BUSINESS

From near misses in Phoenix to personal loss in the offseason, Denny Hamlin is navigating his final years in NASCAR, with 2027 likely his last full-time campaign.

Morgan Stanley just published a deep-dive note on Palantir Technologies (PLTR), and the message for investors is more nuanced than the rating suggests. The firm is not bullish enough to upgrade. But it is more bullish than it was. That gap is exactly what investors need to understand.Analysts Sanjit Singh, Keith Weiss, and Oscar Saavedra maintain their equal-weight rating and $205 price target on PLTR. With shares closing at $155.68 on March 19, that target represents roughly 30% upside. And yet the firm is holding back. The reason comes down to one number: 64.The valuation problem Morgan Stanley cannot ignorePalantir (PLTR) is currently trading at 64 times its 2027 free cash flow estimate and 38 times 2027 sales. Those are not typos. They reflect a market that has already priced in years of flawless execution.The company delivered in Q4. Revenue grew 70% year over year, marking 10 consecutive quarters of accelerating growth. Management issued fiscal year 2026 revenue guidance of 61% growth, with operating margins expanding to 57.5%. By almost any measure, those are exceptional results. And yet shares barely moved after earnings.That reaction tells investors something important. Morgan Stanley notes that even stronger estimate outperformance may be needed for shares to move materially higher in the near term. Blockbuster quarters are already expected. Anything short of that risks multiple contraction.More Palantir Palantir CEO delivers curt 8-word message to investorsPalantir drops  immigration enforcement bombshellPopular analyst reveals 9 ‘buy the dip’ tech stocksMorgan Stanley’s own long-term model is constructive. The firm projects earnings per share growing from $0.75 in 2025 to $1.92 by 2027, with revenue compounding at a 39% five-year rate through 2030 and operating margins reaching 68%. The bull case is real. The question is whether any of that future value is still available to investors at today’s price.Why the firm is getting more confident anywayDespite the valuation concern, Morgan Stanley says its early field checks point to sustained momentum in the U.S., and that it is growing in optimism that Foundry will emerge as one of the dominant platforms in enterprise software. That is a meaningful shift in tone for a firm that has held its equal-weight rating since February 2025.The source of that growing confidence is Palantir’s Ontology, the technology that sits at the core of everything the company builds. Understanding it matters for investors because it is the reason Morgan Stanley believes Palantir’s competitive advantage is harder to replicate than the market assumes.Ontology is a live digital map of a customer’s entire business. It unifies data from every system a company runs into a single real-time model that employees and AI agents can act on. Once built, every new application and workflow runs on top of it. Replacing it means rebuilding the entire operational foundation from scratch. That is structural lock-in, not ordinary switching cost.What Morgan Stanley says about the moatThe firm spoke with former forward deployed engineers, the specialists Palantir embeds inside customer organizations for months at a time to build these systems. Their conclusion is direct: Building a high-quality Ontology cannot be automated or purchased off the shelf. It requires deep, organization-specific domain knowledge captured over a lengthy period of hands-on engagement.

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Morgan Stanley argues that Palantir’s more than 20 years of deployments inside demanding environments, including U.S. intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, and NATO allies, have produced an institutional knowledge base that competitors would need years to replicate. Snowflake (SNOW) and Databricks are strong in data storage and analytics. Neither offers what Palantir does at the level of operational decision-making and governed AI action.What would it take for Morgan Stanley to upgrade?Sustained top-line and bottom-line beats, not just one or two strong quartersField checks confirming the Ontology deployment flywheel is acceleratingEvidence that U.S. commercial momentum is durable, not deal-cycle drivenWhat this means for investors watching PLTRMorgan Stanley’s $205 target is based on 55 times its 2030 free cash flow estimate of $15.5 billion, discounted back at a 13% cost of capital. That math works if Palantir continues to execute at the pace it has set. It does not work if growth decelerates, margins disappoint, or the broader enterprise AI spending environment cools.The firm flags two specific downside risks. First, Palantir’s reliance on large deals with a relatively small number of customers creates the potential for uneven financial performance. Second, if margin expansion slows, it reignites the long-running investor debate about whether Palantir is a software company or a consulting firm. That debate is not resolved, and it carries meaningful implications for how the stock should be valued.For investors already holding PLTR, the Morgan Stanley note is cautiously encouraging. The moat argument is strengthening. The firm’s conviction is building. But the stock is priced for everything to go right, and Morgan Stanley is not yet willing to say it will.The next test comes on May 11, when Palantir reports first-quarter 2026 results. If the 61% growth guidance holds and margins stay on track, the upgrade conversation gets louder. If there is any stumble, 64 times free cash flow is a very long way to fall.Related: Palantir faces a ‘quiet shockwave’ from a small deal with big optics

New York Knicks great John Starks reveals his surprise national championship pick for March Madness in this one-on-one interview.

Tesla (TSLA) is no longer a car company in the eyes of Wall Street. Investors have moved on, fixating instead on Robotaxi timelines, Optimus robots, and full self-driving milestones. The problem, according to UBS, is that the car business still has to work. And right now, it is not working well enough.UBS analyst Joseph Spak cut his estimate for first-quarter 2026 deliveries to 345,000 vehicles, per Tipranks, down 18% from the 421,000 Tesla delivered in the fourth quarter of 2025 and 7% below the Visible Alpha consensus of 371,000. The firm maintains its sell rating and $352 price target on TSLA. With shares closing at $380.30 on March 19, that target implies roughly 8% additional downside. The stock is already down 17% year to date.The core message is blunt: Sentiment and AI narratives drive TSLA’s price, but the auto business funds everything else. That dynamic is now under pressure from multiple directions.Tesla’s delivery problemSpak’s revised estimate of 345,000 units represents only 2% year-over-year growth, a sharp deceleration for a company whose investors expect an AI-era transformation. His previous Q1 estimate was 360,000. The downward revision reflects weakness across Tesla’s three biggest markets.U.S. EV demand has softened, and Tesla is winding down production of the higher-margin Model S and Model X. Early data for January and February show roughly 78,600 domestic deliveries, down 6% from the same period a year ago. More Tesla:Top-rated analyst drops curt 8-word take on Tesla stockTesla investors may miss game-changing moveJudge orders Tesla to make major change or halt sales in CaliforniaIn Europe, deliveries across the top eight markets fell approximately 4% year over year in the first two months of the quarter, with sharp declines in the U.K. and the Netherlands partially offset by gains in Germany and France. In China, domestic retail deliveries fell 6% year over year even as exports surged, propped up in part by a zero-interest financing promotion Tesla extended through March 31.Spak notes that deliveries could track slightly below even his revised estimate, unless Tesla stages a meaningful end-of-quarter push, which the company has done before.Why Tesla’s auto business still mattersThis is the tension at the heart of the UBS note, and it is the question every TSLA investor needs to sit with. The stock trades on AI ambition. But the cash that funds the Robotaxi program, the Optimus humanoid robot, the Dojo supercomputer, and the $20 billion capital expenditure budget for 2026 comes almost entirely from selling cars.As Spak writes, it is primarily the auto business that funds Tesla’s cash flow and hence its investment for growth. Weaker deliveries do not just disappoint on a headline number. They compress the margins and cash flow that keep the broader growth engine running. Tesla’s gross margins already slipped to 16.8% in the fourth quarter of 2025 amid ongoing price competition, particularly from Chinese rivals including BYD.The energy storage segment offers some relief. Spak projects 15.1 gigawatt-hours of deployment in Q1, up 45% year over year, driven by surging Megapack demand from grid upgrades and AI data centers. But vehicles still account for the overwhelming majority of operating cash flow. The energy business is growing fast. It is not yet large enough to fill the gap if auto stumbles.

Investors are now questioning whether Tesla’s camera-only approach to self-driving, which relies on vision rather than lidar or radar, is actually a cost and scalability advantage.VCG/Getty Images

The Robotaxi credibility problemUBS is not just concerned about deliveries. The note flags something more structural: growing investor skepticism that Tesla can sustain a meaningful competitive advantage in autonomous driving.Spak notes that recent investor feedback suggests updates around Robotaxi and Optimus have been slower and more subdued than anticipated. At the same time, competition in the autonomous vehicle space has intensified. Waymo is now completing more than 400,000 paid rides per week, scaling commercial operations in multiple U.S. cities. Nvidia’s recent Alpamayo autonomous vehicle platform announcement has raised the bar on what the broader ecosystem can offer.Tesla’s camera-only approach to self-driving, which relies on vision rather than lidar or radar, was long framed as a cost and scalability advantage. That framing is now being questioned. The concern UBS hears from investors is that Tesla may not sustainably differentiate in the robotaxi market as more capable and better-funded competitors close the gap.What UBS says investors should watchQ1 delivery results, due April 2, which will set the tone heading into earningsFirst-quarter earnings on April 28, where margin trends will be closely scrutinizedAny concrete Robotaxi production or deployment update beyond prototype demonstrationsProgress on FSD, particularly given an intensifying NHTSA probe into how the system performs in reduced visibilityWhat this means for TSLA investorsUBS is not alone in its caution. The broader analyst community sits at a hold consensus on Tesla, with 13 buy ratings, 11 holds, and seven sells. The average price target of $399.25 implies only modest upside from current levels.The bull case for TSLA has always rested on the idea that Tesla is not really an automaker but a technology platform with cars as its current revenue base. That argument holds if the AI ventures deliver. It becomes harder to sustain if delivery volumes keep slipping, margins stay compressed, and the Robotaxi timeline keeps getting pushed while competitors build real-world scale.Spak’s note does not say the bull case is dead. It says the auto business cannot be ignored while investors wait for the AI story to play out. Tesla needs both to work. Right now, one of them is not.Related: Bank of America revamps Tesla stock price

TheStreet aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.Why we love this dealIs this new season making you feel like your bedroom needs a refresh too? Comforters come in all sorts of colors, but if you love the boho look and an eccentric pattern, we found the perfect set for you. Hidden among the millions of bedding options on Amazon is a three-piece set that is available for under $50. The Wake In Cloud Boho Comforter Set is only $31, and it has all the elements you need to make your bed pop. Even at its regular price (which is just a few dollars more), it’s still a fraction of the cost of many comforter sets we’ve seen on sale. Wake In Cloud Boho Comforter Set, From $31 (was $38) at Amazon

Courtesy of Amazon

Shop at AmazonWhy do shoppers love it?This three-piece comforter set includes one comforter and two pillowcases. The queen-size comforter measures 90 inches by 90 inches, and each pillowcase measures 20 inches by 26 inches. The set boasts a lovely boho-style pattern that puts it a step above a plain comforter set. Its unique design adds a bit of charm, without being too overwhelming. We’ve seen a few tufted boho comforter sets, and this one is perfect for those who want less texture with the same amount of statement-making style. Related: Amazon is selling a $30 portable speaker for only $13 as a holiday saleThe comforter set is made from brushed microfiber, giving it a soft feel. It also has a polyester fill, giving it a cloud-like appearance that’s lightweight yet warm. It’s a great pick for year-round use, as it’s lightweight enough in the spring and summer, but cozy enough for fall and winter. The set is also easy to clean, as you can throw it in the washing machine. For proper care, wash it on the gentle cycle with cold water, and tumble dry it on low or let it air dry. The set is available in four colors, including orange, beige, black, and green. Black and green will get you the best bang for your buck, while beige and orange are a little pricier.Details to knowSizes: Twin/twin XL, full, queen, king, and California king. Colors: Beige, Burnt Orange, Charcoal Black, and Dark Olive Green. Material: Polyester.Amazon shoppers love this comforter set. For starters, many love the design and pattern. Reviewers also highlighted the feel of the comforter, saying it’s “soft and cozy.” One person even said it feels “like sleeping on a cloud.” Others noted that it’s “lightweight” and “airy,” but still provides enough warmth to keep you comfortable.Shop more dealsWake In Cloud Blue Boho Comforter Set, $35 at Amazon Bedsure Tufted Boho Comforter Set, $56 at Amazon Andency Boho Comforter Set, $42 (was $53) at Amazon The Wake In Cloud Boho Comforter Set is just $31, and it’s such a good deal for the price. For under $35, you get a comforter and two pillowcases, which is a fraction of what many comforters alone can cost. Plus, it comes with a cute design that’s a step up from a plain set. At this price, it might be worth getting one in each color.

With 2026 Patty Kazmaier Award winner Caroline Harvey on the blue line, the Wisconsin Badgers will look to defend their title at Sunday’s women’s Frozen Four final.

Ryan Odom and Griff Aldrich met as college freshmen in 1992. They are now head coach and associate head coach at Virginia, which is playing in the NCAA tournament.

“My husband and I are both retired and have saved for years — we simply can’t afford to take on his financial situation.”

Americans have changed some of their habits when it comes to the comfort food they’re turning to in darker moments.You can blame health trends, diet drugs, and changing tastes on the trend that has caused Denny’s to close over 100 locations, while Cracker Barrel saw comparable-store sales drop by 7.2% in its most recent quarter.”A national consumer survey and Pinterest insights reveal that consumers are moving away from traditional comfort foods in favor of meals that are healthy, locally sourced, and easy to prepare. The research also shows that Americans (68%), and especially parents (74%), are more concerned about what goes into the food they’re feeding their families compared to previous generations,” according to the survey.Dining trends change, and restaurants built around a classic menu like Denny’s and Cracker Barrel have struggled. And, while it’s not as high-profile a brand, another comfort food chain has quietly been shrinking its profile.MCL Restaurant & Bakery, a 76-year-old, cafeteria-style buffet chain, is closing several locations in March, according to local news station Fox 59 and social media posts. MCL Restaurant & Bakery has struggledWhen Denny’s made the decision to close around 150 restaurants, it was still. a public company, so it had to share its plans with investors. Denny’s CEO Kelli F. Valade updated shareholders on her company’s plan to close more restaurants during its second-quarter earnings call.“I also want to take a moment and provide an update on our previously communicated strategy to close underperforming restaurants and return to pre-pandemic growth of flat to slightly positive in future years. The surgical and methodical approach, which began in 2023 and will be completed by the end of this year, was specifically designed to optimize and enhance the overall health of the franchise system with the goal of returning to net flat to positive growth by 2026,” she shared.As a private company, MCL Restaurant & Bakery does not have to share its closure plans. The chain, however, has been steadily shrinking for years.MCL Restaurant has quietly closed most of its restaurantsThe recent closures will bring the chain’s footprint to seven locations. MCL ended 2024 with 13 locations and $25.7 million in sales (a 2% increase year-over-year), according to Technomic data, . While the company does not have to share financial information as a privately held company, it did respond to questions on its Facebook page. The chain blamed the closure of one location on “revenues not being where they need to be to cover operating cost.” MCL Restaurant & Bakery also confirmed a March 29 closure date for the locations in Whitehall, Muncie, and Indianapolis’s Irvington neighborhood.“These decisions come after a lot of careful consideration and years of declining sales in certain markets,” the company wrote.More Restaurants Chipotle’s new consumer strategy raises eyebrowsBurger King revives iconic kids’ meal toys after 22 yearsWalmart surprises shoppers with bold new restaurant offeringDuring the 1980s and early 1990s, MCL Restaurant & Bakery reached its peak of approximately 30 locations throughout the Midwest. By 2004, the chain’s footprint was down to 22 locations, and it has been steadily declining since, with 17 restaurants at the end of 2014, and 13 at the end of 2019, according to Nation’s Restaurant News.The company shows 10 remaining locations on its website, but that still includes at least three slated to close.

Denny’s and other diners have struggled as American tastes have changed.Shutterstock

Many more restaurants face closure riskRising costs, changing consumer tastes, and the struggling economy have put many restaurants at risk.”New data from Black Box Intelligence has unveiled some cause for concern about full-service restaurant performance in the coming year. The performance and analytics company compared 2025 restaurant sales against their peak annual performance since 2019 and found that 9% of all full-service units are considered at risk for closure in 2026,” NRN shared.  Restaurants face the dual problem of rising costs and dropping customer counts.“In an environment where cumulative inflation has driven costs up by nearly a third since 2019, it is virtually impossible for a unit to remain viable after losing 30% or more of its peak sales,” Black Box vice president of insights and knowledge Victor Fernandez told NRN.Rising costs have created a challenging situation for restaurant operators, according to Restaurant365’s 2025 State of the Restaurant Industry Midyear Report. Key findings include:91% of restaurant leaders reported food cost increases in 2025 so far.A majority (82%) saw costs rise between 1% and 5%.Another 36% experienced hikes between 6% and 14%.And 13% reported spikes of 15% or more.“Rising food costs are forcing us to rethink everything—suppliers, portion sizes, even which dishes deserve to stay on the menu,” one operator shared in the survey. “The goal is to keep margins intact while still giving guests value.”Related: Beloved burger, pizza chains close restaurants as liquidation sale looms

It’s simple: Whenever I have the time, I hit different supermarkets to make sure I’m getting every item at the lowest possible price. Tracking discounts has been a part of my normal routine for more than a decade. When I’m rushed, I must do all my shopping at one store but still look for the best value. Recent industry statistics and trends reveal I am not alone. In fact, 47% of global consumers, including 35% belonging to high-income households, are now classified as “value seekers,” or people who regularly sacrifice convenience for better deals,  according to Deloitte 2026 Consumer Products Industry Global Outlook.With the index of food at home rising 2.4% over the 12 months ending in February, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, consumers are changing strategies to afford basic necessities. Consumers’ tricks to save money include: Private labels: Consumers are increasingly shifting toward private labels. Intentionality: 45% of consumers now make strict shopping lists before entering a store, and 37% compare prices between brands before deciding. Bulk buying: There has been a 4% increase in shoppers choosing larger “value sizes” to lower the cost per ounce.
Sources: NielsenIQ October 2025 report, NielsenIQ 2026 Consumer Outlook 
As consumers become more creative to deal with the current economic climate, retail giants such as Walmart are making changes of their own, some of which have shoppers worried.  Walmart secures patent for AI-powered price changes Walmart was recently awarded patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for AI tools that help set pricing across its e-commerce platforms, reported Gizmodo. One of those patents, US-1254776-B2, contains systems and methods for dynamically and automatically updating item prices across e-commerce platforms. “When price elasticity data and predicted demand data for the item are both available, a first markdown price is generated for the item using a first model based on: the price elasticity data, the predicted demand data, and the current price,” reads the patent description. When the price elasticity data and predicted demand data aren’t available, it creates a “bounded price” that allows for a range to be chosen to set a new price on the platform.The second patent recently granted to Walmart, US-12572954-B2, relies on machine learning to predict the demand of various items and recommend prices. “The schematic in the filing even shows that third-party data may be used to help determine the price, a controversial practice when it’s employed by other businesses like airlines to set fares,” writes Gizmodo. News of Walmart’s new patents is gaining attention across social media as consumers raise concerns about dynamic pricing and surveillance pricing, especially after the retailer just implemented Digital Shelf Labels (DSLs) across its stores. Walmart rolls out digital shelf labels across its stores Walmart revealed March 2 that roughly 2,300 Walmart U.S. locations are already using electronic screens instead of traditional paper price tags, and that this technology should be chain-wide within the next year. “For our associates, that expansion can’t come soon enough,” Walmart shared in a press release.While Walmart says the goal of the new technology is to help employees, retail expert and TheStreet Co-Editor-in-Chief Daniel Kline recently reported that experts and customers are questioning potential hidden motives behind the move. “News of Walmart’s rollout… stirred up concerns that DSLs will lead to dynamic or surge pricing, where retailers or other businesses quickly change the cost of products or services based on fluctuations in demand due to weather or traffic — or even using personal data like location, browsing history, and purchase patterns to set individualized prices,” according to RetailWire.

Walmart secures a patent for AI-powered price changes.PhotographerIncognito/Shutterstock.com

What are dynamic and surveillance pricing?Currently, dynamic pricing and surveillance pricing are the subject of major nationwide debates involving the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Congress, and several state legislatures. Dynamic pricing is the practice of adjusting prices in real time or over short intervals based on external factors such as supply and demand, inventory levels, time of day, user behavior, or market conditions, according to Vorys. Surveillance pricing is even more complex as it involves using consumer data, including location, history, internet browsing history, or demographic information to form individualized prices for goods and services, according to King & Spalding. Government officials are moving to ban surveillance pricing, with lawmakers saying it’s predatory and discriminatory. On the other hand, retailers argue that a ban could eliminate loyalty discounts. In February 2026, U.S. senators introduced the Stop Price Gouging in Grocery Stores Act, which bans “corporations from leveraging new technologies to increase grocery prices for Americans.” While early bans failed in some states, New York now requires stores to disclose if they use AI to price items, and several other states, including Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington, are currently pushing for total bans, according to King & Spalding. Walmart customers raise concerns about dynamic pricing The news about Walmart’s DSLs and patents quickly spread across the internet, with consumers raising concerns about potential dynamic pricing. The overall sentiment on the recent Reddit thread discussing the news is strongly negative, distrustful, and fearful. Customers are worried Walmart changes will lead to: Price gougingPersonalized exploitationExpanded surveillance capitalism“Dynamic pricing needs to be straight up illegal immediately. Nip this s**t in the bud,” wrote user DataCassette. Some users, like Tasty-Traffic-680, suggest the possibility of exploiting customers amid a crisis. “Just waiting for someone to ‘accidentally’ dynamically price something like bottled water during an emergency,” they wrote. Others raised concerns about potential individual-level price discrimination, suggesting that apps on our phones are already collecting enough data to allow retailers to tweak prices. A number of users suggest consumers should simply stop shopping at Walmart altogether and take their business to competitors like Costco. “Looks like I will be dynamically changing where I buy groceries once this goes into effect,” wrote user Informal-Sense8809. Once a retailer loses customers’ trust, it is hard to regain. I explored this in my coverage of Target’s attempts to win back consumer loyalty after years of weak sales and controversy-fueled boycotts. Walmart denies it will use dynamic pricing; experts weigh in When Walmart unveiled its digital shelf labels, it also denied plans to use the technology for dynamic pricing. “Prices are the same for all customers in any given store and are consistent regardless of demand, time of day, or who is shopping,” according to Walmart’s statement.The retailer’s official reason for DLSs is improving efficiency, since changing paper tags by hand takes hours or even days. This way, the company claims, employees will be free to spend more time with customers and organize shelves. More Retail:Walmart closes stores for weeks to test new perks for shoppersTarget launches another generous deal to win back shoppers’ trust91-year-old grocery chain closes another store in a key market Home Depot borrows from Domino’s to fix major pain pointRegarding patent concerns, Walmart told the Financial Times that electronic tags are “unrelated to dynamic pricing.” The retailer also suggested that one of the patents at issue “was specific to markdowns,” wrote Gizmodo. Markdowns are usually made to clear inventory and end-of-season items.Retail expert Carol Spieckerman notes that while Walmart’s claims of efficiency may be true now, the technology itself has no built-in limits. “Here’s the reality: There are no technical safeguards preventing surge pricing or other forms of price manipulation. The capability exists. But two things can be true at once. The multifaceted efficiency arguments are also easy to make and genuinely valid,” Spieckerman wrote on RetailWire. Other experts suggest that the shift is a purely operational win that will benefit both workers and shoppers. Ademola Oyefeso, vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, previously said digital labeling is not unfamiliar to consumers. “If you’ve ever ridden in a ride share vehicle, where you’re out at a baseball game, and the baseball game ends, you search and you try to leave, there’s a surge pricing on it. So this technology will allow grocery stores to do the same thing,” said Oyefeso, as reported by Buffalo Toronto Public Media. With Walmart enjoying a 13-point lead over other stores when it comes to value, per a March 2026 YouGov report, it’s hard to imagine it would risk losing this position and the hard-earned trust of its consumers. “Dynamic pricing or anything that smells like it is playing with fire,” Matt Hamory, a grocery industry consultant at AlixPartners, told the Financial Times. “There is an element of consumer trust being eroded because they don’t know that they’re getting the best price at any moment.”Related: Lowe’s makes major change to how you interact with its stores