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Interested in Broadcom Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. Record results were driven by AI demand: Third-quarter revenue surged 86% year over year to $29.6 billion, while free cash flow reached a record $13.7 billion. AI semiconductor revenue rose 221% to $16.7 billion and represented 56% of total revenue. Broadcom projects accelerating AI growth: The company forecasts fourth-quarter AI semiconductor revenue of $21.7 billion and expects fiscal 2026 AI revenue of $58 billion, with long-term outlooks of approximately $115 billion in fiscal 2027 and $230 billion in fiscal 2028. Customer demand remains strong, but deployment faces constraints: Broadcom cited commitments from Google, Anthropic, OpenAI and Meta, while warning that data-center readiness, power, land, advanced wafers, substrates and high-bandwidth memory could limit the pace of deployments. Broadcom’s Earnings Test Comes With a Higher Bar After NVIDIA’s Blowout Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) reported record third-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue, operating income and free cash flow, driven by sharply higher demand for artificial intelligence semiconductors and custom AI accelerators. Revenue rose 86% year over year to $29.6 billion, while operating income increased 92% to a record $20.1 billion. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share grew 96% from a year earlier to $3.32. The company generated record free cash flow of $13.7 billion, equal to 46% of revenue. → AST SpaceMobile Is Down 54%—Can FCC Progress and BlueBirds Reverse the Slide? 3 AI Infrastructure Stocks to Watch Beyond NVIDIA “We delivered an exceptional quarter with revenue, operating income and free cash flow all exceeding prior records,” President and CEO Hock Tan said. He said AI semiconductor revenue grew 221% year over year and 54% sequentially to $16.7 billion during the quarter. Broadcom’s Semiconductor Solutions segment produced record revenue of $20.8 billion, up 127% year over year and accounting for 70% of consolidated revenue. AI semiconductor revenue represented 56% of total company revenue, compared with 49% in the preceding quarter. → Palo Alto’s Rally Has One Big Problem Ahead of Earnings MarketBeat Week in Review – 08/24 - 08/28 Tan said the company’s XPU shipments rose more than 3.5 times from a year earlier and represented 73% of AI revenue in the third quarter. AI networking revenue increased more than 2.5 times year over year. During the quarter, Broadcom delivered high-volume shipments of Ironwood TPU v7 to Anthropic and Google, while beginning production shipments of Google’s next-generation TPU v8i. It also shipped Jalapeño, OpenAI’s first-generation custom accelerator. Tan said Broadcom expects production shipments of Meta’s custom MTIA accelerator in the fourth quarter. → Securing AI: 5 Most-Upgraded Stocks From the Q2 Reporting Season Tan said the company believes custom accelerators can offer superior performance, cost and power characteristics for customers’ specific large-language-model workloads. He also described Jalapeño as outperforming Grace Blackwell GPUs for certain inference workloads, citing OpenAI’s announcement, and said it was comparable to Vera Rubin GPUs in running OpenAI workloads. For the fourth quarter, Broadcom forecast consolidated revenue of approximately $34.8 billion, up 93% year over year. It expects semiconductor revenue of about $26.1 billion, including $21.7 billion in AI semiconductor revenue, which would represent growth of more than 236% from the prior-year period. Infrastructure software revenue is expected to be approximately $8.7 billion in the fourth quarter, up 25% year over year. Broadcom expects consolidated operating margin of about 66%. Fiscal third-quarter AI semiconductor revenue: $16.7 billion Fiscal fourth-quarter AI semiconductor revenue forecast: $21.7 billion Fiscal 2026 AI revenue forecast: $58 billion, up 186% year over year Fiscal 2027 AI revenue outlook: approximately $115 billion Fiscal 2028 AI revenue outlook: approximately $230 billion Tan said the company has secured supply to support its fiscal 2027 AI revenue outlook and has line of sight to supply needed for its fiscal 2028 target. He said demand exceeds the company’s current 2027 outlook, but Broadcom is accounting for the pace at which chips can be deployed at customer data centers. “This is real demand,” Tan said, pointing to customer data-center readiness as well as the availability of leading-edge wafers, substrates and high-bandwidth memory. Broadcom said it expects Google to purchase multi-tens of billions of dollars of TPUs annually over the next several years under a long-term agreement for future TPUs and AI networking. Tan said Anthropic is expected to deploy an additional 5 gigawatts of TPU v8i in 2027 and an incremental 10 gigawatts in 2028. OpenAI is expected to deploy 1.3 gigawatts of Jalapeño in 2027, with Broadcom having line of sight to more than 5 gigawatts of Jalapeño and successor products in 2028. Broadcom also highlighted its AI networking portfolio, including its Tomahawk Ethernet switches, PCI Express switching products and optical interconnect components. Charlie Kawwas, president of the Semiconductor Solutions Group, said Tomahawk 6 has been deployed across nearly all AI hyperscalers working with Broadcom on XPUs, as well as at customers not using Broadcom accelerators. Kawwas said Tomahawk Ultra, designed to support scale-up networking with low-latency Ethernet, began deployment during the current quarter and is expected to see further use in fiscal 2027. He said Broadcom is seeing the technology used in both XPU and some GPU clusters. Management identified land, power and data-center shell availability as important factors in determining the timing of customer deployments. Tan also cited leading-edge silicon, substrates, high-bandwidth memory and system memory as potential supply-chain constraints. Broadcom plans to begin using its Singapore fabrication facility for substrates in fiscal 2027. Kawwas said the company is also more than tripling year-over-year capacity at its indium phosphide factories for EML, CW laser and VCSEL products, with manufacturing operations in the U.S. and Singapore. Infrastructure software revenue increased 29% year over year to $8.8 billion, while annual recurring revenue grew 15%. The segment’s operating margin was approximately 84%, up 650 basis points from a year earlier. Tan said Broadcom introduced VMware Private AI Cloud, which is intended to provide enterprises with a platform to build and operate AI alongside existing applications while protecting data and supporting security and compliance requirements. He said VMware Cloud Foundation is also helping customers move workloads from public clouds to private clouds. Chief Financial Officer Amie Thuener said consolidated gross margin was 75% in the third quarter, down 210 basis points sequentially because AI semiconductors made up a larger share of sales. The company expects fourth-quarter gross margin of roughly 73%, reflecting the increasing mix of XPUs and their greater memory content. Thuener said management remains focused on operating margin rather than gross margin alone, given the company’s operating leverage. Broadcom ended the quarter with $24 billion in cash and $4.5 billion in inventory. It paid $3.1 billion in dividends and repaid $5.6 billion of long-term debt during the quarter, followed by another $1.5 billion of senior notes after quarter-end. The company expects fourth-quarter capital expenditures of $1.4 billion as it invests in semiconductor capacity. Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO) is a global technology company that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions for a broad range of markets. The company's semiconductor business provides components and systems for wired and wireless communications, enterprise and cloud storage, networking and broadband access, serving original equipment manufacturers, cloud service providers, telecommunications carriers and industrial customers worldwide. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, California, and operates globally with research, development and sales organizations across North America, Europe and Asia. On the semiconductor side, Broadcom's portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) solutions, radio-frequency and connectivity components, Ethernet switching and PHY devices, storage adapters and controllers, optical transceivers and other networking silicon. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Broadcom Q3 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for September 2026.

Broadcom AVGO) is scheduled to report results for its fiscal third quarter after-market hours on Wednesday, September 2, with Wall Street looking for another quarter of exceptional growth. This comes as custom AI accelerators, networking chips, and its VMware integration continue to drive the company's expansion. Broadcom has already set a high bar by forecasting another major acceleration in AI semiconductor revenue, although AVGO shares are up a modest 7% year to date but have posted impressive gains of more than 125% in the last two years. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The Zacks Consensus Estimate calls for Broadcom to post Q3 earnings of $3.22 per share, representing a remarkable 90% increase from EPS of $1.69 in the year-ago period. Quarterly revenue is projected at $29.47 billion, up nearly 85% from $15.95 billion in the prior-year quarter. Wall Street's sales forecast is still in line with management's guidance for roughly $29.4 billion in Q3 revenue, with Broadcom expecting adjusted EBITDA to equal approximately 68% of revenue, underscoring the company's tremendous profitability despite its rapid expansion. The expectations follow a record second quarter in which revenue climbed 48% to $22.18 billion, while adjusted EPS reached $2.44. Broadcom also generated an impressive $10.26 billion in free cash flow, or 46% of quarterly revenue. Notably, Broadcom has exceeded earnings expectations for 21 consecutive quarters with an average EPS surprise of 2.19% in its last four quarterly reports. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research More important than the headline numbers will be Broadcom's AI semiconductor business. After Q2 AI semiconductor revenue soared 143% to $10.8 billion, management expects the figure to reach approximately $16 billion in Q3, representing more than 200% YoY growth. That would also mark a nearly 50% sequential increase in just one quarter. Much of this growth is being fueled by Broadcom's custom AI accelerators, or X Application-Specific Purpose Units (XPUs), and its Ethernet networking portfolio, which allow hyperscalers to build increasingly large AI computing clusters. Broadcom's expanding list of partners is particularly noteworthy. The company has a multi-year partnership with Meta Platforms META) to support Meta’s MTIA custom AI chips, including a next-generation 2-nanometer accelerator. Broadcom is also working closely with OpenAI on custom AI accelerators, including a planned 10-gigawatt deployment and the recently unveiled Jalapeño Intelligence Processor. Furthermore, Broadcom has AI engagements with Alphabet's Google GOOGL) and Anthropic, giving it exposure to several of the world's largest AI infrastructure spenders. Broadcom's growth story extends beyond AI chips. VMware, which Broadcom acquired in 2023, provides virtualization and private-cloud software that allows enterprises to efficiently run and manage applications and computing workloads across their own data-center infrastructure. VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) is increasingly being positioned as a platform for running traditional applications alongside newer AI workloads and is providing a nice boost to Broadcom’s software revenue. To that point, Broadcom's Infrastructure Software revenue rose 9% YoY to $7.2 billion in Q2, while annual recurring revenue (ARR) increased 17%. Management expects a sharp acceleration in Q3, forecasting Infrastructure Software revenue to increase 31% to $8.9 billion. Broadcom cited particularly strong adoption of VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1, which enables enterprises to run AI inference and Kubernetes, which is a central platform for orchestrating containerized applications and traditional virtualized workloads across Nvidia NVDA), AMD AMD) and Intel INTC) computing platforms. That makes VMware an important complement to Broadcom's booming semiconductor business, adding a recurring, high-margin software revenue stream while also giving the company another way to benefit from growing enterprise AI infrastructure spending. Broadcom occupies an increasingly important position in the AI chip market, but competition remains fierce. Nvidia remains the dominant supplier of general-purpose AI accelerators and is also pushing aggressively into the networking market. Meanwhile, Marvell Technology MRVL) competes directly with Broadcom in custom AI silicon and high-speed data-center connectivity. Broadcom's advantage is that hyperscalers increasingly want customized chips optimized for their own AI workloads, rather than relying exclusively on more expensive general-purpose GPUs. Broadcom doesn't necessarily have to displace Nvidia for its AI business to thrive, as it can capture a growing portion of the enormous AI infrastructure market alongside Nvidia. Broadcom’s outlook remains encouraging, with Zacks projections calling for the chip giant’s annual earnings to increase 72% this year to $11.74 per share versus EPS of $6.82 in fiscal 2025. Plus, FY27 EPS is projected to spike another 63% to $19.10. This comes as Broadcom’s top line is expected to expand over 65% in FY26 and FY27, with next year's sales projections heading north of $175 billion. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Broadcom enters Wednesday's report with extremely high expectations, but its fundamentals continue to justify much of that optimism. AI semiconductor revenue is projected to exceed $16 billion in Q3 alone, VMware is strengthening the company's recurring software business, and partnerships with Meta, OpenAI, and other hyperscalers provide significant visibility into future AI infrastructure spending. That said, there is certainly execution risk when revenue and earnings are expected to rise at such extraordinary rates, making Broadcom's Q4 outlook especially important. Nevertheless, its expanding custom AI accelerator business and leadership in next-generation networking make Broadcom stock one of the most compelling ways to gain exposure to AI infrastructure growth. With AVGO trading at a reasonable 31X forward earnings multiple, Broadcom stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as EPS revisions for FY26 and FY27 are still sharply higher in the last 90 days. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Intel Corporation (INTC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) : Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Marvell Technology, Inc. (MRVL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Meta Platforms (META). Shares have added about 6% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500. Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Meta Platforms due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers. Meta Platforms reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of $6.18 per share, down 13.4% year over year and lagging the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 12.96%. Revenues climbed 28% year over year to $60.80 billion and surpassed the consensus mark by 0.98%.Strong advertising demand and improving monetization supported the top line. Ad impressions increased 14% year over year, while the average price per ad advanced 12%. However, sharply higher infrastructure, compensation and legal-related costs weighed on profitability. Family of Apps revenues, accounting for 99.3% of total revenues, increased 28% year over year to $60.37 billion. Advertising revenues rose 27% year over year to $59.36 billion, reflecting healthy engagement, user growth and ad-load optimization across Meta’s services.Family of Apps other revenues jumped 72.7% year over year to $1.01 billion, surpassing $1 billion for the first time. Growth was primarily driven by WhatsApp paid messaging and subscription revenues, providing Meta with additional monetization avenues beyond advertising.Reality Labs revenues increased 16.5% year over year to $431 million, driven by growth in AI glasses sales, partially offset by lower Quest headset revenues. Family daily active people averaged 3.60 billion in June, up 3% year over year. Instagram reached 2 billion daily active users, while Threads surpassed 500 million monthly active users. Global time spent on Instagram grew at a double-digit rate, supported by improvements to Feed and Reels recommendations.Meta also reported measurable gains from AI-powered advertising systems. Advances in user understanding, ad ranking and sequence learning generated an 8.3% increase in ad clicks and a 15.7% uplift in Facebook conversions. Advantage+ solutions reached an annual revenue run rate of more than $75 billion. Total costs and expenses surged 55% year over year to $42.03 billion. The increase included $2.40 billion in charges related to legal proceedings and $1.18 billion in severance expenses tied to the May 2026 headcount reduction.Operating income declined 8.2% year over year to $18.78 billion, while the operating margin contracted to 31% from 43% in the year-ago quarter. Excluding legal charges and severance expenses, META said operating income would have increased 9% year over year. Higher employee compensation, depreciation, data center operating costs, cloud spending and third-party AI token costs remained major expense drivers.Family of Apps operating income fell 6.3% year over year to $23.39 billion. The segment continued to generate substantial profits, but elevated investment levels more than offset the benefit of strong revenue growth during the quarter.Reality Labs segment operating loss widened to $4.62 billion from $4.53 billion, reflecting Meta’s continued spending on augmented and virtual reality products. Cash flow from operating activities totaled $31.86 billion. Capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, nearly doubled to $31.08 billion from $17.01 billion, leaving free cash flow of $784 million.Meta ended the second quarter of 2026 with $90.26 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. Long-term debt stood at $83.66 billion. The company issued nearly $25 billion of long-term debt during the reported quarter as it expanded the mix of capital used to fund long-duration infrastructure projects. For the third quarter of 2026, Meta expects revenues between $61 billion and $64 billion. The forecast assumes foreign currency will create an approximately 1% headwind to year-over-year revenue growth.The company raised the lower end of its 2026 expense outlook and now expects total expenses of $165 billion to $169 billion. Meta continues to expect 2026 operating income to exceed the 2025 level and projects a tax rate of 15-17% for the remaining quarters.Meta narrowed its capital expenditure forecast to $130 billion-$145 billion from $125 billion-$145 billion. Since the earnings release, investors have witnessed a downward trend in estimates review. At this time, Meta Platforms has a nice Growth Score of B, though it is lagging a lot on the Momentum Score front with an F. However, the stock was allocated a grade of C on the value side, putting it in the middle 20% for this investment strategy. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of C. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions indicates a downward shift. Interestingly, Meta Platforms has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months. Meta Platforms belongs to the Zacks Internet - Software industry. Another stock from the same industry, Calix (CALX), has gained 7.1% over the past month. More than a month has passed since the company reported results for the quarter ended June 2026. Calix reported revenues of $293.33 million in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +21.3%. EPS of $0.47 for the same period compares with $0.33 a year ago. Calix is expected to post earnings of $0.42 per share for the current quarter, representing a year-over-year change of -4.6%. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged. The overall direction and magnitude of estimate revisions translate into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for Calix. Also, the stock has a VGM Score of B. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) : Free Stock Analysis Report Calix, Inc (CALX) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) provides specialized software solutions that help mobile application developers to market their digital products, optimize advertising inventory through real-time competitive auctions, and securely analyze user data. While facing legal inquiries from a shareholder rights firm and simultaneously releasing a mobile shopping insights report, it generated an operating margin of 78% for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) primarily generates its revenue by offering a global suite of digital communication applications and social networks where everyday users share visual media, direct messages, and interactive content. It agreed to a regulatory settlement regarding user safety design changes and announced a strategic data center venture, while reporting an operating margin of 31% for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. Revenue remains essential for investors to continually evaluate because it reveals the total amount of money a business collects from its commercial activities before any operating expenses, corporate taxes, or other financial obligations are deducted. This metric helps investors measure a company's overall size, market footprint, and long-term trajectory. Data source: Company filings. Data as of Aug. 26, 2026. AppLovin and Meta Platforms are almost entirely dependent on digital advertising for income. Examining revenue trends between them reveal interesting insights about how effectively they are capturing this ad spend. The advertising industry experiences seasonal ebbs and flows. Typically, the fourth quarter represents the largest in terms of revenue for digital media companies because of the holiday shopping season. Yet in AppLovin's case, it has defied this trend in recent quarters. The company's Q1 revenue in 2026 was higher than Q4. Meanwhile, Meta displayed the usual pattern of Q1 sales dropping after the Q4 spike. Not only did AppLovin's revenue accelerate in Q1, it continued to grow in Q2, delivering a streak of five consecutive quarters of sales growth. The company expects to maintain this trend in Q3 with a forecast for revenue to come in around $2.1 billion. As the leader in social media, Meta captures the lion's share of ad spending in that market. It's the reason why the company continues to see year-over-year sales growth. It recently settled a social media addiction lawsuit and implemented controls to protect youth using its platforms. Meta's big bet on the artificial intelligence boom led to massive capital expenditures, but the company stated AI is accelerating its business growth and opening doors to new revenue opportunities. Before you buy stock in AppLovin, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and AppLovin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $439,308!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,286,826!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 964% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 212% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 27, 2026. Robert Izquierdo has positions in Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. AppLovin vs. Meta Platforms: Analyzing Quarterly Revenue Trajectories Between These High-Growth Digital Media Companies was originally published by The Motley Fool

Slipped 0.04% to 7,675, the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) drifted lower alongside a 0.08% decline to 26,130 for the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC), while a 0.21% drop to 53,464 for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES:^DJI) snapped its three-day winning streak. Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) shares soared 36% after the retailer raised its full-year guidance on a second-quarter earnings beat. Elsewhere, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) saw volatile trading after settling a legal dispute for 17 billion. In similar, but unrelated news, Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) saw its shares decline 9% as Pennsylvania's Attorney General filed a lawsuit against the company due to its addictive features and child safety concerns -- much like Meta's settlement laid out. Meta's $17 billion settlement with dozens of states over its child safety concerns stole the headlines today, but its stock was largely flat, as the market had already somewhat anticipated this possibility. Meta agreed to certain terms for users under 18 across both Facebook and Instagram, including: a default two-hour max a six-hour night-time block limits on like counts more robust age checks removal of users under 13 parental requirement to remove time-related maxes higher response rates on harmful content review One interesting wrinkle in the settlement is that if TikTok and YouTube join in on the agreement, Meta's teenage time limit would drop to one hour. The other major headline today is that Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) is reporting earnings after the bell right now. Currently, shares are up 5% as of 5:45 p.m. ET after the semiconductor behemoth reported sales and EPS growth of 106% and 128%, respectively. Nvidia also raised its sales guidance for the third quarter to 89% growth. Speaking to the power of these incredible results, CEO and founder Jensen Huang explained, "The AI infrastructure build-out is at full steam. Vera Rubin, now in full production, was built to power exactly this moment." Before you buy stock in Invesco QQQ Trust, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Invesco QQQ Trust wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $443,461!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,307,633!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 973% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 213% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 26, 2026. Josh Kohn-Lindquist has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Abercrombie & Fitch. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Stock Market Today, Aug. 26: Stocks Edge Lower As Market Digests Meta Ruling and Awaits Nvidia's Earnings was originally published by The Motley Fool

Wall Street finished Wednesday with little movement as investors largely stayed on the sidelines ahead of a major round of technology earnings, led by Nvidia after the closing bell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 114 points, or 0.2%, to 53,464. The S&P 500 slipped 2 points to 7,676, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 21 points, or 0.1%, to close at 26,130. It was a quiet session for the major indexes, with investors reluctant to make big moves ahead of Nvidia’s quarterly results. The chipmaker remains a key bellwether for the artificial intelligence trade, and its earnings and outlook could set the tone for technology stocks and the broader market in the days ahead. Nvidia is joined by Salesforce, CrowdStrike, Okta and HP among the notable companies reporting after the bell. The earnings calendar stays busy Thursday morning, with Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Burlington Stores and Best Buy among the companies scheduled to report. HaemaLogiX reported that the first patient in its Phase 1 KOALA trial experienced no serious adverse events after receiving KMCAR T-cell therapy for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Vivace Therapeutics appointed Craig Gibbs as President and CEO as it prepares to advance its lead cancer candidate VT3989 into a pivotal Phase 3 trial. Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) shares jumped about 13% after the apparel retailer reported second-quarter earnings well above expectations and raised its full-year outlook. Silver Bullet Mines shifted its near-term processing focus to Arizona’s Columbia and Gold Queen Complex to meet a major supply agreement for up to 36,000 tons of material annually. Millennial Potash Corp (TSX-V:MLP, OTCQB:MLPNF, FRA:XOD) completed a drillhole at its Banio Potash Project in Gabon that intersected approximately 80 metres of potash mineralization and expanded the known footprint beyond the current resource area. Bronco Resources reported rock sampling results of up to 55 grams per tonne gold and 149 grams per tonne silver from the Kodiak Zone Extension at its Placer Mountain Gold Project. SAP faces concerns over its slower-than-expected AI monetization, prompting UBS to downgrade the software giant as its rollout of AI agents lags ambitious targets. Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META, XETRA:FB2A, SIX:FB) has agreed to pay up to $16.68 billion to settle claims from 29 US states alleging that Instagram and Facebook harmed children, misled users about safety and improperly collected data from users under 13. J M Smucker Co (NYSE:SJM) raised its full-year profit and sales outlook after first-quarter earnings and revenue comfortably exceeded Wall Street expectations. Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) surged after reporting second-quarter earnings well above expectations and raising its full-year outlook. Williams-Sonoma topped second-quarter expectations as comparable brand revenue rose 6.2%, prompting the home furnishings retailer to raise its full-year outlook. Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA, XETRA:NVD) (Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA, XETRA:NVD), Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA, XETRA:NVD)) is expected to top its own guidance again on Wednesday even as supply constraints, not demand, increasingly define the story. The first order of business is the number itself, and most signs point to another beat. Nvidia guided for second-quarter revenue of $91 billion, plus or minus 2%, with gross margins of about 75%, implying earnings per share of roughly $2.03. Consensus sits at $92 billion and $2.09. Over the last three quarters, Nvidia has handily exceeded its own guidance. Most analysts expect a similar beat this time, with management likely to meet or top the consensus October guide of $103.9 billion. Shares of Nvidia are down 1.1% on Wednesday but have gained over 12% year to date. Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META, XETRA:FB2A, SIX:FB) has agreed to pay up to $16.68 billion to settle claims from 29 US states that Instagram and Facebook harmed children, misled users about safety and improperly collected data from users under 13, according to court filings. The settlement ends a federal trial in California and includes $2.2 billion payable to California alone, the filing showed. It avoids penalties the states had sought that could have reached roughly $200 billion, while Meta had estimated its worst-case exposure at up to $1.4 trillion. As part of the deal, Meta committed to spending $18 billion over 10 years on youth online safety initiatives. For users under 18, the company agreed to a default two-hour daily limit on Instagram and Facebook use and a nighttime block from midnight to 6 am., with parental approval required to lift either restriction. Other measures include an option for a non-personalized feed, the ability to hide like and reaction counts, stronger age verification and removal of users under 13, additional parental controls, and a commitment to respond to 90% of reports of potentially harmful content within six hours. Inflation remains stubbornly high, but economists say the data is unlikely to push the Federal Reserve toward another interest rate hike this year. Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for LPL Financial, said consumers are still benefiting from income growth that continues to outpace inflation, although services prices remain elevated. “For policymakers, the balance of risks still tilts toward inflation,” he said. :If geopolitical tensions ease in the near term, core inflation could fall below 3%, giving investors a reason for optimism.” Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group, described inflation as “annoyingly sticky” but said it is not severe enough to prompt further Fed tightening. “Given that the methodology used to calculate PCE will change next month, it’s highly likely PCE trends lower soon,” he added. Wall Street opened with a cautious tone on Wednesday, with the major indexes hovering near the flatline as investors digested a slightly hotter-than-expected inflation report and looked ahead to Nvidia’s closely watched earnings after the closing bell. The Dow Jones was down 58 points, or 0.1%, at 53,519, while the Nasdaq slipped 41 points, or 0.2%, to 26,110. The S&P 500 was essentially unchanged at 7,679. The latest PCE inflation data gave investors little reason to relax about price pressures. Headline PCE rose 0.2% month over month, above expectations for a 0.1% increase, while the annual rate came in at 3.7%, slightly above the 3.6% forecast. Core PCE matched estimates, rising 0.2% on the month and 3.3% from a year earlier. Consumer spending rose 0.2%, beating expectations for a 0.1% increase, while personal income climbed 0.4%, also ahead of forecasts. Real personal consumption was flat. With inflation still running above the Fed’s comfort zone, investors are keeping a close eye on what the data could mean for the path of interest rates. The other major focus is Nvidia, which reports after the bell. Expectations are high for the AI chip giant, although options markets are signaling investors may be expecting a relatively muted post-earnings reaction. Nvidia’s results will be closely watched for fresh clues on the durability of AI spending and the broader tech rally. It is also a busy evening for earnings, with Salesforce, Synopsys, CrowdStrike and HP all due to report. Meanwhile, Intuit is under pressure after its outlook failed to impress investors. Elsewhere, oil prices are moving lower after Oman and Iran discussed a possible joint temporary navigational corridor through the Strait of Hormuz, easing some concerns about supply disruptions and broader tensions in the region. For now, Wall Street appears to be in wait-and-see mode, with sticky inflation keeping investors cautious and Nvidia’s earnings looming as the next big potential market catalyst. US stock futures went nowhere on Wednesday morning, which tells you plenty about how much is riding on the next 12 hours. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 sat close to flat, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.2% after Tuesday's broad gains. First comes the inflation test at 8.30 am ET. Economists expect core personal consumption expenditures (PCE), the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of price growth, to hold at 3.3%. Anything hotter would land awkwardly, with the bond market already jumpy and Fed chairman Kevin Warsh due to speak at this week's Jackson Hole gathering of policymakers. Then comes Nvidia after the closing bell, now the quarterly health check for the entire artificial intelligence trade. Expectations are high, and investors increasingly want evidence that the vast sums being spent on AI infrastructure are earning a return. One thing to watch beyond the graphics chips: Nvidia's networking arm generated nearly $15 billion last quarter, against roughly $3 billion a quarter two years ago, and analysts expect close to $17 billion this time. Networking grew nearly 200% year on year last quarter, against 77% for compute. CrowdStrike, Williams-Sonoma, Okta and Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) also report on Wednesday. Flat futures, then, but hardly a quiet day. One flag from the source copy: it says a stalled or reaccelerating PCE would pressure the Fed "to raise rates". I've left that framing out, as it reads as an overstatement of where the debate sits. Say if you want it back in.

As of 11:47 AM ET, the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) is up 0.01% to 7,678, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) has fallen 0.12% to 26,117, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES:^DJI) is trading 0.18% lower at 53,480 as traders react to sticky inflation data. Gold is down 0.61% to $4,608.72, while the 10-Year Treasury yield gained 0.017 to 4.67%. Energy and industrial stocks lead the sector gainers, and basic materials and healthcare trail. Meta Platforms whipsawed this morning following a $17 billion legal settlement. The stock initially popped before paring gains as markets digested the news. Abercrombie & Fitch soared an eye-watering 40% after beating earnings estimates and raising its full-year guidance. Meanwhile, Alibaba Group Holding erased some losses after plunging on news of a $10 billion share placement to fund artificial intelligence (AI) development. Today's July Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation data was slightly higher than expected, which weighed on morning trading. Prices rose 3.7% in the 12 months to July, a touch above analyst estimates. Markets are particularly sensitive to anything that might make the Federal Reserve more likely to raise interest rates, as this can slow equity growth, and stubborn inflation falls under that category. Today's biggest news hasn't happened yet: Traders are waiting for after-hours results from Nvidia, which could tell investors more about the sustainability of the AI boom and whether the massive capital outlay is justified. The company, often viewed as a bellwether for the whole AI ecosystem, may post over $100 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time, but that may not be enough to ease investor jitters. Before you buy stock in Invesco QQQ Trust, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Invesco QQQ Trust wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $443,461!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,307,633!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 973% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 213% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 26, 2026. Emma Newbery has positions in CrowdStrike and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends CrowdStrike, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, and Salesforce. The Motley Fool recommends Abercrombie & Fitch and Alibaba Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Stock Market Midday, Aug. 26: Markets Muted as Investors Await Nvidia Earnings was originally published by The Motley Fool

NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / August 26, 2026 / Emerging Growth Research today announced the release of its Fiscal Q1 2027 Quarterly Update on Virtuix Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:VTIX), reiterating its Buy-Emerging rating and 12-month price target of $9.00 per share, representing approximately 644% potential upside from the Company's August 25, 2026 closing price of $1.21. The quarterly update highlights what Emerging Growth Research believes is the beginning of an important growth inflection for Virtuix following a transformational fiscal 2026. While fiscal Q1 2027 revenue was technically down year-over-year due primarily to the comparison against a large legacy preorder backlog in the prior-year period, revenue of $0.8 million substantially exceeded the firm's $0.5 million estimate. The report also points to accelerating new orders following Virtuix's June 2026 partnership with Meta, continued expansion of its defense opportunity, and significant longer-term revenue potential. Emerging Growth Research believes Virtuix is transitioning into a growth company, supported by its market-leading, patent-protected, AI-driven technology platform and multi-market strategy spanning consumer virtual reality, defense, robotics, space, and healthcare. The firm's bullish outlook is further supported by the Company's recurring software and gaming revenue opportunities, new Meta distribution channel, U.S. defense initiatives, and potential strategic defense acquisitions. Key Highlights from the Quarterly Update • Fiscal Q1 2027 Revenue Exceeded Expectations Virtuix reported fiscal Q1 2027 revenue of approximately $0.8 million, compared with $1.0 million in the prior-year period. Although revenue declined 26% year-over-year, Emerging Growth Research notes that the comparison was affected by the prior year's large legacy preorder backlog. Importantly, the latest quarter reflected new orders and revenue from customers following the Company's Meta partnership and exceeded the firm's $0.5 million estimate. New orders increased approximately 72% year-over-year during the quarter and approximately 150% since the June 2026 launch of the Meta partnership, providing evidence that consumer demand is gaining momentum heading into the holiday sales season. • Meta Partnership Provides Significant Consumer Market Access Virtuix's partnership with Meta provides access to approximately 20 million Meta Quest headset users, including approximately 6 million active users. Omni One is now featured on Meta's website, creating a substantially broader distribution channel for Virtuix's flagship platform. Emerging Growth Research believes this relationship could become an important catalyst for consumer adoption, with Virtuix also expanding its presence in Europe and in Canada through an online presence. • Defense Opportunity Continues to Expand Virtuix continues to advance its AI-powered Virtual Terrain Walk platform for national defense applications. The Company was selected by the U.S. Air Force SBIR program for Phase 1 funding, while the Marines, Army, and Navy are also beginning to use Omni One for various applications. In addition, management is evaluating potential defense acquisitions in the approximately $10 million to $50 million revenue range, which Emerging Growth Research believes could accelerate Virtuix's penetration of the government contracting market and potentially create transformational growth opportunities. • Gross Margin Improved Significantly Gross profit increased to approximately $0.23 million in fiscal Q1 2027 from $0.18 million in fiscal Q1 2026, while gross margin expanded from 17% to approximately 30%. Although operating expenses increased as Virtuix absorbs the costs associated with being a newly public company, operating losses improved sequentially from fiscal Q4 2026. Adjusted EBITDA also improved sequentially, while EPS improved to $(0.22) from $(0.30) in the prior quarter. • Potential "Hockey Stick" Revenue Growth Ahead Emerging Growth Research now estimates approximately 19% revenue growth in fiscal 2027, followed by approximately 275% growth in fiscal 2028, with the potential for substantially higher growth thereafter as consumer adoption accelerates and defense opportunities begin contributing more meaningfully. The firm believes Virtuix could reach a significant revenue inflection point beginning in calendar 2027 and that longer-term estimates may prove conservative if the Company successfully executes across its consumer and defense opportunities. • Shares Remain Significantly Undervalued Despite the Company's growth opportunities, Emerging Growth Research believes VTIX shares continue to trade at a substantial valuation discount. Based on its valuation analysis, the firm's 2028E peer Price/Sales methodology produces a $6.45 per share valuation, while its discounted cash flow analysis produces an $11.47 per share valuation. The average of the two methodologies is approximately $8.96 per share, which the firm rounds to its $9.00 price target. At the August 25, 2026 closing price of $1.21, Emerging Growth Research believes VTIX shares reflect a significant discount to the Company's potential future growth and intrinsic value. • Near-Term Risks Remain The report identifies several risks, including execution of consumer adoption and growth initiatives, uncertainty surrounding defense contracting, expansion into new robotics, space and healthcare applications, geopolitical and tariff exposure related to manufacturing and international expansion, and potential additional share supply following the expiration of the Company's post-IPO lockup period. The report also notes that additional financing may ultimately be required as Virtuix continues investing in higher SG&A expenses, although debt and warrants are expected to convert or expire during calendar 2026. Emerging Growth Research believes these risks are outweighed by Virtuix's expanding consumer and defense opportunities, proprietary technology, new Meta distribution relationship, and potential for substantial revenue growth beginning in fiscal 2027 and accelerating thereafter. The report concludes that Virtuix's combination of AI-driven extended reality technology, consumer VR adoption, defense applications, recurring software and gaming revenue, and potential strategic M&A creates a compelling long-term growth opportunity. Emerging Growth Research reiterates its Buy-Emerging rating and $9.00 price target. For a copy of the full Fiscal Q1 2027 Quarterly Update, please visit: https://storage.googleapis.com/accesswire/media/1212036/vtixq1fy27-quarerly-update-082626.pdf or https://emerginggrowth.com/profile/vtix/ (Quarterly Update available on the Company profile page on the right as you scroll down) About Virtuix Holdings Inc. Virtuix Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:VTIX) is a leading manufacturer of AI-driven, full-body simulation systems for consumer, enterprise, and defense markets. The Company's premier portfolio of "Omni" omni-directional treadmills enables players to walk and run in 360 degrees without boundaries inside AI-generated worlds. With a focus on immersive entertainment, defense training, and enterprise applications, Virtuix continues to push the boundaries of full-body XR and AI-driven immersive experiences for users worldwide. For more information, please visit www.Virtuix.com. About Emerging Growth Research Emerging Growth Research is an independent equity research firm focused on providing institutional-quality analysis on emerging and growth-stage companies. Through its comprehensive research platform, Emerging Growth Research delivers objective investment analysis designed to enhance transparency, improve investor understanding, and broaden market awareness. The firm provides ongoing research coverage for companies presenting on the Emerging Growth Conference platform. Contact:Emerging Growth [email protected] Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning business operations, financial performance, revenue projections, defense contracting opportunities, merger and acquisition prospects, valuation estimates, and future growth expectations. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied. Important risk factors include, but are not limited to, consumer adoption rates, defense contract timing and procurement delays, geopolitical and tariff exposure, potential share dilution, the expiration of the IPO lock-up period, and the Company's ability to successfully execute its growth strategy across both consumer and defense markets. SOURCE: Virtuix Holdings Inc. View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire