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There are only a handful of remaining moments when the whole planet agrees to look at the same thing at the same time. Everything else has been sliced into a thousand feeds, each of us watching something slightly different, alone together.Live sports are the last reliable exception, and the money knows it. A game cannot be paused, skipped, or spoiled without losing the thing that makes it worth watching in the first place.That scarcity turned broadcast rights into one of the most inflation-proof assets in media. Leagues keep stretching their schedules, and networks keep paying more.For most of the past decade, the American leagues set that ceiling. Season-long packages, dozens of games every week, months of inventory to sell.The working assumption was that no single tournament, crammed into one summer and then gone for four years, could out-earn a sport that shows up every Sunday from September to February.That assumption died on Sunday, July 19, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time on a Ferran Torres goal, and the trophy went to Madrid.The bigger prize went to the organization that staged the thing. FIFA is “poised to net over $9 billion in revenue for 2026,” according to CNBC, citing the governing body’s own estimates. That makes the 2026 World Cup the most lucrative sporting event in history.How FIFA turned 48 teams into a record paydayThe mechanics are less mysterious than the number suggests. FIFA went from 32 teams to 48, which took the tournament from 64 matches to 104 and stretched it from four weeks to six.More matches mean more broadcast windows, more gates, more sponsor activations, and more hotel nights. Sixteen host cities across the United States, Canada, and Mexico gave advertisers a genuinely continental audience for the first time.I ran the tournament figure against FIFA’s own published budget, and the gap is the story. FIFA had penciled in an entire four-year cycle worth roughly $11 billion. One summer delivered most of it.Here is how the money stacked up:FIFA budgeted USD 11,000 million in revenue for the 2023-2026 cycle, calling it “a substantial increase in revenue of USD 4,560 million” over the prior cycle, according to FIFA.Member associations have already been told the actual cycle figure lands closer to $15 billion, The Guardian reported.The 2026 calendar year alone accounts for more than $9 billion of that total, CNBC noted.FIFA takes 15% of the fee from the seller and 15% from the buyer on every secondary-market ticket, according to Sports Illustrated.FIFA plans to distribute $2.7 billion to its 211 member associations between 2027 and 2030, CNBC confirmed.

FIFA’s expanded 48-team World Cup delivered a record $9 billion, paid largely by fans.Marcelo Endelli / Getty Images

What the $9 billion World Cup number actually countsThis is where reporting gets slippery, and it is worth slowing down. The $9 billion is a calendar-year net revenue estimate for 2026, produced by FIFA, not an audited tournament-only figure signed off by anyone outside the building.The four-year number is messier still. MarketScale noted that the full 2023-2026 cycle totals close to $13 billion. Reporting relayed by Sports Illustrated puts what FIFA told its own members nearer to $15 billion.More Entertainment:FIFA World Cup spending surge reveals major customer divideThe World Cup may be about to get a lot biggerWhy brands are spending billions on 2026 FIFA World CupBoth cannot be right, and my analysis says the spread is the most interesting thing on the page. A $2 billion disagreement about a nonprofit’s income is not a rounding error. It is a signal that the final accounting has not been settled, and that the number quoted this week may move again.Treat the $9 billion as directionally solid and precisely soft. That distinction matters if you are a host city that borrowed against a projection.It’s worth knowing where almost none of it goes. FIFA approved a record $727 million contribution to all 48 participating teams, including a $655 million prize pool, according to Field Level Media. Spain’s title is worth $50 million of that.I put those two figures side by side, and the ratio is the part nobody puts in a press release. The entire payout to every team that showed up amounts to roughly 8% of what the organization expects to collect this year.FIFA is a Swiss nonprofit, so the surplus does not go to shareholders. It goes back out to the 211 member associations that also happen to vote on who runs the place. Analyst Kieran Maguire made exactly that point to CNBC, noting that money flowing to small federations tends to flow back as electoral support.Why World Cup ticket prices did the heavy liftingThe uncomfortable part of this record is who paid for it. Broadcast rights were always going to grow with 40 extra matches. The surprise came from the turnstiles.Ticket prices ran from $60 at the low end to more than $10,000 at the top, with the average entry above $900. Resale was the accelerant, and FIFA collects on both sides of every resale transaction.Seats on FIFA’s own last-minute portal hit $32,000 apiece before the platform went dark on Saturday, July 18, before the final, according to Sports Illustrated. Listings on the official resale platform ran into the millions.Related: FIFA World Cup brings costly surprise for US commutersThe tournament also gave fans plenty to be annoyed about. A first-ever World Cup halftime show stretched the break past 27 minutes and drew open criticism from broadcasters and supporters, CNBC reported. Commercially sponsored hydration breaks became a controversy of their own, as Sports Illustrated noted.None of it dented demand. That is the finding, and it is the one every ticketing executive in North America wrote down.That money did not appear from nowhere. It came out of household budgets in 16 cities, and the residual is still visible. More than three-quarters of host city residents said local prices climbed during the tournament, according to a CardRates.com survey reported by TheStreet.Commuters in New Jersey got hit with a $150 special stadium fare on a route that normally costs a fraction of that. Retailers, meanwhile, spent the spring racing to sell World Cup merchandise into the same wallets.What FIFA’s record means for the next 4 yearsHere is the part that should interest anyone who does not care about soccer at all. FIFA just proved that a live event can extract roughly $86 million per match from a single population without meaningful resistance.Group-stage occupancy still ran near 99%. Demand did not break at $900, and FIFA now has four years of evidence that it was underpricing.Every league, promoter, and venue operator on the continent watched that happen. The lesson had nothing to do with soccer. It was about how much headroom sits above the price you are currently charging for a seat.Dynamic pricing has already crept into concerts, theme parks, and airline seats. What changed this summer is the ceiling, because a $32,000 face value cleared the market instead of collapsing it.FIFA president Gianni Infantino has already floated expanding the 2030 tournament to 64 teams, CNBC reported.The trophy went to Spain. The pricing model went everywhere else, and it will be waiting the next time you try to take your kid to a game.Related: Why the 2026 FIFA World Cup is a billion-dollar retail boom

For investors who owned artificial intelligence stocks over the past three years, their portfolio has probably done well. But one of Wall Street’s most influential banks is now flagging a risk to the AI-heavy positioning that has dominated portfolios.Goldman Sachs released a research note identifying three investment themes that are entirely outside the AI trade.The data behind each one suggests that investors focused on the semiconductor complex have missed performance in other parts of the market, according to Goldman’s research.The note, led by Chief U.S. Equity Strategist & Managing Director at Goldman, Ben Snider, argues that a meaningful rotation is already underway.Goldman Sachs identifies experience-economy stocks as a stealth winnerThe first theme centers on companies tied to physical consumer experiences, and the spending acceleration is striking.Consumer spending on experiences grew 6% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, compared with 2% growth in broader services spending, the Goldman Sachs report found.Goldman screened 36 stocks across movies and entertainment, casinos and gaming, hotels, resorts, cruise lines, and leisure facilities. The equal-weighted group has returned 17% year to date, outperforming the equal-weight Consumer Discretionary sector by 17 percentage points.Related: Goldman Sachs does an about-face on overlooked software stockBen Snider, chief U.S. equity strategist, says real-world experience companies look appealing given enduring appetite and modest pricing.”The combination of strong secular demand and undemanding valuations makes companies offering physical consumer experiences an attractive investment theme,” said Snider.”The combination of strong secular demand and undemanding valuations makes companies offering physical consumer experiences an attractive investment theme,” Snider wrote in the report.Broader research reinforces that shift in consumer behavior. Between 2023 and 2025, the global experiences market grew at 2.6% while nonessential goods expanded at just 0.8%, a McKinsey report published in June found.Goldman’s “compounder” basket trades at near-record discounts despite faster earnings growthThe second theme may be the most counterintuitive, because these 15 companies have been executing well and still getting punished. Goldman screened for Russell 1000 stocks ranking above the index median across earnings growth, free cash flow conversion, and return on capital. The median compounder has grown earnings per share more than twice as fast as the S&P 500 median over three years. Yet despite that superior profit growth, the group has underperformed the equal-weight S&P 500 by seven percentage points year to date. More Goldman Sachs:Goldman Sachs doubles down on Robinhood stock after record trading surgeGoldman Sachs doubles down on stock market outlook for 2026Goldman Sachs spots stock market’s next winnersThe median compounder trades at 22 times forward earnings versus 16 times for the equal-weight index, Goldman’s data confirmed.  That 37% premium ranks in the 13th percentile since 2016, suggesting valuations are historically cheap relative to earnings quality. The list includes Visa, Mastercard, Booking Holdings, DexCom, Insulet, MSCI, and On Holding, among others, the report showed. Goldman’s thesis is that this gap between earnings delivery and stock performance may narrow as the AI momentum trade cools.

Goldman’s overlooked compounders combine strong earnings growth with historically attractive valuations.Bloomberg/Getty Images

Goldman Sachs flags record volatility in the AI momentum tradeThe catalyst behind this entire rotation call is what has happened to the AI momentum trade in recent weeks.Goldman’s proprietary Momentum factor recorded annualized three-month volatility of 36%, the highest reading in its 45-year history outside of recessions. The factor moved by more than 2% on four of five trading days in the week ending July 17, the report confirmed.Record-low stock correlations have masked the turbulence at the index level, however. The three-month implied average stock correlation across the S&P 500 fell to 0.14, a record low, the report showed.The ten largest S&P 500 companies now account for more than 40% of the index’s total market cap, BlackRock confirmed in its 2026 outlook. BlackRock’s outlook notes that index-fund exposure now carries a materially higher concentration in the largest technology names than it did a decade ago.Goldman’s 3rd non-AI theme rides a record wave of dealmakingGoldman’s final theme targets potential mergers and acquisitions candidates, and the timing aligns with a historic surge in deal activity.Announced U.S. mergers and acquisitions activity has totaled $1.2 trillion year to date, a 32% increase year over year, the Goldman report confirmed. The number of announced deals has risen 12%, with 40% concentrated in computers and electronics and in health care.Goldman equity analysts flagged 71 stocks as potential acquisition targets in the report. That basket has beaten the equal-weight S&P 1500 by eight percentage points since the first quarter ended. Yet valuations for most candidates show limited sign of an elevated premium, the report noted.What Goldman’s non-AI call signals for the broader market in 2026Goldman has not abandoned its bullish stance on AI, and the bank’s year-end S&P 500 target of 8,000 still reflects substantial AI-driven earnings growth. The firm projects earnings per share growth of 24% for the full index in 2026.But the message to investors is that the next leg of returns may not come from the same place as the last one.Gargi Pal Chaudhuri, BlackRock’s chief investment and portfolio strategist for the Americas, made a similar case in the firm’s 2026 outlook. She noted that AI’s dominance introduces concentration and correlation risks, which argues for targeted diversification across sectors.The Goldman research highlights an emerging dynamic: proven growth companies are trading below their historical averages at the same time that Wall Street’s most crowded trade faces growing turbulence.Related: Goldman Sachs doubles down on Applied Materials stock target

Sandisk went public in February 2025, and just over a year later, the flash memory storage maker’s board of directors approved a plan to buy back shares. The repurchase comes as the company’s shares reached record highs well above its IPO price.Here’s what current and prospective Sandisk investors should know about the company’s stock buyback programs. When did Sandisk announce its stock buyback plan? Sandisk announced its first share repurchase program on April 30, 2026. The company’s board of directors approved a plan to buy back $6 billion in shares, which, as of this article’s last update, amounted to around 3% of the company’s total market capitalization. This is Sandisk’s only repurchase program since it became an independent company after being spun off from Western Digital. Its initial public offering and subsequent listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market occurred on February 24, 2025.Has Sandisk actually repurchased any shares yet? As of this article’s last update, Sandisk has not announced any actual share repurchases since it announced its stock buyback program. Stock buybacks are typically listed in a company’s quarterly (10-Q) and annual (10-K) filings with the SEC. None were disclosed in Sandisk’s May 10-Q disclosure. The company’s next 10-Q filing is expected on August 5, 2026, when Sandisk reports its quarterly earnings. If the company has repurchased any shares since May 1, investors will find out then. Related: Does Sandisk pay dividends? Will it split its stock?Sandisk’s secondary share salesBefore Sandisk’s stock buyback announcement, it underwent two separate secondary offerings, in which the shares issued reduced Western Digital’s stake. In June 2025, the company announced the sale of 18.5 million shares at $38.50 each, which was the same price as its IPO. Next, in February 2026, it sold 5.8 million shares at $545 each.How does Sandisk decide when to buy back its stock?Sandisk said that the amount and timing of share buybacks “will depend on market conditions and other relevant factors.” At the same time, the company said it may suspend or halt the repurchase program at any moment, and it isn’t obligated to buy back any common shares.More on stock repurchases:Meta’s stock buybacks: How the company’s AI spending could affect shareholder returnsOracle’s stock buybacks: History & investor impact explainedMicron Technology’s stock buybacks explainedHow will Sandisk fund its stock buybacks?Sandisk said it expects shares repurchased under the plan to be funded by operating cash flows. As of April 3, 2026, it had $4.5 billion in cash from its operations. How has Sandisk’s stock performed?Since its IPO in February 2025, Sandisk’s stock gained 36-fold through July 20, 2026, when it closed at $1,390.95. The stock closed at a record high of $2,335 on June 25, 2026. That indicated the stock was trading above the price when Sandisk announced its share buyback plan on April 30, 2026, when it closed at $1,096.51. 

Sandisk stock data compiled by Google Finance via Google Sheets

Related: AMD’s stock buybacks explained: History, balance & outlook

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) stock jumped more than 7% Tuesday, July 21, as investors cheered the chipmaker’s latest AI infrastructure push and looked ahead to its key AI event.On Monday, July 20, AMD introduced Helios, its first rack-scale AI system, which is expected to begin shipping later this year to customers including Microsoft (MSFT), Meta Platforms (META), OpenAI, and Oracle (ORCL).Helios’ rollout is widely considered AMD’s biggest step yet into rack-scale AI infrastructure as it seeks to compete more directly with Nvidia (NVDA). Investors are looking for signs that the company’s expanding AI portfolio can accelerate data center growth and help it gain share in the fast-growing AI market.The next catalyst comes July 22-23, when AMD hosts its Advancing AI 2026 event in San Francisco. CEO Lisa Su is expected to provide updates on the MI450X accelerator, the MI500 GPU family, next-generation EPYC server processors, and AMD’s broader AI roadmap.Many also view the event as AMD’s next opportunity to show how it plans to expand its presence in AI infrastructure ahead of second-quarter earnings on Aug. 4. AMD stock has outperformed the chip sector this yearLast week, AMD shares fell approximately 11% as semiconductor stocks broadly pulled back.The sell-off was triggered by Micron Technology (MU) amid concerns about growing competition from Chinese memory-chip maker ChangXin Memory Technologies. According to Barron’s, the company is preparing a Shanghai IPO that could raise as much as 66.7 billion yuan ($9.8 billion).Related: Cathie Wood sells $11.7 million of tumbling semiconductor stockAlthough AMD doesn’t compete directly in the memory market, many investors took profits across semiconductor stocks last week following their strong gains this year.Even after last week’s decline, AMD remains one of the best-performing large-cap chip stocks. Shares are up 152.8% year to date, compared with a 72.7% gain for the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Nvidia, by comparison, has gained 11%.In May, AMD reported strong first-quarter results, raising its outlook for the data center CPU market as demand for agentic AI continues to grow. The company also reiterated that its AI GPU business is expected to exceed its long-term target of an 80% compound annual revenue growth rate. Meanwhile, Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood has been trimming her AMD position. As of July 21, Ark funds had sold 145,550 AMD shares this month, worth roughly $79 million based on Tuesday’s price. Even after the recent selling, AMD remains the eighth-largest holding in the ARK Innovation ETF.

AMD shares are up more than 150% year to date.Getty Images

Bank of America stays bullish on AMD stockBank of America reiterated its buy rating and $620 price target on AMD ahead of the company’s AI event, according to a recent research note sent to TheStreet.The firm said AMD could use the event to expand its long-term AI opportunity beyond the more than $1 trillion market outlined at its 2025 Analyst Day. “We would not be surprised to see management frame a path toward a $1.5 trillion + 2030 AI infrastructure TAM, spanning accelerators, networking, memory, CPUs and rack-scale systems,” the analysts wrote. Related: Bank of America CEO warns inflation will back Fed into a corner”With the event occurring ahead of the Aug. 4 earnings release, we expect commentary to remain focused on long-term opportunities rather than near-term guidance.”Bank of America said investors will likely focus on whether Helios and the MI450 platform can better compete with Nvidia’s rack-scale AI systems. After all, the key debate is “whether AMD can evolve from an accelerator supplier into a broader AI systems company.””Investor focus will likely center on whether Helios/MI450 can narrow the gap versus Nvidia’s rack-scale AI systems,” the firm wrote, adding that investors should watch for updates on 2027 deployments, production ramps, and broader hyperscale adoption.The firm also believes demand will be more important than customer announcements.”We believe the more important message may be demand rather than customer logos,” Bank of America wrote, adding that AMD’s data center revenue could grow more than 100% in 2027 as MI accelerators ramp and EPYC adoption expands.Many other Wall Street analysts believe in AMD stock’s higher potential, despite its strong gains this year.Last week, UBS raised its price target on AMD to $700 from $670 while maintaining its buy rating. The firm said supply chain checks point to stronger demand for AMD’s AI accelerators through 2027 and believes Amazon could emerge as a major customer for the MI450X platform.UBS also raised its 2027 revenue forecast to $83.4 billion from $79.2 billion and increased its earnings estimate to $14.63 per share.Related: Key auto parts maker closes factory, lays off 325 workers

Morgan Stanley downgraded Adobe to underweight from equal weight on Tuesday, July 21, slashing its price target to $240 from $365, according to Seeking Alpha.The move landed one day after CLSA initiated coverage of Adobe with an outperform rating and a $300 target, according to Investing.com.Two firms looked at the same company and reached opposite conclusions, and that split matters more than either rating on its own.What Morgan Stanley’s Adobe downgrade actually saysAnalyst Adam Wood built his case around three problems happening at once. Adobe is searching for a new CEO and CFO, following CEO Shantanu Narayen’s March announcement to step down and CFO Dan Durn’s departure in June. The company is simultaneously shifting toward a freemium pricing model and facing open questions about how much of its Creative Cloud business generative AI tools could replace.Related: Citi resets Adobe stock price targetWood wrote that Adobe’s overlapping transitions compound execution risk as the AI disruption debate clouds the path to faster subscription growth, according to CNBC.Even so, Morgan Stanley noted that Adobe trades near 12 times its projected 2027 earnings. The firm said that valuation already reflects much of the disruption risk that’s worrying investors.That detail matters because it frames this downgrade as a growth debate, not a call that Adobe is in real trouble.

Morgan Stanley cut Adobe to underweight with a $240 target, a day after CLSA initiated coverage with a bullish $300 target and outperform rating.Bloomberg / Getty Images

Why CLSA sees the opposite trade for AdobeOne day earlier, CLSA initiated coverage of Adobe with an outperform rating and a $300 price target. Analyst Bhavtosh Vajpayee set that target at 15 times Adobe’s projected 2027 earnings, a multiple benchmarked against rival Salesforce.He argued the AI disruption story around Adobe has been overdone, given the company’s software margins.More Tech Stocks:Morgan Stanley sets jaw-dropping Micron price target after eventNvidia’s China chip problem isn’t what most investors thinkQuantum Computing makes $110 million move nobody saw comingCLSA pointed to Adobe’s gross margin, among the highest in the software sector, as evidence the business is healthier than its stock price suggests.The firm framed the recent pullback as a valuation opportunity rather than a warning sign. Two analysts read the same margin profile within 24 hours of each other and landed on opposite ratings.The gap between the two firms is not an outlier. Roughly 40 analysts currently cover Adobe, and only about a dozen carry a buy rating or higher, while roughly two dozen sit at hold, according to Stocktwits.The average 12-month price target across that group lands closer to $273, squarely between Morgan Stanley’s bearish call and CLSA’s bullish one.Adobe’s muted stock reaction complicates both callsAdobe (ADBE) closed near $234.74 on Monday, July 21, down about 1%, according to data from TheStreet. The stock then slid further, falling as much as 3% in premarket trading on Tuesday, after the Morgan Stanley downgrade, according to Stocktwits.Neither the underweight call nor the outperform initiation has moved the stock much, which suggests investors are still waiting for clearer evidence before picking a side.That hesitation is notable, given how far apart the two price targets sit. A $240 target and a $300 target imply a 25% gap in how Wall Street values the same shares. When analysts disagree that sharply, it usually means the underlying data support more than one story.The fundamentals still look solidThe ratings split is happening against a backdrop of resilient growth. Adobe’s second quarter revenue rose 12.7% year over year, its largest gain since 2022.That number complicates the bear case, since a company facing serious AI substitution risk would typically show it in slowing sales first.Adobe’s situation reflects a wider pattern across software stocks this earnings season. Investors are trying to sort which companies will absorb generative AI into their products and which ones will lose ground to it, and the data so far is not settling the argument either way.Whoever Adobe names as its next CEO will inherit that unresolved question, and the market’s next move will likely hinge on which side of the debate that hire signals.Related: Adobe’s outgoing CEO makes CEO big bet on the future

Semiconductor stocks made some of the easiest money on Wall Street this year. Now they’re quickly giving back their gains.The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX), which many investors use to bet on chips, has crossed into bear market territory after falling from its June high.And one closely followed strategist thinks the damage is not finished.Ed Yardeni, the veteran market forecaster behind Yardeni Research, told clients on July 20 that chip stocks have room to fall further, even as the rest of the market holds steady.If you own a chip fund, a memory maker, or a broad tech position, that is a call worth paying attention to.Why Ed Yardeni thinks semiconductor stocks have further to fallYardeni’s warning is clear. He expects the S&P 500 Semiconductors index to drop about 12% more to reach its 200-day moving average, according to Yardeni’s QuickTakes analysis.The 200-day moving average is simply the average closing price over the past roughly 200 trading days. More Chip Stocks:Cathie Wood sells $11.7 million of tumbling semiconductor stockMicron stock jumps as investors look beyond GPUs in AI chip tradeGoldman Sachs turns its back on major semiconductor stockChart watchers treat it as a long-term floor, the line a stock tends to fall back to after a big run.That is the level Yardeni thinks chips are heading toward.The sell-off is already sharp. The SOXX has plunged 20.3% from its June 2 peak, Benzinga reported, the drop that officially defines a bear market.Riskier corners fell even harder. The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) is down roughly 35% from its June 22 high.

Semiconductor stocks have slipped into a bear market after leading the 2026 rally.sinology / Getty Images

What broke while the broader market stayed calmHere is the part that makes this sell-off unusual.The S&P 500 is still sitting near its record, hovering close to the 7,500 level. So most investors checking their broad index funds saw almost nothing wrong.The surface stayed calm while the engine broke.The losses were concentrated in one crowded trade, while everything else held together.Three pressures hit chips at once, according to Yardeni’s note.1. Forced selling out of AsiaMargin calls landed on South Korean chip giants Samsung and SK Hynix (SKHY). When leveraged traders get a margin call, they are forced to sell to cover their positions, and selling affects U.S. memory and chip stocks.2. A cheaper AI model out of ChinaChinese AI lab Moonshot launched Kimi K3, a 2.8-trillion-parameter open-weight model it claims rivals the best from OpenAI and Anthropic.Because it delivers high-end performance at a lower cost, it revived the same fear that hit the market during the DeepSeek scare. The fact that AI hardware may not stay as valuable as investors assumed.3. No buyers left to catch the fallMomentum, or buying stocks simply because they were already rising, was the strategy that most investors crowded into in 2026. Once the selling started, there weren’t enough buyers left on the sidelines to slow it down, and the drop kept feeding on itself.How the chip sell-off unfoldedThe reversal took shape over several weeks:Dec. 7, 2025: Yardeni Research downgrades the S&P 500 Information Technology sector to market weight, an early defensive move.June 2, 2026: The broader market and the SOXX both peak before turning lower.Mid-July 2026: Leveraged liquidation and Moonshot’s Kimi K3 launch hit the sector; South Korea moves to curb high-leverage tech ETFs.July 19-20, 2026: The SOXX confirms a bear market, down 20.3% from its June peak.July 20, 2026: Yardeni issues his call for a further 12% drop.This did not come out of nowhere. Signs of strain had been building for weeks, and it was flagged ahead of TSMC’s July earnings report, when the whole AI trade looked stretched.What Yardeni tells investors to do insteadYardeni’s advice comes down to one idea: Do not try to guess the exact bottom.He warns against “catching falling knives,” which refers to the trap of buying a declining stock, only to watch it fall further.Instead, he favors a sector rotation, moving money out of the hardest-hit group and into areas holding up better.Yardeni’s firm keeps an overweight rating on two sectors:Financials, helped by a strong investment banking environmentHealth care, especially biotechnology, which has weathered the tech dropThe logic is practical. If chips still have room to fall, parking money in steadier value sectors lets you stay invested without absorbing the worst of the fall.What this means for your portfolioThis does not mean chip businesses are broken. Demand for AI hardware is still real, and analysts remain split on where the sector goes next.Even during the slide, Goldman Sachs reset its AMD target higher, and Micron’s (MU) memory pricing story kept some buyers interested.So the question is not about whether chips recover, but when.A few things worth watching before calling a bottom:Whether the SOXX actually reaches and holds its 200-day moving average.Whether forced selling in Korea fully clears out.Whether AI spending from big cloud buyers stays strong into the next round of earnings.If you hold chip stocks for the long term, Yardeni’s call is a reason for caution, not panic. If you were tempted to buy this dip, his message is simple: The floor may not be in yet.Keep in mind that moving averages can break, and rotations can reverse quickly if AI demand exceeds expectations.Yardeni himself remains positive about the wider economy, still predicting a “roaring 2020s” run backed by broad corporate earnings. For now, the takeaway is clear. The chip trade that carried 2026 has cracked, and the strategist who called in the danger thinks there is still more room to fall.Related: Citi sends warning on semiconductor and hyperscaler stocks

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 dealKeeping your house clean can feel like something that consumes you on a daily basis. Whether you’re in a sprawling single family home or a small apartment, keeping dust and dirt at bay isn’t always easy. That’s why it’s imperative that you have the right tools for the job. While a wet dry vac is great for big spills, every day maintenance of your space requires something a bit more versatile. That’s where a good lightweight stick vacuum can help. Thankfully, Walmart has some of the best deals on stick vacuums, and we found one with a discount that simply cannot be ignored. If you ever wanted to get a great price on a high-quality stick vacuum, today is the day you can make that a reality.The  Prettycare Self-Standing Cordless Stick Vacuum is available at the moment for only $70. That’s 59% off the original price of $170. Finding a stick vacuum of this quality for a shocking $100 doesn’t happen every day. That’s why we recommend you buy one now rather than waiting. Flash deals like this one often disappear without warning, so take advantage while you still can.Prettycare Self-Standing Cordless Stick Vacuum, $70 (was $170) at Walmart

Courtesy of Walmart

Shop at WalmartWhy do shoppers love it?Stick vacuums are known to be light, convenient, and powerful, and this one fits that description to a tee. That’s why it’s one of Walmart’s bestselling models. As for the lightweight aspect of the vacuum, it weighs a paltry 6 pounds, making it easy to use for anyone. Many people will even find it easy to use with just one hand thanks to the combination of lightweight materials and ergonomic handle design. Nothing makes cleaning easier than feeling like your vacuum is lighter than air itself.In addition to the weight and ergonomics of the vacuum, it’s incredibly user-friendly. It has a single-button canister emptying design, an LED battery screen with automatic charging reminder, and a free wall mount. What’s more, if you don’t have anywhere to mount the vacuum on the wall, it has a self-standing design, which means you can store it just about anywhere you want. The 180-degree side-to-side maneuverability and bright LED headlight make reaching tight corners a breeze as well.As for power, this vacuum has plenty of it. It manages 18 kilopascals (KP) of pressure on standard mode and up to 30 kp on boost mode. That’s more than enough to pick up dust, dirt, and the ever-pesky pet hair that blankets many a home every day. Additionally, the vacuum can instantly transform into a hand vac using one of the included attachments, while losing absolutely none of its impressive suction power.Related: Shark’s stick vacuum is nearly 50% off with a last-minute Prime Day dealWalmart shoppers were highly impressed with this vacuum. One said it’s “lightweight, easy to handle, and works great on both tile and rugs…This vacuum made my cleaning routine faster, easier, and actually enjoyable.”Shop more deals Shark Clean & Empty Cordless Stick Vacuum, $300 (was $450) at AmazonBissell PowerClean FurGuard Cordless Vacuum, $230 (was $300) at AmazonMoosoo Stick Vacuum Cleaner, $60 (was $170) at WalmartThe Prettycare Self-Standing Cordless Stick Vacuum is an absolute steal at 59% off. If you’re looking for a vacuum that can be both full-sized and handheld, offers superior suction, and can be bought for just $70, then this stick vac is for you. This Flash deal will be gone before you know it, so put one in your cart sooner rather than later if you don’t want to miss out. 

Wall Street has a short memory for companies it has already written off. Once a stock gets labeled a lost cause, the label tends to outlive the facts, because updating a story takes more effort than repeating one.Movie theaters have worn that label since 2020. The industry lost most of its audience during the Covid shutdowns, then lost a chunk of what came back to bigger televisions, shorter waits before a film hits streaming, and a subscription service in nearly every living room.The standard analysis became a melting ice cube. Attendance drifts a little lower each year, chains close screens to protect margins, and the only real debate is how slowly the decline plays out.That thesis has always carried one weakness inside it. Theater chains sit on enormous fixed costs, so the same math that punishes them in a weak year flips hard in the other direction the moment enough people actually show up.Enough people showed up. AMC Entertainment (AMC) reported second-quarter results before the bell on Monday, July 20, and the company cleared a profit mark it had never reached in 106 years of operating.Why movie-theater economics swing so violentlyA theater chain is close to a pure fixed-cost business. Rent, insurance, projection equipment, and a baseline of staffing are all paid for, whether an auditorium holds 12 people or 120.That is why exhibition looks dire in a weak year and looks like a different industry in a strong one. Every incremental ticket sold after the fixed costs are covered drops almost straight to the bottom line.More Streaming:Disney weighs new free offering as consumers ditch paid streamingHollywood’s next streaming gamble stars an actor who isn’t humanNetflix joins Disney and YouTube in chasing World CupThe second quarter put hard numbers on that idea. Operating expense, excluding depreciation and amortization, landed at $458.4 million, matching the prior year to the decimal, while rent moved only from $222.6 million to $223.8 million, according to AMC’s second-quarter earnings release.Revenue over that same stretch climbed by roughly $199 million.I have covered enough exhibitor quarters to know that flat costs paired with rising revenue is the only combination that ever repairs a debt-heavy theater chain. Everything else is cosmetic.

AMC welcomed 52.5 million moviegoers in U.S. theaters during the second quarter of 2026.Maskot / Getty Images

What AMC’s record second quarter actually deliveredTotal revenues reached $1.597 billion, up 14.2%, and adjusted EBITDA hit $321.4 million, the first time the company has ever cleared $300 million in a single quarter, according to AMC’s earnings release. Adjusted EBITDA is what is left after stripping out interest, taxes, and the accounting charge for aging assets, which makes it the number lenders watch most closely.The gap against expectations was not subtle. Adjusted profit arrived at 14 cents per share against forecasts for a loss of 6 cents, with revenue estimates sitting at $1.47 billion, reported Reuters, citing LSEG data.AMC chairman and chief executive Adam Aron did not undersell it. In 106 years, “never before has AMC had such superb results,” he said in the release.Here is the AMC’s second-quarter earnings release at a glance:Total revenue of $1.597 billion, up from $1.398 billion Adjusted EBITDA margin of 20.1%, up from 13.6% a year earlierU.S. attendance of 52.5 million patrons, up 12%International attendance up 17.9%, with segment adjusted EBITDA of $35.8 millionFree cash flow of $190.1 million, versus $88.9 million a year agoIndustry-wide domestic box office of roughly $2.99 billion, up 10.7%Six separate films opened above $75 million domestically during the quarter, and Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” followed with a reported $124 million debut in July, reported Reuters.Notably, the average U.S. ticket price actually slipped to $12.70 from $12.77. The record came from volume, not from charging moviegoers more.Management says that is deliberate. “We can grow our revenue per patron without necessarily increasing price,” chief financial officer Sean Goodman told analysts, according to TheWrap.More than half of AMC’s U.S. guests during the quarter were Stubs loyalty members, according to The Wrap, which is the payoff.The per share math behind AMC’s blockbuster numbersHere is where my analysis parts ways with the celebration.AMC survived the past six years by selling stock, repeatedly. Diluted weighted average shares outstanding hit 722.0 million in the second quarter, up from 433.1 million a year earlier, according to the earnings release.That is 66.7% more owners splitting the same pie.Related: AMC makes bold call that sends its stock crashingI ran the record adjusted EBITDA figure against that share count, and the result reframes the quarter entirely. Adjusted EBITDA per share worked out to roughly 44.5 cents, against about 43.7 cents in the same quarter last year.A 69.6% jump in adjusted EBITDA became a 1.7% gain per share.The debt load absorbs most of the rest. Interest expense of $136 million consumed 57% of the $238.1 million in operating income, and stockholders’ equity remains negative at about $1.45 billion, the earnings release revealed.Sell-side reaction reflected that split. “While there’s still more work to do here, this was a source of hope,” wrote B. Riley Securities analyst Drew Crumb, according to Deadline.Others stayed skeptical about the durability of the turn. “Strong quarters, like this one, will happen now and again,” said eMarketer senior analyst Ross Benes, Reuters reported.What the rest of 2026 decides for AMC investorsThe near-term calendar is the bull case. Aron pointed to “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” arriving in two weeks, with “Dune: Part Three” and “Avengers: Doomsday” landing before Christmas.The balance sheet has bought time to find out whether that slate delivers. AMC pushed its next meaningful debt maturity out to 2029 and expects lower borrowing costs to trim roughly $51 million more from annual interest expense if current conditions hold, the earnings release confirmed.Analysts have started to move. Texas Capital upgraded the stock to buy and lifted its target to $3 from $2, according to TipRanks.For anyone holding shares, the question for the second half is narrower than it looks. It is not whether the box office recovers, because the second quarter settled that.It is whether AMC can go a full 12 months without issuing more stock. Do that, and the fixed-cost math finally works for existing shareholders instead of for the next round of buyers.Fail, and 2026 becomes one more record the owners of this company never got to keep.Related: AMC plans free perk for loyal customers amid struggles

3M (MMM) raised its 2026 profit forecast on July 21, as stronger demand and price increases helped its safety and industrial business post a better second quarter.The company reported adjusted earnings of $2.40 a share on sales of $6.5 billion. It now expects full-year adjusted earnings of $8.80 to $8.95 per share, up from its previous forecast of $8.50 to $8.70.3M shares rose about 8.86% to $173.21 in midday trading on July 21, making the stock one of the stronger performers in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.”We delivered a strong second quarter, exceeding expectations with mid-single-digit sales growth, robust operating margins of about 25%, and double-digit EPS growth,” said 3M chairman and CEO, William Brown.The beat-and-raise quarter was the main reason for the move. But 3M also gave investors a more unusual growth story to watch: a small optical-connectivity business that is beginning to appear in artificial intelligence data centers.3M and Microsoft (MSFT) said last week that Microsoft Azure would become the first announced hyperscale cloud provider to deploy 3M’s Expanded Beam Optical technology. The product is designed for fiber connections in dense data-center environments, where dust, vibration, and small alignment problems can interfere with high-speed data transmission.3M’s industrial business drives the profit raiseThe safety and industrial segment remained the main source of strength. The business sells products used in personal safety, industrial adhesives, abrasives, electrical markets, and automotive aftermarket applications.Reuters reported that continuing demand and price hikes in the unit helped drive 3M’s higher profit forecast. The company said pricing should fully offset the profit impact from oil-related inflation.Related: 3M: The history behind the massive global conglomerate3M’s transportation and electronics business also improved. The Wall Street Journal reported that safety and industrial sales rose 7.5% to $3.09 billion, while transportation and electronics sales increased 6.2% to $2.07 billion.Those numbers help explain why the earnings report, rather than the Microsoft partnership alone, drove Tuesday’s move. 3M’s near-term profit story still comes from demand, pricing, and margin improvement in its core businesses.3M finds a new opening inside AI data centersAI data centers rely on dense fiber networks that carry information among servers, chips, and networking equipment. Dust, vibration, and connector misalignment can weaken optical signals, especially when equipment is installed, moved, or serviced.3M says its Expanded Beam Optical technology expands and collimates light inside fiber connections, making them less sensitive to contamination or movement.Microsoft’s deployment gives EBO a named hyperscale customer and places 3M in a less visible layer of the AI buildout: the physical network that moves data between computing systems.More AI:The new Chinese AI model rattling U.S. tech investorsAnthropic restores access to Mythos 5 for select organizationsSoftBank CEO offers stinging critique of Musk’s AI betFor 3M, it is supplying a component that helps dense data-center systems maintain faster, more reliable optical connections, rather than chips, cloud contracts, and electricity demand. Brown told analysts on July 21 that EBO revenue could grow four to five times from its current annual level of $40 million to $50 million.Key numbers behind 3M’s quarter and AI opportunity$2.40: 3M’s second-quarter adjusted earnings per share$6.5 billion: 3M’s second-quarter sales$8.80 to $8.95: 3M’s new 2026 adjusted earnings forecast$8.50 to $8.70: 3M’s previous 2026 adjusted earnings forecast7.5%: Safety and industrial sales growth$40 million to $50 million: Current annual revenue level for EBOFour to five times: Potential EBO revenue growth cited by CEO William Brown

3M’s industrial, transportation, and electronics departments are performing well.wellesenterprises / Getty Images

3M’s AI opportunity starts from a small baseAt $40 million to $50 million in current annual revenue, EBO is tiny compared with 3M’s overall business. 3M generated $6.5 billion in sales in the second quarter alone.Even a four- or fivefold increase would put EBO’s annual revenue at roughly $160 million to $250 million, still small compared with 3M’s multibillion-dollar safety, industrial, transportation, and electronics businesses.Azure’s deployment gives 3M a credible customer in a fast-growing data-center market, but the company’s 2026 earnings outlook still depends mostly on industrial demand, pricing, cost control, and margin improvement.A broader rollout among hyperscale cloud providers would make EBO a more visible growth driver. Limited adoption would leave it as a useful but relatively small extension of 3M’s electronics portfolio.July 21’s rally still largely reflected 3M’s beat-and-raise quarter. The Microsoft partnership raises a different question for the next few quarters: whether EBO can move from a small optical-connectivity product into a meaningful niche in the AI data-center supply chain.Related: Microsoft CEO’s Anthropic criticism reveals bigger AI power struggle

For some scam victims, the financial damage does not end with the money lost — tax consequences can create an additional burden on funds they never recovered.That is the reality facing a growing number of fraud victims who discover, after reporting the crime, that the tax code denies them relief. A permanent change to federal law now bars most scam victims from deducting even a single dollar of their losses.Consumers reported a record $15.9 billion in fraud losses in 2025, a 27% jump from $12.5 billion the year before, according to Federal Trade Commission associate director Lois Greisman’s March 2026 testimony.Since 2020, reported losses have surged by nearly 430%, and the FTC has also flagged a sharp rise in the number of consumers reporting six-figure losses, according to Greisman’s March 25 testimony.How a 2017 tax-law change stripped protections from scam victimsBefore 2018, taxpayers who suffered theft losses could claim an itemized deduction for unreimbursed amounts, subject to a 10% adjusted gross income floor, Congress.gov stated. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 eliminated that option by restricting personal casualty and theft loss deductions to federally declared disasters.That restriction was originally set to expire after the 2025 tax year, thereby restoring the deduction for personal theft losses starting in 2026. Related: Vanguard drops chilling scam warning for every investorThe One Big Beautiful Bill Act instead made the limitation permanent, expanding the exemption only to include state-declared disasters, not theft or fraud.Matthew Roberts, a tax attorney and partner at Meadows Collier in Dallas, told CNBC the current treatment is “very punitive.”When a victim sends $50,000 to a scammer posing as a federal agent, the loss is not deductible, and if the funds came from a tax-deferred retirement account, the full withdrawal is still taxed as ordinary income. The tax code treats different types of scam losses differentlyThe law draws a sharp line based on the victim’s motivation when they handed over the money, and that distinction frustrates tax professionals.Victims of investment-related fraud, such as fake cryptocurrency platforms or Ponzi-style schemes, may still qualify for a theft loss deduction under current law, the IRS showed. The IRS affirmed that interpretation in Chief Counsel Advice 202511015, a memorandum issued in March 2025, because those transactions involved a profit motive.More Personal Finance:Bank of America offers a critical debt elimination planFidelity challenges long-standing retirement savings ruleGallup data expose record financial anxiety in the U.S.People who lose money to impersonator scams, romance fraud, or fake kidnapping schemes are shut out because their losses are classified as nondeductible personal casualties.”That’s another really frustrating part of this whole scenario,” said Clark Flynt-Barr, AARP’s government affairs director for financial security. “Victims have to be victims of the right type of scam,” CNBC reported.Retirement-account withdrawals compound the damage for older victimsThe fallout worsens when scammers persuade a victim to tap a tax-deferred retirement account, such as a traditional 401(k) or individual retirement account. The full withdrawal is taxed as ordinary income regardless of where the money ended up, and the victim receives no offset for the loss.If the account holder is younger than 59 and a half, the IRS imposes an additional 10% early withdrawal penalty on top of the income tax, CNBC confirmed.Older adults bear a disproportionate share of this risk because they hold the largest retirement balances and face the most aggressive targeting. Adults 60 and older reported more than $7.7 billion in losses in 2025, a 59% jump from the prior year, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center 2025 Elder Fraud Report.”Many taxpayers who are retired may not have taxable income in future years after the theft occurs, particularly where they lost their retirement funds,” Roberts noted in the CNBC report.

IRS rules allow tax deductions for some investment scam losses, while victims of romance and impersonator scams receive no tax relief.fizkes/Getty Images

Bipartisan bill clears House committee with unanimous supportThe Tax Relief for Fraud Victims Act, H.R. 9500, was introduced by Representatives Max Miller, a Republican from Ohio, and Tom Suozzi, a Democrat from New York.Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) said at the committee’s July 1, 2026, markup that the bill let victims deduct scam-related losses and, in some cases, file amended returns years after discovery.”Today, Americans face countless scams, and many victims may not find out they have become the target of one until years later,” Smith said. “Unfortunately, current tax rules require victims to pay tax on their scam-related losses. This bill helps make taxpayers whole again by allowing them to deduct the losses incurred from scams.”The House Ways and Means Committee approved the measure on July 1 with a unanimous vote of 39 to 0, but it remains uncertain when the full House will take it up.”It reinstates the deduction to provide relief to victims of fraud so they can deduct the amount stolen from them, thereby mitigating the majority of the tax consequences,” Flynt-Barr confirmed.Steps scam victims can take before the next filing seasonTax professionals and the IRS recommend that victims take specific steps now, regardless of whether the pending legislation becomes law.Fraud victims can strengthen their position by documenting every dollar lost and keeping all communications with the scammer, Roberts said. Filing a report with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center and with local police creates the official record the IRS demands, the agency’s scam-victim guidance confirms.Anyone who lost money to fraud in 2025 or earlier and has not yet filed or amended the relevant return can benefit from seeking professional tax advice, Roberts recommended. The evidence a victim assembles today could determine whether a deduction is available if H.R. 9500 or a similar measure becomes law.Related: First Thing a Scammer Asks For? Silence. Not Money.