| Written by Jennifer Ryan Woods 
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) surged Wednesday after the retailer delivered another quarter of better-than-expected earnings and extended its streak of sales growth to 14 consecutive quarters. Shares of the apparel and accessories retailer, whose core brands include Abercrombie and Hollister, jumped about 12% following the report, helping revive momentum in a stock that has been under heavy pressure in recent months. Abercrombie Extends Winning StreakAbercrombie reported first-quarter earnings of $1.47 per share, down from $1.59 a year earlier, though the result handily topped Wall Street expectations for $1.26 per share. Revenue rose 1.5% year over year to $1.1 billion, but was roughly $8.2 million short of analysts’ estimates. Operating margin was 8% of sales, above the company’s outlook of around 7%. Results were supported by strength in the Americas, where sales rose 3%, and the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, which posted 24% growth. The company saw weakness in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), however, as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East weighed on consumer demand. In terms of brand performance, Abercrombie brands posted 3% year-over-year net sales growth, while Hollister reported flat net sales and a 2% decline in comparable sales. The company also said it completed the implementation of its upgraded merchandising enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, helping to ease investor concerns about further disruptions tied to the transition. Outlook Remains Intact Despite Middle East HeadwindsAbercrombie issued a second-quarter outlook and reiterated its full-year guidance. For the second quarter, the company said it anticipates net sales growth of 2% to 4%, with net income per diluted share of $1.80 to $2. Operating margin is expected to be around 10%. For the full year, Abercrombie continues to expect net sales growth of 3% to 5%, earnings per diluted share of $10.20 to $11, and operating margin between 12% and 12.5%. The company also continues to expect to repurchase around $450 million of shares. The retailer also issued an improved outlook on tariffs, saying it now expects an unfavorable impact of roughly 20 basis points, an improvement from its prior forecast of around 70 basis points. During the earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Robert Ball said, “We're entering the middle of 2026 with clear priorities, healthy brands, and a strong playbook. We're operating with discipline and flexibility in a mixed environment, and we're monitoring our markets, particularly the Middle East, while remaining nimble and tight with inventory.” He added, " This is the same model we've consistently used to successfully manage through a wide range of environments, and we're confident in our ability to deliver another year of growth and profitability." Q1 Earnings Help Restore Momentum After Sharp PullbackThe last six months have been volatile for Abercrombie stock. Shares surged at the end of November after the company delivered better-than-expected third-quarter results, driving the stock from around $66 ahead of the report to a 52-week high above $133 by Jan. 9. Momentum reversed course shortly afterward, however, after the company tweaked its full-year outlook, indicating net sales growth and operating margin would likely come in at the lower end of its prior forecast. The update caused shares to plunge nearly 18%. The stock came under pressure again after the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report in early March. Although Abercrombie reported record fiscal 2025 results with better-than-expected earnings and year-over-year revenue growth, investors seemed to focus on concerns about tariff pressures and potential disruptions tied to the ERP transition. Since then, shares have continued to trend lower, falling nearly 15% over the past three months. Year to date, the stock is down more than 30%, despite the May 27 jump. Despite the recent pressure, however, shares of Abercrombie have still delivered strong longer-term gains, rising about 10% over the past year and 90% over the last five years. Analysts See Significant Upside PotentialWall Street remains bullish on Abercrombie, which currently carries a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on eight Buy ratings and five Holds. The average analyst price target of $116 implies roughly 40% upside from its recent price of just under $84. Even the lowest price target of $92 suggests shares may still have room to run, while the highest target of $149 points to significant additional upside potential. The recent pullback may also make Abercrombie’s valuation look increasingly attractive to investors. With a price-to-earnings ratio below 8, the stock is trading at a substantial discount to the broader retail industry, which has an average P/E ratio of around 17.5. Abercrombie also trades at a lower multiple than several key competitors, including American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO), which has a P/E ratio of 16, Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) at 15, and Gap Inc. (NYSE: GAP), which trades at a P/E ratio above 11. Abercrombie continues to show resilience despite facing some ongoing headwinds. With Wall Street still largely bullish and the stock trading at a discounted valuation relative to peers, investors may increasingly view the recent pullback as a potential buying opportunity.  Read This Story Online |
The Wall Street Journal is already raising the alarm about a potential market crash, and Weiss Ratings research points to the first half of 2026 as a particularly rough stretch for certain holdings.
Some of America's most popular stocks could take serious damage as a radical market shift plays out. Analysts at Weiss Ratings have identified five names you may want to remove from your portfolio before this unfolds.
If any of these are in your portfolio, now is the time to review your positions. See the 5 stocks to avoid
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| Written by Jeffrey Neal Johnson 
The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution isn't being built on silicon alone; it's being built on the electric grid. As hyperscale cloud providers and AI developers race to deploy next-generation computing, they are colliding with a hard physical limit: power. The defining constraint for AI expansion is no longer the availability of advanced chips, but access to reliable and scalable energy. Utility interconnection queues for new data center projects now stretch for five to seven years, creating a critical bottleneck that threatens to throttle the industry's growth. This structural power deficit is creating a new class of investment opportunities. The market is beginning to place a steep premium on companies that control large-scale, shovel-ready energy real estate. These are the digital infrastructure operators who had the foresight to lock down gigawatt-scale grid connections, transforming what were once liabilities into the most valuable assets in the new digital economy. AI's Thirst for Power Creates a New Asset ClassOne operator that appears to have strategically positioned itself directly in the path of this demand is TeraWulf Inc. (NASDAQ: WULF). The digital infrastructure specialist recently catalyzed a market repricing after announcing the acquisition of the Muskie Data Campus in Eastern Kentucky. This is not just another land purchase; it's a hyperscale development site with the potential to deliver over 1 gigawatt of high-performance computing capacity. The critical details of the deal lie in the GW figure and the execution. TeraWulf secured concurrent transmission and energy service agreements with Kentucky Power. A dedicated 345 kV substation connected to a robust 765 kV transmission network is already planned. This move effectively allows TeraWulf to bypass the multi-year gridlock that nearly every other data center developer in the country faces, giving it a clear, accelerated path to power delivery. The initial 500 megawatts are slated to begin ramping up in the second half of 2028. This acquisition follows TeraWulf's February 2026 purchase of a 250-acre site in Hawesville, Kentucky. Together, these actions reveal a deliberate agglomeration strategy focused on cornering utility-scale power access in a favorable energy market. Management is executing a pivot from its origins as a pure-play Bitcoin miner to becoming a foundational power infrastructure provider for the AI industry. Understanding TeraWulf's Real RevenueA surface-level glance at TeraWulf's recent financials could deter many investors. TeraWulf reported a significant earnings miss for Q1 2026, posting an EPS of -$1.01. A deeper look into TeraWulf's SEC filings, however, reveals that this headline number was heavily distorted by non-cash accounting charges. The quarterly results included a $216.3 million loss on the fair value of warrants and another $101.4 million in stock-based compensation. When these items are stripped out, the underlying operational picture becomes much clearer. More importantly, the filings show that TeraWulf is already successfully monetizing its strategic shift. TeraWulf booked $21 million in high-performance computing lease revenue during the first quarter, providing tangible proof that its infrastructure is in demand and that the pivot to AI hosting is an active, cash-generating business, not a future promise. This early revenue validates TeraWulf's business model well before the massive Muskie campus comes online. A Volatile Tug-of-War Is BrewingThis strategic transformation has created a fascinating dynamic in TeraWulf's stock. On one side, there is a significant block of skeptical investors. Short interest has swelled to 105.3 million shares, representing over 25% of the available float. This level of bearish sentiment suggests a portion of the market remains unconvinced that TeraWulf can successfully finance and execute its ambitious gigawatt-scale buildout, especially given its leveraged balance sheet. On the other side, institutional capital is flowing in. Recent filings show major asset managers like Vanguard and Oppenheimer have been aggressively accumulating shares. This creates a classic tug-of-war between short-sellers betting against TeraWulf's execution and institutional investors making a long-term bet on the intrinsic value of its power assets. With average daily trading volume increasing, the days-to-cover ratio for short-sellers now sits at a tight 3.26 days. This creates a volatile setup in which sustained positive momentum or a new catalyst could trigger a short squeeze. Such an event would force bears to cover their positions by buying back stock, potentially accelerating a sharp upward price movement. Positioning for the Power Play: What's Next for TeraWulf?TeraWulf's trajectory appears to be a clear case of a company skating to where the puck is going. The core investment thesis is no longer about Bitcoin's price, but about the escalating value of power-rich real estate in an energy-starved AI landscape. TeraWulf's ability to secure large-scale grid interconnections years ahead of competitors presents a distinct strategic advantage. Potential risks, however, should not be overlooked. The execution and financing of a project of this magnitude are significant hurdles. The buildout of the Muskie campus will be capital-intensive, and the first phase of revenue is still several years away. This long-term timeline requires patience and a tolerance for potential volatility and share dilution, as TeraWulf is likely to raise capital to fund its expansion. For investors with a higher risk tolerance, TeraWulf could represent a compelling, albeit speculative, way to gain exposure to the foundational infrastructure of the AI revolution. More cautious investors may prefer to add TeraWulf to a watchlist, monitoring its progress on securing financing and hitting key construction milestones for the Muskie campus before establishing a position. Read This Story Online |
When the SpaceX IPO launches, most retail investors will be locked out. The banks, funds, and insiders get in early - while everyone else waits on the sidelines.
But one small infrastructure supplier - a critical piece Musk can't scale the Colossus network without - is still trading well under institutional radar. A new briefing reveals the name and ticker at no cost. Get the SpaceX infrastructure stock name and ticker here
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| Written by Sam Quirke 
Shares of Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) are trading around $270 this week, as they continue to consolidate just below the all-time high set earlier this month following a strong earnings report. All told, the stock is up more than 30% in less than two months, a run that has rewarded investors who held through a difficult start to the year. Much of that momentum has been driven by growing conviction around Amazon's AI ambitions and the early signs that they are beginning to pay off. A recent announcement around its plans for its Alexa assistant may be the clearest signal yet of what that actually looks like in practice. It was recently reported that Amazon officially retired its generative-AI shopping assistant, better known as Rufus, and launched Alexa for Shopping. This is a unified AI assistant that essentially merges Rufus's product knowledge and Amazon shopping history with the broader capabilities of its Alexa platform. The goal, in Amazon's own words, is to build “the world’s best, most personalized AI assistant for shopping.” For investors, though, the more important question isn't whether the product delivers on that promise in isolation. It's what this move says about the broader business's direction. What Alexa for Shopping Actually DoesThe core logic behind the new product is simple. Until now, Rufus and Alexa operated as entirely separate consumer experiences that didn't share memory or context. An Amazon customer could research a purchase on an Alexa device and then have to start the whole process over with Rufus when they actually started shopping on Amazon. Alexa for Shopping fixes that by creating a continuous and highly personalized thread that follows the customer across devices, apps, and the website. What it means in practical terms is that for the first time, a shopper can brainstorm a purchase with Alexa on their Echo, set a price alert in the app, and complete the transaction by voice when the price is right. It's a small change in theory, but in practice, it closes the loop on a shopping experience that has been surprisingly fragmented for longer than it probably needed to be. The Competitive Pressure That Forced Amazon's HandThis change was not made lightly, especially given that Rufus was only launched in 2024. However, the past few months have seen the likes of ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and Perplexity roll out AI shopping features, each posing a serious threat to Amazon's position as the default starting point for shoppers' research. That means the merger of Rufus and Alexa carries some strategic weight, as it essentially forms a quick, robust moat around its e-commerce business. As Amazon pointed out recently, these rival tools will always struggle to deliver a better shopping experience because they are forced, by default, to scrape web results, rather than pull real-time product, pricing, inventory, and shopper data directly. That's a gap that's very hard to close from the outside, and it should serve as a tailwind to Amazon’s e-commerce business in the coming quarters. AWS Is Still the Main Engine for GrowthAll that being said, while the Alexa for Shopping launch makes for some compelling reading, the bigger driver of investor sentiment right now, and ultimately what will drive the stock in the near-term, is what's happening at AWS. Amazon stopped being valued simply as an e-commerce company many years ago, and the shift toward viewing it as one of the key infrastructure providers powering the AI boom is still gathering pace. The company's massive capital expenditure plans, which spooked investors earlier this year, are increasingly being read as strategic conviction rather than reckless spending. The payoff is beginning to emerge, seen through AWS's growth trajectory updates and a substantial contracted backlog that bodes well for the coming years. Recent commentary from analysts suggests AWS is still in the early stages of a reacceleration, as additional capacity comes online and long-term AI partnerships begin to deliver revenue. This is ultimately the real reason the stock is up more than 30% in just a few weeks, and why it could keep gaining through the coming months. The Bull Case Keeps Getting StrongerStill, the Alexa for Shopping update is a nice addition to the broader tailwinds. Put all of it together, and the bull case for further gains rests firmly on a company that’s executing well across cloud, retail, and AI simultaneously. And in an ideal world, that’s exactly as it should be. Wells Fargo and TD Cowen's recently updated price targets of $312 and $350, respectively, reflect the stock’s potential, and this strategic pivot to Alexa for Shopping is the kind of move that reinforces that upside rather than creating it. For a company that has already reshaped how the world shops once before, this latest ambition to do it again through AI should get investors excited. Read This Story Online |
Goldman Sachs just revealed that 40% of AI data centers will be crippled by electricity shortages by 2027 - not chips, not funding, but power. Demand is growing 15% per year and the grid can't keep up.
One small company makes the exact equipment these data centers need. They're sitting on $1.5 billion in orders, their hardware is already inside Musk's Colossus, and the stock still trades like a name nobody's heard of. Analyst Dylan Jovine is releasing the ticker for free. See the stock positioned to solve AI's biggest power crisis
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