demonstrated in the first quarter by the entire team. Now let me hand the call over to Tom.

Tom Saran (President of Products and Solutions)

Thanks Jay. The Products and Solutions team continued its strong operational execution resulting in another quarter of year over year organic net revenue growth and the 12th consecutive quarter of year over year gross margin expansion. Products and Solutions reported Net revenue growth of 9% year over year, including an approximate 200 basis point favorable impact from currency. The impact of having an extra four days in the first quarter on net revenue growth was approximately 300 basis points. Net revenue grew substantially across all our sales channels and product families due to both price and volume driven by customer demand. Let me walk through our activities in each of our primary sales channels as our products can be sold through multiple channels in the retail channel Strong year over year net revenue growth was primarily driven by volume. There was an uptick in demand for our safety and thermostat products available in the retail channel driven by both weather and regulatory changes. Point of sales volumes at our key accounts continue to be strong and supported by healthy levels of channel inventory. Sales of First Alert products including the First Alert SC5 Connected Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors showed increasing adoption which we believe contributed to market share gain in safety products. The OEM channel posted its sixth consecutive quarter of healthy year over year net revenue growth driven almost equally by price and volume. Weather was a tailwind with notably stronger than expected demand in EMEA for our higher priced and more profitable units. The electrical distribution channel had another quarter of year over year net revenue growth driven by volume. We saw continued demand for our BRK branded non connected safety products primarily in the MRO and the manufactured housing markets. Net revenue from the security channel grew year over year driven primarily by price increases on our existing products. Security sales to a large customer were in line with our expectations. We are receiving positive market signals for our new integrated Security platform scheduled for general market Release in the second half of 2026. Concluding our channel walk on a high note. Net revenue from the H vac channel was down only 1% year over year. Volume declines were partially offset by higher prices related to new products during the quarter. We saw conditions in the residential H Vac market stabilize. As we indicated several quarters ago, we saw a material reduction in the channel inventory held by our large H Vac distribution partners over the past three quarters which we do not expect to continue going forward. While we saw improved market conditions at the end of Q1 during the quarter, there was a modest volume decline that was partially offset by weather driven demand increased adoption of our new products, including continued strong demand for the Honeywell Home Elite Pro Premium Smart Thermostat. Gross margin was 41.8% up 40 basis points year over year, driven primarily by continued improvements in factory utilization partially offset by product sales mix. We achieved the 12th consecutive quarter of year over year gross margin expansion despite absorbing higher fuel costs. We increased investments in R and D to support new product launches and speed to market. Adjusted EBITDA grew 12% year over year due to continued gross margin efficiency which led to operating leverage. We intend to intend to continue driving operational efficiencies during 2026 and beyond. Looking forward, we’re excited to capitalize on the profitable growth momentum from our continued new product introduction cadence and with that let’s turn the call over to Rob.

Rob Arnus (President of ADI Global Distribution Business)

Thanks Tom. ADI reported net revenue growth of 8% year over year after accounting for 4 extra sales days in the quarter. Average daily sales growth was 1% year over year. Both growth metrics include a favorable impact from currency of approximately 1%. Net revenue growth was driven by demand in the Security, professional, audio, visual and data communications categories, partially offset by the residential …

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Lumexa Imaging Holdings (NASDAQ:LMRI) held its first-quarter earnings conference call on Tuesday. Below is the complete transcript from the call.

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Summary

Lumexa Imaging Holdings reported Q1 revenues of $253 million, a 3% year-over-year increase, with system-wide revenue growth at 4%.

Advanced modalities, especially PET and MRI, showed significant growth, with PET growing 23.1% year-over-year.

Two acquisitions and two de novo openings were completed, with plans to open 8 to 10 de novos this year to drive future growth.

The company is focusing on expanding its geographic footprint and ramping up new centers, supported by strategic joint ventures, notably with UPMC.

Q1 adjusted EBITDA was $51.2 million, flat year-over-year, impacted by weather-related disruptions and seasonal factors.

Future guidance remains strong with expected full-year revenue between $1.045 billion and $1.097 billion and adjusted EBITDA between $234 million and $242 million.

New leadership appointments aim to bolster growth and operational excellence.

The company is leveraging technology and AI to enhance operations and patient care, with a focus on expanding advanced imaging services.

A cybersecurity incident was disclosed, but it is not expected to have a material impact on business or financial results.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Thank you for standing by and welcome to Lumexa Imaging’s first quarter 2026 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the speaker’s presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during this session, you’ll need to press star 11 on your telephone. If your question has been answered and you’d like to remove yourself from the queue, simply press star 11 again. As a reminder, today’s program is being recorded and now I’d like to introduce your host for today’s program, Sue Dooley from Lumexa Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Sue Dooley (Investor Relations)

Thank you and hello everyone. We appreciate you joining us today. Leading today’s call are our Chief Executive Officer Kaitlyn Zulla and Tony Martin, our CFO. Before we begin, I want to note that we will be discussing non-GAAP financial measures we consider helpful in evaluating Lumex’s performance. You can find details of how these relate to our GAAP measures, along with reconciliations in the press release available on our website. We will also be making forward looking statements based on our current expectations and assumptions which are subject to risks and uncertainties, including factors listed in our press release and in our various Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings. Actual results could differ materially and we assume no obligation to update these forward looking statements. With that, I’ll turn the call over to Caitlin. Caitlin, please go ahead.

Kaitlyn Zulla (Chief Executive Officer)

Thanks, Sue, thank you all for joining us today. In Q1 we delivered several meaningful achievements to kick off a year executing on our strategic priorities which include driving strong same center growth with an expanding mix of advanced modalities, targeting a record number of de novo openings, ensuring the successful ramp of newly opened centers, accelerating high impact strategic service lines and expanding our geographic footprint. Here are a few highlights of our announcement tonight. Our Q1 results came in line with our expectations after the seasonal and weather dynamics we discussed in our Q4 call. Q1 volumes ramped throughout March and we recovered our momentum. Specifically, we drove strong same center growth and strategic service lines are expanding among a healthy mix of advanced modalities. In Q1, advanced modalities grew 7% year over year with Positron Emission Tomography (PET) growing at 23.1% year over year and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) growing at 8.2% year over year. Rollout of our AI powered breast arterial calcification solution continues with plans for expansion into new markets and strong continued patient uptake. We are actively ramping de novo Centers and our 2024 and 2025 cohorts are tracking in line with our expectations and advancing our plans towards long term growth and profit expansion. And in some exciting news tonight, we completed two acquisitions and opened two de novos this year and we are well on our way to achieving our stated goal of opening 8 to 10 de Novos to fuel future growth meaningfully. One of the acquisitions was an IV Therapy Facility (IVTF) site in Pennsylvania, the first site in our new JV with University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), and we are actively advancing multiple site location plans with this important partner. And finally, we’re excited to welcome two exceptional leaders to Lumexa, each bringing the depth of experience and vision that will help drive our next chapter of growth and results. I’ll go into some more detail in just a moment. At Lumexa, we are addressing a large market opportunity and deploying a disciplined growth algorithm. We are confident we are well positioned to execute our growth plans while driving better outcomes across the imaging landscape. I would like to take a moment to speak about our experience in the market as we meet with health systems and the providers who are so important to us and as we continue with our commercial efforts to drive growth and acuity mix. Our value proposition resonates strongly with patients, providers and payers reflected in net promoter scores that consistently exceed 90. We deliver high quality imaging in more convenient settings on a more timely basis and at a meaningfully lower cost than hospital outpatient departments, helping health systems solve important operational challenges and achieve their patient care and market expansion goals. As we pursue our priorities, it is clear the market is moving towards us. We are benefiting from durable long term tailwinds, aging populations, new treatment paradigms requiring advanced imaging, rising preventative screening rates, and an ongoing shift from inpatient to outpatient care in a fragmented, capacity constrained industry. In our conversations with multiple potential health system partners, Bayside struggles with imaging bottlenecks that constrain operational throughput and delay patient access. This underscores a strong need for outpatient capacity and a growing demand for a partner who can deliver speed, access and capital efficient expansion. At the same time, many systems are proactively preparing for potential site neutrality by accelerating their shift towards lower cost outpatient settings, which we believe further reinforces the relevance of our model. And they tell us they like our nimble breast of breed approach that ensures we will always be able to leverage innovation to drive efficiency and the best patient experience and outcomes. As I mentioned a moment ago, reflecting the sizable growth opportunity we are pursuing at Lumexa, we are delighted to welcome two seasoned leaders. First, Kyle lynch, our new Chief Growth Officer, brings deep experience in building high performing business development organizations, executing complex transactions and implementing growth strategies that translate into durable financial performance and another proven industry veteran, Ricky Mondo has joined Lumexa as Chief Enterprise Operations Officer. Ricky has a strong track record of leading and scaling national platforms to drive performance integration and operational excellence. As we continue to grow, her focus on enterprise wide alignment will be critical to delivering for our patients, Partners and Teams welcome Kyle and Ricky. We are thrilled to have you join our team to help drive disciplined, efficient and sustainable growth through joint ventures, de novo development, acquisitions and commercial growth initiatives. And now a moment on the key elements of our growth algorithm. Our commercial team is laser focused on driving same center growth. On the heels of a successful New Jersey launch, we expanded our AI powered breast arterial Calcification program to include New York and in both markets we are seeing strong acceptance for this cash add on assessment with for cardiac health in women, our team continued their focus on driving advanced imaging, Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are strategic areas of focus for us. Additional seasonal campaigns targeted gastroenterologists and ENT specialists timed to the start of allergy season. These contributed to our growth and increase in acuity. Mix in Q1 we are on track to expand our geographic footprint through new de novo openings, JV partnerships and carefully selected M and A. Tonight’s announcement showcases the opening of four new Lumexa Imaging centers including two small but strategic tuck in acquisitions demonstrating the strength of our JV partnerships. The first location is in Pennsylvania with UPMC and the second location is in North Carolina with Advocate Health. The acquired facilities will ramp over time and their integration into our operating platform and as we complete payer enrollment requirements. The two new de novos are in South Carolina and Florida, expanding our footprint in attractive MSAs and advancing us towards our goal to open 8 to 10 de Novos annually and deliver profitable growth. When it comes to M and a tucked in acquisitions of new centers, there is a lot of opportunity to bring our expertise to a fragmented market and accelerate our presence across targeted geographies. We are continuously evaluating accretive opportunities with a disciplined and proven approach. On the JV front, in addition to excitement around our ramping UPMC partnership, we are cultivating a robust pipeline of potential health system partners with multiple ongoing conversations at various stages. In my conversations with health system leaders, it is clear to me that our approach to joint ventures is a key differentiator for our company. Health systems are seeking ways to participate in the rapid site of care, shift to outpatient imaging and grow their outpatient ambulatory footprint. Our JV model provides a highly effective entry point through clinical, commercial and operational excellence. We demonstrate particularly in de novo development Lumexa Imaging is well positioned to help systems execute against these ambitions while they remain focused on their broader enterprise priorities. In return, these partnerships accelerate our presence in any given market. Finally, a note on our ongoing efforts to scale our company efficiently. We are constantly targeting efficiency gains to meet growing outpatient imaging volume and leverage our installed base of centers and equipment within our fast scan integration continued rolling out across our centers and we are targeting 2/3 adoption by the end of 2026. We are also successfully leveraging virtual cockpit for remote Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanning, which allows us to minimize the impact of machine downtime, to flex our staffing schedules and to extend our hours to serve our patients. And we continue to advance our strategy to leverage technology and AI across support services functions to drive scale as we continue to grow. As I conclude my remarks, I want to briefly note that one of our vendors recently experienced a cybersecurity incident that involved a breach of Lumexa data. Unfortunately, these types of events have become increasingly common across industries. Our patients are always our top priority and we are fully committed to doing right by them. We have responded swiftly and are taking the steps necessary to address the situation, protect our patients and comply with applicable laws and regulations. Importantly, we have reviewed the situations and its effects and we do not believe it has a material impact on our business or financial results. In the spirit of transparency, we wanted to make you aware, given the nature of the event, we cannot say more at this time and will of course provide updates in the future as we have them wrapping up. I’m pleased with our Q1 results. We move forward into Q2 with confidence fueled by a strong execution and a sense that at Lumexa Imaging we are in the early innings of capitalizing on the opportunities ahead of us. We are inspired by our mission to extend access to high quality imaging through elevated compassionate care, improving lives and advancing health care across the country. Before turning the call over to Tony to review our first quarter in more detail, I want to say a huge thank you to our dedicated team members and radiologists. With that, Tony, please continue.

Tony Martin (Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you Caitlin and thank you all for joining us today. On today’s call, I’ll review the financial results and speak to some key drivers of our performance for the quarter. I’ll then provide our outlook for full year 2026 to supplement my review of our Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) financials. On today’s call, I will cite some system wide metrics to help you better understand our overall performance and the breadth of our business. System wide metrics include all centers that we operate, including those we own as well as the centers we operate in our eight joint ventures with health systems. Turning to our first quarter financials, consolidated revenues came in at 253 million, an increase of 3% compared to the same period last year. System wide revenue growth, which includes all sites we operate was 4% in the quarter, about 2/3 from volume and 1/3 coming from rate, a proportion consistent with how we model the company. Revenue per unit which includes both scan and read. Revenue also increased due to advanced modalities being a higher proportion of our business and some continuing benefit due to modest increases in contracted rates with payers who appreciate our lower price point compared to hospital based services. We experienced strong system wide performance across all our outpatient sites both wholly owned and in JVs, and we continue to be pleased with the core performance of the business. Advanced modality volumes, which reimbursed three to four times higher than routine modalities, grew 7% versus prior year on a consolidated and system wide basis. As we discussed on our Q4 call, our first quarter volumes were shaped by a combination of factors, strong Q4 seasonal performance that created enhanced seasonality coming into Q1 and weather related disruptions in Q1 that temporarily impacted patient volumes at a number of our sites. Overall, these factors ended up impacting Q1 Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) by about 4 million. As anticipated, advanced modalities returned the fastest and grew 7% for the quarter with strong momentum heading into Q2. Overall system wide volume growth was 2.5% with the strength of advanced being offset by routine scans which were essentially flat with mammography taking longer to rebound after the storms. While routine scans impact our …

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IZEA Worldwide (NASDAQ:IZEA) held its first-quarter earnings conference call on Tuesday. Below is the complete transcript from the call.

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Summary

IZEA Worldwide Inc reported a revenue decline in Q1 2026, primarily due to their strategic shift from SMB accounts to focusing on enterprise clients.

The company has successfully exited a significant portion of the SMB business, resulting in a net profit swing of $18.9 million in 2025, and now focuses on large enterprise clients like Warner Brothers and Nestle.

Despite a temporary slowdown with top accounts, the company reported growth with new enterprise clients and expects meaningful growth in the second half of 2026.

Operational highlights include the launch of ‘zed’, a proprietary AI-driven marketing platform, and active M&A efforts to expand capabilities.

The company’s financial position remains strong with $46.5 million in cash, no debt, and a $10 million share repurchase program.

Management expresses confidence in achieving growth, supported by a healthy pipeline and strategic partnerships.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Ladies and gentlemen, greetings and welcome to the IZEA Worldwide Inc first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone requires operator assistance during the conference, please signal the operator by pressing Star and zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Sandra Carboni, SVP General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of IZEA Worldwide Inc. Please go ahead.

Sandra Carboni (SVP General Counsel and Corporate Secretary)

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to IZEA’s earnings call covering the first quarter of 2026. I’m Sandra Carboni, SVP General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at IZEA and joining me on the call are IZEA’s Chief Executive Officer Patrick Venaticci and IZEA’s Chief Financial Officer Peter Beery. Thank you for being with us today. Earlier this afternoon, the Company issued a press release detailing IZEA’s performance during Q1 2026. If you would like to review those details, please visit our investor relations website@izea.com/investors before we begin, please take note of the safe harbor paragraph included in today’s press release covering IZEA’s financial results and be advised that some of the statements that we make today regarding our business operations and financial performance may be considered forward looking and such statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. We encourage you to consider the disclosures contained in our SEC filings for a detailed discussion of these factors. Our commentary today will also include the non GAAP financial measures of adjusted EBITDA and revenues excluding divested operations. Reconciliations between GAAP and non GAAP metrics for our reported results can also be found in our earnings release issued earlier today and in our publicly available filings. And with that, I would now like to introduce and turn the call over to izea’s Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Venatici. Patrick

Patrick Venaticci

thank you Sandra and good afternoon everyone. In 2025, we made a deliberate strategic shift away from SMB accounts toward Enterprise clients. Over the past 12 months, we intentionally exited a significant portion of our SMB business which was characteriZED by smaller, non recurring and often unprofitable project work. This disciplined action reset our economic model, resulting in a net profit swing of $18.9 million during 2025. As expected, revenue in Q1 2026 declined year over year, primarily reflecting the impact of this transition. However, this quarter represents an important milestone marking the completion of our exit from the SMB model and The Full Transition to an Enterprise Focused Business Today, our client portfolio is predominantly composed of large enterprise brands including Warner Brothers, Coursera, Nestle, Danone, Georgia Pacific and Stellantis. We have meaningfully reduced our total number of accounts by more than one third while increasing the quality and scale of our relationships. Many of our largest clients are now recurring revenue streams that are more predictable and durable than our prior SMB mix. While we did experience a temporary slowdown across our top three accounts in the quarter, this was more than offset by rapid growth across newer enterprise clients and contributions from new business wins. We added clients such as Hulu, Asus, Garanimals and Emirates and our pipeline remains healthy, giving us confidence about achieving growth for the year. Importantly, over the past 12 months our enterprise portfolio has grown at a healthy double digit rate, outpacing overall industry growth. By streamlining our client base, we have increased average revenue per account by more than 33% and established a more consistent and scalable profitability profile at the account level. To support this trajectory, we’ve added a dozen new team members to our growth organization. Blending deep influencer marketing expertise with broader enterprise marketing experience, we continue to build momentum creatively and operationally. During the quarter, we delivered standout work for brands including Jeep, Warner Brothers and Netflix. We also launched ZED, our proprietary creator economy marketing operations platform infused with AI, which we believe will further differentiate our capabilities and drive efficiency at scale. In parallel, we have been highly active in the M&A market, engaging with a number of potential acquisition targets that would expand our capabilities and accelerate our growth strategy. As we deepen and expand our presence within these enterprise client organization, our role continues to evolve from vendor to strategic partner. We believe this positions IZEA to become an increasingly indispensable marketing partner to some of the world’s leading brands. With that, I’ll turn the call over to Peter Beery, our Chief Financial Officer for …

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Oklo (NYSE:OKLO) held its first-quarter earnings conference call on Tuesday. Below is the complete transcript from the call.

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The full earnings call is available at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/703860425

Summary

Oklo Inc reported a net loss of $33.1 million for Q1 2026, driven by a $51.2 million operational loss, offset by $21.3 million in net interest and dividend income.

The company is advancing several strategic initiatives, including the development of its Aurora powerhouses and collaborations with major partners like Nvidia and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Future outlook remains positive with plans to continue deploying capital across power, fuel, and isotope business units, bolstered by a strong balance sheet of $2.5 billion in cash and marketable securities.

Oklo Inc is making progress with regulatory bodies, having secured the NRC’s approval for its principal design criteria and advancing its Aurora INL and Ohio projects.

Management highlighted significant strategic partnerships and regulatory advancements, positioning the company well for accelerated deployment and growth in the advanced nuclear sector.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us and welcome to Oklo Inc First Quarter 2026 Financial Results and webcast. After today’s prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press Star star one again. I will now hand the conference over to Sam Doane, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Sam, please go ahead.

Sam Doane (Senior Director of Investor Relations)

Thank you operator. Good afternoon everyone and welcome to Oklo Inc’s first quarter 2026 earnings and company update call. I’m Sam Doan, Oklo Inc’s senior director of Investor Relations. Joining me today are Jake DeWitt, Okla’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer and Craig Bellmer, our Chief Financial Officer. Today’s accompanying slide presentation is available on the Investor Relations section of our website. After my opening remarks and the forward-looking statement disclosure, Jake will walk through our business update and strategic progress and Craig will cover our financial results and closing remarks. I’d like to remind everyone that today’s discussion, including our prepared remarks and the Q and A session that follows, will include forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current views regarding trends, assumptions, risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed today. We encourage you to review the forward-looking statements disclaimer included in our supplemental slides. Additional information on relevant risk factors can also be found in our most recent filings with the SEC. Please note that Oklo Inc assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. With that, I’ll now turn the call over to Jake.

Jake DeWitt (Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer)

Thank you Sam and thank you everyone for joining us today. Before we get into the quarter, I want to step back briefly. It has been almost exactly two years since Oklo Inc became a public company and since that time there has been incredible progress at Oklo Inc and for the industry as a whole. For Oklo Inc, the story has increasingly moved from strategy to execution. Since becoming a public company, we have built a customer pipeline across data centers, industrials, energy and government customers. We have advanced major customer relationships including SWITCH and meta. We broke ground on our first Aurora powerhouse at Idaho National Laboratory, Advanced Site Work Procurement and and Department of Energy authorization for Aurora Idaho National Laboratory and continue to make progress with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission including approval of our principal design criteria. Topical Report we also advanced Aurora, Ohio including plans with Meta for a 1.2 gigawatt power campus while continuing to expand the fuel infrastructure needed to support deployment. This includes progress on the Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility at Inl the Tennessee Advanced Fuel center and our fast spectrum plutonium criticality experiments. On the isotope side, we acquired Atomic Alchemy, built the Grove Test reactor facility in 229 days and we are developing our first isotope customer contracts for offtake from the radiochemistry laboratory and importantly, we strengthened the balance sheet to support deployment and long term growth. OKLO is no longer just preparing for deployment. We are actively building the platform to support it. The broader environment continues to move in a direction that is providing tremendous momentum and supports our strategy. We are seeing US nuclear tailwind shift from policy endorsement to execution which manifests across power markets, fuel recycling and now into space travel and exploration. The White House launched the National Initiative for American Space Nuclear Power and the Department of Energy has been directed to assess readiness for up to four space reactors within five years. That is a very strong signal that nuclear is increasingly being viewed as strategic infrastructure. Beyond the grid, beyond this planet and beyond this century, our business touches several of the world’s expanding needs. Almost every incredible thing we have done in space has been powered by isotopes and that will most likely continue to be true, which means isotope production, fuel development, compact reactors and materials testing are all relevant markets. And even before permanent space reactors are deployed, our isotope business can support space applications through radioisotope materials for systems like radioisotope thermoelectric generators which are used to provide reliable power in extreme environments. At the same time, PJM Interconnection continues to highlight the need for new firm supply, including bridging a potential 50 to 60 gigawatt capacity shortfall over the next decade and a proposed reliability backstop procurement framework that supports our view that co located and campus style deployment models can be an important part of serving large loads and also underscores why we are progressing deployment of power assets in power park type like locations such as those we are developing in southern Ohio. Demand continues to build for reliable baseload power. And on the fuel side, the Department of Energy has issued requests for applications to advance privately funded used nuclear fuel recycling, while states are increasingly competing to host integrated nuclear campuses that can support clean, reliable and affordable energy at scale. Together, these developments reinforce the idea that used fuel should be viewed not as a liability, but as a strategic domestic energy resource. We are also seeing ongoing innovation at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to expand the licensing pathways available to small advanced reactors, which helps accelerate deployment. Part 57 is designed around faster, repeatable deployment of microreactors and smaller advanced reactors. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has discussed targeted licensing and deployment timelines of six to 12 months. That is a very different cadence from traditional nuclear licensing frameworks we were discussing just a few years ago. Part 57 also proposes fleet based licensing and more standardized reviews for smaller repeatable reactors, which could significantly streamline future licensing for projects with multiple same kind assets. Aligning with Oklo Inc’s repeatable deployment multiple powerhouse campus style development approach, Part 57 also appears to leverage Department of Energy and Department of War authorized operating experience to reduce duplicative Nuclear Regulatory Commission reviews. That is important because our initial deployments of Department of Energy authorized assets will generate real engineering, construction, safety and operating experience and that experience may inform and streamline future Nuclear Regulatory Commission reviews, enhancing the strategy value of those early asset deployments. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has also finalized part 53, an important modernization step because it creates a risk informed technology inclusive framework for advanced reactors. The Though the development of the proposed Part 57 may be even more directly relevant and beneficial for Oklo Inc, Nuclear Regulatory Commission modernization is moving in a direction that appears highly aligned with oklo’s targeted fleet deployment model of advanced reactors with repeatable designs. Two years ago the advanced nuclear conversation was still largely about policy support, customer interest and long term potential. Today the conversation at OKLO is increasingly about execution. We are advancing licensing pathways across three businesses, securing multiple fuel pathways, converting demand into deployable repeatable projects and deploying and operating assets to meet that demand. We believe that OKLO is well positioned to meet market demand as an integrated platform across three business units, Power fuel and Isotopes. Power as the anchor product clean, reliable, baseload power and heat delivered through our Aurora powerhouses. Fuel is the enabler. Fabrication, recycling and multiple fuel supply pathways that support deployment and isotopes that expand the platform into high value domestic market sectors that will supply products for critical uses including space, defense, industrial and most importantly healthcare. These are complementary businesses with capabilities designed to reinforce each other over time. That integration is central to how we believe OKLO can scale and we are in action building assets across all three of our business verticals as we speak. On the power side we have Aurora Idaho National Laboratory, our Aurora powerhouse at Idaho National Laboratory, Aurora, Ohio, our planned 1.2 gigawatt clean energy campus and Aurora Eielson, a co generation project planned to provide heat and power for Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. On the fuel side we have the Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility at Idaho National Laboratory and the Advanced Fuel center in Tennessee which begins with our first phase, a used nuclear fuel recycling facility. We are also developing plans for the potential use of plutonium based fuels as a bridge fuel and in isotopes we have Groves, our radioisotope test reactor which is targeting criticality by July 4th of this year and the Idaho Radiochemistry Laboratory, which already has an Nuclear Regulatory Commission license and is working toward generating early commercial isotope revenue starting in 2026. We are actively executing across all three business units of our vertically integrated nuclear platform, building the infrastructure, fuel pathways, licensing strategies, supply chain strategies and commercial capabilities needed to deploy repeatedly. We used this slide last quarter, but it is worth revisiting briefly because it is a helpful reminder of how the pieces fit together in the conventional nuclear value chain. Mining, enrichment, power generation and long term waste storage are fragmented across different parties. Oklo Inc’s model is designed to connect fuel fabrication, power production, fuel recycling and isotope production into an integrated loop. Power creates fuel demand. Recycling supports long term supply. Recovered materials can support isotope opportunities. So this is a quick reminder, but an important one. Power, fuel and isotopes are all synergistic capabilities, not separate strategic directions. We believe OKLO is the key player in the nuclear sector advancing the strategic integrated business model. Since our last company update just eight weeks ago, we’ve continued to make progress across all three business units in power. Aurora Idaho National Laboratory has submitted the Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis or PDocumented Safety Analysis for review with the Department of Energy Advanced Procurement and Site Development and received approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for our principal design criteria Topical report. Aurora, Ohio has moved forward with PJM Interconnection Interconnection applications for Aurora. Eilson site characterization has been initiated and with Project Pluto we announced a strategic partnership project with Battelle Energy alliance and Idaho National Laboratory for an industry leading initiative to integrate AI into reactor and fuel system design in fuel. Early construction activities at A3F are underway and final design deliverables are complete. The Tennessee Fuel Recycling Facility continues through application readiness review with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and site preparation continues. We also announced a collaboration with NVIDIA in LANL to support fuel validation work for plutonium bearing fuels and in isotopes. Groves has its PDocumented Safety Analysis in review, has its Documented Safety Analysis submitted, and received a certificate of substantial completion for construction. The Idaho Radiochemistry Laboratory is also advancing our first customer contract, paving the way for potential revenue generation in 2026. Across the company, our mindset has shifted toward asset deployment which is supporting asset delivery across all three business units enabled by multiple regulatory pathways and unlocking several growing potential revenue opportunities. First, we’ll start with the fuel business updates. Fuel availability is one of the most important gating items for advanced nuclear deployment and is one of the areas where OKLO has spent years building differentiated capabilities and optionality. A3F is the Aurora fuel fabrication facility at Idaho National Laboratory which will be fabricating fuel for the Aurora Idaho National Laboratory and supporting future Aurora deployments. On the Department of Energy authorization side, A3F has received approval for its Nuclear Safety Design Agreement or NSDA and its preliminary Documented Safety Analysis or PDocumented Safety Analysis. The next milestones are approval of the Documented Safety Analysis or dsa, completion of the readiness review and startup approval on execution. Early construction activities are complete, final design deliverables are complete and the next major execution milestone is expected to be the Construction Contract Award. The Tennessee Advanced Fuel center is our first major step toward long term recycling capability. Site preparation activities continue in Tennessee. Technology development continues to mature the design and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission application readiness review continues. As of April 2026, the Department of Energy has initiated an accelerated private sector led pathway for nuclear fuel recycling, moving away from the once through cycle toward reprocessing for advanced reactors. We will continue to evaluate the right pathway as the project advances. We also announced a collaboration with NVIDIA and LANL to advance nuclear fuel validation. We see this collaboration as a potential key strategic enabler because it brings together oklo’s FAST reactor platform, NVIDIA’s AI infrastructure and Los Alamos fuel and materials expertise. The collaboration supports AI enabled modeling, digital twins and validation work for plutonium bearing fuels. It also advances fuel development for Pluto, one of our Department of Energy reactor pilot program projects. The broader significance is that AI can help accelerate nuclear development while nuclear can provide firm power for AI infrastructure. In this case, the collaboration links advanced nuclear power, AI enabled research and nuclear fuel R and D and it supports the Technical foundation for Plutonium bearing Fuel work. It is another example of how our power and fuel strategies are connected to some of the most important infrastructure needs in the market today. Moving now to power asset updates, Aurora Idaho National Laboratory remains the anchor of our power deployment strategy and we are advancing regulatory, procurement and site work in parallel. On the Department of Energy side, we have executed the other transaction agreement or OTA and received approval for the Nuclear Safety Design Agreement. The preliminary documented safety analysis is currently in review and the next milestones are approval of the documented safety analysis, completion of the readiness review and startup approval. The Department of Energy pathway allows us to continue advancing construction, procurement and system integration while the project moves through authorization. At the same time and as we have noted in previous updates, we continue to work with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in parallel as demonstrated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s approval of the principal design criteria Topical Report for the Aurora inl. This approval is important because it establishes the fundamental safety, reliability and performance requirements that can guide future reactor licensing and design activities. It also clears the path for the report to be referenced in future applications, reducing the need to re review established material. To be clear, that is the point of parallel pathing our regulatory approach. We are using the Department of Energy pathway to move the first asset forward while continuing Nuclear Regulatory Commission work that supports broader commercial licensing and future repeatability on the site. Field execution continues at Inlay, including the transition to deep foundation excavation. Long lead procurement work is advancing across major systems and supplier engagement is progressing for the reactor module and the balance of plant needs. We also announced a strategic partnership project with Battelle Energy alliance, the management and operating contractor for ionl, to use AI technologies to accelerate advanced reactor and fuel system design work. The project will apply Idaho National Laboratory’s Prometheus AI platform to support AI enabled engineering workflows, modeling, simulation and technical documentation including work related to Pluto, which is a plutonium fueled powerhouse. Together, the regulatory progress, site execution and AI enabled design work are all aimed at accelerating deployment …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Siblings have a unique talent for turning family money into emotional landmines. Parents often assume a heartfelt conversation about inheritance will keep everyone on the same page. Reality usually has other plans. One woman learned that lesson after a holiday dinner conversation with her father ended with her being erased from his estate entirely.

In a Reddit post, the woman laid out her dilemma in raw detail. Eight years ago, during a holiday gathering at her home, her father — then in his late 80s and later passing in his mid-90s — floated what he considered a brilliant plan for his estate. He wanted to leave the family house jointly to her and her brother. The catch? Her brother, who had lived rent-free in the basement for years, would continue residing there. She would be responsible for paying the property taxes and handling all upkeep and maintenance.

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Her brother was not disabled. He held a steady job and earned roughly the same income as she did. Yet he perpetually had no money. Over the years he had repeatedly drained their father’s bank accounts, taken his Social Security payments, and even stolen from family members, including the woman herself when they were children and their grandfather’s valuable coin collection. Their father had enabled the behavior for decades with cash infusions and forgiveness.

The woman did not hesitate. “Absolutely not,” she told her father. When he pressed her about what her brother would do, she replied, “He’s going to have to come up with a different plan before then.”

The Painful Retaliation

Shortly after that conversation, her father acted. He transferred the house title via a Transfer on Death deed directly to her brother and removed her entirely from his will and life insurance policy. Grandchildren received small percentages of the estate, but the woman got nothing. Her brother, upset that he did not receive the entire inheritance, was left to manage the property alone.

In comments on her Reddit post, the woman painted a vivid picture of the house. “My dad was a hoarder. The house is disgusting,” she wrote. “My brother is awful as well. He let his dog use the basement carpet as its bathroom,” and the home suffered from ongoing neglect, including persistent mice and structural issues that were only getting worse.

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Hard-Earned Perspective

Readers overwhelmingly backed her decision. One commenter noted, “Based on this, your dad did you a favor then. Wash your hands of both of them and hold your head high.” Another added, “You’d be your brother’s landlord. Repairs or new furnace, water heater, appliances, roof? That’s on you. Taxes? You. And, ultimately dealing with all the mess that’s got to be cleaned out of a hoarder house…That would be on you at some point as well. Nuh uh.”

The consensus was clear: her father had unintentionally done her a favor. By cutting her out, he spared her from being legally and financially tethered to her brother for years. Readers praised her for setting a firm boundary rather than enabling further irresponsibility.

Hindsight and What She Might Have Done Differently

In hindsight, some suggested the woman could have proposed a more formal, documented alternative during the dinner — perhaps suggesting her brother receive a smaller cash settlement or that the house be sold after their father’s passing with proceeds divided equally. Others noted that involving a neutral third party, such as an estate attorney, for a family meeting might have clarified expectations …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

NEXTracker (NASDAQ:NXT) held its fourth-quarter earnings conference call on Tuesday. Below is the complete transcript from the call.

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Access the full call at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/838534079

Summary

Nextpower Inc reported a strong fiscal year 2026 with 20% revenue growth year-over-year, strong profitability, and a record backlog of over $5.25 billion.

The company is seeing traction from its platform strategy, with increasing adoption of its expanded product portfolio, and is investing in innovation both organically and through targeted acquisitions.

Nextpower Inc plans to manufacture power conversion products in the U.S. and announced an acquisition to accelerate the launch of its power conversion business.

The company reported fourth-quarter revenue of $881 million, slightly down sequentially, but overall fiscal year revenue increased to approximately $3.56 billion.

For fiscal year 2027, Nextpower Inc expects revenue between $3.8 billion and $4.1 billion and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $825 million to $900 million.

The company continues to prioritize organic investments and disciplined M&A, and has initiated share repurchase activity under a $500 million authorization.

Nextpower Inc’s gross margins are expected to remain in the low 30s, with ongoing investments impacting near-term profitability but expected to drive long-term growth.

Management highlighted strong demand from data centers and emphasized the importance of providing integrated solutions to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good afternoon everyone and thank you for standing by. My name is Kevin and I will be your conference operator today. Today’s call is being recorded. I would like to welcome everyone to Nextpower’s fourth quarter fiscal year 2026 earnings call. After the Speaker’s remarks, there will be a Q and A session. If you would like to ask a question, please raise your hand. If you have dialed in to today’s call, please press Star9 to raise your hand and Star6 to unmute at this time for opening remarks. I would like to pass the call over to Ms. Sarah Lee, head of Investor Relations. Sarah, you may begin.

Sarah Lee (Head of Investor Relations)

Thank you and good afternoon everyone. Welcome to Nextpower’s fourth quarter fiscal year 2026 earnings call. I’m Sarah Lee, Nextpower’s head of investor Relations and I’m joined by Dan Shooker, our CEO and founder, Howard Wanger, our President and Chuck Boynton, our CFO. As a reminder, there will be a replay of this call posted on the IR website along with the earnings press release and shareholder letter. Today’s call contains statements regarding our business financial performance and operations, including our business and our industry that may be considered forward looking statements and such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations. Those statements are based on current beliefs, assumptions and expectations and speak only as of the current date. For more information on those risks and uncertainties, please review our earnings press release, shareholder letter and our SEC filings, including our most recently filed Quarterly Report, Form 10Q and Annual Report on Form 10K which are available on our IR website at investors.nextpower.com this information is subject to change and we undertake no obligation to update any forward looking statements as a result of new information, future events or changes in our expectations. Please note we will provide GAAP and non GAAP measures on today’s call. The full non GAAP to GAAP reconciliations can be found in the appendix to the press release and the shareholder letter as well as the Financial section of the IR website. And now I’ll turn the call over to our CEO and Founder Dan

Dan Shooker (CEO and Founder)

Good afternoon everyone and thank you for joining us. We’re pleased to report a strong finish to fiscal year 26 and recap what has been a defining year for Nextpower Inc. We delivered solid financial performance across the business including 20% revenue growth year over year, strong profitability and record backlog of over 5.25 billion. Demand remains healthy and we continue to see strong bookings momentum supported by a flight to quality across our customer base. Let me lay out a few key themes you will hear during today’s call. First, our core tracker business continues to strengthen and perform at industry leading levels. Second, we’re seeing clear traction from our platform strategy with increasing adoption of our expanded product portfolio. Third, we’re continuing to invest in innovation both organically and and through targeted acquisitions to build a more integrated power plant technology platform. Let’s start with our core business where we continue to win in the market. We saw one of the highest booking quarters in our history and we exited the year with record backlog. As we continue to lead the global solar market, we continue to increase our backlog while growing revenue and profit. Our global footprint and flexible supply chain position us well to capture the underlying market demand and mitigate fluid policy dynamics in any one region. According to the International Energy Agency, global electricity demand is forecast to grow 3.6% per year until 2030 compared to 2.9% per year for the prior decade. This translates to around 5,400 terawatt hours of incremental electricity needs over the next five years, a structurally increasing demand driven by data centers, electrification and industrial growth. This is creating an unprecedented need for new generation capacity and solar, particularly when paired with storage, is documented to be one of the most scalable and cost effective solutions to meet that demand. According to Rystead Energy, solar power is predicted to account for over 60% of new generation capacity brought online globally between 2025 and 2030 or around 3000g gigawatts AC. By virtue of our market leadership, Nextpower Inc is very well positioned to help meet this demand. Second, we’re seeing clear traction from our platform strategy. Customers have been asking us to offer additional products and services beyond trackers to simplify procurement, accelerate installation speed and improve system performance and long term reliability. We’re building our platform to meet that demand and we believe integration across the power plant is becoming a key differentiator. Howard will provide more detail on how our strategy is translating into customer adoption and bookings activity. We believe these trends will continue to support long term growth across our markets. Third, we’re continuing to expand our platform capabilities. As we’ve disclosed previously, we’ve been investing in the development of power conversion solutions which we view as a critical component of integrated power plant architecture. We’re now delivering on our complete solar platform and on our Everything but the Panel strategy, while also addressing the storage and data center demand all in one go. Our internally developed technology is very unique with a design intended to enable higher operating efficiency and reliability coupled with enhanced ease of maintenance. We plan to manufacture these products in the United States as we expect domestic content and very strong cybersecurity to be important differentiators in the power conversion market. While we’re completing internal development of our next-gen power conditioning technology, we’re expanding our product portfolio and accelerating time to market through an agreement announced today to acquire key power conversion product lines that are ready to ship and a planned US Manufacturing footprint that can also serve as a launching pad for our internally developed products. We think that this acquisition, which is subject to foreign direct investment approval by the Spanish government and other customary closing conditions, has similar attributes to our EBOS acquisition of BendTech last summer. With solid core technology and expertise that nexpower can quickly propel to meaningful scale across our market footprint, we see power conversion as an increasingly critical layer of the system, optimizing solar power plant yield, enabling integration with battery storage and delivering power, quality management and buffering capabilities that are increasingly important for data center applications. We are intentionally leaning into investments to support this next phase of growth. While this will modestly impact near term profitability, we expect these investments to drive accelerated growth beginning next year. We’re increasingly confident to exceed Our previously disclosed 2030 revenue outlook. Overall, we’re very pleased with our performance in fiscal 26 and progress we’re making against our strategic plan. We believe the company is well positioned for continued growth, supported by strong backlog, increasing customer adoption of our platform and ongoing investment in innovation. With that, I’ll turn over to Howard and walk through our commercial performance and product innovation in more detail.

Howard Wanger (President)

Thank you Dan. We are really pleased with how we finished the quarter and the year starting with sales and bookings. This was one of our strongest quarters to date, contributing to a record year in bookings and backlog. We continue to have good diversity across customers, products and regions with 79% of FY26 bookings in the US and 21% from rest of world regions. In the US we continue to see strong demand across the country supported by a flight to quality and what we believe is our superior technology platform. Internationally, Europe was a highlight with record fiscal year bookings. The global pipeline continues to grow and we are seeing more and more countries becoming increasingly active with solar deployment. In particular, Europe, Middle East, India, Africa and Australia continue to strengthen as we look ahead. Demand remains healthy across our markets and overall pipeline visibility remains strong. Our customers are telling us consistently that their pipelines are moving forward overall as most projects continue to advance through permitting, financing and construction, project timing continues to remain manageable on a portfolio basis, with most project delivery schedules not deviating materially. Some projects do accelerate and others push out. This pattern is consistent with what we’ve seen historically. The quality of our bookings and backlog remains very high, providing excellent visibility into project timing and execution. It is important to note our bookings and backlog are based solely on firm orders and contracts. We do not include awards or late stage negotiations in our backlog or bookings numbers. Moving on to pricing, we had a modest gain in our overall ASP year on year due in part to higher attached rates of non tracker products and services in the US as we rolled out our expanded product portfolio, individual product pricing like trackers, continue to align with the broader solar cost reduction curve which is a healthy dynamic that drives ongoing solar power demand growth. We continue to invest in R and D and scaling initiatives to reduce costs. For example, just in the past year we reduced installation time by 20% for our flagship NX Horizon™ tracker according to a third party engineering study. We are also driving down lifetime cost of ownership by increasing performance and reliability. For example, we released the next generation of our tracker control system including TruCapture, which leads the industry in system performance gains. As discussed in November at Capital Markets Day, our strategy is to offer a complete solar technology platform which includes everything but the panel. Customers are increasingly looking for more integrated solutions to simplify project procurement, design and execution, reduce risk and improve overall system performance. Our platform is designed to meet this demand and we believe integration across the power plant is becoming a key differentiator for for Nextpower Inc. One example is the ramp of our innovative Tracker Plus foundation products which are already being deployed at a multi gigawatt scale with annualized bookings run rate now exceeding 100 million. The NX Horizon™ and NX Earth Trust™ foundation systems enable our trackers to be installed across all soil conditions with better quality and reduced install time and cost. The integration of our EBOS offerings is also being well received. Recall we purchased BendTech about one year ago and already our EBOS business is accelerating with record bookings in this past quarter and over 40% bookings growth year on year for this business. A few other highlights for the quarter are worth mentioning. First, we received initial purchase orders for our new NX Power Merge EBOS solution. Power merge enables Nextpower Inc to now offer both TrunkBus and CombinerBox EBOS solutions which together comprise the vast majority of utility scale systems. This provides a powerful platform to expand EBOS sales. Second, we signed another multi year gigawatt scale steel module frame agreement with JinkoSolar for US Manufactured steel frames. Steel module frames are simply a better engineered solution than traditional aluminum frames and are particularly well suited for robotic installation. And third, we are seeing early success in bundled deployments with projects incorporating multiple elements of our platform. Demand also remains strong for our core product set which includes trackers that handle more complex terrain in extreme weather environments. We surpassed 50 gigawatts of cumulative sales of our terrain following tracker called XTR and over 30 gigawatts of our NX Hail-Pro Tracker solutions. Just over the last fiscal year, our Hail Pro trackers conducted 4,605 hail stows with 57 events experiencing hail of up to 3 inches in diameter and a 99.99% module survival rate. We also recognized record true capture revenue in FY26. These products continue to differentiate us and are driving incremental value. Finally, we are very excited about the announced definitive agreement to acquire power conversion products along with the excellent team and supply capability. As Dan noted, this versatile platform can be used for solar storage and data center applications. The central Inverter system has a rating of 4.5 MVA for solar applications and 5.2 MVA for storage and data center use cases. The units are currently in UL and IEC certification testing which is expected to be completed by next quarter. We have already signed a conditional letter of intent with a key customer for over 100 megawatts of power conversion products and expect this business to generate revenue in the current fiscal year. In summary, we had an excellent quarter and year and we enter our new fiscal year with momentum. We are well positioned to achieve our FY27 outlook, supported by strong backlog, great customer partnerships and our expanded product platform. With that, I’ll turn it over to Chuck.

Chuck Boynton (Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you Howard and good afternoon everyone. First, I’ll walk through our financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal 2026. For the fourth quarter revenue was 881 million, down 3% sequentially but above our expectations due to continued strength in North America, which included strong execution in our TruCapture business. It’s important to note this was the first quarter with our new JV in the Middle East. As you know, we are not consolidating the JV and as expected, this reduced our reported revenue by approximately 300 basis points. For the full fiscal year, revenue increased 20% to approximately 3.56 billion. We finished the year well above our initial plan. This was primarily due to a very strong US Market and a continuing leadership position in the global solar tracker market. Gross margins overachieved in Q4 primarily due to tariff recovery, record true capture and US revenue concentration, partially offset by elevated freight and logistics costs, particularly related to disruptions in the Middle East. Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter was 202 million and 23% margin. This was above our expectations, driven by higher gross margins offset by growth in investments in OPEX, primarily R& D and infrastructure. For the full year, adjusted EBITDA was 854 million, well above our initial plan and our updated plan for Q4. …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Beachbody Co (NYSE:BODI) held its first-quarter earnings conference call on Tuesday. Below is the complete transcript from the call.

This content is powered by Benzinga APIs. For comprehensive financial data and transcripts, visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/.

View the webcast at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/684011158

Summary

Beachbody Company Inc reported Q1 2026 total revenue of $54.3 million, exceeding guidance, and achieved a net income of $2.3 million, marking the third consecutive quarter of profitability.

The company is pivoting towards a nutrition-focused business model, emphasizing an omni-channel strategy including direct-to-consumer and retail distribution, leveraging brands like P90X, Insanity, and Shakeology.

Beachbody Company Inc announced retail partnerships with Sprouts Farmers Market and Vitamin Shoppe, along with Kahe Distributors, to expand Shakeology’s reach.

Gross margins remained strong at 71.8%, and the company has reduced its EBITDA break-even point significantly, allowing strategic investments in growth initiatives.

Management expressed optimism about the long-term potential of the nutrition and energy drink markets, projecting substantial growth opportunities in 2027 and beyond.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good afternoon. Thank you for attending today’s Beachbody Co. Inc. First quarter 2026 earnings conference call. My name is Elizabeth and I’ll be your moderator for today’s call. All lines will be muted during the presentation portion of the call with the opportunity for questions and answers at the end. If you would like to ask a question, please press Star one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press Star one again. I would now like to pass the conference over to your host, Bruce Williams, Managing Director of ICR. You may proceed, Bruce welcome everyone and thank you for joining us for our first quarter earnings call. With me on the call today are Mark Goldson, Executive Chairman of the Beachbody Company Carl Daikeler, Co Founder and Chief Executive Officer and Brad Ramberg, Interim Chief Financial Officer. Following the prepared remarks, we’ll open the call up for questions. Before we get started, I would like to remind you of the Company’s safe harbor language. Statements contained in this conference call, which are not historical facts, may be deemed to constitute forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Security Litigation Reform act of 1995. Actual future results may differ materially from those suggested by such statements due to a number of risks and uncertainties, all of which are described in the Company’s filings with the SEC, which includes today’s press release. Today’s call will include references to non GAAP financial measures such as adjusted EBITDA, net cash and free cash flow and a reconciliation of these non GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures is available within the earnings release which can be found on our website. Now I would like to turn the call over to Mark.

Mark Goldson

Thanks very much Bruce and good afternoon everyone. Welcome to the BODI Q1 2026 earnings call. Last quarter we reported our Q4 and full year 25 results. A transformational year where we achieved positive operating income and adjusted net income for the first time since going public today. I’m pleased to report the Momentum continued in Q1 of 2026. Let me start with the numbers in the Q1 26 financial highlights. Total revenue for Q1 was 54.3 million, which came in above the high end of our guidance. As a reminder and as we’ve consistently noted, Q3 2026 will mark the first quarter where we can make direct year over year comparisons that fully reflect our new business model as the legacy MLM business will have completely cycled out of both periods. More importantly, we delivered our third consecutive quarter of net income at 2.3 million compared to a net loss of 5.7 million in Q1 of 2025, operating income was 3.1 million, marking our third consecutive quarter of profitability on this metric. We posted our 10th consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA at $8 million, up from 3.7 million in the prior year and gross margin remains strong at 71.8%. And within our guidance, as of March 31st our cash balance was 36.6 million against outstanding debt principal of approximately 25 million providing financial Flexibility to Execute our Growth Strategy the operational discipline that we’ve built in over the past two plus years is now embedded in how we run the business. We’ve lowered our EBITDA break even from over 900 million in 2022 to approximately 180 million currently, giving us tremendous operating leverage and the ability to invest strategically in growth initiatives without sacrificing profitability. As we discussed in, March 2026 is the year we’re unleashing our Innovation pipeline. With our strong balance sheet and substantially improved financial position, we’ve got the flexibility to fund our retail exp and the Innovation pipeline without compromising the financial discipline that delivered this turnaround. The cornerstone of our growth strategy is a pivot towards a heavier emphasis on nutrition and that will be executed through an Omni Channel strategy spanning direct to consumer to retail distribution. This represents entry into a nutrition products category with a market opportunity that is more than 12 times the size of the digital fitness category. We’re bringing iconic brand names like P90X, Insanity and Shakeology to retail with very high aided brand awareness. Now we’re freed from the MLM commission constraints and we can price our new nutritional products at dramatically lower price points than we have done in the past. And in the case of Shakeology we can utilize a much smaller form factor, the 7 serving size which will give us a 3495 retail price point versus our previous price point which was $129 for a 30 serve pack. This represents a significant opportunity for us. As many of you may know, in my career I’ve got a long history in the consumer products or CPG industry. From my days at Johnson and Johnson and Bristol Myers, Clairol, Cheeseboro, Ponds, Revlon and as president of Faberge which became Faberge Elizabeth Arden and I got background at Reebok, Louisiana Gear and the huge flower company FTD, I’ve been responsible for the creation and or marketing of billions of dollars worth of some of the most successful consumer products of all time sold through retail distribution. And that’s one of our major areas of expansion that I brought to Bodi. The process of submitting samples through our broker sales organization, Advantage Solutions, securing buyer commitments and then waiting for the retailer shelf set planogram to be updated is about a 6 to 12 month process with inflexible adherence dates. We’re right now in the midst of that process and over the next 60 to 90 days we expect to see which retailers will be adding shakeology and the P90X line of nutritional supplements. Look, I’m sure you’ve seen the recent spate of acquisitions in the CPG industry, whether it be Huell, Gruins, Bloom, Aulani, Nui, Poppy and a host of other companies that have sold for between 1 to 2 billion dollars in the past year with brand names that while we have great respect for, are not nearly as well known as the P90X and even Shakeology brand names. So the potential for creating massive brand equity value for shareholders of Bodi within the nutritional supplement and energy drink industry for Bodi is potentially the single largest mid to long term opportunity that we’ve got at the company. Speaking of securing retail distribution, last week we announced that Shakeology will be carried in more than 80 sprouts farmers market stores around the country starting in late May early June. And we just secured a partnership with Kahe Distributors which is one of the two largest distributors of natural, organic and fresh products to the grocery industry. And this will give us the opportunity to reach the 30,000 grocery, supermarket and online channels that are covered by the Kihi distribution network. And in late breaking news, we just announced in a press release yesterday that Shakeology will now be carried by Vitamin Shop across its more than 640 stores all over the USA later this year, with Vitamin Shop taking all five of the Shakeology flavor variants in our new seven serve $34.99 retail price packaging. This exciting news, along with the Sprouts farmers market news and the Kihe distribution deal, will mark the first time that Shakeology, which is a $4 billion cumulative sales brand with more than 1 billion cumulative servings, the first time it will be available in retail stores across the usa. On the next quarterly earnings call, we hope to have an update on more exciting retail partners for the Shakeology brand and new retailers signed up to carry the P90X line of supplements and the retail stores who will be carrying the insanity and P90X energy drinks in the Southern California test market will be running later this summer. You know, one of the truly unique and compelling aspects of the new Bodi retail distribution initiative as a consumer product company is that we fundamentally created a virtual consumer products company. So what do I mean by that? Well, we’ve outsourced virtually every aspect of our supply chain and distribution infrastructure. Manufacturing is outsourced to best in class contract manufacturers. Sales and retail distribution are managed through our outside partner Advantage Solutions. Fulfillment and logistics of all of the retail orders are handled by a third party logistics provider or a three plus. And we’re evaluating the use of purchase order financing and accounts receivable factoring to optimize our working capital as relates to the retail project. What we keep in house are the core competencies that drive our competitive advantage. Those are marketing, brand management, product innovation and R and D. So this asset light model gives us exceptional financial flexibility, minimal capital requirements, and importantly the ability to scale rapidly without proportional increases in fixed costs since this structure moves the majority of those costs to a variable based cost based on usage and demand. So in conclusion, our financial turnaround has created massive operating leverage, giving us the ability to invest strategically and high return initiatives while maintaining profitability. We’re excited about the opportunities ahead, particularly as we move into the second half of 2026 and then beyond. This year marks the opening of our nutritional innovation pipeline. We are actively in the process of developing new products, securing retail placement and building market acceptance. While we expect to see initial traction in the second half of 2026, the substantial yield from these initiatives will materialize in 2027 and beyond as our retail presence expands and our multi channel strategy fully takes hold. We’ve built a resilient financial foundation that positions us to capitalize on significant growth opportunities in both nutrition and digital fitness, and we’re taking a discipline methodical approach to ensure we execute this transition successfully. I’ll now turn it over to Carl to discuss our operational progress and product innovation strategy.

Carl Daikeler (Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer)

Carl thanks Mark. Our Q1 results demonstrate the operational momentum we’ve been building throughout 2025 and into early 2026. The financial discipline we’ve established has created an extremely efficient platform with leverage to execute against a compelling innovation pipeline across multiple sales. P90X Generation Next launched in early February to a packed house of media and influencers in New York City, generating millions of impressions in both earned and paid media. Early response from our subscriber base has been very enthusiastic and we’re now gathering the success stories from the first wave of participants. That’s especially important as we launched our branded nutritional line extensions into P90X supplements which will be sold direct to consumer on Amazon TikTok shops. As Mark mentioned at retail, including an entire Ready to drink line of P90X energy drinks. This is a really big deal with very special formulations which live up to the reputation of the best selling extreme home fitness program of all time. We’ve launched a P90X pre workout, P90X hydration, P90X creatine, P90X recovery protein and P90X fast acting energy that can be used to fuel longer training sessions or in my case for a midday boost of energy. Each SKU in the line has something called a P90X Factor, a proprietary aspect of the formulation which makes it fast acting, potent and effective so you get the performance benefits as promised. The P90X supplement line launched with our long overdue transition over to the Shopify Equipment Commerce platform which will make it easier for us to offer special bundle configurations, subscribe and save discounts and improve AOV using Shopify’s Add to Cart recommendation engine. Combine these entire new product lines with the new ease of shopping and thousands of success stories coming in from the first wave of P90X generation next users. We expect that to propel momentum of the fitness program and the P90X supplement line in every channel over the next 12 months. Meanwhile, the 10 Minute Body initiative continues to gain traction. The category of Microdose Fitness, which we launched under the 10 Minute Body brand just before Christmas, continues to be a very popular program on the platform. Since our last call, we’ve expanded the catalog with three new targeted programs. 10 minute speed train by Joel Freeman 10 minute active aging led by Debbie Siebers for those 60 and older. He’ll recognize Debbie from her recent appearance on ABC’s Golden Bachelor. She is also one of the first super trainers to help us launch the company. We also just launched the 10 minute GLP1 fitness formula specifically designed to help people on GLP1 medications to build and preserve muscle mass. The platform now features over 400 science backed 10 minute workouts and this high volume low price subscription at $10 a month is successfully opening up our addressable market to the over 185 million Americans who are overweight or obese and may be intimidated by longer workout programs. Ok, looking ahead to the summer, we have a new super trainer joining us, Chase Collette with The brand new 30 day Booty Boost program launching in June. This has been one of the most requested additions to the catalog by subscribers and prospects and we’ll integrate the P90X supplement line to help people get the maximum gains from the program where it counts using the pre workout P90X creatine and P90X protein. And that’s exactly how nutrition has been fundamental to our success since we founded the company, helping people get the best results from their effort. And Shakeology, the world’s first superfood protein shake, which we launched in 2009, probably our most significant nutrition innovation in the company’s history. To put that in perspective, during our peak revenue years, fitness programs accounted for roughly one third of total revenue, while Nutrition drove about 2/3, largely driven by Shakeology. Now that we’re freed from the margin and distribution constraints of the network marketing model, we can offer all our supplements, Whether it’s Shakeology, B90X or other brands, all …

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Black Rock Coffee Bar (NASDAQ:BRCB) reported first-quarter financial results on Tuesday. The transcript from the company’s first-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

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The full earnings call is available at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/ergcjaxx

Summary

BlackRock Coffee Bar reported a 24% increase in revenue and adjusted EBITDA for Q1 2026, with same-store sales growth at 5.2%.

The company opened nine new locations, bringing the total to 190 stores, with plans to open at least 36 new stores by the end of the year.

Strategic initiatives include a focus on customer engagement, market expansion, and personalized loyalty offers, which have shown significant improvements in guest engagement and spend.

Digital sales grew to 17% of total sales, and loyalty program participation reached 66%, driving higher customer frequency and spend.

Operational highlights include strong retention rates and a new Chief Development Officer to oversee store expansion.

The company’s future outlook remains positive with reaffirmed guidance for mid-single-digit same-store sales growth and total revenue between $255-$257 million for the year.

Full Transcript

Operator

Good afternoon and welcome to Black Rock. Welcome to Black Rock Coffee Bar’s first quarter 2026 results conference call Today’s call is being recorded and we have allocated one hour for prepared remarks and Q&A. At this time I’d like to turn the conference over to Will McIntosh, Chief Investor Relations Officer for Black Rock Coffee Bar. Thank you sir. You may begin.

Will McIntosh (Chief Investor Relations Officer)

Good afternoon everyone and thanks for joining us for Black Rock Coffee Bar’s first quarter results. Before we begin, we would like to remind you that this conference call may include forward looking statements. These statements, which are subject to various risks, uncertainties and assumptions, could cause our actual results to differ materially from these statements. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions are detailed in this afternoon’s press release as well as our filings with the SEC which can be found on our IR website. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward looking statements or information except as required by law. During our call today, we will also reference certain non-GAAP financial information. We use non-GAAP measures to assist investors and analysts in comparing our operating performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by excluding items we do not believe are indicative of our operating performance. The presentation of this non-GAAP financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP measures can be found in this afternoon’s press release and in our SEC filings. Joining me on the call today is our CEO, Mark Davis and our CFO, Rod Booth. Following our prepared remarks, we’ll open the call for your questions and with that I’ll turn the call over to Mark. Thank you Will. Good afternoon everyone. We appreciate you joining us today to discuss our first quarter earnings. We started 2026 with a clear focus on executing against our strategic priorities and building on the core strengths of our business while staying true to our simple mission to build connections through caffeine and community. At the heart of our model is a highly personalized, community driven experience where every interaction is designed to be memorable, authentic and rooted in connection driving loyalty and engagement. Equally important, our culture remains a true competitive advantage. We invest deeply in our people and foster an environment where team members feel empowered, valued and inspired, which translates directly into exceptional service, strong execution and industry leading retention. Finally, our growth strategy is anchored in company operated stores giving us greater control over our guest experience, the ability to protect our culture and strong unit economics. As we scale together, these priorities continue to guide our decisions and position. Black Rock for long term value creation, we delivered strong first quarter performance achieving both revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth of 24% compared to the prior year period. Ahead of our long term growth algorithm, we opened nine new locations in the quarter bringing our total stores to 190 as of quarter end. Same store sales growth was 5.2% or 14.4% on a two year basis, demonstrating resilient demand and strong execution even as we lapped a strong prior year comp and fully aligned with our mid single digit expectations. Our focus on our three strategic priorities, deepening customer engagement, strengthening our people oriented culture and expanding our market presence underpin our performance and remain central to our long term growth growth strategy. These initiatives are further supported by the strength and resiliency of our customer and our model. Our broad and balanced demographic exposure ranges from ages 18 to 45 and skews slightly higher income. We also see consistency across both dayparts and days of the week which is a key differentiator for blackrock. Traffic remains steady from the morning through the afternoon with meaningful opportunity as the day progresses. Sales are also well balanced across weekdays and weekends without reliance on any single day part. Importantly, approximately 55% of our mix is coffee, a category that has historically proven highly resilient and we continue to grow our mix in food and energy to drive check across dayparts. As a result, our unique positioning insulates us well admits an uneven macro environment. With that, let me take a few minutes to walk through our first quarter progress against our strategic priorities starting with customer engagement. Digital sales grew sequentially as a percent of sales in the first quarter reaching approximately 17% of our sales driven by increased guest frequency across app, online ordering and third party delivery. These channels continue to enhance convenience and and provide greater optionality for our guests. Touching on loyalty momentum continued through the first quarter with our loyalty rewards participation rate at 66% reflecting strong guest engagement from the outset. With continued month over month growth even as we open new locations, loyalty members continue to demonstrate higher visit frequency and greater spend per visit relative to non members, highlighting the program’s impact on driving repeat behavior and strengthening long term guest relationships. Our loyalty database is expanding steadily and has become one of our most effective channels for engaging guests and delivering targeted value. In the last two years we have established a robust data asset that that provides deeper insights into our guest preferences, positioning the program to support continued growth and more personalized engagement over time. To that end, in quarter one we piloted segmented personalized offers across our loyalty base in our Phoenix, Colorado and Dallas markets with notable results. When we moved from a single blanket offer to segmented incentives tailored by guest type such as Coffee Forward rewards for coffee drinkers and fuel based offers for energy enthusiasts, we saw meaningfully higher engagement and spend. In one case study, personalized segmentation more than doubled engagement, drove a nearly 100% increase in incremental spend and generated over three times the incremental visits versus a blanket approach. Life cycle based segmentation outperformed one size fits all offers by delivering significantly higher visit lift and incremental spend efficiency as we meet guests where they are in the blackrock community. These insights reinforce that personalized value, not just more value, is what drives meaningful behavior change. As we look ahead, we plan to expand this disciplined, data driven segmentation strategy into additional markets. Using loyalty as a powerful lever to to engage with our guests provide a differentiated experience and is a reminder for why they choose Black Rock. We’re a premium offering customized to meet their needs, delivered by an engaged team for a personalized and authentic experience. Additionally, our programmatic marketing campaign launched in the fourth quarter of 2025 continued into the first quarter of 2026, helping maintain same store sales and guest engagement during a seasonally softer period. For Black Rock. The campaign was designed to extend our reach beyond existing loyalty members while sustaining traffic across our core guest base and results exceeded expectations. From a performance standpoint, we saw the strongest lift in visits from non customers and our highest frequency visitors, demonstrating the campaign’s effectiveness in both attracting new guests and deepening engagement with our most valuable cohorts. Building on this momentum, we are launching a follow on Programmatic Campaign in the second quarter across Phoenix, Dallas and Colorado with a continued focus on prospecting in all markets and an added layer of retargeting in Phoenix where we delivered the strongest cohort level performance. We anticipate this next programmatic marketing campaign will drive measurable improvements in engagement and visit frequency. While loyalty remains a valuable lever for influencing repeat behavior, our programmatic campaigns are unlocking stronger growth at the top of the funnel, expanding awareness, reaching new audiences and bringing first time guests into the brand. As we scale, loyalty will play a key role in enhancing the guest experience while paid media and programmatic efforts remain focused on attracting and converting new guests as it relates to menu and innovation. We were very pleased with the performance of our first seasonal window of the year which delivered strong year over year growth and the product mix of our core offerings increasing more than 60% and versus last year. From a product standpoint, results showed particularly strong performance from indulgent flavor forward beverages such as the Pecan Pie Blondie, Prickly Pear Fuel and Strawberry Blondie, which ranked among our top sellers for the quarter. The Strawberry Blondie with Sweetheart Cold Foam was especially impactful, performing well as a featured beverage and driving incremental attachment as guests added the Sweetheart Cold foam across a wide range of drinks. This customization behavior was all highly social, with guests sharing these visually compelling beverages online, reinforcing the importance of creating shareable menu items. Overall, the first quarter reinforced that our LTO strategy combining bold flavor innovation with seasonal and social relevance is resonating strongly with guests and driving both engagement and incremental traffic. Furthermore, we’re continuing to evolve how we amplify these launches through our Influencer strategy. We’re encouraged by the early traction we’re seeing from this newer component of our marketing mix, particularly on discovery driven platforms like TikTok, where authentic storytelling resonates strongly with new audiences. Most importantly, we’re learning quickly. Our recent Desert Springs campaign is already delivering stronger engagement and deeper audience interaction, reinforcing that our content approach and creator mix are becoming more effective. We’re also seeing meaningful benefits from a regionalized strategy that partners with creators in specific markets, allowing us to show more authentically at the local level while driving increased brand visibility and organic social momentum. Starting in the second quarter, Influencer partnerships will align with our key summer seasonal windows, presenting an exciting opportunity to enhance our reach. Overall, we view Micro Influencers as a powerful storytelling channel that brings the brand to life through real voices. We will continue to build and scale this program thoughtfully over time as it relates to our food offerings. Egg Bites continue to exceed expectations with our guests driving attachment and check growth over prior year. As anticipated in the second half, we plan to introduce new and innovative food options to continue driving engagement and growth across day parts. As we lapped the launch of Egg Bites from the prior year, product mix for fuel and food increased again sequentially in the first quarter, showcasing the sustained demand and engagement for our menu innovation and elevated sweet and savory food items. On the innovation front, we were excited to launch a protein test in Phoenix in early March, introducing a protein boosted milk for dairy based drinks, protein boost for shakes and smoothies, and protein cold foam as customizable add ons across our beverage platform. We’ve been encouraged by the early results which have driven incremental attachment and ticket lift, particularly with cold foam or where protein is creating differentiated entry point with fuel by enabling customers to add protein to energy beverages. This is a capability that remains unique in the category. Importantly, protein is also performing well in core beverages like lattes and signature drinks, reinforcing that this is a natural extension of our existing menu. Guest response has been very positive with strong satisfaction scores and clear feedback around the value of adding protein without sacrificing flavor or experience. Based on this performance, we expanded the test into additional markets with a full system rollout completed in April. As we scale, we’ll continue to refine positioning and menu integration, but we view protein as a longer term platform opportunity that aligns well with evolving guest preferences and our broader innovation pipeline. Regarding other recent innovation, our seasonal Dirty Soda partnership with Olipop was an important test and learn opportunity providing valuable data, insights and guest engagement that we will leverage in future offerings. From a guest perspective, response has been encouraging. Customers who have tried the beverage are rating it highly with feedback showing strong alignment with both the flavor profile and the broader dirty soda trend. We’re also seeing incremental strength in the afternoon daypart which is a future targeted area of opportunity for us as we work to drive traffic outside of morning peaks. As our near term focus remains on scaling the recently launched protein platform, we are using this period to gain insights and refine the Olipop offering. Looking ahead, we have an Olipop recipe refresh planned for the second quarter along with barista driven variations which we believe will help broaden appeal, encourage, repeat trial and inform future innovation decisions. Overall, our broad menu innovation and multiple points of guest interaction continue to support strong customer engagement while creating meaningful opportunities to deepen brand relevance and expand our presence across markets. Moving to our people oriented culture Our continued focus on investing in our people and cultivating a high performance collaborative culture is driving deeper guest relationships and strong team engagement. Retention remains a key differentiator for Black Rock and underscores the strength of our operating model, one that is rooted in professional development, increased business acumen and disciplined execution across the organization. Notably, team member turnover hit an all time low in the first quarter ending at approximately 54%, continuing to outperform the industry average and improving year over year. Driven by the evolution of our learning management system. Stronger onboarding and training have led to higher retention and more confident new hires. Store lead turnover also continues to stay below industry average as we continue building the business acumen and leadership skills of our retail leaders through our career roadmap training program, helping them run their stores more effectively. Our robust programs in place give us confidence in the ever growing pipeline of leaders as Black Rock who are well equipped to support our store opening plan and deliver exceptional guest satisfaction. Importantly, the progress we’re seeing in succession planning and internal advancement gives us added conviction that we can scale new store growth with our strongest leaders stepping up to drive execution and foster our people oriented culture across our newest markets. Finally, I want to take a moment to welcome John vingo to the Black Rock team as our new Chief Development Officer. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with John during my time at both Panera and Tokyo Joe’s and I’ve seen firsthand his ability to thoughtfully lead complex large scale growth initiatives. He brings deep experience in guiding disciplined national store expansion across multiple brands and markets and we’re confident his leadership will be instrumental in as we continue to execute our development strategy and scale the brand. I also want to thank Bobby Kaufman for his many contributions to blackrock and wish him all the best in his future endeavors. Last, I’ll touch on progress across our expansion strategy in the first quarter. We opened nine new stores across Colorado, Texas, Arizona and Oregon in the quarter bringing our total store count to 194 of our new store openings in the quarter were in Colorado, a leading growth market for us with terrific momentum. We also continue to build out our more established markets like Portland and Phoenix which are driving strong early performance despite higher penetration in these areas. As we grow store density in these maturing markets and add new locations around existing high volume stores, we are thoughtfully rebalancing demand across our store base to enhance the experience, grow our presence, strengthen our market position and better serve our guests. This dynamic is can result in some sales transfer where a portion of volume from existing stores shifts to newer locations that have opened in closer proximity. In the first quarter we saw this dynamic in Phoenix, creating 160 basis point headwind to same store sales. To be clear, this is a function of the strong underlying demand we are seeing in this market. New stores are performing well, traffic remains strong and overall market level sales are growing. As we grow store density and brand awareness in our key markets, we are continuing to see strong demand at the market level, reinforcing our data driven concentric circle development strategy. Although sales transfer modestly impacted same store sales in the quarter, we’re encouraged by the long term benefits and believe it reinforces our commitment to showing up for our guests in key markets while strengthening demand and engagement as these markets mature. Importantly, five of our new unit openings in the first quarter occurred in the last week of the quarter, impacting store weeks during the period. As expected, underlying demand remained healthy highlighted by our strong comp momentum and the continued growth from our newest stores. Furthermore, we expect to comfortably hit our commitment of a minimum of 10 stores in quarter two and 36 for the 2026 year. As a reminder, on average new stores will achieve 1.1 million AUVs by 18 months with incremental growth compounding thereafter. Our development pipeline has continued to mature and the learnings from this process have allowed us to refine our systems, strengthen cross functional coordination and position ourselves for a more robust 2026 opening cadence which ensures we capture the full benefit of store weeks through the remainder of the year. Across our newest cohort, we are pleased with the year to date performance which is in line with our targets. We continue to see significant opportunity to drive performance and awareness across all markets as we continue to scale and grow our company including our trajectory to drive AUV growth from 1.3 million system wide today. Additionally, as it relates to new development we we maintain significant flexibility on build type allowing us to pursue multiple development paths to secure the right real estate for our stores with comparable capital deployment. We continue to expect to shift towards more reverse build to suit leases in our near term pipeline allowing us to more closely manage our development planning and and drive greater speed to market

Mark Davis (Chief Executive Officer)

as we continue to build on our dual format foundation. Black Rock Coffee Bar stands apart by pairing drive thru access with thoughtfully designed lobbies that enable both speed and connection supported by a differentiated menu with growing food mix that performs across day parts, this combination allows us to serve a broader demographic, meeting guests where they are with convenience and a community driven experience that extends well beyond coffee. With …

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Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) co-head of private credit Vivek Bantwal believes that it’s important to “separate anecdotes from the data,” noting that a handful of stressed situations across bank lending, public credit, and private credit have received outsized attention in recent months.

“When you step back and look at the data, you see a bit of a different picture,” Bantwal told CNBC, citing two stats.

Payment default rates (borrowers failing to pay) are about 1.5%, Bantwal said. That’s relatively low. Non-accrual rates (loans that are not generating interest because the borrower is behind) are about 2%. Again, fairly modest.

“Those are averages. There’s just dispersion around that, so you know we’re fortunate. We’re at 0.2%, so we’re much better than the average,” Bantwal said.

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Tenon Medical (NASDAQ:TNON) reported first-quarter financial results on Tuesday. The transcript from the company’s first-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

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Summary

Tenon Medical reported a strong start to 2026 with first-quarter revenue of $1.4 million, nearly doubling from the previous year, and a record gross margin of 68.5%, up from 44.5%.

The increase in revenue was driven by a higher number of procedures across both platforms, Catamaran and Symmetry Plus, and improved cost efficiency.

The company closed a $4.3 million senior convertible note placement, enhancing financial flexibility for continued investment in commercial expansion and product launches.

Tenon Medical expanded its intellectual property portfolio significantly, with 29 US patents and 9 international patents granted, and 31 applications pending.

Future plans include the launch of new additions to the Symmetry Plus platform and a third approach to the sacral pelvic anatomy, with expectations for continued revenue growth and margin expansion.

Operational highlights include the addition of an experienced sales professional and the establishment of a new training education center in Tampa, Florida.

Management emphasized maintaining growth in procedure volumes, physician education, and protecting margin gains as key priorities for 2026.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Greetings and welcome to The Tenon Medical first quarter 2026 financial results and Corporate Update Conference Call. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. Your hosts today are Steve Foster, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Kevin Williamson, Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Foster and Mr. Williamson will present results of operations for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026 and provide a corporate update. A press release detailing these results was released today and is available on the Investor Relations section of our company’s website, www.tenonmed.com. before we begin the formal presentation, I would like to remind everyone that statements made on the call and webcast may include predictions, estimates and other information that might be considered forward looking. While these forward looking statements represent our current judgment on what the future holds, they are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward looking statements which reflect our opinions only as of the date of this presentation. Please keep in mind that we are not obligating ourselves to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward looking statements in light of new information or future events. For a more complete discussion of these factors and other risks, you should review our quarterly and annual reports on file with the securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. at this time, I’ll turn the call over to Tenon Medical’s Chief Executive Officer, Steve Foster. Please go ahead sir.

Steve Foster (President and Chief Executive Officer)

Thank you Operator and good afternoon to everyone. I’m pleased to welcome you to today’s first quarter 2026 financial results and Corporate Update Conference Call for Tenon Medical. Update Conference Call for Tenon Medical. We are off to a solid start. In 2026 we delivered strong first quarter revenue and gross profit which were the highest for any first quarter in the company’s history. First quarter revenue came in at 1.4 million, nearly double the prior year period, and Gross margin reached 68.5%, up from 44.5% a year ago. Two dynamics drove the quarter more procedures across both of our platforms and a meaningful, more efficient cost base behind those revenues. On the top line, growth came from two places, a higher number of catamaran cases and the first full quarter of meaningful symmetry plus contribution since we acquired the CY Vantage assets late last August, Physician engagement is a leading indicator for us as well, and on that front we trained 21 physicians across both systems this past quarter. The most notable development this quarter is the expansion in gross margin at 68.5%, we are approximately 24 percentage points higher than a year ago. While increased revenue has contributed through improved absorption of fixed production overhead, we are also benefiting from a more streamlined commercial footprint and stronger field productivity. We expect these structural gains to persist going forward. Beyond the financials A few items from the quarter that are worth noting. First, our two platform offering is increasingly working the way we had hoped. Physicians are evaluating Kedwin and Symmetry plus as complementary tools in both primary and revision procedures. These systems provide optionality in both inferior posterior and lateral approaches to the same anatomy, and we are seeing that this translates into adoption at several leading centers specific to capital. In March, we closed a $4.3 million senior convertible note placement with a group of institutional and high net worth investors. That financing extends our Runway gives us the flexibility to keep investing behind commercial expansion, product launches and our clinical programs without further distraction. Taken together, the quarter gives us a healthier balance sheet, broader products set actually in the market, and clearer evidence that our cost work is sticking. Our intellectual property position continues to strengthen. The US Patent and Trademark Office issued multiple notices of allowance during the quarter on applications expected to Grant later in 2026. On top of the 10 patents that issued in 2025, our portfolio today stands at 29 US patents and nine international patents granted, with another 31 applications pending. That depth matters for a small cap medical device company. It protects what we have built around catamaran and Symmetry plus. In addition, we have dramatically accelerated our R and D project work. This includes significant incremental additions to the Symmetry plus lateral and oblique platform that will be launched in the back half of 2026. Additionally, in the spirit of providing comprehensive optionality to our physician customers, we are moving towards regulatory submission and subsequent alpha activity of a third approach to the sacral pelvic anatomy. Lastly, our aggressive commercial activity is highlighted by the addition of an experienced senior sales professional to manage the eastern part of the lower 48. He will join other members of our commercial team at a newly established training education center in the Tampa, Florida area designed intentionally to accelerate our physician and distributor education activities. Looking out over the rest of the year, our focus is very narrow, keep growing procedure volumes on both platforms, aggressively educate our physician and distribution partners, and protect the gross margin gains we’ve made this quarter. As we scale, we have multiple ways to win in this market. Lateral and inferior posterior now and additional innovations to come with that. I’ll turn the call over to Kevin to discuss our financials in some detail.

Kevin Williamson (Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you Steve. I will now provide a summarized review of our financial results. A full breakdown is available in our press release that crossed the wire this afternoon. Starting with the top line, first quarter revenue was 1.4 million, an increase of approximately 90% from 0.7 …

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On Tuesday, AudioEye (NASDAQ:AEYE) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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Summary

AudioEye reported its 41st consecutive quarter of record revenue, achieving $10.6 million in Q1 2026, marking an 8% increase year-over-year.

The company has improved its adjusted EBITDA margins significantly, expecting margins in the high 20% range this year, with a target of $15 million run rate by the end of 2026.

AudioEye’s ARR reached $41.2 million, up 12% annually, indicating strong future revenue growth driven by compounding ARR.

The company continues to focus on strategic initiatives, including AI-driven product innovations and expanding its market presence in the EU and state and local governments.

Management transitions were announced with Kelly Djordjevic taking over as CEO, emphasizing continuity in strategic direction and operational excellence.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good afternoon and welcome to AudioEye’s first-quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Joining us for today’s call are AudioEye CEO and CFO, Ms. Kelly Djordjevic and Executive Chairman and Chief Product Officer Mr. David Moratti. Following their remarks, we will open the call for questions from the Company’s publishing analysts. I would like to remind everyone that this call will be recorded and made available for replay via a link available in the Investor Relations section of the company’s website at www.audioeye.com. before I turn the call over to AudioEye’s executive chairman, the Company would like to remind all participants that statements made by AudioEye Management during the course of this conference call that are not historical facts are considered to be forward looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform act of 1995 provides a safe harbor for such forward looking statements. The words believe, expect, anticipate, estimate, confident, will and other similar statements of expectation identify forward looking statements. These statements are predictions, projections or other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could materially differ because of factors discussed on today’s press release, in the comments made during this conference call and in the Risk Factors section of the Company’s Annual report on Form 10K. Its quality reports on Form 10Q and its other reports and filings with the securities and Exchange Commission on this call are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward looking statements which reflect Management’s belief only. As of the date hereof. AudioEye does not undertake any duty to update or correct any forward looking statements. Further, Management’s remarks today will include certain non GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures to these non GAAP financial measures is available in the Company’s earnings release or otherwise posted in the Investor Relations section of its website at www.audioeye.com. now I’d like to turn the call over to AudioEye’s Executive Chairman and Chief Product Officer, Mr. David Morotti.

David Morotti

Thank you operator and good afternoon everyone. The first quarter marks the 41st consecutive quarter of record revenue, a significant achievement since over a decade ago. I began my journey with AudioEye as an investor leading a few rounds of financing for the company. Back then the Company had virtually no revenue and limited technology. Today is a different story. We have the leading product on the market and more than 127,000 customers, to our knowledge more than any other company in the industry. In 2019. I joined AudioEye, first as a consultant, then as a board member and became the Chair of the Strategic Operating Committee of the Board of Directors, tasked with improving product go-to-market margins and scale. Since then, revenues have nearly quadrupled and adjusted EBITDA margins have improved from approximately negative 70% and are expected to be in the high 20% range this year. Revenue per employee has improved from approximately 100,000 per employee in 2019 to over 400,000 per employee, around a 400% increase. Kelly has been instrumental in helping us achieve these top tier results since joining AudioEye in 2021. I’ve worked closely with Kelly for almost five years and I’m highly confident that a CEO she will lead the company through our next phase of growth and continued operating margin improvement. This was a well planned evolution that reflects the strength of what we have built and the Board of Directors and my confidence in Kelly’s ability to lead us going forward. She brings operational discipline, relationships and credibility to sustain the momentum we have. My focus going forward will be on what I love doing most long term strategy and product innovation, including AI initiatives now possible with recent LLM improvements. I’ve served as Head of product since the second half of 2023 during a period of significant innovation including our next gen platform which combines custom fixes with our industry leading AI, giving customers a complete view of their risk profile which no competitor can do today. Also, we have continued to improve our industry leading legal protection rates and the highest levels of automatic detection available, but we are not done. A recent WebAIM study shows that the Internet is becoming less accessible while litigation trends are reaching all time highs. The need to solve digital accessibility at scale has never been greater. We continue to build on our industry leading proprietary data set which was developed over 10 years on over 100,000 websites and millions of data points using our unique approach of combining AI automation with custom fixes and we are very excited about upcoming Agentic product releases as we enter this next phase of growth in AudioEye’s journey. I want to thank our team for all their hard work and determination in getting us here and in delivering an incredible product for our customers. After today’s call, I may be less visible to shareholders, but I will be hard at work in the background and leaving you in good hands with your new CEO. With that, I’ll hand it over to Kelly.

Kelly Djordjevic (Chief Executive Officer)

Thank you David Good afternoon everyone. It’s an honor to be speaking to you today in my new role as CEO and I want to echo David’s gratitude to our team and to David for the incredible work he has done, transforming AudioEye into an industry leader in digital accessibility. I look forward to building on the foundation that David and the team have created. I’ve spent five years working with David and driving change, and I’m excited about what the next phase looks like, both from an operational standpoint and from a product and market opportunity standpoint. I’ll now cover a few other business developments, Q1 2026 financial results and our updated financial outlook for Q2 and the full year 2026. The market environment continues to reinforce the need for solutions with accuracy and scale. Agentic coding solutions are driving faster web development, but are making the web less accessible. As David mentioned, the 2026 WebAIM Million Report found 95.9% of the top 1 million homepages had detectable WCAG failures averaging 56.1 errors per page, a 10% increase over the prior year that reversed six consecutive years of gradual improvement. WebAIM attributes the decline to broader shifts in web development including increased reliance on third party frameworks and AI assisted coding. This is driving accessibility related litigation to reach all time highs. This environment positions AudioEye as a leader with over a decade of proprietary data and billions of data points. We have the depth, expertise and scale to address accessibility challenges and to help customers manage the legal risk they face in a way no other solution can currently match. We continue to see strong feedback and engagement with our next generation platform introduced earlier this year. We built this platform to give customers full visibility into the thousands of fixes AudioEye completes on their …

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On Tuesday, GCT Semiconductor Hldgs (NYSE:GCTS) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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Summary

GCT Semiconductor Hldgs reported a 287% increase in net revenues for Q1 2026, reaching $1.9 million, driven by increased 5G chipset shipments and service revenues.

The company achieved a 58% sequential growth in 5G chipset shipments, highlighting progress in customer testing and initial deployments.

Strategic initiatives include an expanded engagement with a leading satellite communication provider to accelerate global 5G deployment, enhancing the scope of their technology across terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.

Gross margin improved significantly to 49% due to a favorable revenue mix with higher margins from service offerings.

Management remains focused on disciplined execution and operational readiness to support anticipated growth in 5G chipset shipments throughout 2026.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good afternoon. Thank you for attending GCT Semiconductor Holdings Inc. first quarter 2026 financial results call. All lines will be muted during the presentation portion of the call with an opportunity for questions and answers at the end. Joining the call today are John Schlafer, GCT’s chief executive officer, and Edmund Cheng, CFO, to discuss our first quarter 2026 results. During this call, certain statements we make will be forward looking. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including those set forth in our Safe harbor provision for Forward looking statements that can be found at the end of our earnings press release and also in our form 10Q that will be filed today which provide further detail about the risks related to our business. Additionally, except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward looking statement. I will now turn the call over to John Schlafer.

John Schlafer (Chief Executive Officer)

Thank you and thanks to everyone for joining us today for our first quarter 2026 earnings call. I’ll start by discussing the operational progress we’ve made during the first quarter as we drive commercial expansion of our 5G products. Following my remarks, our CFO Edmund Cheng will walk through the financial results for the first quarter in more detail, building on the groundwork we laid at the end of 2025. Our first quarter results reflect the advancements we’ve made on our 5G acceleration which is reflected by growing 5G chipset shipments, expanding engagement and continued early adoption across leading customers. Customers. In the first quarter we delivered 3,000 5G chipsets, a sequential increase of 58% versus Q4. This growth is an important indicator that customers are continuing to move through the final stages of testing and into initial deployments. While 5G product shipment volume today remains modest relative to the long term opportunity ahead, we are in an early but critical step of the product cycle. Customer confidence in the performance, reliability and integration of our 5G chipset is building and we expect 5G chipset shipments to continue trending upward as customers advance their programs. We are also broadening the scope and depth of our customer relationships and chipset use cases. We continue to support a growing number of programs across multiple verticals FWA, IoT and NTN, and we are working closely with our lead customers as they move through integration, certification and deployment planning. These engagements often push beyond traditional licensing into deeper platform level collaboration where our technology serves as the foundation for next generation systems and user equipment development. Early design wins and platform integrations remain critical in establishing the framework for future volume shipments and long term adoption. Notably, we expanded our previously announced engagement with one of the World’s largest satellite communication providers to fast track global 5G deployment through a reference platform agreement. Under this framework, we will provide a reference design based on our 4G and 5G chipsets to help accelerate the development of our partners next generation user equipment, enabling high bandwidth and high speed communications across satellite and terrestrial networks. This agreement reinforces GCT’s role in enabling seamless connectivity across both terrestrial and non terrestrial networks broadens the deployment scope of our technology and It also highlights the growing importance of GCT’s technology in enabling converged connectivity solutions that span multiple network environments. We view this as a multi phase opportunity that can drive incremental adoption of our solution over time as next generation user equipment platforms are introduced. As these platforms are developed and deployed, we expect our technology to play an increasingly important role in supporting global connectivity use cases initial 5G chipset shipments to this partner remain on track to begin in the second half of 2026. Our focus continues to revolve around driving 5G chipset commercial traction by strengthening our supply chain and operational infrastructure to support higher 5G chipset volumes as customer demand accelerates. Supported by increasing activity from our lead customers, we continue to expect significant sequential growth in 5G chipset shipments as commercialization continues to scale throughout the year. Further, the headway achieved thus far reinforces our expectation and aligns with our previous product launches such as our 4G chipsets. We believe the work we are doing now will ensure that we are positioned …

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OptimizeRx (NASDAQ:OPRX) released first-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Tuesday. Read the complete transcript below.

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Summary

OptimizeRx reported Q1 2026 revenue of $19.8 million and an adjusted EBITDA of $3.3 million, exceeding consensus estimates.

The company is experiencing short-term revenue contraction due to macroeconomic factors and Most Favored Nation pricing disruptions, but anticipates recovery in the long term.

AI-enabled DAP solution saw a 60% growth, highlighting strong market fit and adoption, with a shift towards subscription-based revenue models.

The company updated its 2026 revenue guidance to $95-$100 million, maintaining adjusted EBITDA guidance of $21-$25 million, while implementing cost optimization to reduce annual expenses by $3 million.

Operational highlights include increased adoption in both pharma and medtech sectors, along with strategic refinancing of the term loan to reduce interest expenses.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good afternoon everyone and thank you for joining OptimizeRx first quarter fiscal 2026 earnings conference call Us today is Chief Executive Officer Steven Silvestro. He is joined by Chief Financial and Strategy Officer Edward Stellmak, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer Marianne Odense-Ford, and Chief Business Officer Andrew Da Silva. At the conclusion of today’s call, I will provide some important cautions regarding the forward looking statements made by management during today’s call. The Company will also be discussing certain non GAAP financial measures which it believes are useful in evaluating the Company’s operating results. A reconciliation of such non GAAP financial measures is included in the earnings release the Company issued this afternoon as well as in the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website. I would like to remind everyone that today’s call is being recorded and will be made available for replay as an audio recording of this conference call on the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website. Now I would like to turn the call over to OptimizerX CEO Steven Silvestro. Mr. Silvestro, please go ahead.

Steven Silvestro (Chief Executive Officer)

Thank you Operator and good afternoon to everyone joining us for today’s first quarter 2026 earnings call. We delivered a solid start to the year which exceeded consensus estimates on the top and bottom line. Revenue for the first quarter was 19.8 million and adjusted EBITDA was 3.3 million. While we’re pleased with our performance in the quarter, the broader healthcare technology operating environment continues to evolve. We’re seeing ongoing softness in our contracted revenue base relative to prior year levels, largely driven by what appears to be short to intermediate term disruption from last year’s most favored nation pricing dynamics and other macroeconomic factors which are resulting in more cautious budget allocations, contract durations and in some cases the delaying of campaign timing and scope. That said, we want to be clear we do not view these pressures to endure. In fact, we’ve made good progress with several large manufacturers at this point getting spend levels back up and the issue is more limited in scope than it previously was. The long term shift within Life Sciences toward digital data driven engagement is accelerating and OptimizerX is well positioned to capitalize on this growth. Moreover, we continue to see encouraging signs of long term adoption and expansion by our customers. Our AI enabled Digital Assistance Platform (DAP) solution grew 60% in the first quarter which highlights continued product market fit and customer adoption. In addition, another one of our top pharmaceutical clients has continued to broaden its use of point of prescribed solutions across multiple oncology brands. What began as targeted engagement within specific indications has evolved into a scaled multi brand deployment driven by measurable improvements in prescriber engagement and campaign performance. This type of expansion underscores our ability to grow within large enterprise accounts. We are seeing similar momentum in Medtech where we are driving increased adoption of Digital Assistance Platform (DAP) to identify and activate high value prescriber audiences. Initial pilot programs are expanding into multimillion dollar engagements, further reinforcing the repeatability of our growth model. From an operational standpoint, our business remains very strong as we continue to see consistent validation of our platform across both pharma and medtech customers. At the same time, we are expanding our presence with mid tier and long tail life science companies which we believe represent a significant and underpenetrated growth opportunity for optimize rx. We are also making continued progress in shifting a greater portion of our revenue mix towards subscription based models, particularly within Digital Assistance Platform (DAP). Tied to our AI enabled Digital Assistance Platform (DAP) solution which showed growth in the first quarter, our Digital Assistance Platform (DAP) subscription revenue also grew by 45%. This transition is an important step in improving revenue visibility and building a more durable and predictable financial model over time. Despite seeing measurable growth within our business macro headwinds are still present and we have less visibility on our full year. Given this, we are updating our full year 2026 guidance to reflect a more conservative revenue outlook. We now expect revenue to be in the range of 95 to $100 million. Importantly, we’re maintaining our adjusted EBITDA guidance of $21 million to $25 million. This reflects both the strength of our operating model and the proactive cost optimization initiatives we have implemented. We’ve taken steps to align our cost structure with the current environment by prioritizing strategic investments, optimizing discretionary spend, deploying new agentic technology tools within our own business for better efficiency, and leveraging the scalability of our largely fixed cost platform. These actions are expected to reduce cash operating expenses by approximately $3 million on an annualized basis, including savings of approximately $1 million in 2026 for an in year benefit excluding any severance related impacts. In addition, our gross margin optimization initiatives are continuing to deliver positive results and we now expect full year gross margin to be in the high 60% range. We’ve also strengthened our financial position through the recent refinancing of our term loan. ED will provide more details later in our presentation, but suffice it to say that the new term loan is expected to lower our interest expense by approximately 625 basis points. We want to thank BlueTorch for being a good partner over the last two years. As we recently announced, we continue to take the important steps to expand our platform capabilities and connectivity into the broader ecosystem. We are now enabling demand side platforms that control more than 80% of digital promotional dollars to connect directly into OptimizerX proprietary EHR network. This technical evolution of our platform and expansion in our go to market strategy marks a significant opportunity for the business and we anticipate it will drive outsized growth through the planning season and into 2027. Providing programmatic access to DSPs through our network enables media buyers to activate scalable point of care and point of prescribed campaigns within their existing Programmatic workflows, effectively positioning Optimize RX as a supply side platform for marketers looking to engage healthcare providers directly within the clinical workflow. Today we estimate that we are utilizing less than 10% of our available inventory across the network through traditional HCP marketing initiatives. We believe programmatic activation, the preferred way for pharma media agencies to buy these solutions, has the potential to significantly increase utilization over time. Given that Programmatic has captured the majority of media spend across other verticals, we see a meaningful opportunity for this channel to scale and potentially become comparable in size to our current HCP business over the long term. As the question has been raised before, I want to briefly address artificial intelligence and reiterate that we do not view AI as a disruptor to our business. Rather, we see it as a potential accelerant. As our customers realize efficiencies in areas like content creation, we expect those savings to be redeployed into execution and engagement areas where Optimize RX is particularly well positioned. Finally, while we are navigating short term pressures, our core value proposition remains unchanged and our long term outlook remains highly optimistic. We are deeply embedded in our customers workflows, we’re delivering both meaningful and measurable ROI and we are operating in a large, dynamic and growing market with significant long term opportunities. And with that, I’d like to turn the time over to our cfso, Ed Stellmak, who will walk us through the financial details.

Ed Stellmak

Ed thanks Steve and good afternoon everyone. As with all our calls, a press release was issued this afternoon with Results of our first quarter ended March 31, 2026. A copy is available for viewing and may be downloaded from the Investor Releases section of our website and additional information can be obtained through our forthcoming 10Q first quarter 2026 revenue was $19.8 million, a decrease of 10% from the 21.9 million we recognized during the same period in 2025. We believe this decrease was driven in part by a decline in low margin managed services revenue, revenue reduction on a major client account and a more cautious budget allocation and shorter program duration commitments driven by Most Favored nations pricing and other macroeconomic challenges. Our expenses for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 decreased 4.6 million year over year, primarily driven by lower cost of revenue and G and A. The decrease in cost of revenue was related to a favorable product mix as we didn’t have any DTC managed service revenue this quarter as well as favorable channel partner mix. We believe various margin optimization strategies we implemented over the last 12 months continue to yield significant benefits. As a result, we now expect gross margins to normalize into the highest 60% range for the full year 2026. GAAP net loss narrowed to 0.5 million or $0.03 per basic and diluted share for the three months ended March 31, 2026 as compared to a net loss of 2.2 million or $0.12 for basic and diluted share for the 3 months during the same period in 2025. On a non GAAP basis, …

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Transact Technologies (NASDAQ:TACT) released first-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Tuesday. Read the complete transcript below.

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Summary

Transact Technologies reported a 10% year-over-year increase in total net sales to $14.4 million for Q1 2026, with an adjusted EBITDA of $1.4 million.

The company’s strategic focus is on growing its Food Service Technology (FST) vertical, primarily through software revenue, which increased by 23% year-over-year.

Transact Technologies is progressing on transitioning its software to a new platform, expecting to go live by late Q2 or early Q3 2026, ahead of schedule.

Casino and gaming sales were strong, increasing by 24% year-over-year, contributing positively to cash flow.

The company reaffirmed its 2026 net sales outlook of $55 million to $57 million and raised its adjusted EBITDA guidance to $1 million to $1.75 million.

Operational highlights include selling 1,370 Boha terminals in Q1 and growing the online terminal base to nearly 20,000.

Transact Technologies is exploring AI applications to enhance its software platform and expand its solutions offering.

A new Chief Marketing Officer, Dana Loof, has been appointed, expected to revitalize the company’s brand and market presence.

The CFO, Steve DeMartino, announced his retirement after 30 years, contributing significantly to the company’s growth since its IPO.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Greetings welcome to the Transact Technologies first quarter 2026 conference call. this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press Star 0 on your telephone keypad. Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to Ryan Gardella, Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin. Thanks, Jesse. Good afternoon. Welcome to the Transact Technologies first quarter 2026 earnings call. Today we’ll be discussing the results announced in a press release issued after market close. Joining us from the company is CEO John Dillon and President and CFO Steve DeMart. Today’s call will include discussion of the Company’s key operating strategies, the progress on these initiatives and details in our first quarter financial results. We’ll then open the line to participants for questions. As a reminder, this conference call contains statements about future events and expectations which are forward looking in nature. Statements on this call may be deemed forward looking and actual results may differ materially. For a full list of risks inherent to the business of the company, please refer to the company’s SEC filings, including its reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. Transact Technologies undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the call. Today’s call and webcast will include non Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) financial measures within the meaning of SEC Regulation G when required. A reconciliation of all non Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) can be found in today’s press release as well as on the company website. And with that I will turn the call over to Joe.

John Dillon (Chief Executive Officer)

Thanks Ryan and good afternoon everyone. Thanks for joining us. It’s a nice afternoon here and I’m pleased to report today that Transact delivered a solid first quarter 2026 total net sales 14.4 million, up 10% year over year, generating an adjusted EBITDA of 1.4 million, which is a strong start for the year. As we discussed, our focus remains on driving revenue growth in our Food Service Technology or FST vertical with software as our primary growth engine going forward, supported by targeted and disciplined investments across the business. To accelerate sales in the first quarter we sold 1,370 Baja terminals, driven mostly by upgrade orders from our 40,000 plus unit install base from prior sales of older products. We also continue to see strong interest from existing customer base to move from either the accudate, which is an older System, or the T1, which is also an older system to our newer Terminal 2 T2. We see a long Runway of growth there, so that’s a good sign. We ended the first quarter with 19,959 online terminals online terminals, which is an increase a little over 1,000, actually, specifically 1,062 new online terminals over the fourth quarter of 2025. Most importantly, our recurring FST revenue continues to grow. Our software revenue were up 23% year over year, which gives us confidence in our strategic direction. And we’re very focused on generating this revenue, which is high margin, certainly higher margin than hardware. It’s more sustainable and predictable and it’s a focus we didn’t really have in the past because we didn’t own the software and we own it now. So we can start selling the software in a way we couldn’t do before. So with nearly 20,000 online terminals now in the field, this is the time to begin monetizing these deployments more effectively. In the past we didn’t really do this and in fact software was often bundled for free to make a hardware sale. Now our focus is to ensure that our customers are paying for and receiving the fair market value of our leading software offering. And given the importance of this growing revenue stream, we will begin sharing more and more of our AR details, recurring revenue details each quarter to help you track that progress. ARR includes for your reference software, but it also includes contracted support service, which is a high margin service for us because our products are highly reliable and the labels. So from an information standpoint for first quarter ARR revenue was 3.3 million. And we firmly believe that the future for Tranzact will come from recurring software revenue rather than one time hardware sales. Longer term, we’re aiming to get our install base up to $100 to $200 per machine per month in recurring software revenue, which could really unlock a lot of significant value given the size of our install base and the fact that it’s growing. Next, let me say a few words about the update on our port of our software to the new platform. As you know, we acquired the software about a year ago last April and we’re making good progress here. We’ve pulled the pulled forward our go live date from what was originally Suggested to be first quarter of 2027 and now it looks to be late Q2 this quarter, late in this quarter or early Q3 of 26. So that’s really good news and good progress. And I’d like to say that our cloud partner, our public cloud partner in this has done A really terrific job helping us with this transition. And as I stated before, ownership of the source code and launching our own hosting platform is really crucial for our recurring revenue model going forward. It provides us with an increased level of operational freedom and enables us to accelerate software innovations like exploring, for example, an application store model for our own terminals where we could add additional applications which either are grown in house or maybe sourced from outside through partners. So this model is appealing and as we get into full production here, I think that’s an interesting growth engine that we probably can explore successfully. I also want to speak briefly about AI, also known as artificial intelligence, and I know it’s a hot topic in any software investment thesis right now, so I’d like to say a few words about it. Most of you probably know that AI was developed in the 50s, we’re talking a long time ago, almost 75 years ago, and now it’s really coming into its own because we have more data, we have cloud compute capacity which …

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On Tuesday, a.k.a. Brands Holding (NYSE:AKA) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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Summary

a.k.a. Brands Holding reported a 3% increase in net sales to $132.5 million and an adjusted EBITDA of $5.1 million for Q1 2026, exceeding expectations.

The company achieved a gross margin expansion to 59%, driven by improved inventory discipline and the success of its test and repeat model, particularly in streetwear brands.

Strategic initiatives included expanding distribution across stores, wholesale, and marketplaces, and increasing investment in AI to enhance product imagery, marketing efficiency, and inventory optimization.

Princess Polly’s retail expansion continues with new store openings in the US and Australia, and strong performance on TikTok, contributing to customer acquisition.

Petal and Pup is gaining traction with significant wholesale momentum, expanding into new accounts such as Nordstrom, Von Maur, and Dillard’s.

The company’s streetwear brands, including Culture Kings, showed improved full price mix and gross margins due to strengthened in-house brand portfolios.

a.k.a. Brands Holding reduced its debt by 17% over the past three years and expects fiscal 2026 net sales between $625 to $635 million and adjusted EBITDA between $30 to $32 million.

Management remains positive about the company’s strategic trajectory, despite some macroeconomic pressures on consumer spending.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Greetings and welcome to the a.k.a. Brands Holding First quarter and fiscal 2026 earnings conference call. At this time all participants are in a listen only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require Operator assistance, please press 0 on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Emily Schwartz, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Emily Schwartz (Vice President of Investor Relations)

Good afternoon. Thank you for joining AKA Brands to discuss our first quarter 2026 results released this afternoon, which can be found on our website at ir.aka-brands.com with me on the call today is Kieran Long, Chief Executive Officer and Kevin Grant, Chief Financial Officer. Before we get started, I’d like to remind you of the Company’s safe Harbor language. Management may make forward looking statements which refer to expectations, projections and other characterizations of future events including guidance and underlying assumptions. Forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed. For a further discussion of risks related to our business, please see our filings with the sec. Adjusted Gross Margin and constant Currency Net Sales Reconciliations of these non GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures are included in the release furnished to the SEC and available on our website. With that, I’ll turn the call over to Kieran Long

Kieran Long (Chief Executive Officer)

Good afternoon and thank you for joining us to discuss our first quarter 2026 results. We delivered a strong start to the year with net sales of 132.5 million up 3% and adjusted EBITDA of 5.1 million ahead of expectations. More importantly, our results reflect significant gross margin expansion year over year as the structural improvements we’ve made to the business begin to take hold. Gross margin excluding one time adjustments related to tariffs and strategic charges primarily related to legacy streetwear inventory reached 59% which expanded by approximately 180 basis points year over year. The margin expansion was driven by improved inventory discipline, stronger full price sell through and the continued rollout of our test and repeat model. Importantly, the majority of that underlying gross margin expansion came from our streetwear brands. For several years the Culture Kings transition has been a priority strategic initiative moving on to test and repeat rebuilding the in house brand portfolio, resetting inventory and elevating product quality. This quarter that work translated into financial performance with streetwear delivering meaningful gross margin improvement year over year. We view this as the single clearest proof point that the structural changes are working. Over the past three years we fundamentally repositioned AKA brands to improve profitability and durability. We’ve expanded distribution of our brands across stores, wholesale and marketplace. We’ve strengthened our operational foundation and we’ve instilled a greater level of financial discipline across the business. I believe we’re now just starting to see the payoff of that work and 2026 will be a meaningful proof point in our trajectory. First, while we continue to grow our e commerce presence, we’ve expanded beyond our historical direct to consumer routes into a diversified omnichannel model across ret wholesaler marketplaces. Princess Polly now operates 13 stores across the US and opened its first store in Australia at Bondi beach in December with more to come in both regions. In 2026, we also launched with multiple wholesale partners in multiple countries and marketplace channels which continue to exceed our expectations. These channels are no meaningful contributors and are expanding our total addressable market while improving brand visibility and customer acquisition. Second, we built the operational foundation and added team members in key functions to support this expansion, setting the stage for a scalable business model with strong profit flow through We’ve brought inventory down by approximately 45 million over the past three years, primarily in our streetwear business. This achievement has transformed the structure of our operating model, delivering healthier inventory turns, stronger full price selling and the financial flexibility to invest aggressively in growth. This disciplined inventory approach has also enabled us to accelerate our transition to a test and repeat merchandising model across our streetwear brands. As I mentioned, moving Culture Kings and Minimal fully onto this model has been a multi year effort and the results are increasingly evident. Our year over year gross margin improvements directly reflects a and more focused assortment that customers are positively reacting to and better buying discipline. Third, we accomplished a comprehensive transformation of our sourcing network in 2025, diversifying our sourcing across multiple geographies and vendors. It was a remarkable amount of work to have accomplished in such a short period of time and I’m very grateful to the teams who delivered on the task. We now operators sort of the ongoing trade environment and our next phase of growth. And lastly, taken together, we’ve been able to strengthen our financial foundation, reducing our debt by 17% over the past three years, which positions us to accelerate our growth and profitability in the years ahead. Heading into the balance of the year, our focus remains on three attracting and retaining customers through exclusive trend driven product and innovative marketing across our direct to consumer channels, expanding brand awareness and our total addressable market through continued investment in physical retail and strategic wholesale partners and continuing to streamline our operations and strengthen our financial foundation. As discussed last quarter, we’re also increasing our investment in AI across the platform with early applications already improving product imagery, marketing efficiency and inventory optimization. While still early, we expect these initiatives to contribute meaningfully to margin expansion over time. Turning now to our brand highlights, starting with Princess Polly. Our largest brand, Princess Polly delivered strong performance in the quarter, driven by disciplined execution of its test and repeat model and consistent weekly newness supporting strong full price sell through. Dresses continue to drive volume tied to key seasonal moments and Swim was a standout category that continues to grow as we enter the second quarter. We are also seeing good traction in basics and knits, expanding share of wardrobe and supporting a more consistent demand across categories. Key seasonal events including Valentine’s Day festival and Graduation drove meaningful growth, with graduation delivering record performance across sales, inventory turns and margins. From a marketing standpoint, the team continued to scale its TikTok presence in the quarter, expanding paid investment and going live up to 100 hours per week. We’re now leveraging thousands of affiliate and creator videos per month and February and March were both record months on the platform. TikTok shop also continues to drive new customer acquisition efficiently and the team is scaling it with conviction heading into Q2. We’re also seeing strong momentum in Omni Channel expansion. We’re excited to announce that Princess Polly will open a thousand square foot pop up at the Grove in Los Angeles which will run from the end of this month through the end of July. With eight new US Store leases fully executed with four expected to open by year end, I’m really confident in the momentum of the retail expansion. The Bondi beach store has also been very well received since opening in December and the brand will open another Australian store at Pacific Fair, slated to open in the back half of the year with more to come internationally. The UK distribution hub launched in March is off to a strong start with immediate sales acceleration driven by improved speed and customer experience, establishing a foundation for further growth in the back half and over the long term. Turning now to Petal and Pup, the brand continues to gain traction with its core customer and the progress the team has made expanding the business across channels and geographies has been significant. Petal and Pup delivered solid performance in Q1 with event dressing remaining the highest growth category across all regions and channels, particularly for event dresses at accessible price points. Customers also continue to expand into additional product categories as Petal and Pup grows as the separates offering, with tops and bottoms now representing a meaningfully higher share of the mix. Wholesale momentum continues to build with strong performance at key partners and successful expansion into new accounts across both the US and international markets. Nordstrom’s performance remained strong through the quarter with the brand well established at Nordstrom’s trend section across the dresses and casual styles. Von Maurer launched in February with stores already chasing into top performing styles. Following strong initial sell through Dillard’s, completed its first store test shipment in Q1 and will go live across nine locations in the second quarter. Petal and Pup also opened a new …

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Mobile Infrastructure (AMEX:BEEP) held its first-quarter earnings conference call on Tuesday. Below is the complete transcript from the call.

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Summary

Mobile Infrastructure reported a 6% year-over-year increase in contract parking volumes, with contract parking now representing approximately 38% of management agreement revenue.

Same location NOI grew 4.4% year-over-year to $4.6 million, driven by expense discipline and lease to management agreement conversions.

Total revenue for Q1 2026 was $7.9 million, slightly down from $8.2 million in Q1 2025, due to asset sales. Excluding these sales, same location revenue was flat.

The company completed over $30 million in asset sales under its 36-month, $100 million asset rotation strategy, using proceeds to reduce debt and potentially repurchase shares or acquire higher quality assets.

Mobile Infrastructure reaffirmed its 2026 guidance, expecting total revenue between $35 million and $38 million and NOI growth of 7% at the midpoint.

The company emphasizes utilization improvements, with an 8 percentage point increase year-over-year, and plans to leverage this into rate increases as markets stabilize.

Management highlighted strategic value in owning irreplaceable urban land assets with potential for adaptive reuse.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Hello and welcome to Mobile Infrastructure’s first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time all participants are in a listen only mode. After the speakers’ presentations, there will be a question and answer session. To ask the question during the session you will need to press star 11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising. Your hand is raised to withdraw your question. Please press star 11 again. I would now like to hand the conference over to Casey Codery. You may begin.

Casey Codery (Moderator)

Thank you Operator. Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us to review Mobile’s first quarter 2026 performance. With us today from Mobile are Stephanie Hogue, CEO and Paul Gore, CFO. In a moment we will hear management’s statements about the company’s results of operations as of the first quarter of 2026. Before we begin, we would like to remind everyone that today’s discussion includes forward looking statements including projections and estimates of future events, business or industry trends or business or financial results. Actual results may vary significantly from those statements and may be affected by the risks Mobile has identified in today’s press release and those identified in its filings with the SEC, including Mobile’s most recent annual report on Form 10K and its most recent quarterly report on Form 10Q. Mobile assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or comment on forward looking statements made on this call. Today’s discussion also contains references to non GAAP financial measures that Mobil believes provide useful information to its investors. These non GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation from or as a substitute for GAAP results. Mobile’s earnings release and the most recent quarterly report on Form 10Q provide a reconciliation of those measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures and a list of the reasons why Mobile uses these measures. I will now turn the call over to Mobile CEO Stephanie Hogue to discuss the first quarter 2026 performance.

Stephanie Hogue (Chief Executive Officer)

Stephanie thank you Casey and good afternoon everyone. Thank you for joining us today. Our first quarter results reflect solid execution against the initiatives we laid out for 2026. We focused on driving utilization and contract growth while delivering on the first phase of our asset rotation program. Supported by higher residential demand and continued return to office momentum, contract parking volumes grew approximately 6% year over year and contract parking now represents approximately 38% of our management agreement revenue. Before walking through the quarter in more detail, let me introduce a metric. We are reporting for the first time Today, same location Net Operating Income (NOI) as we execute the second year of our three year $100 million asset rotation strategy, the composition of our total portfolio is Changing Total Portfolio Net Operating Income (NOI) now blends two stories, how the operating portfolio performs and how the rotation reshapes it. Same Location Net Operating Income (NOI) strips out the noise from rotation timing and gives investors a clean period over period view of the operating portfolio. This is the metric we use internally to evaluate the underlying business and we will report it every quarter going forward. For the first quarter same location Net Operating Income (NOI) grew 4.4% year over year to $4.6 million, up from $4.4 million same location revenue was approximately flat at the operating level. The growth in Net Operating Income (NOI) was driven by active expense discipline as well as lease to management agreement conversions completed over the last year. The period included winter weather typical of our midwestern markets in January as well as ongoing redevelopment around several of our largest assets and pockets of hotel occupancy softness. Growing the operating portfolio’s Net Operating Income (NOI) through that backdrop while continuing to rotate non core assets and reduce debt reflects the operating discipline we have set as a strategic priority. Portfolio utilization ended March up roughly 8 percentage points year over year ahead of our planned utilization. Parking is fundamentally a utilization driven business with daily perishable inventory. As assets approach stabilized occupancy optionality increases Both with rate and Parker Mix optimization, we are seeing more of the portfolio cross into that range. The portion of our management agreement portfolio operating above 80% utilization in the first quarter increased 750 basis points year over year which will allow us to contemplate rate expansion across specific rate bands and or Parker type. In markets where we have seen stable utilization for more than 12 months, we have implemented rate increases or started to optimize Parker Mix. Cincinnati is the next key market in that progression, focusing first on utilization and then on Parker Mix and rate. Turning to contract parking. Contract volumes grew 6% year over year in the quarter with continued strength in residential and meaningful contributions from return to office momentum, three markets stand out. Cincinnati contract counts grew approximately 24% year over year across our three garages. Cleveland our contract counts grew approximately 19% and rate has already begun to follow utilization and finally Fort Worth where contract counts also grew approximately 10%. This is the volume first rate second playbook in execution to build occupancy and we earn rate back as the market stabilizes. Now turning to transient revenue. Transient volumes grew approximately 3% year over year in the quarter as several key markets reopened after experiencing construction and redevelopment dislocations …

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On Tuesday, Relmada Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RLMD) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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Summary

Relmada Therapeutics reported progress with NDV01, a sustained release formulation for bladder cancer, highlighting robust 12-month efficacy data and a favorable safety profile.

The company completed a $160 million private placement financing to support the Phase 3 Rescue Program, slated to begin mid-2026.

Relmada filed a provisional patent for NDV01, potentially extending patent protection into 2047, and remains focused on executing its strategic initiatives, including a study for Sopranolone in Prader Willi Syndrome.

Financially, the company ended Q1 2026 with a cash balance of $234 million, expecting this to fund operations through 2029, despite a slight increase in net loss compared to the previous year.

Management expressed confidence in the potential of NDV01 to address unmet needs in bladder cancer and emphasized the significance of upcoming presentations at the American Urological Association meeting.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good afternoon and welcome to Relmada Therapeutics first Quarter Earnings Conference call. At this time all participants are in a listen only mode. After the prepared remarks, we’ll conduct a question and answer session. To ask a question, please press star one. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded and will be available for replay on the Relmada website. I would now like to turn the call over to Brian Ricci from LifeSci Advisors. Please go ahead. Mr. Ricci.

Brian Ricci

Thank you. Good day everyone and thank you for joining us today. This afternoon Relmada issued a press release providing a business update and outlining its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2026. Please note that certain information discussed on the call today is covered under the Safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. We caution listeners that during today’s call Relmada’s management team will be making forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied by these forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties associated with the Company’s business. These forward-looking statements are qualified by the cautionary statements contained in Relmada’s press release issued today and the company’s SEC filings, including in the 10Q filing for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 filed after the close today. This conference call also contains time-sensitive information that is accurate only as of the date of this live broadcast on May 12, 2026. Relmada undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this conference call. With me on today’s call are Relmada CEO Dr. Sergio Traversa who will briefly provide a summary of Recent business highlights Dr. Raj Pruthi, Relmada CMO Urology, who will provide an NDB 01 program update and Relmada CFO Magn Cinauda who will provide an update on Supranolone and a review of the company’s Q1 financial results. After that we will open the line for a brief Q and A session. Now I would like to hand the call over to Sergio Traversa.

Sergio Traversa (Chief Executive Officer)

Sergio. Thank you Brian, Good afternoon and welcome everyone to the Relmada first quarter 2026 conference call. Relmada continues to make excellent progress this year and we are excited about where we stand. The robust 12 month data for NDB01 in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer or NMIBC and the successful completion of 160 million private placement financing meaningful milestones that reflect the strengths of our progress. Importantly, we remain on track to initiate the Phase 3 Rescue Program in mid-2026, which we believe will be a transformational moment for Relmada. Let me briefly describe what makes NDV01 distinct. NDV01 is a ready to use sustained release intravesical formulation for gemcitabine and docetaxel or gemdosy. It’s designed to build on a well established safety and efficacy profile of conventional gemdosing and deliver a best in class therapy for patients living with nmibc. We remain focused on maximizing its potential for success for patients, their urology community and our investors. Let me walk you through four milestones that speak to the momentum we have built this year. Number one we have continued to derisk the development of NDV01 with the report of solid and durable 12 months efficacy data from the ongoing phase two study of NDV01. We will be presenting this data an an overview of the Phase 3 Rescue Program at the American Urological Association 2026 Annual Meeting later this week. High response rates, a favorable safety profile and ease of use continue to strengthen our conviction that NDV01 has the potential to provide what urologists and patients with NMIBC need: a simple, durably effective treatment that readily fits into a real world practice setting. Number two we achieved FTA alignment for our plan Registration of Phase three Rescue programs Number three In April we filed a provisional patent application in the US directed to formulations and methods of treatment for NDV01. This application, efficient, could form the basis for worldwide patent filings and EBITERM into 2047. Lastly, we have fortified our balance sheet with the private financing that was completed in March. We have the resources to support completion of the Phase three rescue program. Before I end the call to Raj, I want to underscore the significance of the patent filing. The provisional application is directed to both the formulations and method of treatment, reflecting the breadth and novelty of the NDV01 platform. If granted, it could form the basis for worldwide patent filings, significantly expanding our global IP protection. Most importantly would meaningfully extend the covered claims of NDB1 into 2047, providing a nine year extension of commercial exclusivity and strengthening our competitive positions as we advance toward registration. Looking ahead as we enter the second half of 2026, our focus is on execution. We remain on track to initiate the registration of Phase 3 Rescue Program for NDVO1 in mid-2026. We are also preparing to initiate approval Counsel study for Supranolone in Prader Willi Syndrome targeted for mid-2026 Maget will speak about it in more detail shortly. Next we’ll turn the call over to Dr. Raj Pruti who will provide a review of the MDV program including 12 months follow up data from the ongoing phase two study and the summary of our phase three plans. Raj

Dr. Raj Pruthi

thank you Sergio and good afternoon everyone. I’m delighted to provide an update of NDV01 and our upcoming presentations at the AUA meeting this coming weekend. The AUA is an important platform for us as we look forward to introducing NDV01 to the broader urology community, building awareness of NDV01 as a differentiated sustained release gemdosi and generating investigator interest in the Phase three rescue program. Bladder cancer is one of the most common cancers we see and its impact on the patients is significant. Most are diagnosed in their mid-70s. The disease often comes with high recurrence rates and intensive treatments that can greatly affect quality of life during a stage of life. When preserving it is especially important. I want to touch on three topics during today’s call. First, a recap of the NDV01 12 month data, second, a summary of our planned phase three program and third, a discussion of how NDV01 might fit in the real world practice of a urologist. As Sergio noted, NDV01 is a novel sustained release intravesical formulation of gemcitabine and docetaxel. It builds on physicians established familiarity with conventional GEM dosing. This is particularly meaningful for patients who are unresponsive to BCG where bladder sparing options that avoid radical cystectomy can be life changing. Turning to the 12 month data, NDV01 has demonstrated high response rates and durable efficacy in our ongoing Phase two study. We believe these results compare favorably to other programs in this space and support NDV01’s potential as a best in class treatment for patients with bladder cancer if approved. The Phase two study is an open label single arm trial in patients with high risk NMIBC. Patients receive 6 biweekly doses that is every other week followed by monthly maintenance for up to one year. Regular assessments include cystoscopy, cytology and biopsy if needed. The study was designed to enroll up to 70 patients. Primary endpoints are safety and complete response rate at 12 months. The data demonstrated a 95% complete response rate at any time and a durable 76% Complete Response (CR) at 12 months in the high risk NMIBC patients and a 94% Complete Response (CR) at any time and a durable 80% Complete Response (CR) rate at 12 months in the difficult to treat BCG unresponsive subpopulation, reinforcing its best in class potential. In nmibc, no patients had progression to muscle invasive disease and no patients underwent a radical cystectomy. On the strength of these findings, we are advancing NDV01 into a Phase 3 Rescue …

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Atea Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVIR) held its first-quarter earnings conference call on Tuesday. Below is the complete transcript from the call.

This content is powered by Benzinga APIs. For comprehensive financial data and transcripts, visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/.

The full earnings call is available at https://viavid.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1757740&tp_key=b853d5ec64

Summary

Atea Pharmaceuticals reported a strong financial position with $256 million in cash and equivalents, projecting a cash runway through 2027.

The company is progressing with its global Phase 3 HCV program, having completed enrollment in North America and nearing completion outside North America, with anticipated top-line data releases mid-year and year-end.

Atea Pharmaceuticals expanded its pipeline to include a new HEV program, planning to initiate a first-in-human study mid-year, targeting an unmet need in immunocompromised patients.

Phase 2 data suggests a potential best-in-class profile for its HCV regimen, with high efficacy and low risk of drug interactions, which could support a strong position in the $2.6 billion global HCV market.

Management emphasized strategic positioning for a commercial launch in the HCV market, leveraging a concentrated prescriber base and favorable payer dynamics.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to Atea Pharmaceuticals’ first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If you should require operator assistance during the conference, please press Star 0 on your telephone keypad. I will now turn it over to the Atea management team. Please go ahead.

Jonae

Hi, thank you operator. Good afternoon everyone and welcome to Atea Pharmaceuticals First Quarter 2026 Financial Results and Business Update Conference Call. Earlier today we issued a press release which outlines the topics we plan to discuss. You can access the press release as well as the slides that we’ll be reviewing today by visiting the Investor section of our website at ir.ateapharma.com. With me today from ATEA are our Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Dr. Jean Pierre Samidosi, Chief Development Officer, Dr. Janet Hammond, Chief Commercial Officer John Vavrika, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Arancha Horga and Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Legal, Andrea Corcoran, who will all be available for the Q and A portion of today’s call. Before we begin the call and as outlined on slide 2, I would like to remind you that today’s discussion will contain forward looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties are outlined in today’s press release and in the Company’s recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which we encourage you to read. Our actual results may differ materially from what is discussed on today’s call. With that, I’ll now turn the call over to Jean Pierre.

Jean Pierre

Thank you Jonae. Good afternoon everyone and thank you for joining us. I will begin on slide 3 with two pivotal phase 3 top line readouts for our global phase 3 HCV program. Ahead of us, 2026 will be catalyst year for Atea. We remain on track and are very encouraged by the substantial progress our team continues to achieve. We completed patient enrollment for CBeyond, our North American trial, late last year with over 880 patients who are representative of the genotypes and demographics in North America for C Forward, our EX North America trial. I’m pleased to share today that we have completed enrollment for 95% of the cirrhotic and non cirrhotic patients and anticipate to complete enrollment next month as scheduled. Currently, enrollment is only open to the less prevalent genotypes such as 4, 5 and 6, which will allow us to support a broad label. This set up two important Phase 3 Milestones we expect top line data from CBR in mid year as we have reported before and top line data from CForward around year end. Late last year we expanded our antiviral hepatitis pipeline to address a major unmet medical need for immunocompromised patients living with chronic hepatitis E infection, a liver disease for which there is currently no approved therapy. If left untreated in this at risk population, it can rapidly progress to cirrhosis within only three to five years. We have completed CTA enabling studies for AT587, our lead product candidate and we anticipate to initiate a first in human study mid year. Initial results were presented in February at Croi 2026 and additional data will be presented at EASIL later this month to support AT-587 as a potential first in class inhibitor against hepatitis E infection. I will review this exciting program and our clinical plan for a first in human study later in this presentation. Importantly, with 256 million in cash, cash equivalent and marketable securities as of March 31, 2026, we are in strong financial position to execute and complete our Phase 3 HCV program and advance our new HEV development program. We anticipate our cash Runway remaining through 2027. With that, I will now turn the call over to Janet to review the profile of our regimen.

Janet

Thanks Jean Pierre on slide 5 we are conducting the first active controlled phase 3 global program for hepatitis, comparing our regimen against the current standard of care, the sofosbuvir and velpatasvir, which is marketed as epclusa. The data generated to date for the regimen of bemifosbuvir and ruzasvir support a differentiated potentially best in class profile combining high efficacy, short treatment duration with a low risk for drug drug interactions, dosing convenience and no food effect. We continue to add to our data set and recent results demonstrate a low risk for drug drug interactions with proton pump inhibitors which are taken by estimated at least 35% of hepatitis C patients. We’ve also confirmed the absence of an interaction with HMG CoA Reductase inhibitors or statins, another important and commonly prescribed class of medications. In closing, I’m also pleased to share that we will be presenting additional results at EASL later this month that support the potential for a best in class profile for our regimen. I’m going to hand the call over now to Arantia to review our Phase three program for the treatment of hepatitis

Arantha

C. Arantha thank you Janet. Moving ahead to Slide 7. As a reminder, see beyond enrolled patients in the US and Canada and CForward is enrolling patients in 17 countries outside of North America. Combined, we expect to enroll more than 1,760 patients in our phase 3 program. Both trials are open label, randomized one to one against the active comparator and stratified by cirrhosis status and genotype including patients CO infected with HIV. In patients with cirrhosis, treatment duration is 8 weeks with beniphosphovirusvir and 12 weeks with the standard of care. Patients with compensated cirrhosis received 12 weeks of treatment with either regimen. The primary endpoint for both studies is sustained viral response or cure 24 weeks after treatment initiation. Slide 8 shows that the geographic footprint of our global Phase 3 program was comprised of approximately 120 clinical sites and in the US and Canada for C beyond and another 120 clinical sites in 17 countries outside of North America. For C Forward, we completed patient enrollment of our CBeyond trial in December with more than 880 patients and we anticipate top line results mid year. C Forward has a broader global geographic and genotypic footprint and we expect to complete enrollment mid year and to report top line results around year end. As JP mentioned earlier, we are pleased to share that for See Forward we have completed enrollment of 95% of the trial in cirrhotic and non cirrhotic patients. Enrollment is only open to the less frequent genotypes such as 4, 5 and 6, which will support a broad label. Enrollment of C Forward remains on track to be completed by mid year on slide 9. Let’s review the phase 3 endpoints. Patient population and data analysis for our global phase 3 program in Cbeyond, the primary endpoint will be analyzed in a modified Intent to Treat or mITT population as preferred by the US fda. The analysis will include patients that have been randomized and those regardless of drug adherence or loss to follow up. The statistical analysis will be based on an imputation model with success or failure depending on PCR value, whether negative or not prior to patient treatment discontinuation. A key secondary endpoint will be the SBR rate in the per protocol population. In C Forward, the per protocol population will be analyzed as the primary endpoint as preserved by the ema, and the SVR rate will only include patients who are at least 80% adherent as measured by pill count and have an SVR assessment at …

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On Tuesday, 5E Advanced Materials (NASDAQ:FEAM) discussed third-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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Summary

5E Advanced Materials discussed its potential revenue increase through contracts for boric acid and metaboric acid, with a focus on higher value product pathways.

The company is pursuing a provisional patent to protect its intellectual property and is advancing commercial discussions for its new boric acid products.

5E Advanced Materials is conducting a ferroboron product trial, aiming to support U.S. specialty steel and magnet supply chains, which are crucial for sectors like electric motors and wind turbines.

The company completed a successful $36 million public equity offering to bolster its balance sheet and support the Fort Katy Project.

5E Advanced Materials is progressing on financing needs with the Export-Import Bank of the United States and focusing on converting customer interest into commercial agreements.

The company aims to expand its market presence in Asia and capitalize on the tightening boric acid supply, reinforcing its strategy of becoming a mine-to-market supplier.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

56.3% B2O3 and boron oxide is approximately 98% B2O3. Typically, boron oxide is selling for three to four times the price of boric acid. So for example, if boric …

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Arteris (NASDAQ:AIP) released first-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Tuesday. Read the complete transcript below.

This content is powered by Benzinga APIs. For comprehensive financial data and transcripts, visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/.

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Summary

Arteris reported record annual contract value plus royalties of $92.8 million, a 39% year-on-year increase, and achieved record revenue and royalty streams.

The company highlighted strong customer engagement across sectors including enterprise computing, automotive, and aerospace, with significant wins in AI and high-bandwidth memory technologies.

Arteris acquired Sycuity, a chip cybersecurity company, to broaden its system IP portfolio and enhance security offerings, already seeing strong interest from customers.

Financially, the company reported a total revenue of $22.9 million for Q1 2026, a 39% year-over-year increase, with a non-GAAP operating loss at the top end of guidance.

Future guidance has been raised, expecting revenue of $91 million to $95 million for the full year 2026, and the company is on track to achieve non-GAAP profitability by the end of the year.

The company announced that CFO Nick Hawkins will retire effective August 31, 2026, leaving the company in a strong financial position with no debt and positive free cash flow.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the Artery’s first quarter 2026 earnings call. Please note that this call is being recorded and simultaneously webcast. All material contained in the webcast is the sole property and copyright of Arteris with all rights reserved. For opening remarks and introductions. I will now turn the call over to Erica Mannion at Sapphire Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Erica Mannion (Investor Relations)

Thank you and good afternoon. With me today from Arteris are Charlie Janek, Chief Executive Officer and Nick Hawkins, Chief Financial Officer. Charlie will begin with a brief review of the business results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026. Nick will review the financial results for the first quarter of 2026, followed by the company’s outlook for the second quarter and the full year of 2026. We will then open the call for questions. Before we begin, I’d like to remind you that management will make statements during this call that are forward looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and involve material risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to materially differ from those anticipated and you should not place undue reliance on forward looking statements. Additional information regarding these risks, uncertainties and factors that could cause results to differ appear in the press release Arteris issued today and in the documents and reports filed by Arteris from time to time with the securities and Exchange Commission. Please note, during this call we will cite certain non GAAP measures, including among others, non GAAP Net loss, non GAAP Net loss per Share and free cash flow, which are not measures prepared in accordance with US gaap. The non GAAP measures are presented as we believe that they provide investors with a means of evaluating and understanding how the company’s management evaluates the company’s operating performance. These non GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation from, as substitutes for or superior to financial measures prepared in accordance with US gaap. A reconciliation of these non GAAP measures to the nearest GAAP measure can be found in the press release for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. In addition, for a definition of certain of the key performance indicators used in this presentation, such as annual contract value and remaining performance obligations, please see the press release for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. These key performance indicators are presented for supplemental informational purposes only, should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with gaap, and may differ from similarly titled metrics or measures used by other companies, securities analysts or investors. Listeners who do not have a copy of the press release for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 may obtain a copy by visiting the Investor Relations section of the company’s website. In addition, management will be referring to the first quarter 2026 earnings presentation, which can be found in the Investor Relations section of the company’s website under Events and Presentations tab. Now I will turn the call over to Charlie.

Charlie Janek (Chief Executive Officer)

Thank you Erica, and thanks to everyone for joining us on our call today. The first quarter of 2026 was a robust quarter for Arteris as we reached another record annual contract value plus royalties of 92.8 million, representing a 39% year on year increase. We also achieved record revenue, record royalties and record revenue backlog. Customer engagement in the quarter included both existing customer renewals as well as adding new logos. We won license deals in enterprise computing, automotive communications, consumer electronics and aerospace and defense sectors. AI integration into all types of electronics from data centers to edge devices and physical AI systems is increasing the demand for advanced connectivity and security products and now 2/3 of our customer engagements are into AI chips. New chips and chiplets continue to get more complex and perform more advanced computing. Efficient, safe and secure data movement within those devices is essential, which is driving the growing adoption of our TERIS products and solutions. Every semiconductor must move data to be a chip or chiplet. Rapidly advancing data movement powered by chips is evident in recent earnings releases by semiconductor companies. Many of these companies are also Arteris customers and have both beaten their first quarter revenue projections and raised guidance for the year. This performance has clearly flowed through into our royalty stream which has increased 67% year over year. Enterprise computing which includes data centers, High Performance Computing or hpc, including High Bandwidth Memory or HBM and other AI infrastructure companies was again the biggest contributor to our licensing activity in the quarter. This includes a leading global hyperscaler which expanded its use of our TERIS network on chip technology for its next generation of data center chips. Advanced AI data centers are experiencing strong demands for HBM and I’m pleased to say that another leading global memory supplier is now utilizing Arteris system IP to accelerate their memory chip development. Automotive also continues to be a strong sector for us where our technology is helping to meet the needs of physical AI systems. An example was an important first quarter deal announcement with Renesas that increased their licenses and deployed our system IP with their most advanced R-Car Gen 5 SoC series tailored for advanced driver assistance and automated driving systems. This latest SOC delivers AI performance of up to 400 trillion operations per second or tops with multi die chiplet extensions to boost AI performance using our TERIS network on Chip technology for Silicon Data Movement Communication with efficient, safe and secure data movement is also playing an increasingly important role in in transmitting data, particularly between data centers and edge and endpoint devices. In the first quarter, one of the leading European 5G and 6G communications equipment players further expanded their use of Arteris technology to accelerate the integration of advanced telecommunications chips. Satellites extend communications into aerospace and defense where the pace of innovation and development of advanced, resilient, safe and secure semiconductors is growing rapidly. In the first quarter, a leading US Space infrastructure company expanded its use of arterys for the development of next generation space applications beyond Earth’s orbit. It was a pleasure to see the success of the Artemis 2 mission where AMD chips with built in AArteris technology were used to support critical sensor fusion, data routing and image processing for the Orion spacecraft. This is yet another example of Arteris use in data intensive space exploration. We continue to see adoption of our FlexGen Smart NOC IP at major accounts and startups. We are also working with early adopters on …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

On Tuesday, DoubleDown Interactive (NASDAQ:DDI) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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Access the full call at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/5mnzmd24

Summary

DoubleDown Interactive reported a strong start to 2026 with Q1 revenue of $94.1 million, up 13% year-over-year, and adjusted EBITDA of $38.2 million, up 24% year-over-year.

The company’s social casino revenue grew by 9.5% year-over-year to $76.9 million, driven by the acquisition of wow Games and an increase in direct-to-consumer (DTC) revenue, which reached 44% of total social casino revenue.

Super Nation’s iGaming revenue increased by 30% year-over-year to $17.2 million, aided by the launch of its first iGaming brand, Las Vegas, despite facing challenges from increased UK gambling taxes.

The company remains focused on strategic M&A opportunities, aiming to enhance long-term shareholder value, while maintaining a strong balance sheet with $533.4 million in cash and short-term investments.

Management is optimistic about continuing to drive profitability and cash flow, supported by operational excellence and targeted investments, but acknowledges the challenges posed by the secular decline of the social casino market.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good afternoon and welcome to DoubleDown Interactive’s earnings conference call for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026. My name is Lateef and I will be your operator this afternoon. Prior to this call, Double down issued its financial results for the first quarter of 2026 and a press release, a copy of which is available in the Investor Relations section of the company’s website at www.DoubleDownInteractive.com. you can find the link to the Investor Relations section at the top of the homepage. Joining us on today’s call are DoubleDown CEO Mr. In Ko Kim and its CFO Mr. Joe Sigrist. Following their remarks, we will open the call for questions. Before we begin, Joe Giffoni, the Company’s Investor Relations Advisor, will make a brief introductory statement. Mr. Jaffoni. Thank you, Lateef.

Joe Giffoni (Investor Relations Advisor)

before Management begins their formal remarks, we need to remind everyone that some of Management’s comments today will be Forward looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the securities Act 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the securities Exchange act of 1934 as amended, and we hereby claim the protection of the Safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform act of 1995. Forward looking statements are statements about future events and include expectations and projections not present or historical facts and can be identified by use of the words such as may, might, will, expect, assume, believe, intend, estimate, continue, should, anticipate or other similar terms. Forward looking statements include and are not limited to those regarding the Company’s future plans, merger and acquisition strategy, strategic and financial objectives, expected performance and financial outlook. Forward looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from what the Company expects. Therefore, you should exercise caution in interpreting and relying on them. We refer you to DoubleDown’s annual report on Form 20F filed with the SEC on March 31, 2026 and other SEC filings for a more detailed discussion of the risks that could impact future operating results and financial condition. These forward looking statements are made only as of the date of this call. The Company does not undertake and expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter the forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Except as required by law. During today’s call, management will discuss non IFRS financial measures which management believes to be useful in evaluating the Company’s operating performance. These measures should not be considered superior to in isolation or as a substitute for financial results prepared in accordance with IFRS. A full reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable IFRS measures is available in the earnings release issued this afternoon. I would like to remind everyone that this call is being recorded and will be made available for replay via the link in the Investor Relations section on Double Down’s website. Thank you for your patience with that and it’s now my pleasure to turn the call over to Double Down CEO Ake Kim. Ake, please go ahead.

Ake Kim

Thank you, Joe Good afternoon everyone. We are delighted to be with you today to discuss Double Down Interactive First Quarter 2026 Results Key Highlights include overall financial results reflecting a solid start to 2026, the highest quarterly revenue at Super Nation since our acquisition of the business back in 2023, significant continued growth of our direct to consumer social casino revenue and another quarter of delivering consistent profitability and significant free cash flow. We believe these results validate our strategy and demonstrate our ability to drive operational excellence across our portfolio. Let’s start with the financial results. This afternoon we reported first quarter consolidated revenue of $94.1 million up nearly 13% year over year, along with adjusted EBITDA of $38.2 million up 24% year over year. In Q1, we again delivered on our priority to drive a high conversion of revenue to profit and cash flow. Net cash flow from operations was $46.4 million in the quarter we delivered this strong …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

U.S. workers are spending too much time on their screens and it’s hurting productivity, according to VSP Vision Care and Workplace Intelligence.

Desk workers are spending 99.2 hours a week on screens, VSP Vision Care and Workplace Intelligence said in a joint report released in February based on a survey of 1,200 full-time employees. 

The figure is up from 97 hours last year and 96.1 hours the year before, the companies said.

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Meanwhile, screen time for non-desk workers, including teachers, construction workers and medical staff, is not far behind at 87.6 hours a week. 

About 71% of desk workers and 59% of non-desk workers reported screen-related visual discomfort, such as double vision or difficulty maintaining focus, as screen time rises, VSP Vision Care and Workplace Intelligence said.

A 100-person company loses nearly six months of work to leave due to eye-strain, VSP Vision Care and Workplace Intelligence said.

Workers experiencing visual discomfort from excessive screen time said their productivity dropped 18.6% on average, amounting to 7.4 hours a week, or nearly one working day, the report said. These workers also reported taking 4.5 days off last year due to the strain.

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Despite the worrying numbers, only 34% of workers said their companies encouraged screen breaks, according to VSP Vision Care and Workplace Intelligence. Meanwhile, 32% said their companies provided education on reducing eye strain.

“Managing digital eye strain is a shared responsibility,” Workspace Intelligence Managing Partner Dan Schawbel said in a statement, adding that companies ought to strengthen their commitment to addressing the issue.

As companies search for ways to improve productivity and rethink digital work environments, some investors are also paying attention to emerging workplace technologies. One pre-IPO company behind a popular immersive workspace platform says more than 1.5 million professionals now use its virtual office tools each week.

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Building Wealth Across More Than Just the Market

Building a resilient portfolio means thinking beyond a single asset or market trend. Economic cycles shift, sectors rise and fall, and no one investment performs well in every environment. That’s why many investors look to diversify with platforms that provide access to real estate, fixed-income opportunities, professional financial guidance, precious metals, and even self-directed retirement accounts. By spreading exposure across multiple asset classes, it becomes easier to manage risk, capture steady returns, and create long-term wealth that isn’t tied …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

The parent of the Kraken crypto exchange, Payward, is seeking to raise new capital at a $20 billion valuation, as the company looks towards going public in the future.

The funding effort was reported alongside a strategy that moves Kraken beyond spot token trading and deeper into markets such as derivatives, payments, and stablecoin-related rails. 

Last week, Kraken announced its agreement to acquire Reap Technologies, a stablecoin-native, card-issuing and payments infrastructure company, for up to $600 million payable in cash and stock. The transaction is expected to close in 2026, subject to regulatory approval.

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Binance founder Changpeng Zhao claims the Department of Justice under former President Joe Biden came after him six months after FTX collapsed, calling the timing “very coincidental” as regulators lost their biggest political donor.

The Timing Was Coincidental

Zhao told the PBD Podcast that FTX collapsed at the end of 2022 after he announced Binance (CRYPTO: BNB) would sell its FTT tokens. 

By early 2023, his legal team said the DOJ had a case and wanted to get to a deal.

“The timing is coincidental,” Zhao said. “We got a lot more scrutiny from the US SEC and other US agencies. Of course, you just took away one of their biggest donors. He was the biggest guy giving money to them. You just took that money away,” he added.

Sam Bankman-Fried gave over $100 million in stolen FTX …

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eToro Group (NASDAQ:ETOR) beat Q1 estimates Tuesday on a near-fourfold surge in commodities trading, even as crypto volumes on the platform cratered.

CEO Yoni Assia told CNBC he expects Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) to climb back near its October all-time high before year-end.

Commodities Carried The Quarter

eToro posted adjusted EPS of 91 cents, topping the 73-cent consensus, with net contribution up 19% year-over-year to $258 million. Commodities accounted for roughly 60% of trading commissions in the quarter and volumes jumped nearly 4x from a year earlier.

Assia pointed to a volatile macro environment as the catalyst for the surge, citing the ongoing war’s impact on oil and the effect of inflation and dollar devaluation on precious metals.

Crypto was the soft spot. April trades fell 32% year-over-year to 2 million, and the invested amount per crypto trade dropped …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Artificial intelligence is reshaping how Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) product lead and content creator Peter Yang thinks about work, school and the path to success.

Yang wants his children to build businesses early instead of following the traditional college-to-corporate route. “I want them to build bootstrap businesses in high school, and they can skip the whole college and corporate life,” he said last month on the “a16z” podcast.

Yang linked that idea to coding agents and AI tools that could help people build companies more easily, including his children, ages 4 and 7. 

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Coding Agents Are Upending The ‘Old Playbook’

For Yang, coding agents are more than software tools. He uses them to draft blog posts, build small web tools and get most of the work done before refining it himself.

He rarely starts from scratch, relying on AI to produce an initial version before making changes. Yang said on the podcast that tools for identity, payments and marketing are still being developed.

“I feel like coding will eat all knowledge work,” he said. “A lot of the old playbook goes away.”

Business-In-A-Box Makes Small Feel Scalable

AI has enabled platforms that let users build businesses inside a single app, with tools for storefront creation, marketing and other core functions, podcast host Anish Acharya said. He framed those “business-in-a-box” services as an alternative to working inside big organizations.

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Yang viewed growing companies as less efficient and more frustrating places to work, recalling hours spent in meetings at a previous employer that he felt were a waste of time.

He said that a 10-person product team could become a two- or three-person team supported by agents. “I hope more companies will stay small, and I think the founders of this generation realize that they want to stay as small as possible,” he said.

A Tough Job Market Is Pushing More Builders

Yang pointed to his own post on X that said the job market was so bad people had “no choice but to pursue their dreams.” 

He told Acharya that AI tools now make it easier for people to start something on their own after a setback. “Maybe you lost your job, but now you can actually do your own thing and have a shot at actually achieving it,” he said.

As AI tools reshape how companies are built and operated, some investors are also paying attention to startups developing the next generation of workplace technology. One pre-IPO company behind a widely used virtual workspace platform says more than 1.5 million professionals now use its immersive productivity tools.

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Robinhood Ventures Fund II (RVII) has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement to begin the process to register a public offering of its shares.

The number of shares to be offered and the size of the fund have not yet been determined, Robinhood said in a blog post.

RVII is expected to invest across a wider range of startups than its predecessor, (NASDAQ:RVI), which currently owns positions in 10 later-stage private companies: Airwallex, Boom, Databricks, ElevenLabs, Mercor, OpenAI, Oura, Ramp, Revolut, and Stripe. 

Robinhood is pitching the structure as a way for non-wealthy investors to buy a basket of private startups through a standard brokerage account, sidestepping the usual “accredited investor” limitations tied to wealth and income thresholds, TechCrunch reported.

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Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) shares surged Tuesday after the company reported fiscal second-quarter results that topped Wall Street expectations, fueled by broad-based business growth across regions and sectors. The company also pointed to growing momentum in the hyperscale AI data center market and reaffirmed its full-year outlook.

Aramark Revenue Growth Accelerates

Aramark reported adjusted earnings of 49 cents per share, beating analysts’ consensus estimate of 47 cents per share. Revenue rose 15% year over year to $4.91 billion, ahead of the Street estimate of $4.76 billion. The company drove growth through net new business wins and expansion across its base business portfolio.

The company said foreign currency translation added about $101 million to quarterly revenue.

Food and Support Services United States revenue increased 12% from a year earlier. Food …

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Affirm Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFRM) announced on Tuesday that it will integrate its pay-over-time options into Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google Search and the Gemini app through Google Pay.

This collaboration aims to enhance the shopping experience by offering clear and trustworthy payment methods as AI reshapes consumer purchasing behavior.

• Integration Scope: Affirm’s payment options will be available within Google Search and the Gemini app.
• User Experience: Shoppers will undergo a real-time eligibility check and can select a payment plan with transparent terms.
• Consumer Benefits: No late or hidden fees, providing clarity and confidence in purchase decisions.

The collaboration with Google reflects Affirm’s commitment to providing transparent and flexible financial solutions. As AI increasingly …

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Leveraged semiconductor ETFs swung wildly on Tuesday after a sharp selloff in chip and memory stocks, including SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) and Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) rattled one of Wall Street’s hottest AI trades, sending the bullish Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X ETF (NYSE:SOXL) sharply lower while boosting bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X Shares (NYSE:SOXS).

The rout began after a senior South Korean official floated a proposal to redistribute artificial-intelligence profits from memory giants Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. directly to citizens — a political headline that rapidly triggered a global repricing across semiconductor and AI-linked names.

The selloff was especially severe in memory-related names that had recently surged amid AI enthusiasm. Roundhill Memory ETF 

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Liquidia Corp (NASDAQ:LQDA) on Monday reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results.

Liquidia reported quarterly earnings of 52 cents per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of 41 cents per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $132.865 million which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $116.675 million.

Dr. Roger Jeffs, Liquidia’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “In its third full quarter on the market, YUTREPIA continued to demonstrate sustained uptake in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD), consistent with its growing adoption as the preferred inhaled prostacyclin of choice. Having initiated additional Phase 4 studies of YUTREPIA and our pivotal Phase 3 Re-Spire study …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Shares of WhiteFiber Inc (NASDAQ:WYFI) are trading lower on Tuesday morning as the Nasdaq is down 2.09% while the S&P 500 has shed 0.85%. The AI infrastructure provider faces a storm of macro volatility and micro-level skepticism.

Hot Inflation Cools Market Sentiment

Broad market pressure followed Tuesday’s Bureau of Labor Statistics report. April inflation climbed to 3.8%, exceeding the 3.7% forecast. The Bureau noted that the energy index rose 3.8% in April.

Pre-Earnings Jitters And Short Interest

The company is due to report its first-quarter 2026 results this Thursday. Analysts currently estimate …

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Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) on Monday reported mixed first-quarter results.

The company posted adjusted earnings per share of five cents, below analyst expectations of 24 cents. Revenue of $2.998 billion came slightly ahead of the $2.897 billion consensus estimate.

The company continues to project roughly 9 million tonnes of potash production in 2026, supported by strong output at Esterhazy, which is expected to offset the impact of the Carlsbad divestiture.

Mosiac sees second-quarter potash sales volumes of 1.9–2.1 million tonnes, with realized mine-gate MOP pricing projected at $260–$280 per tonne.

Mosaic shares gained …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

CNBC host Jim Cramer may have called the turn before the tape confirmed it. 

“Be careful; smell the reversal day,” he posted Tuesday morning, and by midday the AI trade was flashing red across semiconductors, server names, software and tech-heavy ETFs.

• SOXX is falling. See the chart and price action here. 

The AI Carnage:

The hardest hit pocket was AI infrastructure. Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL) dropped 7.16%, while Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) fell 6.21%, extending pressure on two hardware names that have become closely tied to the AI server buildout. 

Chip stocks also sold off sharply, with Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) down -6.66%, Arm Holdings Plc (NASDAQ:ARM) lower by 5.32% and Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) sliding -4.44%.

The ETF tape showed the same rotation out of AI …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Uniti Group Inc (NASDAQ:UNIT) reported better-than-expected results for the first quarter on Monday.

The company posted quarterly losses of 34 cents per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of losses of 55 cents per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $987.500 million which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $933.035 million.

Uniti Group affirmed FY2026 sales guidance of $3.605 billion to $3.655 billion .

“2026 is off to a great start at Uniti, fueled by the continued strong demand from hyperscalers and the significant progress we have made to-date on our fiber-to-the-home build. We saw consolidated revenue and Adjusted EBITDA year-over-year growth during the first quarter for the first time as a …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Shares of BuzzFeed, Inc. (NASDAQ:BZFD) are trading higher by 122% on Tuesday following news of a proposed majority stake investment by Byron Allen’s family office.

This significant move comes as the broader market is experiencing a mixed day, with the Communication Services sector gaining slightly by 0.10%, while the S&P 500 is down by 0.87%.

The investment deal, which involves Allen Family Digital acquiring 40 million shares at $3.00 per share, is expected to close by the end of May 2026, subject to customary conditions.

The proposed investment will see Allen Family Digital, LLC acquire a majority stake in BuzzFeed, which includes a total purchase price of $120 million. Following this transaction, Byron Allen will take over as Chairman and CEO, while founder Jonah Peretti transitions to President of BuzzFeed AI.

Despite the positive news for BuzzFeed, the overall market sentiment remains cautious, as indicated by the declines in major indices like the Nasdaq and Russell 2000, which are down 2.17% and 2.11%, respectively.

Quarterly Results

On Monday, the company reported first quarter earnings per share of 40 cents loss, missing the analyst consensus estimate of 27 cents …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Organigram Global Inc. (NASDAQ:OGI) reported weaker second-quarter fiscal 2026 results as declining vape and infused pre-roll sales weighed on revenue and profitability.

Though the Canadian cannabis producer said operational changes and its recent acquisition of Germany-based Sanity Group position the company for stronger performance in the second half of the year.

• Organigram Global shares are sliding. Why are OGI shares down?

Organigram Q2 Revenue Falls As Vape Sales And Margins Weaken

The company reported a second-quarter loss of one cent, with sales of $43.59 million, missing the consensus of $52.06 million.

Adjusted EBITDA fell 82% to $0.9 million.

CEO James Yamanaka said the quarter reflected underperformance in vapes and temporary production issues in infused pre-rolls, alongside slower industry growth.

“We acted quickly to address these …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Fox Corp. (NASDAQ:FOX) (NASDAQ:FOXA) on Monday posted upbeat fiscal third-quarter 2026 results.

Revenue fell 8.6% year-over-year to $3.994 billion, down from $4.371 billion in the same period last year, topping Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $3.795 billion.

Adjusted net income increased to $570 million, or $1.32 per share, surpassing analysts’ expectations of $1.12 per share and growing from $507 million, or $1.10 per share, a year earlier.

CFO Steve Tomsic said Fox delivered record third-quarter EBITDA growth and strong free cash flow while continuing aggressive share repurchases.

Fox shares fell 2.4% to trade at $66.08 on Tuesday.

These analysts …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

U.S. stocks traded mostly lower midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite falling more than 400 points on Tuesday.

The Dow traded up 0.05% to 49,731.53 while the NASDAQ dipped 1.56% to 25,864.14. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.66% to 7,364.20.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Health care shares jumped by 2.4% on Tuesday.

In trading on Tuesday, information technology stocks fell by 2.2%.

Top Headline

Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE:UA) (NYSE:UAA) shares fell almost 20% on Tuesday after the company reported fourth-quarter results that missed Wall Street earnings expectations and warned that Middle East-related supply chain disruptions will continue weighing on margins in fiscal 2027.

Under Armour reported an adjusted loss of 3 cents per share for the quarter, missing analyst estimates for a loss of 2 cents per share. Revenue declined 1% year over year to $1.171 billion, slightly above the Street estimate of $1.167 billion.

Equities Trading UP
           

• Buzzfeed Inc (NASDAQ:BZFD) shares shot up 119% to $1.60 after the company reported first-quarter …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Elon Musk‘s rocket company, SpaceX and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) are reportedly negotiating a launch deal to put data centers into orbit.

The speculative technology would bypass Earth’s massive power grid constraints just as SpaceX gears up for what may become the biggest public listing in history.

Google plans to launch prototype satellites by 2027 under its Project Suncatcher initiative.

The search giant already owns a 6.1% stake in SpaceX and is reportedly working with Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) on the satellite builds.

Space-based computing is quickly becoming a core part of the SpaceX pitch to investors. The company confidentially filed for a public listing this summer with a targeted …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Anchorage Digital‘s head of research, David Lawant, believes the cryptocurrency market will continue to perform well this year; however, the three pending IPO’s from SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic will likely have some impact on the crypto market given the size of their collective valuations.

“The amount of capital that we’re talking about here will probably suck air from a lot of the rooms. That’s another non-industry-related but also non-macro factor that I think is very important to watch,” Lawant told Benzinga in an interview. 

Bitcoin Price Action

Bitcoin‘s (CRYPTO: BTC) recent price action has largely been driven by institutional flows, shifting from treasury companies to ETFs over the last two months. 

Lawant identified three core drivers supporting Bitcoin’s positive trend: improving macro risk sentiment, light investor positioning, and growing industry fundamentals.

While Bitcoin’s volatility has been structurally lower amid recent geopolitical stress due to mechanical factors and market positioning, Lawant cautioned that this low-volatility environment is unlikely to persist indefinitely.

“I don’t think this is going to be the case forever, though. I would expect Bitcoin’s volatility to come back at some point, but it might take a while,” he said.

“Pretty much everyone who wanted to sell Bitcoin probably sold it by April,” he added.

Despite this, industry optimism is rising due to potential regulatory milestones like the market structure bill and increasing institutional interest in stablecoins and DeFi.

“The caliber of institutions that we are seeing engage …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

United Parks & Resorts Inc. (NYSE:PRKS) on Monday reported downbeat first-quarter 2026 results.

The company reported a net loss of 69 cents per diluted share, compared with a loss of 29 cents a year earlier, missing estimates for a 30-cent loss.

Revenue fell 3% year over year to $278.3 million, below the $279.951 million analyst estimate. Adjusted EBITDA declined 14.1% to $58 million from $67.4 million.

“First quarter results fell short of our expectations primarily due to unfavorable weather (including unfavorable weather …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) shares are gaining ground on Tuesday, following a bullish stance from analysts.

Mizuho Lifts Price Forecast

Mizuho maintained an outperform rating on DraftKings on Tuesday. The firm raised its price forecast from $44 to $45. This update follows a wave of analyst activity on Monday.

Guggenheim’s Vamil Divan maintained a Buy but lowered his price forecast to $35. Meanwhile, Barclays raised its price forecast to $35.

Q1 Earnings Double Beat

The positive sentiment stems from the May 7 earnings report. DraftKings reported adjusted earnings of 20 cents per share, which …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

A sharp selloff hit U.S. semiconductor stocks and high-flying memory names on Tuesday, with shares of SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) and Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) plunging double digits. The slump came after a top South Korean official floated a proposal to redistribute the AI profits of Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. directly to the Asian nation’s citizens.

The proposal was a Facebook post. The market response was a six-figure global repricing.

A Hurricane Hits Memory Stocks, Semis After Relentless Rally

The iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (NYSE:EWY) fell 9.8% by 1 p.m. trading in New York, on pace for its worst day since March 3, 2026.

The Roundhill Memory ETF (NASDAQ:DRAM) — which had rallied over 90% in slightly more than a month — collapsed 11.8%, its worst day since the fund launched in April 2026. 

The iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) shed 6.9%, the steepest one-day drop since April 10, 2025, when the post-Liberation Day tariff selloff cratered chip names.

The damage inside the chip complex was concentrated in memory and adjacent storage names. 

SanDisk Corp. fell 11.12%, Micron Technology Inc. dropped 10.30%, Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC) lost 9.30%, and Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX) fell 7.77%.

Broader semiconductor names linked to the AI-infrastructure trade also suffered heavy losses: Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) tumbled 14.87%, Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd. (NASDAQ:CRDO) fell 12.64%, and Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) dropped 10.97%.

Full story available on Benzinga.com

On Tuesday, Ducommun (NYSE:DCO) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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Summary

Ducommun reported a record Q1 2026 revenue of $209 million, marking 9% growth year-over-year and the fourth consecutive quarter exceeding $200 million in revenue.

The company continues to execute its Vision 2027 strategy, with gross and adjusted EBITDA margins improving, and a target of 18% EBITDA margin by 2027.

Ducommun’s commercial aerospace segment showed strong growth, with an 18% year-over-year increase, while the defense segment also performed well, driven by missile programs.

The company is actively engaging with defense primes for future missile production contracts, anticipating significant growth in this area by 2027.

Management reiterated guidance for mid to high single-digit revenue growth for 2026 and highlighted continued strong bookings and a positive outlook for both defense and commercial aerospace markets.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Ducommun’s first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time all participants are in a listen only mode. After the speaker’s presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you’ll need to press star 11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised to withdraw your question. Please press star 11 again. Please be advised that today’s conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to Suman Mukherjee, Senior Vice President Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

Suman Mukherjee (Senior Vice President Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you and welcome to Ducommun’s 2026 first quarter conference call. With me today is Steve Oswald, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. I’m going to discuss certain limitations to any forward looking statements regarding future events, projections or performance that we may make during the prepared remarks or the Q&A session that follows. Certain statements today that are not historical facts, including any statements as to the Company’s progress and value creation opportunity for shareholders under our Vision 2027 game plan for investors beliefs about the company’s Vision 2032 strategic plan, potential destocking headwinds and their impact on the Company’s business for the remainder of 2026 expectations related to the US Department of Defense long term framework agreements for key missile programs with defense primes and their impact on the growth of our defense business. Expectations relating to certain commercial, aerospace, single and twin aisle platform build rates through 2027 and beyond estimated synergies to be realized under the Company’s facility consolidation projects and the outlook for our commercial, aerospace and defense businesses for the remainder of 2026 are forward looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform act of 1995 and are therefore prospective. These forward looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in our forward looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. In addition, estimates of future operating results are based on the Company’s current business which is subject to change. Particular risks facing Ducommun include, amongst others, the cyclicality of our end use markets, the level of US Government defense spending Our customers may experience changes in production rates or delays in the launch and certification of new products Timing of orders from our customers which are subject to cancellation, modification or rescheduling our ability to obtain additional financing and service existing debt to fund capital expenditures and meet our working capital needs legal and regulatory risks, including pending litigation matters generally, as well as any potential losses arising from third party subrogation claims related to the Guaymas Performance center fire that may become material the cost of expansion, consolidation and acquisitions competition economic and geopolitical developments, including supply chain issues Our ability to successfully implement restructuring, realignment and cost reduction initiatives that could adversely impact our ability to achieve our strategic objectives International trade restrictions and our ability to obtain necessary US Government approvals for proposed sales to certain foreign customers the impact of tariffs and elevated interest rates Risks associated with a prolonged partial or total US Federal government shutdown the ability to attract and retain key personnel and avoid labor disruptions the ability to adequately protect and enforce intellectual property rights, pandemics, disasters, natural or otherwise, and risk of cyberSECurity attacks Please refer to our Annual report on Form 10-K, a quarterly report on Form 10-Q, and other reports filed from time to time with the SEC, as well as the press release issued today for a detailed discussion of the risks. Our forward looking statements are subject to those risks. Statements made during this call are only as of the time made and we do not intend to update any statements made in the presentation except if and as required by regulatory authorities. This call also includes non Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) financial measures. Please refer to our filings with the SEC for a reconciliation of the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to non Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) measures referenced on this call. We filed our Q1 2026 Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q with the SEC today. I would now like to turn the call over to Steve Oswald for a review of the operating results.

Steve Oswald (Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer)

Steve okay, thank you Suman. Thanks everyone for joining us today for our first quarter conference call today and as usual I will give an update of the current situation at the company after which Suman will review our financials in detail. Let me start off again on this quarterly call with the Commons Vision 2027 game plan for Investors as we continue to make great progress in our fourth year of the plan. Strategy and Vision were developed coming out of the COVID pandemic over the summer and fall of 2022, unanimously approved by the Common Board in November 2022 and then presented the following month in New York to investors where we got excellent feedback. Since that time, the Commons Manager has been executing the strategy by increasing the revenue percentage of engineered product content which is at 23% over the past year and up from 15% in 2022 consolidating our rooftop footprint in contract manufacturing Continuing our focused acquisition program, executing the offload strategy with Defense Primes and high growth segments driving value added pricing and expanding content on key commercial aerospace platforms. All of us here, as well as my fellow board members continue to have a high level of conviction in the Vision 2027 strategy and financial goals and believe the market catalysts ahead present a unique value creation opportunity for shareholders. The Q1 2026 results show again that strategy initiatives are working with gross and adjusted EBITDA margins continuing to stay on track to meet and exceed our Vision 2027 goals. With more opportunities to come for Ducommun for Q1, I’m happy to report that revenues reached a new first quarter record of 209 million 9% growth over last year, our fourth consecutive quarter over 200 million in revenue and our 20th consecutive quarter with year over year revenue growth. We have particular we had growth in both our commercial and military end markets, with commercial aerospace in particular showing a major turnaround in the quarter with 18% year over year growth a very positive sign. We saw production and deliveries continue to wrap driven by higher OEM production rates as well as lower than previously anticipated Destocking While this is great news, we are not past the destocking issue entirely as yet. We expect it to have some impact in the remaining 3/4 of 2026. In addition, company’s remaining performance obligations RPOS remained at over 1 billion, almost 1.1 billion, increasing 86 million compared to Q1 last year. The growth in RPO year over year is primarily in Defense where our book to Bill is at 1.2 in the last 12 months and our commercial arrow book to bill is at 1. We closed on over $175 million of bookings in Q1 and have closed on 925 million in the past 12 months. Our bookings do not reflect any upside of potential orders from Defense Primes under the seven Year Missile Framework agreements entered into by them with the Department of War in the past few months. We are in active discussions with the Defense Primes to support them on these major agreements and are well positioned as an incumbent supplier of many of the programs, which is great news for Ducommun and its shareholders. Production on many of these missile programs such as Tomahawk PAC 3 and Standard Missile 3 and 6 are expected to grow several fold and this will be a big driver of growth for the Ducommun defense business over the next few years. Stay tuned for more news on this front in the coming quarters. Gross margin grew by 5.8 million in the quarter to 26.9%, a nice improvement from 26.2% last year. In Q1 we continue to see the benefits of our Vision 2027 strategy and gross margin expansion due to Ducommun’s engineered product portfolio with aftermarket strategic value pricing initiatives, restructuring actions and productivity improvements. Reading through to the P and L cost saving expectations are also on track for the run rate of $13 million in savings from our facility consolidation program by the end of 2026. For adjusted operating income margin in Q1 the team delivered 8.6% well above the prior year of 4%. This was supported by growth in adjusted operating income margins in electronic systems segment during the quarter as well as lower stock based compensation expenses. Adjusted EBITDA continues to improve towards our Vision 2027 goal of 18% in 2027 from 13% in 2022. Ducommun achieved 16.9% in the quarter or 35.4 million, up 5.7 million from Q1 2025 which is excellent to see as we start off 2026 GAAP EPS was $0.64 per diluted share in Q1 2026 versus $0.09 for Q1 2025. With the adjustments, diluted EPS was $0.75 a share in Q1 2026 versus 23 cents in the prior year quarter. The higher GAAP and adjusted diluted EPS during the quarter was driven by higher operating income. As mentioned earlier, over the past 12 months we closed on over 925 million in bookings, a trailing 12 month book to bill of 1.1, the positive momentum in commercial aerospace and increased defense spending, we have strong tailwinds in both our primary markets. On the outlook for the rest of 2026, we expect to see continued strength in the defense business and a recovery in our commercial aerospace business. We reiterate our previous guidance of mid to high single digit revenue growth for the full year 2026. With the higher than previously anticipated strength in our commercial aerospace business in Q1 and with some of the destocking impact previously expected in Q1 deferred, we now expect the quarters to be relatively level loaded in 2026 and growth for each quarter between mid to high single digit depending on the level of destocking. Now let me provide some additional color on our markets, products and programs. Beginning with our military and space sector, we saw revenues 118 million compared to 112 million in Q1 2025. This represents 5% growth and was driven by another quarter of strong performance in our military fixed wing and missile franchises, partially offset by weakness in our radar and electronic warfare, ground vehicle and marine business due to timing of orders. Ducommun’s missile business grew 20% in 2025 and in Q1 it continued to grow increasing 22% compared to Q1 in 2025. As I mentioned earlier, RTX, our largest customer and Lockheed will significantly increase production on many programs including PAC3, SM3, SM6 and Tomahawk amongst others and we are ready to get moving. Ducommun is well positioned on all these programs and also in great …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

The U.S. Department of Commerce webpage deleted details outlining a deal with Google, xAI, and Microsoft to allow the government to examine new artificial intelligence models for security vulnerabilities before public release. 

The arrangement, which was announced last week, was presented as part of Washington’s push for earlier visibility into advanced systems that could pose national security risks.

A review of the agency’s website reported the original announcement link no longer works, displaying the message, “Sorry, we cannot find that page,” Reuters reported. It is not immediately clear why the page was removed.

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Read Also:

OpenAI Launches Cybersecurity Preview To Challenge Anthropic’s Mythos

WINNIPEG, MB, May 12, 2026 /CNW/ – IG Wealth Management (“IG”) today announced changes to the portfolio managers, investment strategies and names of select mutual funds. These changes reflect updates from sub-advisor Mackenzie Financial Corporation and IG’s ongoing commitment to continuously refining its product shelf to help deliver an exceptional investment experience for clients. All changes are effective May 12, 2026. 

The portfolio manager, investment strategy and fund name changes are detailed below.

Portfolio Manager Changes
IG has announced the following portfolio manager changes:

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Anthony Scaramucci says President Donald Trump is already scripting his next manufactured crisis, calling the president a “reality TV producer” who engineers conflict cycles.

The SkyBridge Capital founder, who served briefly as Trump’s communications director in his first term, made the prediction on the “How Do You Cope” podcast.

He said the next “kinetic frenzy” may be Iran-related, Israel-related or Latin American-related.

Scaramucci has spent the years since as a loud critic. He told the podcast his wife “probably hates Trump almost as much as Melania hates him,” calling it “generational” hatred.

Polymarket hosts several markets that attempt to predict where the next crisis may take place.

What Comes After Iran?

Trump has been increasing pressure on Cuba since the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. The administration cut Cuba’s Venezuelan oil and imposed secondary …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

On Tuesday, Trican Well Service (TSX:TCW) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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Summary

TCW reported Q1 2026 revenues of $330.3 million, up from $259.1 million in Q1 2025, with an adjusted EBITDA of $70.1 million.

Free cash flow for the quarter was $49.6 million, and capital expenditures totaled $18.5 million, focusing on maintenance and equipment upgrades.

The company repurchased 756,900,000 shares under the NCIB program and announced a dividend of 0.55 cents per share.

TCW highlighted operational strengths in natural gas fuel technology and electric ancillary equipment, emphasizing fuel savings and efficiency.

Management expressed optimism about future pricing improvements and continued growth in Western Canada, driven by increased industry activity and technology advantages.

TCW maintains a strong balance sheet with a focus on shareholder returns through dividends and share buybacks, aiming for debt reduction by year-end.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Hello and welcome to the Trican well Services first quarter 2026 results conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker’s remarks, there will be a question and answer session and if you would like to ask a question during this time, please press star1 on your telephone keypad. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Brad Fedora, President and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.

Brad Fedora (President and Chief Executive Officer)

Thank you very much for joining us and good morning everyone. First to start the call, Scott Matson, our CFO, will give an overview of the quarterly results for Q1 2026 and I’ll provide some comments with respect to the quarter, current operating conditions and our outlook for the future, both near and far, and then we’ll open up the call for questions. We’ve got several members of our executive team in the room here today, so we should be able to answer any questions that people may have. I’ll now turn it over to Scott

Scott Mattson (Chief Financial Officer)

to start us off. Thanks Brad and good morning everyone. Just before we begin, I’d like to remind everyone that this conference call may contain forward looking statements and other information based on current expectations or results for the company. Certain material factors or assumptions that were applied in drawing conclusions or making projections reflected in the Forward looking Information section of our MD&A for Q1 2026. A number of business risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward looking statements and our financial outlook.

Scott Mattson (Chief Financial Officer)

Please Refer to our 2025 Annual Information form for the year ended December 31, 2025 for a more complete description of business risks and uncertainties facing Trican. This document is available both on our website and on sedar. During this call we will refer to several common industry terms and use certain non GAAP measures which are more fully described in our Q4 2025 MD&A. Our quarterly results were released after close of market last night and are available both on SEDAR and our website. So with that I’ll provide a brief summary of our results. My comments will draw comparisons mostly to the first quarter of last year and I will also provide some commentary about our current activity levels and our expectations going forward. Trican’s results for the quarter compared to last year’s Q1 were generally stronger due to an increase in operating activity and also with the inclusion of a full quarter of contribution from the Ironhorse acquisition.

Scott Mattson (Chief Financial Officer)

Overall revenues for the quarter were 330.3 million compared to the 259.1 million we generated in Q1 of 2025 adjusted EBitDA for the quarter 70.1 million or 21% of revenues compared to adjusted EBitDA of 61.3 million or 24% of revenues generated in Q1 of last year, adjusted EBitDAS for the quarter came in at 77.7 million or 24% of revenues, up from the 62.3 million or 24% of revenues in Q1 of last year. To arrive at EBitDAs, we add back the effects of cash settled stock based comp recognized in the quarter to more clearly show the results of our operations and remove some of the market to market impact from our share price between reporting dates.

Scott Mattson (Chief Financial Officer)

On a consolidated basis, we generated positive earnings of 30.3 million in the quarter. That translates to $0.14 per share both on a basic and fully diluted basis compared to the 31.9 million $0.17 per share on a basic and fully diluted basis in Q1 of last year. Profit and profit per share were impacted primarily by higher depreciation expense related to Ironhorse, our technology initiative expenses and the higher stock based comp during the quarter.

Scott Mattson (Chief Financial Officer)

Trican generated free cash flow 49.6 million during the quarter. Our definition of free cash flow is essentially EBitDAS less non discretionary cash expenditures which includes maintenance capital, interest, current taxes and cash settled stock based comp. You can see more details on this in the non GAAP measures section of our MDA. CapEx for the quarter totaled $18.5 million, split between maintenance capital of about $9.6 million and upgrade capital of $8.9 million.

Scott Mattson (Chief Financial Officer)

Our upgrade capital was dedicated mainly to the electrification of our fourth set of ancillary frac support equipment and ongoing investments to maintain the productive capability of our active equipment. We continue to maintain a very strong balance sheet exiting the quarter with positive non cash working capital of 142.7 million and net debt of 29.8 million, both measures meaningfully down from the December 31, 2025 levels. Reduction in net debt during the quarter was mostly a result of some working capital harvest and the free cash flow generated in the period.

Scott Mattson (Chief Financial Officer)

With respect to our return of capital strategy, we repurchased and canceled 756,900,000 shares under our Normal Course Issuer Bid (NCIB) program in the first quarter at a weighted average cost of $6.46 per share. Subsequent to Q1 of 2026, we repurchased and canceled an additional 289,000 shares and continue to be active in our buyback program when market prices are at levels that provide for a Favorable investment opportunity. As noted in our press release, the Board of Directors approved a dividend of 0.55 cents per share, reflecting approximately $11.6 million in aggregate payments to shareholders.

Scott Mattson (Chief Financial Officer)

Distribution is scheduled to be made on June 30, 2026 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 15, 2026. And I would note that the dividends are designated as eligible dividends for Canadian income tax purposes. So with that I’ll turn things back to Brady.

Scott Mattson (Chief Financial Officer)

Scott, maybe just before I start, remind everybody how much we’ve spent buying back our shares just even since COVID Well, we bought back 53% of the outstanding shares that were sitting there kind of at the beginning of 2017, 2018.

Brad Fedora (President and Chief Executive Officer)

Yeah, so we’ve been very, active. It’s been a big investment avenue for us. It’s definitely something to consider. You know, we’ve, we view the NCIB as M and a sort of risk free M and a very, with a very, good target company. So we’ve been really happy with the progress we’ve made on the NCIB in the past few years. Okay, I’ll make some comments about Q1 and some forward looking observations for 26 and beyond. So please, as Scott was mentioning, please see our disclaimer that can be found on our website. Q1 Overall the quarter went pretty much as expected. We were quite active. You know, we did have quite a bit of pricing pressure and so the quarter probably doesn’t reflect the activity that we had and we’re sort of hoping that Q1 will represent the bottom for pricing going forward. But you know, we were still generally pretty happy with the quarter. A lot of tough weather in February, which we always budget for, but certainly we were dealing with some very, warm conditions and for a good chunk of February, which made for a bit of a choppy quarter, but overall it seemed to play out nicely. We got some cold weather towards the end of March which really helped us make up what we had lost in the month of February. So we always kind of expect to deal with those issues in Q1 and Q4. Customers again are still very, focused on our technology and our efficiencies. Particularly now with the ability to burn natural gas in our natural gas fueled frac pumps and our electric ancillary equipment. Given the price of where diesel went to since the beginning of the year, those assets are looking even better. You can be well over $100,000 a day in fuel savings by burning natural gas instead of diesel. In fact, it’s probably pushing towards $150,000 a day. So you know, we are the leader in tier four technology. I think we have 86, 78 tier four frac pumps. So we’re the leader in that. And then we have four sets of electric ancillary equipment which is like the blenders, the chem van datavan, sand assets, et cetera. And so when you combine our tier 4 frac pumps with our electric equipment, we get very, high substitution rates. Without a doubt industry leading not just in Canada but in North America. We’re very, fortunate that our customers have level loaded. I think I’ve spoken about this in the past, but as you see, if you look back at our quarters, Q3, Q4 and Q1 all looked very, similar and there’s lots of variations between the quarters. But it makes for a much more efficient business when you can level load the activity levels and the staffing levels and you’re not, you know, you’re not seeing those things go up and down and having to react from a staffing perspective. So very,, you know, very, happy with the way that’s unfolding. We are seeing inflation. Given that what’s happened with oil prices and I’m not going to comment on the Middle Eastern situation, I think every,body’s fully aware of what’s going on there and what that’s done to oil prices. But that of course has flowed through our entire value chain and it is pressuring on our margins. But that’s okay, you know, we’ll adjust and react accordingly. But it’s impacting almost every,thing whether it’s, you know, fuels, chemicals, steel, sand, transportation, you know, all of that is affected by oil prices as every,body can see in their day to day lives. You know, when oil price goes from 57 to over 100, there’s a big impact on, on many aspects of the economy and we’re certainly not immune from that. We’re still very, natural gas focused. About 75% of the work that we do in western Canada is what we would consider to be a natural gas well. But of course these oil prices translate into higher condensate pricing. So even the gassy players are benefiting from what’s been happening lately. Condensate pricing is well over 100 Canadian dollars. As high as 145 at one time I think. So all four of our divisions, the two frac divisions, the Coil and the cement division are all performing well and we’re really happy with the strategic direction of all four of those. And I’ll just make some comments about each one on the Trican frac division which is the deep work, which is very, pretty much Montney and Duvernay focused. I think every,thing is going well. That’s where we’ve really differentiated our service offering with the investments we’ve made in technology. Without a doubt, we are the technical leader in natural gas fuel pumps and electric operations in Canada. And I think our customers can see the benefits of those operations. …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Nothing reveals the gap between Hollywood and everyday America quite like a celebrity joking about $15 gasoline while driving a car that does not even use gasoline.

As gas prices surged following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Stephen Colbert, the host of CBS’ “The Late Show,“ tried to turn pain at the pump into a punchline in 2022.

“Today, the average gas price in America hit an all-time record high of over $4 per gallon,” he said on the show. “OK, that stings, but a clean conscience is worth a buck or two. It’s important. I’m willing to pay $4 a gallon. Hell, I’ll pay $15 a gallon, because I drive a Tesla.”

The joke itself was obvious. Colbert was sarcastically framing higher gas prices as the moral cost of supporting sanctions against Russia. The humor was that he personally did not care how high prices climbed because he drove a Tesla, a fully electric vehicle that does not use gasoline at all.

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That was also the part that seemed to rub many viewers the wrong way.

It was not outrage over a comedian making a joke. It was the feeling that the joke came from somebody completely insulated from the financial pressure most Americans were experiencing at the time. Colbert is a wealthy television host reportedly earning millions of dollars a year. Most viewers were not driving luxury EVs. They were driving gas-powered cars, trucks, and SUVs while watching fuel costs hammer already strained household budgets.

The Tesla Line Hit Differently Outside Hollywood

Part of what made the moment linger was how small the EV market still was when Colbert made the comment.

In 2022, plug-in electric vehicles accounted for roughly 5.8% of new U.S. light-duty vehicle sales according to Cox Automotive data. That means more than 94% of new vehicles sold still depended on gasoline.

The numbers become even more striking when looking at the entire vehicle fleet rather than just new sales. Only about 1% of registered light-duty vehicles on American roads were EVs in 2022.

In other words, the overwhelming majority of Americans could not simply opt out of high gas prices by plugging in a Tesla at home.

That reality made Colbert’s joke feel less like a universal observation and more like a celebrity flex delivered from inside a financial bubble. To many viewers, it sounded like somebody saying gas prices were manageable while bypassing the problem entirely.

Trending: 1.5M+ Users. $29M Raised. Pre-IPO Shares Still at $0.72 — Learn How to Invest Before the Deadline

Tesla ownership itself also carried a very different image at the time. Even the company’s lower-priced models remained out of reach for many middle-class households already struggling with inflation, rising rents, and higher grocery bills. The average driver filling up a used SUV or pickup truck was not comparing EV charging networks. They were trying to avoid spending another $90 at the pump.

Gas Prices Are Rising Again And The Clip Still Resonates

The reason the quote keeps resurfacing is simple: the underlying frustration never really disappeared.

Gasoline prices have climbed again this year amid geopolitical instability and concerns surrounding global oil supply routes near the Strait of Hormuz. For many Americans, fuel costs once again feel like an unavoidable tax on daily life.

Meanwhile, EV adoption has grown slower than some analysts predicted. This year’s estimates place EVs at roughly 2.4% of all vehicles operating on U.S. roads, or about 5.8 million to 7 million EVs among nearly 290 million total vehicles nationwide.

Tesla still dominates the U.S. EV market, accounting for roughly 54% of EV sales during the first quarter of this year according to

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Defence procurement is doing something the energy transition never quite managed: making critical minerals projects bankable on their own terms.

For years, the investment case for critical minerals rested on a single narrative: the energy transition.

Lithium for batteries. Cobalt for EVs. Rare earths for wind turbines. It was a compelling story, and it moved capital. However, it carried a structural weakness. Demand tied to policy cycles and adoption curves is uncertain. And in project finance, uncertainty is expensive.

That calculus is now changing, and the driver is defence spending.

Critical Minerals Finance Has a New Demand Signal: Defense Procurement

Credit committees and capital allocation frameworks are undergoing a genuine reclassification right now. Investors once evaluated critical minerals projects based on EV penetration or renewable energy build-out. Today, lenders ask a different set of questions. Is this supply geopolitically aligned? Can it trace its chain of custody? Does it carry adversarial entanglement?

This shift matters because it changes the risk profile of the asset class itself.

Defence procurement offers what speculative commodity demand cannot: predictable, government-backed cash flow. When a project demonstrates long-term offtake tied to sovereign demand, lenders stop pricing it like a commodity bet. Instead, they price it like infrastructure. And infrastructure attracts cheaper capital.

The U.S. Department of Defense’s 10-year offtake agreement with MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP), including a price floor of $110 per kilogram, illustrates this model at scale. It functions less like a procurement contract and more like a quasi-sovereign revenue guarantee. Lenders can model it, stress-test it, and price against it with confidence.

Moreover, the policy architecture supporting this shift is substantial.

Project Vault combines a $10 billion EXIM Bank direct loan facility with a broader $12 …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE:UA) (NYSE:UAA) shares fell Tuesday after the company reported fourth-quarter results that missed Wall Street earnings expectations and warned that Middle East-related supply chain disruptions will continue weighing on margins in fiscal 2027.

During the quarterly conference call, the company said the disruptions increased freight and sourcing costs during the quarter. Under Armour added that the conflict is expected to remain a headwind in fiscal 2027, although pricing actions and tariff refunds are expected to partially offset the impact.

Fourth-Quarter Results

Under Armour reported an adjusted loss of 3 cents per share for the quarter, missing analyst estimates for a loss of 2 cents per share. Revenue declined 1% year over year to $1.171 …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

U.S. stocks were lower, with the Nasdaq Composite falling around 400 points on Tuesday.

Shares of Zebra Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:ZBRA) rose sharply after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and raised its FY26 adjusted EPS guidance above estimates.

Zebra reported adjusted earnings per share of $4.75, beating the consensus estimate of $4.25. In addition, it posted revenue of $1.49 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion.

Zebra Technologies shares jumped 16.2% to $252.05 on Tuesday.

Here are some other big stocks recording gains in today’s session.

• Vestis Corp (NYSE:VSTS) shares jumped 30.3% to $12.10 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results.
• Ambiq Micro Inc (NYSE:AMBQ) gained 29.8% to $59.28 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and issued second-quarter guidance above estimates.
• Vishay Precision Group Inc (NYSE:VPG) rose 23.6% …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

Ovintiv (TSX:OVV) reported first-quarter financial results on Tuesday. The transcript from the company’s first-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

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Summary

Ovintiv Inc reported strong financial performance with cash flow per share at $4.62, beating consensus estimates by 6%, and free cash flow totaling $634 million.

Significant strategic moves included the successful integration of New Vista assets, the sale of Anadarko assets, and substantial debt reduction.

The company plans to return 50-100% of free cash flow to shareholders via dividends and buybacks in 2026, with a focus on reducing net debt if oil prices remain high.

Operationally, Ovintiv Inc increased its Permian and Montney drilling inventory, boasting high productivity and low-cost operations, particularly in the Midland Basin and Montney.

Management expressed confidence in maintaining strong performance and emphasized the strategic use of stacked innovation and technology to drive operational efficiency and profitability.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good day ladies and gentlemen and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Eventive’s 2026 First Quarter Results Conference call. As a reminder, today’s call is being recorded at this time. All participants are in a listen only mode. Following the presentation we will conduct a question and answer session. Members of the investment community will have the opportunity to ask questions and can join the queue at any time by pressing Star one For members of the media attending in listen only mode today, you may quote statements made by any of the Ovintiv Inc representatives. However, members of the media who wish to quote others who are speaking on this call today, we advise you to contact those individuals directly to obtain their consent. Please be advised that this conference call may not be recorded or rebroadcast without the expressed consent of Ovintiv Inc. I would now like to turn the conference call over to Jason Verheist from Investor Relationship. Please go ahead Mr. Verheist.

Jason Verheist (Investor Relations)

Thanks Joanna and welcome everyone to our first quarter 2026 conference call. This call is being webcast and the slides are available on our website at Ovintiv Inc’s website, ovintiv.com Please take note of the advisory regarding forward-looking statements at the beginning of our slides and in our disclosure documents filed on Edgar and SEDAR+. Following prepared remarks we will be available to take your questions. I will now turn the call over to our President and CEO Brendan McCracken.

Brendan McCracken (President and CEO)

Thanks Jason. Good morning everybody and thank you for joining us. We believe the strategic steps for an E&P company to generate differentiated value creation will be to build a portfolio with best in class assets and inventory depth, create a competitive advantage with stacked innovation and execution, demonstrate a proven track record of capital allocation to deliver superior and durable returns and combine all of that with a clean balance sheet. We are very excited to have put Ovintiv Inc into the valuable position of delivering on all fronts. Since 2023 we’ve increased our Permian and Montney drilling inventory by more than 3,200 locations. This inventory life expansion has been unmatched by our peers and leaves us with one of the most valuable inventory positions in the industry. We did it without diluting our shareholders and while increasing ROCE and substantially reducing debt. And all along our team has continued to build on their track record of operational and commercial excellence, the evidence of which is observable in public data. We make the highest productivity oil wells in the Midland Basin and in the Montney and we do that as the undisputed cost leader in the Montney and and among the top two lowest cost operators in the Midland Basin. We have also boosted profitability by strategically marketing our volumes to deliver high realized prices, lowered our cash costs and reduced our interest expense and overhead. I’m extremely proud of our team. They have shown tremendous resolve to build our business into a leading E&P. We are pleased to see the value of what we’ve built start to become become recognized in the market and we are excited because there is still a lot of room to run. We’ve had a productive start to the year with the successful integration of the recently acquired new Vista assets, the sale of our Anadarko assets and the significant deleveraging of our balance sheet. We accomplished all this while maintaining our focus on execution, excellence and delivering another strong quarter of operational and financial results. We believe stability has real value for our shareholders. We have fundamentally de risked our business and positioned ourselves to deliver durable returns for many years to come. Since the inception of our shareholder return framework in 2021, we’ve returned $3.7 billion to our shareholders through $2.4 billion of share buybacks and $1.3 billion of base dividends. In early March, we introduced the next logical progression of our framework designed to deliver substantial value to our shareholders while allowing greater flexibility. We committed to returning 50 to 100% of our free cash flow via dividends and share buybacks in 2026. We began the year planning to allocate at least 75% of our free cash flow to shareholder returns. The market has shifted dramatically since then with substantially higher oil prices than we expected. Even with our shares up strongly year to date, we continue to see a substantial gap between our share price and the intrinsic value of our business at mid cycle prices. That said, with the higher prices and higher free cash flow, we believe it makes sense to avoid over-indexing on pro cyclical buybacks. We also believe it makes sense to take the opportunity to further accelerate net debt reduction. So if oil prices continue to stay elevated, we would expect to be in the 50 to 75% range. But even then we will still allocate more absolute dollars to share buybacks than we had anticipated at the start of March. If oil prices retreat, we will have capacity to be opportunistic with incremental buybacks and we would expect to be back into the 75% or above range in that scenario. Again, regardless of price movements from here, our returns to shareholders this year are now anticipated to exceed our original plan on an absolute dollar basis. I’ll now turn the call over to Cory to discuss our financial results. Thanks Brendan.

Cory

In addition to our best in class asset portfolio, our balance sheet is now stronger than it has been in a decade. With the proceeds from the Anadarko sale, we were able to significantly reduce debt and as of April 30th our net debt was less than 3.3 billion or less than 0.8 times leverage. Our remaining long term debt profile has no maturities.

Cory

Before 2030, we expect to realize over $80 million of annualized interest savings from the debt we’ve repaid since the start of the year. This includes the repayment of the 2026 and 2028 notes as well as the balance on our credit facility. We also have significant liquidity of $4 billion, which enhances our resiliency and allows us to be flexible and opportunistic through the commodity cycle. We remain committed to our investment grade credit rating and our recent transactions were viewed positively by the rating agencies.

Cory

Our capital structure has been right sized, our leverage compares favorably to our peers and going forward we are operating from a position of strength. Our first quarter results demonstrate our continued focus on execution excellence and strong financial performance. Our cash flow per share at $4.62 beat consensus estimates by about 6% and our free cash flow totaled $634 million. We delivered volumes at the high end of our guidance ranges for each product, including oil and condensate production of approximately 225,000 barrels per day.

Cory

Our capital investment of 605 million came in at the low end of our guidance range as did our total per unit costs. We recorded a $1.2 billion after tax non cash ceiling test impairment that resulted in a loss in the quarter. The impairment was driven by weaker oil prices in the first quarter, bringing down the SEC 12 months trailing price at current strip pricing. We do not expect to incur further impairments. Maximizing capital efficiency and free cash flow generation is a top priority this year.

Cory

As Brendan noted, the impacts of recent global events have increased near term pricing. However, the impact on the fundamental supply and demand dynamics remain unclear. Our portfolio now has significant duration capability to grow production. However, we believe it is still prudent to maintain our Stay Flat program with level loaded activity in both the Permian and Montney and that higher oil prices accrete to free cash flow. We’re not currently seeing significant inflationary pressure on our 2026 capital program outside of

Cory

higher diesel costs for the rest of the year, we expect to largely offset any additional cost inflation with operational efficiencies. As such, our capital guidance remains unchanged despite the higher royalty rates resulting from higher oil and condensate prices in our Canadian operations, which Gregory will touch on more we are maintaining our full year Production guidance including 205,000 to 212,000 barrels per day of oil and condensate. Strong performance in both the Permian and Montney is expected to offset volumes lost to higher royalties in the second quarter.

Cory

We expect production to average approximately 623,000 boes per day, including about 203,000 barrels per day of oil and condensate and our capital spend is expected to come in at around 575 million. Activity cadence in both assets is expected to be fairly ratable for the rest of the year. I’ll now turn the call over to Gregory who will speak to our operational highlights.

Brendan McCracken (President and CEO)

Thanks Corey.

Gregory

I’m really proud of the efforts made by our operating teams this quarter through the integration of the New Vista assets and the sale process for the Anadarko. They never lost focus on safety and efficient execution. Our team is committed to continually improving our capital efficiency and our outstanding operational performance through the first quarter gives us confidence in what we can achieve through the rest of the year. In the Montney, our first quarter well productivity was very strong and and is tracking above our 2026 type curve. We hit our 85,000 barrel per day target in the first month after closing the acquisition and we’ve been very pleased with the results across our acreage. With the New Vista assets now fully integrated into our Montney operations, we are focused on running a load level program and offsetting the impact of higher royalty rates. The sliding scale royalty structure is a unique aspect of shale development in Canada. As the name suggests, the percentage royalty that we pay slides up and down based on the prevailing commodity prices.

Gregory

So while gross volumes are unchanged, higher royalty rates mean our reported net volumes are reduced. On slide 10, we provided a simplified illustration of the production and revenue impacts across a range of oil prices. The key takeaway here is that although higher royalties result in lower net volumes, we benefit from higher prices where it counts in revenue. This is a good problem to have. If condensate prices were to average $90 per barrel for the year, we would see a 5,000 barrel per day reduction in reported net volumes but a 40% increase in revenues. Although we don’t like losing the volumes, this is a trade off we are willing to make. It is also worth noting that condensate prices would have to reach approximately $135 per barrel before royalties would be in line with the rates paid south of the border, which are around 20 to 25% regardless of commodity prices due to royalty impacts and planned plant turnarounds Montney production in the second quarter is expected to be at the low end of our full year guidance range.

Gregory

While these turnarounds and royalty changes put pressure on our reported volumes, we continue to be very pleased with our well performance from both our legacy and the new vista assets. Our 15 of 16 increased density test continues to meet or exceed our expectations and we plan to test additional upside locations later this year. Without the larger royalty take due to higher commodity prices, our total company oil and condensate volumes would be trending toward the high end of the guidance range for the year.

Gregory

Although the economics of our Montney wells are driven by condensate, it’s important to note that our natural gas price diversification strategy continues to yield attractive results. In the first quarter our Montney gas price realization was 175% of AECO.. We continue to look for opportunities to secure both physical sales out of the basin and financial arrangements to price our gas away from AECO.. We are exposed to AECO. pricing on less than 20% of our 2026 Canadian gas volumes. We also have a JKM. linked contract for 100 million cubic feet per day that began during the quarter.

Gregory

It essentially is in the money when AECO. trades at less than 20% of JKM.. The cash flow contribution from the arrangement was minimal in the first quarter, but at current strip pricing for the remainder of the year it would be worth roughly $60 million. Overall, our Montney asset is performing very well. We are maintaining a repeatable program type curve and despite some royalty noise the program is delivering fantastic results. Our team hit the ground running on

Gregory

day one of taking ownership of the new Vista assets and they haven’t looked back. We spot our first pad on the new Vista acreage, the Wapiti 6 of 2, just two days after closing the deal and are already achieving our cost target of $1 million in per well savings. This brings the wells on the new Vista acreage in line with our existing Montney cost structure and sets us up to achieve the $100 million in annualized cost synergies that we promised with the transaction. We’re delivering faster cycle times, extending the lateral length on wells that were otherwise constrained by lease lines, savings on completions through use of Simulfrac and cheaper domestic sand, and reducing well

Gregory

site facility costs by half compared to New Vista’s design. We’ve also fully integrated the acquired producing wells with our operations control center. This allows us to remotely operate the wells and apply the same digital workflows used across our Montney operations. The result is minimized downtime and lower production cost. We also see the potential for significant future savings from things like the ability to optimize our development plans given more available processing capacity and the opportunity to further optimize our base production with more integrated infrastructure.

Gregory

I’m very proud of the team and the efforts they made to integrate the new assets into our portfolio. Our Permian team continues their track record of outperformance in the first quarter with average oil and condensate volumes of 126,000 barrels per day. Our most recent wells are exceeding the 2026. type curve. These results continue to support durable return generation across our 12 to 15 years of premium inventory. In the play.. We take great pride in our development approach and our ability to stack multiple innovations to create industry leading results which defy the broader US Shale trend of well performance degradation.

Gregory

As a result, we are consistently one of the highest productivity lowest cost operators in the Permian. Last quarter we talked about the productivity uplift we have observed from stacking innovations like surfactants in our completion designs. We pumped them in over 300 Permian wells since 2019 so our data set is robust. Compared to a similar group of non surfactant treated wells, we see a 9% improvement in oil productivity. We believe surfactants account for roughly half of the type curve improvement we’ve observed in our Permian assets since 2022 at a cost of only about $100,000 per well. These custom chemical additives are highly economic, but surfactants are only a part of the story. There are several other factors that have contributed to our improvement in well productivity, including our cube development and reoccupation approaches, stage architecture as well as the use of AI in our operations. Trained on a proprietary data set, the result has been greater than 10% improvement in our Permian oil productivity per foot since 2023.

Gregory

And this is while the broader basin is fighting a 2% annual decline. In fact, using public data from Invris, you can see that in 2025 our Midland Basin piers were delivering average well productivity in the line with our …

Full story available on Benzinga.com

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