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Mortgage rates have increased for the second week in a row on July 16, according to Freddie Mac. The national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate is up .06% to 6.55%.Rates have been hovering around 6.5%, and they’ve now surpassed 6.5% for the first time in more than a month.In my years of reporting on mortgage rates, I’ve learned to evaluate several numbers to put current rates in perspective. Week-over-week and year-over-year changes are important, of course. But one number that doesn’t get the attention it deserves is the 52-week average.How mortgage rates stack up against 52-week averagesComparing current rates with the 52-week average rate helps us understand whether today’s rates are relatively high, low, or normal compared with the last full year.The 30-year 6.55% fixed rate is 0.23% higher over the 52-week average of 6.32%. The 15-year 5.93% rate is 0.32% above its average.This is my way of saying that mortgage rates are relatively high.I want to point this out because many experts — including me — have stated that 2026 mortgage rates are below the historical average. They’ve also been down year over year. (Although the annual 15-year rate is 0.01% higher the week of July 16.)Related: Zillow sees change in housing market, home valuesBut when comparing July 16 mortgage rates to rates from the last full year, there’s no denying that current rates are fairly high. What’s causing these high rates, and where will they go from here?We can easily draw a line from the Iran war to oil prices to inflation to mortgage rates.”Mortgage rates are essentially tied to the outcome of the Iran conflict at this point,” Corey Burr, senior vice president at TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, told TheStreet.Mortgage rates rely on the Iran war and oil prices”The biggest story right now is the end of the ceasefire with Iran and what it could mean for oil prices,” Jeff DerGurahian, chief investment officer and head economist at LoanDepot, said in a statement shared with TheStreet.Mortgage rates had ticked down for a few weeks as the United States and Iran seemed to be working toward ending the war. However, Iran attacked vessels on the Strait of Hormuz, the two countries continued to attack each other, and President Donald Trump announced that the ceasefire was over on July 8.Since July 8, fixed mortgage rates have been rising.”If [the war] festers later into the year or into 2027, I anticipate the 30-year, fixed mortgage rate will be range-bound in the 6-7% range,” Burr said. “If there is a quick resolution to the conflict and oil drops precipitously, then the 30-year fixed should fall below 6%.”More Mortgage Rates:Real estate giant updates mortgage rate, home price predictionsSocial Security inaction could push mortgage rates higherHarsh 6.5% mortgage rates cause stunning housing market changeDerGurahian pointed out that the uncertainty about the war is preventing mortgage rates from decreasing. I also expect that mortgage rates will stay stagnant or even increase the longer the war continues.Oil prices have also been rising in response to the end of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire. Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, opened at $72.11 on July 7, Business Insider confirmed, and closed at $85.06 on July 15.How do oil prices indirectly impact mortgage rates? Oil affects the cost of so many goods and services in America that when oil prices are up, inflation typically also rises.And when inflation grows more aggressively, you can probably expect mortgage rates to follow suit.Like I said, a straight line from the war to oil prices to inflation to mortgage rates.Slower inflation may not be enough to help mortgage ratesNow let’s talk about the current relationship between inflation and mortgage rates.The Bureau of Labor Statistics published the June Consumer Price Index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, on July 14. And the numbers were actually better than what most people expected.Wall Street had expected annual inflation growth rate of 3.8%, but it came in at 3.5%. The year-over-year core inflation rate (which omits food and energy) was 2.6%, while economists had predicted a 2.9% increase.Since inflation is better than expected, shouldn’t mortgage rates at least inch down a little in the near future?Possibly… but not necessarily.The CPI looked at June data, and the ceasefire didn’t end until July 8. The July CPI report, released Aug. 12, could tell a very different story.Also, the CPI isn’t the most important index for projecting future moves by the Federal Reserve.The Federal Reserve heavily bases its decision on whether to cut, hike, or hold the federal funds rate on what inflation is doing. The central bank doesn’t discount the CPI, but it considers the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index more seriously because it provides a “broader and more comprehensive measure of inflation,” according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) releases the next PCE report on Thursday, July 30 — the day after the next Fed meeting ends. So, it won’t have an impact on the July Fed meeting.The July 30 PCE report will also show June data. We won’t even see the PCE data for July until Aug. 28, and the next Fed meeting will be Sept. 15-16.

The latest inflation data probably won’t lead to a mortgage-rate decrease.Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Key takeaways from mortgage rate newsTake a “wait and see” approach for Fed rates. Some analysts have predicted two or even three fed funds rate hikes in 2026. This is definitely possible, but DerGurahian thinks the market might be jumping to conclusions. “If labor market data continues to cool and inflation readings come in at or below expectations… what is currently being viewed as multiple hikes could ultimately look more like a one-and-done move by the Fed,” he said.But don’t plan for mortgage rates to plummet. Regarding the Fed’s decisions and their impacts on mortgage loan rates, it’s like the saying goes: Hope for the best but plan for the worst. There are still a lot of unknowns regarding what the Fed will do in 2026.Don’t wait for rates to drop before buying. There’s no guarantee that interest rates will decrease in the near future. Therefore, you shouldn’t hold off on buying a house just because you’re waiting for a lower rate. That might not happen for a long time. If you can still comfortably afford a house at today’s mortgage rates, go ahead and start the process.Look for opportunities to lock in a lower mortgage rate. Burr recommended obtaining a preapproval letter from a mortgage lender, getting quotes from several lenders, and comparing fixed- versus adjustable-rate loans.Related: Dave Ramsey, Vanguard warn Americans on housing costs

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 dealThere are a few comforts we all seek as we crawl into bed: soft sheets, a cool pillow, and cozy blankets. One thing you can’t do without is a comforter set to not only create a comfortable atmosphere but also to decorate your space. If you’re looking for new bedding for your bedroom or the guest room, Macy’s has a plethora of options, but there’s one set in particular that caught our eyes. If you’re familiar with the UGG brand, then you’re probably aware that it doesn’t offer deals very often. That’s why when you spot something on sale, it’s best to jump on it before it goes back to full price or sells out, which is often the case at Macy’s. The Ugg Alamitos bedding set is normally $140, but right now it’s 50% off, taking the price down to just $70. That’s a great deal from a brand known for its high-quality products. But this deal won’t last long, so if you want to get it, add it to your cart now.Ugg Alamitos Bedding Set, From $70 (was $140) at Macy’s

Shop at Macy’sWhy do shoppers love it?Ugg is famous for its ubiquitous fur-lined boots, so much so that many people don’t realize that the company makes other high-quality products as well. This bedding set is made of 100% polyester and provides medium-level warmth, according to the manufacturer. Shoppers praise its “amazing quality, softness, and texture” and say it washes well.The Alamitos set comes in a dusty pink and taupe stripe on a white background and is perfect for those seeking a neutral look. The twin-size set comes with the comforter and a single sham. To preserve its quality, the manufacturer recommends washing it on a gentle cycle and tumble drying it on low.Related: Amazon’s $30 hotel-quality comforter feels ‘like sleeping on a cloud’Details to knowBed size: This set is suited for a twin or twin XL bed. Material: Polyester.Machine washable?: Yes.Shoppers love this set, praising it for its comfort and texture. One wrote, “I love UGG bedding, and this comforter is perfect for spring and summertime use.” And another raved about its comfort, adding, “I also like how it has labels so you can know where the top and sides are.”If you’re ready for a bedding upgrade and want a high-quality name-brand at a fraction of the price, now is the time to buy. The Ugg Alamitos bedding set fits the bill at 50% off and a low price of only $70. But hurry, it won’t last long.

There’s a reason Costco will pretty much let you return any item at any time without a hassle.Costco has built its reputation on offering high-quality products at competitive prices, backed by strict supplier standards and careful product selection. The company knows its products have been vetted to meet certain standards, and that commitment to quality is the key to retaining members. So if there’s a product that doesn’t meet expectations, Costco will take it back.But even a retailer known for rigorous quality controls isn’t immune to product recalls.Last month, Costco warned customers not to consume the Lactantia UltraPur 2% 20g Protein & Lactose Free Milk it sold due to higher-than-intended levels of vitamins A and D.Now, Costco shoppers are facing another recall, this time involving a popular seasonal purchase that carries a very different kind of threat.Costco shoppers warned about recalled grapevine plantsCostco has recalled grapevine plants sold at several Bay Area locations after officials determined they could spread a destructive agricultural pest, SF Gate reported.The recall stems from concerns that the plants contain the glassy-winged sharpshooter, an invasive insect that spreads Pierce’s disease, which can destroy grapevines.The Santa Clara County Division of Agriculture said it will collect the problematic plants from customers who bought them at Costco.Related: Costco makes a silent gas change that members will loveOver 1,300 grapevine plants were sold to customers by Costco in Santa Clara County, and as of July 13, 1,180 of them remained unaccounted for.“If you purchased one of these grapevine plants, we ask that you participate in this collection effort. By allowing us to safely collect and dispose of the plants, you’re helping protect local vineyards, farmers, backyard gardens, and the overall health of our local agricultural economy,” said Priscilla Yeaney, agricultural commissioner for the County of Santa Clara. California’s wine industry contributes $73 billion annually to the state’s economy, according to the Wine Institute, making efforts to contain plant diseases particularly important. Even home gardeners who unknowingly plant infected vines could contribute to the virus’s spread if the disease reaches nearby vineyards or other grape-growing operations.

Recalled plants sold at Costco pose an agricultural threat.Shutterstock

Costco’s recall system is designed to move quicklyCostco has earned a reputation for responding rapidly when recalls occur. Because the warehouse retailer requires membership for purchases, it can often identify customers who bought recalled products using purchase records tied to membership accounts. Costco frequently contacts affected members directly, making it easier for shoppers to learn about potential hazards than at many traditional retailers.More Retail:Costco sees major shift in member behaviorRetail chain shuts all locations as legal changes hit industryCostco makes major investment in online shopping for membersThat said, quality issues like this are rare at Costco for one big reason. The company’s extensive use of its private-label Kirkland Signature brand gives Costco greater oversight across much of its product assortment. By working closely with a smaller group of suppliers, Costco can exercise more control over manufacturing and sourcing than retailers that rely heavily on hundreds of competing national brands.Another key part of Costco’s strategy is limiting the number of products it sells. While a typical supermarket may stock tens of thousands of individual items, Costco intentionally carries a much smaller assortment of around 4,000 SKUs (stock keeping units).That allows buyers to focus more closely on supplier relationships and product quality.This approach doesn’t eliminate recalls entirely, as both last month’s milk recall and the current grapevine recall demonstrate. But it can reduce the frequency of product issues and allow the company to respond more efficiently when problems arise. That gives Costco yet another edge over its competition and explains why so many customers continue to renew their memberships at astounding rates.Maurie Backman owns shares of Costco.Related: Big changes could be in store for Costco

The dense haze of wildfire smoke currently blanketing Northeast metropolitan corridors has sharply focused consumer attention on Zillow Group Inc. and the wider real estate market.Yet, just as these physical climate risks become highly visible to millions of Americans, the digital tools designed to help homebuyers measure them are showing signs of fading.The listing giant recently pulled all property-level climate risk ratings from its online home listings nationwide.Although Zillow provides external, outbound links to First Street’s database, the company no longer hosts or displays numeric climate risk scores, maps, or factors directly on active listings.This industry retreat has drawn criticism from environmental advocates, though some researchers emphasize that the ultimate social benefit depends on how reliable the data is. “As a homebuyer, the key is trying to access information about those relative risks and then decide how to make trade-offs with that information relative to all the other criteria that a homebuyer might be considering,” Jesse Gourevitch, an economist at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), told Inside Climate News. Without upfront, standardized disclosures, experts warn that homebuyers are left evaluating their single largest financial asset with a massive blind spot.”Buyers and homeowners want reliable information to help them make confident decisions, and we aim to provide clear, transparent details as they navigate one of life’s biggest financial choices,” Zillow wrote.Redfin defends climate risk transparencyWhile one portal steps back, other major real estate platforms are actively choosing to hold their ground. Redfin Corp. has publicly committed to maintaining its on-page climate risk features, highlighting a growing philosophical divide in real estate technology.The portal’s leadership maintains that withholding climate risk profiles from buyers does not change the physical reality of the property’s location. Instead, it simply shifts the burden of extreme weather costs onto the buyer after they have already closed on a mortgage.”By bringing weather data directly into the home search experience, Redfin makes it easier to compare neighborhoods based on the factors that matter most to you — not just the home itself,” Redfin explained.First Street defends property risk modelingAs the primary climate-risk data provider powering these digital listing features, First Street has actively defended the accuracy of its physical hazard modeling. The nonprofit scientific research group specializes in mapping property-level risk scores for wind, heat, flood, and wildfire exposure, according to First Street.The organization emphasizes that localized climate modeling is not designed to predict immediate disaster events, but rather to calculate long-term financial exposure.More on housing market:Zillow sees change in housing market, home valuesNew home-selling strategy poses threat to buyersGoldman Sachs issues major prediction for U.S. housing marketPredictive modelers emphasize that ignoring localized risk metrics does not prevent physical damage to a structure. Instead, it merely hides the long-term compounding liabilities that eventually hit a homeowner’s personal balance sheet.”Our scores aren’t telling you how likely that home is to be damaged; our scores are telling you the exposure level of where that structure sits,” said Matthew Eby, founder and chief executive of First Street, in an interview with Claims Journal.

Zillow and Redfin have different approaches to listing homes in areas with climate change risks, such as wildfires and flooding.Shutterstock

High climate exposure erodes long-term property wealthI modeled the following financial case studies to show exactly how a filing timeline changes your retirement security, giving you practical benchmarks to match against your personal financial situation.The baseline models assume a starting purchase price of $440,600, matching the record-high national median existing-home price tracking on the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ FRED database.The high-risk property is modeled inside the nation’s most climate-exposed ZIP codes, where properties experience a direct valuation drag that reduces overall home price growth by over $40,000, according to research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) on property insurance and disaster risk.The low-risk property is situated in an insulated zone with a standard 3% annual insurance premium escalation, matching the average baseline pacing outlined by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ analysis of housing expense trends.Scenario A: The low-exposure residential propertyThe low-risk property experiences standard, stable market appreciation of 4% annually over the 10-year period, increasing the home’s value to $652,201. Homeowners insurance starts at the national average of $3,086 per year and rises by a modest 3% annually, totaling $35,377 in cumulative premiums over the decade.The total home equity gained over the 10-year holding period reaches $211,601. When subtracting the cumulative insurance costs, the homeowner secures a net housing wealth gain of $176,224.Scenario B: The high-exposure climate-risk propertyAccording to research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research on climate change and long-run real estate pricing, surging insurance premiums capitalize directly into home values, reducing overall home price growth by over $40,000 in highly exposed neighborhoods.To model this extreme pressure, the high-risk property is calculated with a depressed 3% annual appreciation rate alongside the NBER’s projected $43,900 structural valuation discount, bringing the home’s estimated value to $548,228 after 10 years.Because the property sits in a high-hazard zone, its starting insurance premium is modeled at a higher baseline of $3,808. A policy brief from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas confirms that rising insurance costs are an escalating source of household financial stress. With premium costs in this high-risk zone projected to compound at 8% annually, the homeowner faces a staggering $55,165 in cumulative payments over the decade.After accounting for these elevated, compounding insurance premiums, the net housing wealth gain on the high-risk property drops to just $52,463, according to a research report from the Brookings Institution on the challenges climate change poses to property insurance.Scenario comparison: 10-year property wealth impactStarting Home Value: $440,600 for both properties.10-Year Estimated Home Value: $652,201 for the low-exposure home, compared to $548,228 for the high-exposure home (representing a loss of $103,973 in potential property growth).10-Year Cumulative Home Insurance Premiums: $35,377 for the low-exposure home, compared to $55,165 for the high-exposure home (an additional cash drain of $19,788).Net Property Wealth Gained: The low-exposure homeowner secures $176,224 in net wealth, while the high-risk homeowner is left with only $52,463 (resulting in a total deficit of $123,761).
(Source: Jeffrey Quiggle, TheStreet)
Structural climate liabilities prove costlyIn the scenarios I have outlined here, purchasing a property in a high-climate-exposure ZIP code results in a net financial loss of $123,761 over a single decade. This stark wealth variance is driven by the compounding double-whammy of a climate valuation discount and escalating, non-disclosed insurance premiums.Disclaimer: The financial scenarios presented in this article are independent mathematical models calculated for educational and illustrative purposes only. Past real estate performance and historical weather trends do not guarantee future property valuation outcomes or insurance rate stability.Related: Zillow sees change in housing market, home values

Nearly 700 miles from Silicon Valley, in the arid foothills of Boise, Idaho, you’ll find the headquarters of Micron Technology (MU), a global manufacturer of semiconductor chips and one of the world’s leading technology companies.It’s also nearly 2,500 miles from Wall Street. Yet despite its remote location, Micron has become one of the market’s biggest AI winners. Shares skyrocketed more than 680% from July 2025 to July 2026 amid explosive demand for the company’s high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which are a critical component in AI infrastructure.But unlike other technology giants, such as Apple (AAPL) and Alphabet (GOOG), Micron didn’t grow up in Silicon Valley. Instead, the company built one of the semiconductor industry’s biggest success stories from an unlikely corner of the American West.Here’s a closer look at the chipmaker’s Boise HQ.Why is Micron Technology headquartered in Boise, Idaho?The company’s Idaho roots aren’t an accident.Micron Technology was founded in 1978 by a team of semiconductor engineers — Ward Parkinson, Dennis Wilson, and Doug Pitman — who found themselves without jobs when their contract with Mostek Corp. was unexpectedly canceled. So they teamed up with Ward’s brother, Joe Parkinson, a corporate lawyer, to build their own semiconductor firm from scratch.They started out designing Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) chips for other companies. In 1980, they were introduced to Boise billionaire JR Simplot, who had made a fortune selling frozen French fries to McDonald’s.Simplot was impressed by the team’s dedication to producing faster DRAM chips than anyone else. He was even more bowled over by computer technology. Simplot believed the computer industry was on the cusp of a revolution, and one day, while driving his Lincoln from his potato fields to the clean rooms at Micron, he prophesied that PCs were going to be “bigger than the goddamned wheel.”Related: Micron Technology’s stock buybacks explainedSimplot invested $1 million in the fledgling company, which gave Micron the capital it needed to move beyond consulting and begin manufacturing its own memory chips at scale. Just six years later, in 1984, the company went public at $13 per share.What began as a startup eventually became one of the world’s most valuable semiconductor companies, surpassing a $1 trillion market capitalization on May 26, 2026.What are some unique features of Micron Technology’s headquarters?Unlike the headquarters of Meta Platforms (META), which has Frank Gehry-designed buildings and an employee-only Redwood forest, or Apple’s chrome “spaceship,” conceptualized by Steve Jobs himself, Micron’s headquarters isn’t designed to impress visitors. It’s built to make chips.And it’s not quiet, either. Micron’s headquarters is currently undergoing a massive $50 billion expansion to add 6.5 million square feet to its existing campus.This includes 600,000 square feet of cleanroom space housed in a “fab” or fabrication plant that stretches more than one-third of a mile.More on tech stocks:Nvidia’s stock split history: Everything you need to knowAMD’s stock buybacks explained: History, balance & outlookDoes Intel pay dividends? History & future prospects explainedMicron had announced its plans for the fab back in 2023, but due to the world’s insatiable appetite for memory, the company announced in 2025 that a second fab would also be built.Each fab will be made from 70,000 tons of American-made steel — roughly the same amount used in the Golden Gate Bridge.Once they are completed, they will be the largest buildings in all of Idaho, and with nearly 6,000 employees at its headquarters alone, Micron is one of the state’s largest employers.Can I tour Micron Technology’s headquarters?Micron Technology’s campus is not open to the public. It is restricted to employee access only, with its fabrication plants being high-security facilities that require special gear to avoid microchip contamination.Related: How many employees does Micron have in 2026? Its workforce, locations, and layoffs explainedWhat is Micron Technology’s address?Micron Technology is located at 8000 S. Federal Way, Boise, ID, 83716.Related: Is Micron Technology a good long-term investment? What buy-and-hold investors should know

One of the world’s most recognizable luxury fashion brands is at the center of a yearslong criminal trial after two former warehouse employees were accused of stealing hundreds of high-end products that had been designated for destruction.Beyond the alleged theft, testimony in the case has pulled back the curtain on a little-known practice in the luxury industry: destroying unsold merchandise to preserve exclusivity rather than allowing it to be sold at discounted prices.Luxury brands have long relied on scarcity and limited availability to justify premium pricing and protect their image. When products fail to sell or are replaced by newer collections, some companies remove them from circulation entirely to prevent them from reaching discount retailers or grey markets, where lower prices could weaken the brand’s perceived value.The revelations come as luxury retailers continue to face growing scrutiny from consumers and environmental advocates over sustainability, waste, and the disposal of unsold merchandise.Chanel employees accused of stealing hundreds of luxury itemsTwo former employees at Chanel’s Goodman Interlink warehouse in Tsing Yi, Hong Kong, are standing trial for allegedly stealing more than 700 luxury products that were scheduled to be destroyed.According to court proceedings, the items included more than 600 handbags, 123 wallets, jewelry, and a pair of shoes.The defendants are a former warehouse supervisor responsible for the import division and a former warehouse employee who left the company in 2011.Prosecutors allege the pair worked with two other warehouse employees to remove the products from Chanel’s destruction process. They were arrested in January 2017 after management and police intercepted them while they were allegedly loading the luxury goods into a delivery van.The investigation began after Chanel managers noticed warehouse employees were regularly working overtime, raising concerns that products earmarked for destruction were being diverted for resale.After reviewing CCTV footage, management allegedly observed employees placing luxury goods scheduled for shredding into cardboard boxes and hiding them in a secluded area of the warehouse’s 23rd floor.To prevent the boxes from being moved, managers temporarily reassigned the employees to the fifth floor while continuing to monitor the area. Days later, one of the workers was allegedly seen returning to seal the boxes before authorities intervened.Trial reveals Chanel destroys thousands of productsCourt testimony also revealed details about Chanel’s inventory disposal process.According to evidence presented during the trial, Chanel destroys between 10,000 and 20,000 outdated luxury products every six months as part of a global inventory management strategy.Before products are destroyed, warehouse managers verify inventory, inspectors confirm the merchandise, and the items are transported from the warehouse’s 23rd floor to a fifth-floor shredding facility.Access to the freight elevator connecting the two floors required a security passcode and key that prosecutors said were controlled by the former warehouse supervisor on trial.Chanel remains one of the world’s most expensive luxury brands. Its iconic Classic Flap Bag typically retails for around $5,500, while larger and limited-edition versions can cost more than $12,000.

Chanel’s theft trial reveals a controversial practice in the luxury industry.Moritz Scholz/Getty Images

Why luxury brands destroy unsold merchandiseDestroying unsold inventory has long been used by luxury fashion houses to prevent excess merchandise from entering secondary markets, where discounted prices can dilute brand value.Luxury companies argue that tightly controlling inventory preserves brand equity, protects intellectual property, and reduces the risk of counterfeit products entering the market. Critics, however, say destroying usable merchandise creates unnecessary waste and undermines sustainability commitments that many fashion brands have publicly embraced. Here’s some of my previous coverage on luxury business:132-year-old luxury chain quietly closes more stores worldwideLuxury retailer exits beauty business and ends major partnershipAnother retail chain closing all stores after 33 years in businessThe practice has faced increasing scrutiny in recent years as consumers and environmental groups question the waste generated by the destruction of perfectly usable products.Burberry faced widespread criticism in 2018 after disclosing that it had destroyed approximately $38 million worth of unsold clothing, accessories, and cosmetics. Following the backlash, the company ended the practice and pledged to reuse, repair, donate, or recycle products instead.Coach encountered similar criticism in 2021 after a TikTok video appeared to show employees slashing handbags before disposal. The company later announced it would stop destroying damaged or unsellable returned products and launched its (Re)Loved repair service and resale program, CNN reported.While the issue is often associated with luxury fashion, inventory destruction has also occurred among mainstream retailers, including H&M, Zara, Urban Outfitters, and Nike. Many of those companies have since introduced resale, rental, repair, and recycling initiatives as part of broader sustainability efforts.”An argument for the practice is that burning or destroying clothes prevents against counterfeiting, compromising the brand’s intellectual property. If the cheaply priced goods get in the wrong hands, it can be easily replicated,” said StyleDemocracy Senior Marketing Manager and Social Director Alexandra Krystal.”But [the] problem is, of course, that burning clothes contributes to [a] negative impact on the environment at a time when fast fashion is already dumping clothes in landfills at a disturbing rate.”The testimony offers an unusually detailed look at how luxury brands manage excess inventory, a process that is rarely discussed publicly, despite ongoing debate over waste and sustainability in the fashion industry.While the trial centers on allegations of employee theft, it has also highlighted a long-standing inventory practice that remains one of the fashion industry’s most controversial. As luxury brands face mounting pressure to balance exclusivity with sustainability, companies’ protocols for unsold merchandise are likely to remain under public and regulatory scrutiny.Related: 79-year-old fast-fashion retailer closes 128 stores

The casual restaurant tradition of giving diners a complimentary wrapped candy after a meal, as Olive Garden has been known for, is pleasing to many customers and can sometimes ensure that a nice tip with be left at the table.Some restaurants offer the classic Starlight Mint, an Andes chocolate mint, or maybe a restaurant branded candy, such as one made by specialty candy company Candy Sense Inc., which is facing some challenging times that have led to a bankruptcy filing.Private brand candy manufacturer Candy Sense Inc., which has endured declining revenues over the last two years, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to reorganize its business, facing a breach of contract lawsuit filed against it by JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, according to PacerMonitor.

Private-brand candy manufacturer Candy Sense files for bankruptcy protection.smerza / Getty Images

Candy Sense files for bankruptcyThe Austin, Texas-based candy maker filed its petition, No. 26-11345, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas on July 15, listing over $1.7 million in assets and over $3.6 million in debts.The petition did not include any details regarding the breach of contract lawsuit. All legal actions against the debtor are subject to an automatic stay while the bankruptcy case proceeds.Candy Sense listed its largest creditors, including JPMorgan Chase Bank, owed over $2.5 million; Empaques San Alejandro S.A. de C.V., owed over $53,000 for raw materials; Plastinal SA de CV, owed over $26,000 for raw materials; and Marcos Zonana Caltan, owed over $21,000 for raw materials, according to the petition.Candy company’s revenue declinedThe debtor’s annual gross revenue has declined over the last two years, from about $3.5 million in 2024 to about $2.3 million in 2025 and declining further with over $994,000 at the midway point of 2026.The company did not give a specific reason for filing for bankruptcy.The debtor manufactures branded and personalized candy for businesses and individuals, such as mints, soft and hard candy, lollipops, chocolates, and other promotional products. It makes candies with wrappers that include a variety of messages or logos printed on them. It also markets single-use cleansing wipes with company names, logos, or messages.Targets restaurant sectorCandy Sense targets the restaurant sector, which uses its products as after-meal giveaways when it’s time to deliver the check. Businesses use its products as marketing and promotional tools for trade shows, giveaways, and appreciation.The company also markets to consumers for themed parties and celebrations, such as weddings, anniversaries, and birthdays.Candies include round candy tablets and small round candy tablets in a variety of flavors, tiny red-hot balls, chocolate mint pebbles, single hard candies, single chocolate mints, and single spicy tamarind balls.Candy flavors include spearmint, peppermint, wintergreen, cinnamon, chocolate mint, and spicy tamarind. Assorted fruit flavors include tangerine, lemon, guava, cherry, green apple, and spicy mango.Other candy makers file for bankruptcySeveral other candy companies have also filed for bankruptcy protection in 2026.Primrose Candy Co., a Chicago-based manufacturer of nonchocolate confectionery products, filed for Chapter 11 protection on Jan. 27, 2026, in the Northern District of Illinois, according to Bondoro.Primrose faced a $125,000 class-action lawsuit settlement from a case alleging that Primrose Candy Co. collected its employees’ fingerprints without making the disclosures and receiving the written consent required by the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, Daniel Kline of TheStreet reported.Chocolate retailer and full-service restaurant Max NY Union Square LLC, which operated two locations in New York, filed for Chapter 11 on Feb. 10, 2026, to reorganize its operations, according to Inforuptcy. The high-end candy retailer and restaurant did not give a specific reason for filings for bankruptcy.Candy Sense products:Round candy tabletsSmall round candy tabletsTiny red-hot ballsChocolate mint pebblesSingle hard candiesSingle chocolate mintsSingle spicy tamarind ballsSingle-use cleansing wipes.Source: Candy SenseRelated: 55-year-old dining chain closes location, could shutter up to 50

IBM (IBM) shares lost roughly one-quarter of their value on July 14 after the tech giant dropped disappointing preliminary second-quarter results.The collapse was historic, but the severity of the earnings gap alone doesn’t explain the market reaction.IBM could be in an artificial intelligence expenditure trap.Corporate IT budgets are still expanding, but buyers are shifting money to servers, storage, and memory before tight supplies push prices higher. That’s good news for hardware makers and bad news for the software and consulting deals IBM is relying on more and more for profitable growth.IBM is on both sides of that market. It provides mainframes, storage, and enterprise software and consults corporations on technological projects.But such enterprises don’t have equal economics.IBM’s software division had a gross margin of 82.8% in the first quarter. Infrastructure accounted for 56.9% and consultancy for 27.5%. A dollar deferred in software might thus cost the organization more than a dollar earned elsewhere benefits it.The concern for investors is no longer just whether IBM missed one quarter.Is the AI infrastructure boom just a temporary reshuffling of enterprise budgets, or is it permanently draining dollars from the products that make up the core of IBM’s valuation?“These conditions require our teams to execute perfectly, and this quarter we faltered. We did not adapt and move quickly enough,” IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said.IBM’s AI strategy depends on software winning the budget fightIBM came into the second quarter with a lot of enthusiasm.Revenue grew 9% to $15.9 billion in the first quarter. Software sales grew 11%, infrastructure jumped 15%, and consultancy grew 4%. The company produced $2.2 billion of free cash flow and reaffirmed its outlook for more than 5% constant currency revenue growth in 2026.That achievement helped IBM’s transition from a slowly expanding legacy technology company to one more and more valued for software, hybrid cloud, and artificial intelligence.Software drives that change.IBM’s biggest business, the segment generated $7.1 billion of first-quarter revenue. Red Hat, automation, data products, and transaction-processing software drove growth, according to IBM’s first-quarter statistics.Related: Jim Cramer shares strong verdict on IBM stock for investorsIBM has also been investing extensively in watsonx, its suite of technologies for designing, regulating, and deploying artificial intelligence applications.The company’s objective is not only to compete in training the biggest model or building the fastest AI accelerator. It seeks to assist organizations in linking artificial intelligence to their data, existing apps, and regulated business processes.In theory, the method should benefit IBM as firms move beyond experimentation with AI to deploying it across their operations.The problem is enterprise technology budgets have their limits.A corporation might need to shore up its processors, memory, networking equipment, and storage before it can ship more software. But scarcity and anticipated price hikes might make those purchases urgent, while a software agreement could wait until next quarter.IBM’s next mainframe was designed to bolster both sides of the portfolio.The IBM z17 includes more than 250 potential AI use cases, with built-in artificial intelligence capabilities. Strong mainframe demand also tends to produce related transaction-processing software revenue as customers need software to run the systems.That linkage is what makes the second-quarter miss even more troubling.Hardware revenue wasn’t the only weak spot in IBM Z. It also cut demand for the related software stack, converting one delayed infrastructure acquisition into a broader earnings problem.IBM’s preliminary results reveal the AI spending trapIBM’s preliminary second-quarter revenue increased 1% to $17.2 billion.Software sales grew 5%, consulting was flat, and infrastructure decreased 7%. Operating, non-GAAP diluted earnings rose 5% to $2.93 per share. Operating gross margin, however, declined 70 basis points to 59.4%. Year-to-date free cash flow was $4.8 billion.Those findings were not disastrous by themselves.Revenue and adjusted earnings were still up, and IBM was still profitable. The market response was a measure of how far the figures fell short of the growth narrative investors were looking for following the first quarter.Krishna said IBM anticipated some fall after the strong z17 launch but misjudged how steep the decline would be.The corporation cited lower revenue from related transaction-processing software and inadequate IBM Z performance. IBM said numerous large deals failed to close on the timelines management expected, accounting for most of the shortfall. Recent acquisitions HashiCorp and Confluent, however, performed well.In the last weeks of June, customers moved capital investment to servers, storage, and memory. They were trying to buy equipment that suppliers had constrained before expected price increases.IBM didn’t totally avoid the spending.Distributed infrastructure revenue was up 37%, its best performance ever, as IBM said its Power and storage products were up. The unit left the quarter with around $500 million in backlog. Revenue growth for Red Hat was also up 11%.And that is what creates the trap.IBM can get a piece of the hardware spending boom, but the revenue mix may be less profitable than the software transactions clients are delaying. Thus, the company may capitalize on demand for AI infrastructure, even while it underperforms for investors.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 betCybersecurity was another difficulty.IBM claimed industrywide security concerns were rapidly evolving and distracting customers. The company’s warning follows Anthropic’s revelation that their Claude Mythos Preview model was able to discover and exploit previously unknown software vulnerabilities under testing conditions.The development is a big deal for cyber defenders, as similar models might slash the time and cost of finding exploitable holes, Anthropic said. The company’s Project Glasswing update warned of how the usual delays between finding, fixing, and releasing updates might grow more problematic.That development is both a threat and an opportunity to IBM.Clients may postpone routine software projects while they weigh emerging vulnerabilities. At the same time, there may be more demand for tools that help firms patch and safeguard their software supply chains.IBM and Red Hat replied with Lightwell, a $5 billion project to fix open-source software vulnerabilities using artificial intelligence and more than 20,000 developers. The commercial edition, which IBM claimed started July 8, features a portfolio of more than 6,500 remediated and verified software dependencies.IBM’s Lightwell demonstrates it’s trying to turn AI disruption into a new business opportunity.Investors still need evidence that Lightwell can generate business quickly enough to offset delayed software transactions.

IBM’s AI strategy ran into a budget shift investors overlooked.MANDEL NGAN / Getty Images

What IBM investors should watch after the crashIBM will issue its comprehensive second quarter results and outline its full-year expectations on July 22. The investor-relations schedule on the company’s website shows the earnings webcast at 5 p.m. Eastern.The first is whether management stays on track with its revenue and free-cash-flow guidance.Earlier, IBM had expected revenue to climb by more than 5% in constant currency and to generate about $1 billion more in free cash flow than it did in 2025. A cut to either target would indicate that the second-quarter downturn isn’t just a matter of deal timing.The second problem is the growth of software.A pick-up in transaction processing and completion of delayed contracts would confirm IBM’s view that consumers essentially shifted purchases from one quarter to the next.Any such deterioration would suggest a substantial shift in corporate expenditure priorities.Investors should also monitor gross margin.If clients keep buying low-margin infrastructure rather than software, IBM could generate more revenue from servers and storage while producing weaker margins if customers continue postponing higher-margin software purchases.Key takeaways for IBM investorsIBM’s preliminary second-quarter revenue increased only 1% to $17.2 billion.Customers redirected technology budgets toward supply-constrained servers, storage and memory.Software carries a substantially higher gross margin than IBM’s infrastructure and consulting businesses.Distributed infrastructure rose 37%, showing that IBM captured some of the hardware demand.Weak IBM Z sales also reduced associated transaction-processing software revenue.The July 22 earnings call should clarify whether the problem is temporary timing or a structural budget shift.The final question: Can IBM’s recent acquisitions and fresh products get the wind back in its sails?Krishna stated Red Hat sped up and HashiCorp and Confluent did well. IBM’s 2025 annual report outlines a bigger push to focus its portfolio on hybrid cloud, automation, analytics, and artificial intelligence.This array of assets gives IBM various opportunities to take advantage of enterprise AI adoption.They don’t promise that consumers will buy IBM software before they get the CPUs and memory to run it.And that difference is why the market has punished IBM so badly.But the corporation didn’t only declare reduced growth. It showed that the AI boom may throw a wrench in the timing and profitability of its own business, even as management keeps calling artificial intelligence a long-term tailwind.In the best-case scenario, clients proceeded with hardware purchases and will return for deferred software contracts later in 2026.The most serious interpretation is bearish.Enterprise AI spending might be shifting to infrastructure faster than IBM’s high-margin software offerings can capture. Newer models are also threatening parts of the conventional software and consulting business.We’ll have to wait for IBM’s next earnings call to see which one is more accurate.The stock’s unprecedented plunge revealed the risk.Artificial intelligence does not automatically benefit every technology company. In IBM’s case, the buildout encouraged customers to prioritize scarce infrastructure over the higher-margin software purchases IBM expected.IBM’s future returns for shareholders may rest on making sure software doesn’t come second.Related: IBM handed two major wins within 24 hours

Eli Lilly (LLY) has seen a lot of bullish calls from Wall Street in July. Guggenheim, Truist, Bank of America, Bernstein, and JPMorgan all raised their price targets in the first half of the month. Then UBSwent higher than nearly all of them.UBS’s call is worth watching closely because it landed in the same week as prescription data that point in a bearish direction.For anyone holding Lilly stock into its August earnings report, the gap between those two things is worth looking at.UBS raises its Eli Lilly price target to $1,425On July 13, UBS analyst Michael Yee lifted his price target on Eli Lilly to $1,425 from $1,250 and kept a buy rating. That is a 14% increase from the previous target, and it implies a roughly 20% boost from where the stock traded on the July 13.More Health Care Stocks:JPMorgan resets LLY stock target on drug demandJim Cramer crowns one surging sector the hottest in the marketLilly quietly hands Chinese partner its cancer drugYee tied the raise to sales momentum in Mounjaro and Zepbound, Lilly’s diabetes and obesity injections. He also cited optimism around Kisunla, its Alzheimer’s treatment, Financial Modeling Prep reported.A buy rating means the analyst expects the stock to outperform. The $1,425 figure is where he thinks shares could trade over the next 12 months.UBS was not alone. Guggenheim moved to $1,273, BofA to $1,334, Truist to $1,370, and Bernstein to $1,385, all in the same stretch, according to GuruFocus.

UBS raised its Eli Lilly price target to $1,425, citing Mounjaro and Zepbound demand.JHVEPhoto / Getty Images

Why Mounjaro and Zepbound sales support the Lilly targetThe bull case rests on a business that has been growing at a pace that’s rare for major pharmaceutical companies.In the first quarter of 2026, revenue rose 56% to $19.8 billion, and Lilly raised full-year guidance to between $82 billion and $85 billion, Lilly’s earnings release showed.What the franchise delivered in Q1Mounjaro brought in $8.66 billion worldwide, more than doubling from the same quarter in 2025.U.S. Zepbound sales reached $4.16 billion, up 80%.U.S. revenue climbed 43% to $12.1 billion on a 49% jump in volume.Adjusted earnings came to $8.55 per share against a $6.66 consensus, CNBC reported.Volume did that work, not price. Realized prices fell in both markets, and demand still overwhelmed the drag.That is the pattern Lilly’s management promised, and it is the reason analysts keep moving their targets up.The Foundayo prescription data complicating the bullish viewFoundayo, Lilly’s oral GLP-1 pill, launched in April and was supposed to widen the market to patients who will not take an injection. However, weekly prescriptions have been flat for five weeks, Fierce Pharma reported, citing IQVIA data in a July 10 Jefferies note.Foundayo versus the Wegovy pill at week 13Foundayo: 19,550 weekly prescriptions, down for a third straight week from a week-10 peak of 21,648.Novo Nordisk Wegovy pill: More than 105,000 at the same point after launch.Jefferies projects $71 million in debut-quarter Foundayo sales, against a Wall Street consensus near $130 million.There are fair explanations for the performance. Oral Wegovy is semaglutide, a molecule doctors already knew, while Foundayo is a new compound with a new brand name.Coverage also arrived late, as CVS was the last of the three big pharmacy benefit managers to cover Foundayo, while Wegovy had full coverage in its first week. Employer appetite for GLP-1 coverage is also a separate pressure on the same demand curve.What the Kisunla and Alzheimer’s angle actually addsThe second leg of the UBS thesis is Kisunla, and the timing is planned. Lilly presented 16 abstracts at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in London from July 12 to 15.Related: Eli Lilly’s hottest drugs face a quiet new threatThe headline items were long-term extension data on Kisunla’s benefit-risk profile and a comparison of P-tau217 blood tests against amyloid PET scans in patients with no symptoms yet.That second item matters a lot. PET scans are expensive and scarce, so a blood test that finds Alzheimer’s early would widen the pool of diagnosed patients, and every diagnosed patient is a potential Kisunla candidate.However, it is years from moving the revenue line the way Mounjaro does today.How Lilly stock has traded against its own good newsThe stock has not been keeping pace with analysts’ optimism.LLY share-price snapshot:Closed at $1,152.54 on July 14, down 4.89% over five trading days.Up 11.58% over the past six months, and still up on the year.52-week range of $623.78 to $1,249.45, with the all-time closing high of $1,235.56 set July 7.Market value near $1.09 trillion, with a price-to-earnings ratioaround 41.The stock set a record on July 7, then gave back nearly 5% into the week UBS raised its target. At $1,152.54, the $1,425 target implies about 24% upside, wider than the roughly 20% measured on the day of the call.A price-to-earnings ratio in the low 40s means investors are already paying for years of growth that has not arrived yet, which is exactly why a lagging sales number can move the shares.What Eli Lilly investors should watch before Aug. 5Lilly reports second-quarter results on Aug. 5, and the report is a straightforward test for the stock.Three things that decide whether $1,425 holds:Foundayo’s reported quarterly sales: Consensus sits near $130 million, and Jefferies models $71 million, so the actual figure settles whether the IQVIA data was missing telehealth scripts or telling the truth.Mounjaro’s international momentum: Growth outside the U.S. ran 81% last quarter, helped by China adding Mounjaro to its reimbursement list, and generics are coming to some markets.Whether volume keeps outrunning prices: Realized prices are falling in both the U.S. and abroad, and the whole thesis depends on demand growing faster than that decline.Mounjaro and Zepbound are performing, and nobody disputes that.For long-term investors, the August report tells you whether Foundayo is simply experiencing a slow start or whether the drug is a miss.If you’re looking at adding LLY to your portfolio, keep in mind that six banks raised their targets into the same crowded trade this month, and the stock is already 8% off its high with a $1,425 target. At this multiple, one bad quarter is enough to hurtthe stock, so size your position accordingly.Related: Goldman Sachs doubles down on Novo stock target after key event

Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang has pushed back against reports that manufacturing problems could delay the company’s next artificial intelligence platform, Bloomberg reported.If those reports were wrong, it would protect investors far more than just a single product launch.Nvidia’s rapid growth is partly a function of its ability to roll out ever more powerful devices before customers finish adopting the previous generation. That quick cadence pushes cloud providers to spend, keeps competitors from catching up, and provides consumers a reason to stay within Nvidia’s hardware and software ecosystem.Next, we have Vera Rubin. Nvidia claims Rubin-based products will go to partners in the second half of 2026, Bloomberg notes. Any major delay may disrupt customer plans, just as the corporation is trying to turn the excitement around AI agents and robotics into another big source of demand.Huang said in Tokyo on July 15 that Rubin hardware was already in production and headed toward “giant” volumes, according to Bloomberg, rejecting reports of manufacturing difficulties involving a specialized circuit board.His assurance is significant because Rubin is not merely a more rapid successor to Blackwell.It is the technology Nvidia hopes will power the next generation of AI factories and serve as a bridge into physical AI when artificial intelligence moves beyond chatbots and begins managing robots, factories, and autonomous machinery.“Vera Rubin is already in production. Giant amounts of production incoming,” Huang said, as Tom’s Hardware confirmed.Nvidia’s growth depends on keeping Rubin on scheduleNvidia enters the Rubin transition in a position of tremendous financial strength.The corporation reported record first-quarter revenue of $81.6 billion, up 85% from a year ago. Data-center revenue surged 92% to $75.2 billion, while Nvidia forecast revenue of around $91 billion for the next quarter, using its fiscal 2027 first-quarter statistics.Those data indicate that customers continue to consume Blackwell systems at massive volume.They also create expectations.Once a firm reaches the size of Nvidia, it takes more and bigger additions of income to keep growing fast. A delayed architecture might postpone data center construction, upset orders with suppliers, and offer customers more time to explore alternatives.Nvidia first unveiled Rubin in January as a six-chip architecture built on graphics processing units, central processing units, networking, and storage. Rubin has started full production, with partner availability expected in the second half of 2026, the company stated.By March, Nvidia had extended the platform to seven chips and pitched it as infrastructure for agentic artificial intelligence that can handle multistep tasks with little human input. The whole Vera Rubin platform is now in production.Related: Nvidia’s China opening could unlock surprise earnings upsideThat message was bolstered by Nvidia in May, when it said server makers and supply-chain partners were ramping up Rubin systems.Huang’s current comments are obviously more than a typical denial. They are a defense of Nvidia’s core pledge to investors: that it can migrate from one major platform to another without a long product gap stifling its growth.It’s not just individual chips contributing to the company’s recent edge. Now it creates full systems that incorporate CPUs, networking, software, and racks.That method can boost performance but can also raise execution risk. More components need to function together, and manufacturers need to construct ever denser and more sophisticated systems.This integration is on the magnitude of Vera, the platform’s central processing unit. Nvidia says the Vera CPU is in full production and can do specific AI-agent tasks 1.8x quicker than standard x86 CPUs.Rubin’s success will depend on Nvidia and its partners turning those individual technologies into full systems customers can reliably install.That makes manufacturing timing a direct investment issue, not just an engineering detail.

Nvidia’s Rubin update points to a bigger robotics opportunity.PHILIP FONG / Getty Images

Japan shows why Rubin is bigger than another data-center chipHuang’s choice to reach out to Rubin in Japan also alludes to the greater possibility for the platform.Japan has world-class manufacturers, factory automation businesses, and robotics experts. It also has a dwindling workforce, which provides companies a strong economic incentive to automate more physical tasks.Japan’s preliminary census estimates showed a population of 123.05 million in October 2025, down 3.1 million from 2020. More than 90% of Japan’s municipalities suffered population reduction, according to the Statistics Bureau.More Nvidia:Nvidia’s workplace culture sends Big Tech a warningNvidia’s $25B bond deal sends investors a clear signalBank of America resets Nvidia stock forecast after CFO meetingThis demographic pressure makes robotics more than a speculative technical trend.To sustain output, Japanese firms may need to use machines that can learn, adapt, and execute a greater variety of activities if the labor pool declines.Japan’s administration is on the right track. In June, the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry updated its AI Robotics Strategy, keeping the target of deploying about 10 million robots by 2040 in 18 key sectors, according to NHK World Japan. The plan comprises labor-intensive businesses such as manufacturing, health care, and food services.And that’s where Nvidia wants to be the computational layer behind that transformation.In its review of the Japanese AI and robotics ecosystem on July 15, it mentioned work with cloud providers, manufacturers, universities, and robotics developers using Nvidia technology. That might help diversify Nvidia’s AI narrative.The company is currently focusing its data-center growth on a relatively small number of big cloud providers and technology enterprises. Robotics may boost demand from manufacturers, logistics companies, hospitals, and industrial firms.They also relate to workload.Developers are able to train robot models in data centers, test them in simulations, and then run them on processors within physical machines. Nvidia can potentially sell technology at each step.Its Isaac robotics platform offers models, simulation tools, data pipelines, and computer systems for building and deploying AI-powered robots.This full-stack strategy resembles the approach that made Nvidia dominant in data centers.The corporation doesn’t want to sell the processor inside a robot. It wants developers to train the model using software from Nvidia, test it using simulation tools from Nvidia, refine it using servers from Nvidia, and manage it using edge computers from Nvidia.Rubin may shore up the data center side of the chain by backing the big AI factories required to train ever-more-sophisticated physical AI models.That’s the greater gamble Huang’s production comments are defending.What Nvidia investors should watch nextThe first question is whether Rubin systems will start to reach customers in the back half of 2026 as predicted.Producing is not the same as mass-deploying to customers. Nvidia and its manufacturing partners need to build, test, and ship full racks in sufficient numbers. Then, customers require power, cooling, and networking infrastructure to install them.Investors should be listening for signs of Rubin revenue, fixed delivery timelines, and client deployments during upcoming earnings calls from Nvidia.The second question is whether Blackwell demand holds during the transition.Demand for AI computing is outstripping supply, so customers may continue buying Blackwell. But some purchasers may choose not to order if Rubin adds enough extra performance to make waiting worthwhile.Nvidia has to deal with that shift without generating a revenue lull or developing a bunch of old gear consumers don’t want.The third development to watch is whether physical AI begins to produce measurable business.Japan is a really interesting demonstration market with both modern manufacturing and very strong demographic pressure. Successful deployments there could drive uptake in other aging economies and labor-constrained industries.Key takeaways for Nvidia investorsHuang says Vera Rubin is already in production, despite reported manufacturing concerns.Nvidia expects partners to offer Rubin-based products during the second half of 2026.Rubin’s timing matters because Nvidia must sustain rapid growth from an increasingly large revenue base.The platform is designed for AI agents and the data centers that train physical-AI systems.Japan’s shrinking population creates a strong economic incentive for factory and service-sector automation.Robotics could broaden Nvidia’s customer base beyond large cloud providers.Another variable is China. Huang said Nvidia only started selling H200 chips to the U.S. while the government was starting to assess permits on a case-by-case basis.The Commerce Department’s H200 export policy provides for case-by-case licenses if exporters and buyers meet security conditions, Reuters reported. But those sales would still be subject to decisions made in Washington and Beijing, and they may boost the bottom line.Rubin is something that Nvidia can influence more directly: execution. The corporation has to show that more complex technologies can move from announcement to production to client data centers without a harmful delay.Huang’s denial eases some worries, but investors still need to see shipments and revenue.And that is why the Rubin argument is important. Nvidia is no longer being evaluated just as the top supplier of AI chips. Investors expect it to continue an aggressive product cadence while moving its platform into AI agents, autonomous machines, and robotics.Keeping Rubin on track maintains that bigger thesis.A successful launch would demonstrate that Nvidia can continue to feed the data center expansion and provide the computing infrastructure for a new industrial market.A delay, however, would threaten both assumptions at once.Related: Nvidia stock remains Morgan Stanley’s top pick despite headwinds