The Street

Lululemon stock has grossly underperformed the broader markets in the last five years. While the S&P 500 index trades near record levels, LULU stock is down almost 80% from all-time highs.  

Notably, the stock tanked 17% after its fiscal Q2 2027 (ended in July) results, as a lackluster report forced several analysts to lower price targets. 

JPMorgan analyst Matthew Boss slashed his price target on the athletic apparel maker by 38% to $95 from $154, a $59 drop. However, Boss maintained his “Neutral” rating on LULU stock.

The price cut came right after Lululemon (LULU) posted second-quarter results that missed expectations. 

Revenue fell short of consensus, and international sales weakened more than what analysts expected.

Boss told investors the company’s third-quarter earnings outlook sits about 60% below Wall Street consensus, according to the Fly. That’s a steep gap, which helps explain why the firm moved so aggressively on its target.

Why Lululemon stock is down in 2026

Lululemon has built its brand on premium leggings, yoga wear, and a loyal community of shoppers. 

For years, that formula delivered strong growth in North America and even faster growth in China.

That momentum has stalled.

In the second quarter, total net revenue fell 4% to $2.4 billion, and comparable sales fell 10%. North America, still the company’s biggest market, saw comparable sales sink 12%.

Related: One of retail’s once-hottest stocks just imploded 18% overnight

China mainland, once a key growth driver, is wrestling with slowing sales. Revenue in the region rose 4% and declined 2% when adjusted for currency. Comparable sales in China dropped 8% year over year. 

Management pointed to a mix of problems, as negative online commentary hurt brand sentiment in China. A softer Tmall shopping event also added pressure. 

In North America, traffic slowed, and some new product launches simply did not connect with shoppers.

Lululemon sales are expected to fall over the next 12 monthsCheng Xin / Getty Images

JPMorgan’s Lululemon stock price target explained

Boss based his new $95 price target on a company still working through real challenges. 

A few numbers stand out from the earnings report that likely shaped his view:

Full-year revenue guidance now sits at $10.35 billion to $10.5 billion, down 5-7% from last year.

Full-year earnings per share guidance dropped to $9.48 to $9.73, well below last year’s $13.26.

Third-quarter revenue is expected to be between $2.29 billion and $2.32 billion, a decline of 10-11%. 

Third-quarter earnings per share guidance came in at just $0.93 to $0.98, compared to $2.59 a year ago

Operating margin for the third quarter is expected to be near 6.5%, down sharply from 17% last year

Lululemon’s profit margins are expected to decline rapidly over the next 12 months. As revenue is forecast to fall, marketing costs and store investments will remain elevated, driving the bottom line lower. 

Lululemon is spending more on brand campaigns and product development while revenue moves in the opposite direction. 

Lululemon’s plan to turn things around

To be fair, Lululemon is focused on a strategic turnaround. 

The company is chasing its better-performing styles, cutting SKUs to declutter stores, and leaning harder into marketing in the back half of the year.

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Chief Financial Officer and interim co-Chief Executive Meghan Frank addressed the traffic problem during the company’s earnings call, stating:

“We’re seeing the pressure in traffic. We’re also seeing negative year over year conversion, but we’re not seeing that worsen.”

Frank added that the company is investing in marketing tied to major events like the U.S. Open and the fall marathon season in New York, Chicago, and Toronto, hoping to rebuild brand excitement.

Lululemon is also bringing in new leadership. Heidi O’Neill joins as chief executive, and management said she will take a fresh look at strategy once she settles in.

Is LULU stock undervalued right now?

A price target cut of this size sends a clear signal. JPMorgan believes Lululemon’s recovery will take longer than many hoped, and the stock’s valuation needs to reflect that reality.

Boss kept his Neutral rating rather than downgrading further, which suggests he sees the stock as fairly priced at current levels rather than a stock to avoid entirely. Still, a $59 cut to a price target is a significant move by Wall Street standards.

Related: Lululemon makes big cuts to one kind of store

Given consensus estimates compiled by TIKR, Lululemon is forecast to report a free cash flow of $699 million in fiscal 2028, down from $1.64 billion in fiscal 2024. However, free cash flow is projected to improve to $2.94 billion in fiscal 2031. 

LULU stock can almost triple from current levels within the next four years if it trades at 10x forward FCF. However, it needs to flawlessly execute its near-term plans and consistently beat Wall Street estimates. 

For everyday investors, the lesson here is simple. 

Even well-known brands with loyal customers can struggle when a product misses the mark, and international markets hit unexpected headwinds. 

Lululemon still has a strong balance sheet and a global footprint, but the next few quarters will show whether its turnaround plan can actually restore growth.

A mall chain many consumers around the United States grew up visiting has closed another 25 stores over the last three months.

Earlier this year, we saw a number of mall retailers close locations, despite July 2026 Placer.ai data revealing that foot traffic across all three mall formats grew year over year. As part of my retail coverage for TheStreet, I reported on Vera Bradley cutting its traditional mall footprint by more than 43%, and Fossil Group quietly closing 219 stores over five years. 

Most retailers choosing not to renew their mall leases are shifting their strategies. Some are pivoting to open-air shopping centers, which have been outperforming traditional malls for a while, while others are responding to changing consumer preferences by investing more in their online presence.

Founded in 1924, Genesco is a footwear-first company and the engine behind popular brands focused on kids, teens, and young adults. These include Little Burgundy, Journeys, and Schuh.  

Journeys’ parent company closes another 25 stores in the second quarter 

Genesco has closed another 25 stores across its portfolio, including 17 Journeys Group locations, in the second quarter of fiscal 2027, according to the company’s latest earnings release. 

While the company closed 25 stores, it also opened three, for a net decrease of 22 stores for the period. However, it saw a 5% year-over-year decrease in store count. 

“The company ended the quarter with 1,186 stores compared with 1,253 stores at the end of the second quarter last year, or a decrease of 5%. Square footage was down 5% on a year-over-year basis,” Genesco said. 

For the reporting period, the company reported a net sales decline, attributing it to store optimization, among other factors. 

Journeys’ parent company closes another 25 stores in the second quarter. Bloomberg / Getty Images

Genesco Q2 fiscal 2027 earnings summary

Net sales of $530 million decreased 3% year over year. 

Comparable sales decreased 1% compared to last year, with stores up 1% while e-commerce decreased 6%.

Gross margin improved 560 basis points compared to last year, reflecting tariff refunds; adjusted gross margin improved by 140 basis points compared to last year.

Operating margin improved by 330 basis points compared to last year; adjusted operating margin improved by 100 basis points compared to last year. 

“As anticipated, the decline in sales was driven by 3 shorter-term headwinds tied to strategic actions we’re taking to improve our business, namely continued store closures, as we optimize our fleet, the license transition ahead of the Wrangler launch, and our intentional pullback on discounting and promotional activity at Schuh,” CEO Mimi Vaughn said during the earnings call.

Genesco’s closures were not sudden, but rather, part of a strategy to address changing consumer habits and shifting mall dynamics. 

Genesco previously closed more than 200 locations 

Earlier this year, I reported on Genesco’s first-quarter downsizing, finding that there was more to the story of 30 closures in one quarter. 

An analysis of the company’s official document revealed that over the last three years, the retailer has been quietly closing an average of 62 stores per year. 

More precisely, SEC filings show Genesco closed 202 stores between January 2023 and May 2026. 

During the first quarter of fiscal 2027 alone, the company opened two stores and closed 30, ending the quarter with 1,208. The data reveal that over the first six months of 2026, Genesco permanently shut down 55 stores. 

The company’s downsizing efforts started about three years ago, when the retailer announced plans to close more than 100 Journeys stores, up from a previous estimate of 60 locations.

Genesco estimated that these efforts would help it save up to $40 million, according to its fiscal 2024 first-quarter report. 

Genesco’s store closures as part of a strategy to move away from malls 

“Amid declining sales, Genesco is shifting the store presence of Journeys away from malls,” RetailDive reported in May 2023. 

If mall foot traffic is increasing, why would a retailer want to move out of these shopping centers? 

Related: Disney World abruptly closes popular restaurant 

Despite the overall increase in mall traffic, consumers’ habits have largely changed, as shoppers nowadays tend to make more frequent but shorter, more mission-driven visits. There’s also a huge visitor gap between mall tiers, with smaller malls losing anchor retailers and the biggest going strong, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

As legacy anchors such as Macy’s, JCPenney, and Forever 21 downsize, specialty retailers lose critical foot traffic. Earlier this year, Banana Republic, Tommy Bahama, and Madewell quietly exited Maryland’s Towson Town Center Mall. 

Speaking of the company’s strategy to move Journeys stores away from malls, Vaughn told Retail Dive that the company is “encouraged by the early reads and believes this initiative will represent a key element in Journeys’ growth moving forward.” 

Genesco has another ace up its sleeve: 4.0 Journeys store 

As a legacy brand that survived more than a century of challenges, Genesco should be well-versed in addressing shifts in consumer behavior.  Besides eliminating underperforming stores, the retailer has another strategy to boost its revenue. 

Genesco is aggressively expanding its new store concepts, so-called 4.0 Journeys stores. In the first quarter, it remodeled 21 locations to 4.0 stores, while in the second quarter, it remodeled another 25, including one Journeys Kidz 4.0 location.  

This brings the total Journeys 4.0 remodeled store fleet to 130 locations across the chain, according to its Form 8-K filing. 

“Our 4.0 rollout remains a major driver with the new format continuing to deliver in excess of a 25% sales list,” Vaughn said. 

Traditional Journeys stores built during the 1990s and 2000s looked like mini-warehouses designed to hold as much shoe inventory as possible. Genesco’s modern store format trades those floor-to-ceiling racks for bigger spaces, updated display fixtures, interactive features, and higher overall sales productivity, according to the company’s Q4 2026 earnings call.

Journeys Global Retail Group CEO Andy Gray spoke to Footwear News in October 2025, stressing that the remodeling of stores was “worth it.” 

“We have managed to retain our existing consumer while also attracting new customers. The new store concept has way out indexed on both metrics versus the balance of our chain. I mean, the metrics are great. We love it,” Gray said. 

Related: 161-year-old kids clothing giant closes 29 more stores

Getting a monthly paycheck from your job is normal. Getting one from your equity portfolio isn’t, unless you own the right stock.

Realty Income is one of the few U.S. companies that pays shareholders every month instead of once a quarter. 

This recurring payout has earned Realty Income a nickname it uses in its own marketing: “The Monthly Dividend Company.”

Dividends carry more weight in a portfolio than investors realize. 

Merrill Lynch estimates dividends have made up roughly 37% of the S&P 500’s annualized total return going back to 1930, according to the firm’s research on dividend investing. 

Hartford Funds makes a similar point, noting that dividends have historically played their biggest role in total returns during decades when overall stock market gains ran below 10% a year.

So how much Realty Income (O) stock would you need to own to turn its monthly dividend into a steady $100 check, and is that a reasonable bet today? 

Here’s the math, plus the numbers behind the monthly dividend payout.

Why monthly dividend stocks appeal to income investors

Guinness Global Investors explains that dividend-paying companies can add stability to a portfolio, potentially reducing volatility and offering a cushion during market downturns. 

That’s the pitch behind income investing in general, and it’s a big part of why Realty Income has built such a loyal following.

The company owns more than 15,500 cash-generating properties leased to more than 1,700 clients across 92 industries in the United States, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere in Europe. 

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Most of those tenants sell fairly recession-resistant products, given that the portfolio includes dollar stores, drug stores, grocery stores, and convenience stores. 

As of June 30, 2026, portfolio occupancy stood at 98.8%. A robust tenant base lets Realty Income keep sending a check every 30 days instead of every quarter.

“Our investment activity highlighted the breadth of our opportunity set, demonstrating our ability to invest across the capital stack, geographies, and property types to support accretive growth,” Realty Income CEO Sumit Roy said during the Q2 earnings call.

Realty Income owns a recession-resistant portfolio of real estate assets.Supatman / Getty Images

How to earn $100 a month from Realty Income stock

Realty Income shares trades around $61.25. The company currently pays a monthly dividend of $0.271 per share, or $3.252 a year, once you add up all 12 payments.

To collect $100 in dividends every single month, an investor would need to own 369 shares. At $61.25 per share, that comes out to an investment of roughly $22,600.

Do the reverse math, and that works out to a dividend yield of about 5.3%, well above what most blue-chip dividend payers offer today.

Related: Is Realty Income the best monthly dividend stock to buy now

Key dividend ratios for Realty Income stock

Before buying any dividend stock, it helps to check whether the payout is safe. Here’s where Realty Income stands as of its most recent numbers:

Dividend yield: About 5.3% at a $61.25 share price

Monthly dividend per share: $0.271, or $3.252 annualized

AFFO payout ratio: Roughly 73%, leaving a cushion below the requirement that REITs distribute at least 90% of taxable income to shareholders

Consecutive monthly dividends paid: 674 straight payments as of September 2026

Consecutive quarterly dividend increases: 115

Consecutive years of annual dividend increases: 31, which qualifies Realty Income as a Dividend Aristocrat

2026 full-year AFFO per share guidance: $4.44 to $4.45, raised from a prior range during the company’s August 2026 earnings call

20-year dividend growth CAGR: 4%

An AFFO of $4.44 and an annual dividend of $3.25 per share indicates a payout ratio of 73% in 2026. 

What Wall Street analysts say about Realty Income stock

Analysts are split on how much upside remains, but few are calling for a dividend cut. 

Evercore ISI raised its price target on Realty Income to $68 from $67 in early August.

Bank of America lifted its target to $72 from $71. 

RBC Capital, meanwhile, trimmed its target to $70 from $71, while Barclays and Wells Fargo cut theirs to $65 and $64, respectively. 

Put it all together, and the average Wall Street price target sits at around $68, with the consensus rating landing at Hold.

One Mizuho analyst framed the broader appeal of triple net lease REITs, the group Realty Income leads, in a research note picked up by TheFly. Earnings growth for the group “can accelerate” in 2026 thanks to tenant diversification, dividend yields, and long leases.

Is Realty Income stock still worth buying for monthly income?

The company’s second-quarter 2026 results back up that thesis. 

AFFO per share grew 3.8% to $1.09 during the quarter, and management raised its full-year investment volume guidance to $10 billion from $9.5 billion, calling the pipeline robust. 

The company also expanded into hyperscale data centers through a joint venture announced in June, adding a new growth lever beyond its traditional retail and industrial base.

None of that guarantees the stock will climb, and dividend yields can compress or expand as share prices move. 

But for an investor comfortable with real estate exposure, Realty Income’s math is straightforward. Put roughly $22,600 to work at today’s price, and the stock’s monthly rhythm turns into a $100 check that lands in your account every 30 days, rather than once a quarter.

Related: Dividend aristocrats fall less than tech in September selloff

A franchise offers an entrepreneur a way to open a business without having to be completely on their own.

Before entering an agreement with a franchise, the company has to share a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD). That’s a legally mandated document required by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and it’s meant to offer material information needed to evaluate the franchise investment.

“The FDD outlines comprehensive information about the roles of both parties involved in the franchise — the franchisor and the franchisee — and is designed to enable the potential franchisee to make an honest and informed decision about their investment in the business. The document lays out how the investment will work in practice for the potential franchisee, which is critical because a franchise is a different type of investment/business,” according to Investopedia.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, which calls itself the “largest BBQ restaurant brand in the world,” was subject to legal action in California over its disclosures, which the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation said underreported franchise locations that had ceased operating.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit lost a legal action

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation penalized Texas-based Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc., also known as Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, Inc., for violating the California Franchise Investment Law (FIL).

“This enforcement action is part of an ongoing effort by DFPI to protect consumers and increase transparency for entrepreneurs and small businesses in California. The DFPI has ordered Dickey’s to cease its wrongful acts and pay $36,800 in penalties,” according to a press release.

“This underreporting grossly misrepresented the success of the business model, misleading small business owners,” the DFPI added.

Under California law, companies like Dickey’s must make accurate representations in disclosures to prospective franchisees.

“The DFPI found that Dickey’s concealed the true number of its franchise locations that had ceased operating. The company claimed 20 franchisees were no longer in operation; however, the DFPI found the actual number to be 36, almost double what was reported. This underreporting grossly misrepresented the success of the business model, misleading small business owners,” according to the release.

These violations occurred between November 2023 and March 2026.

Dickey’s operates nationwide and in a number of countries.Shutterstock

Dickey’s responds to the California legal action

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit shared a statement with Franchise Times commenting on the enforcement action.

“Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. takes compliance and transparency seriously across all of our markets,” a Dickey’s representative said over email. “The recent matter in California was limited to a minor administrative issue, the type of routine fine many businesses encounter, and it has been learned from and resolved.”

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California’s Franchise Investment Law requires franchisors to provide accurate information when selling franchises.

“Dickey’s did not file an updated franchise disclosure document this year in any of the nine states that make franchise registrations publicly available, but its 2025 FDD reported 386 domestic locations at the end of 2024. From 2023 to year-end 2024, the franchise closed 98 net restaurants. In 2024, franchisees sold 108 locations to other franchisees,” Franchise Times reported.

Dickey’s has been shrinking

While Dickey’s Barbecue Pit is not public, Restaurant Business shared some data from a 2019 FDD that show that the brand has gotten smaller.

The 386-location figure and the 507-location figure come from different FDDs and reporting periods, with the former covering year-end 2024 and the latter May 2019.

“Dickey’s operated 507 locations as of May 31, according to the FDD, down from 569 two years earlier. Over that period, 193 locations — more than a third of its locations — were closed either because their franchise agreement was terminated or the operator shut its doors,” the website shared.

The company claims that it operates “376 Dickey’s Barbecue Pit locations and over 866 restaurants across eight distinct concepts in the United States and internationally,” according to its website on Sept 7.

A manual count based on the website’s locations page shows it operates in 38 states and has operations in Canada, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, and Pakistan.

The chain also lost a recent judge’s ruling.

“A federal court judge has refused to overturn an arbitrator award in favor of a franchisee in a dispute with Dickey’s, saying that the arbitrator did not overstep his authority in awarding the operator $700,000 in damages,” according to Restaurant Business.

Judge Jane Boyle, of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, ruled in favor of the franchisee, G Six Consulting, this summer.

“G Six closed its Illinois location after just three months after the cost of opening the store overran Dickey’s projections in its franchise disclosure document,” the website reported.

ALSO READ: Global dining leader closing 261 restaurants, steakhouse chain

Oracle (ORCL) has enough on its plate heading into earnings week. Now Brussels wants a word.

European antitrust regulators are quietly examining how Oracle licenses its software, and the timing could hardly be more inconvenient for shareholders.

The stock trades near $158.78, down about 19% so far in 2026 and roughly 54% below its 52-week high of $345.72.

Investors were already nervous about Oracle’s debt-heavy artificial intelligence (AI) buildout. This regulatory question adds to the list of worries.

What EU regulators are actually asking about Oracle’s licensing

The European Commission is gathering information from Oracle’s customers and rivals to decide whether its cloud software terms unfairly lock clients in, Reuters reported. 

This is a preliminary inquiry, not a formal case. 

Regulators can build it into a full investigation or drop it if they find no evidence of wrongdoing.

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The core worry is vendor lock-in, a situation where a company’s contract terms make leaving so costly or complicated that customers stay put by default rather than by choice.

Oracle sells both the databases many businesses run on and the cloud that hosts them. 

Regulators are checking whether its licensing quietly pushes clients to keep everything inside Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) instead of moving to Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud.

Oracle faces fresh EU scrutiny over its cloud licensing terms just days before it reports quarterly earnings.SOPA Images / Getty Images

Why the SAP settlement is the case Oracle investors should study

To understand where this heads, look at how Brussels treated German rival SAP.

On July 9, 2026, the European Commission accepted binding commitments from SAP and closed its case without a fine. 

SAP agreed to scrap reinstatement fees, cap back-maintenance charges, and let customers split contracts across different support providers.

Had SAP refused, it would have faced a penalty of up to 10% of global annual revenue.

That outcome gives Oracle a template. 

A few voluntary contract tweaks now could prevent a formal charge later.

The concessions SAP made now apply globally for 10 years, so that flexibility has a cost even without a fine.

What the licensing probe means for Oracle’s cloud growth

Oracle’s whole cloud pitch rests on customers staying inside its ecosystem. 

If the company loosens the licensing rules, some of that holding power fades.

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Oracle reported closing fiscal 2026 with a remaining performance obligations backlog of $638 billion, up 363% year over year. Cloud infrastructure revenue grew 93% in the quarter.

Funding that growth is expensive. 

Oracle’s total liabilities jumped from $147.4 billion to $218.7 billion in a single year, and regulatory friction lands at the worst possible moment for a balance sheet stretched this thin.

What Oracle investors should watch after first-quarter earnings

Wall Street’s attention stays fixed on Oracle’s first-quarter fiscal 2027 report, due Sept. 10, 2026. The probe barely registers by comparison.

Analysts opinions are divided on the stock. 

On Aug. 26, Citi reiterated a Buy and a $330 target, calling the sell-off overdone. 

Weeks earlier, CLSA started coverage at Hold with a $145 target, among the lowest on the Street, flagging Oracle’s rising debt.

Here is what to track next.

Key checkpoints for ORCL holders

Concession signals: If Oracle relaxes cloud licensing terms in the coming months, it neutralizes the risk of a 10% fine before it grows.

OCI backlog strength: Watch whether RPO keeps climbing on demand rather than contract lock-in.

Portfolio balance: EU tech crackdowns hit hard, so match a concentrated Oracle position with holdings that carry lighter regulatory exposure.

None of this changes Oracle’s Sept. 10 numbers. But it adds a variable that was not on the board a week ago, and one worth pricing in before the next contract renewal or migration decision.

Related: 5-star analyst resets Broadcom stock price target

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Related: Amazon has a round fire pit with two grills and a table for only $104

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Light adjustment: Choose how fast the wax melts with both the height and the brightness levels.

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Meta stock closed at $613.62 on Sept. 3 and finished the day up about 4%. The broader market was up roughly 1%. Something was moving Meta specifically.

Bank of America analyst Justin Post published a note, shared with TheStreet, laying out why he thinks the stock has more room to run. He kept his Buy rating and his $810 price target. That target implies about 32% upside from where the stock closed.

What BofA says about Meta’s new AI model

Meta released Muse Spark 1.3 on Sept. 2. It is an updated model built for coding and agentic tasks. It is available through Muse Code and the Meta Model API.

The bank noted that Meta released this model just about a month after Muse Spark 1.2. That cadence is worth paying attention to. A month between frontier model updates is fast by any standard.

Muse Spark 1.3 uses roughly 20% fewer tool calls and about 25% fewer tokens than 1.2 to finish comparable engineering tasks, VentureBeat reported.

The model kept the same pricing that shipped with 1.2, at $1.25 per million input tokens and $4.25 per million output tokens. Meta is competing directly with Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s coding tools in the agentic coding category.

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The new model handles longer-running tasks better than its predecessor. It can manage multiple workflows in a single conversation. It pulls context from different sources and follows complex instructions more reliably.

BofA sees the agentic improvements as especially important because of what Meta is building next. Meta is working on a consumer AI agent internally codenamed Hatch, first reported by The Information.

Meta has not confirmed a commercial name or launch date. A model that handles longer-horizon agentic tasks better is a more capable foundation for a product like Hatch.

Why Meta’s custom chip strategy matters for investors

There is a second piece to the note, and it’s about chips.

Broadcom said on its second-quarter 2026 earnings call that it expects to deliver three generations of Meta’s custom Training and Inference Accelerator, or MTIA, through 2027, CNBC reported.

It also said it has visibility into roughly three gigawatts of Meta deployments through 2028. Production shipments are expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2026.

This sits within a larger Broadcom-Meta partnership announced in April 2026 and running through 2029. The initial commitment was over one gigawatt.

BofA estimates those deployments could represent 15% to 20% of Meta’s total AI capacity. Alphabet made the same bet with its TPUs years ago, and it paid off.

Companies that build their own silicon tend to get structural advantages in cost and performance over time as their AI workloads scale, and Meta is following the same playbook.

BofA sees the agentic improvements as especially important because of what Meta is building next.Bloomberg / Getty Images

Where Meta stock stands on valuation

At around $617 at the time of the note, Meta was trading at about 18 times what analysts expect it to earn in 2027 on a GAAP basis. That is roughly 15 times 2028 estimates.

Historically, Meta has traded at about 21 times earnings. The S&P 500 right now is at about 20 times. Meta is trading below both its own history and the index it is a part of.

BofA’s $810 price target is built on 24 times 2027 GAAP EPS. The bank argues that premium to the market is reasonable, given Meta’s growth rate and the size of the AI opportunity still ahead of it.

Regulatory pressure is another variable. Meta has been under significant legal scrutiny. Any meaningful reduction in that overhang would give the stock additional room to move, BofA argues.

The 52-week range for Meta stock runs from $520.26 to $790.80. The stock is sitting in the lower half of that range even after the Sept. 3 gains. BofA sees the current price as a window before execution confidence starts pushing the multiple toward its historical average.

BofA flags these 5 risks for Meta investors

BofA lists five specific risks in the note.

Advertising business: Most of Meta’s revenue comes from digital ads. Ads are sensitive to the economy. A slowdown hurts Meta disproportionately.

Spending: Meta is pouring money into AI. BofA expects that to weigh on margins.

The fixed cost base: The more Meta builds out physical infrastructure, the less flexibility it has if business turns.

Competition: AI-native platforms could pull users and ad dollars away from Meta’s apps.

Regulation: Teen-safety cases and ongoing litigation could produce outcomes that are hard to plan around.

Despite those risks, BofA’s central argument is that the stock is not pricing in enough of the AI upside. At 18 times 2027 earnings, Meta is cheaper than it normally trades and cheaper than the market. That is the entry point the note is making a case for.

The next things to watch are whether Hatch launches on the timeline The Information reported, whether Muse Spark 1.3 adoption picks up through Muse Code and the Meta Model API, and whether MTIA production shipments begin as scheduled in the fourth quarter.

Each of those is a data point that either builds or undercuts the bank’s thesis.

If the AI execution holds, the bank sees a path to $810. If it does not, the risks it named are real. The stock will feel them either way.

Related: Mark Zuckerberg sends shocking message to Meta employees

I have seen the Intel (INTC) comeback thesis several times this year. The foundry ambitions. The blowout Q2 fiscal 2026 earnings. The $15 billion equity raise. CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s methodical restructuring. 

At its June 22 peak of $140.94, the stock had run 400% in a year and made believers out of even the most skeptical semiconductor analysts. Then came the hangover.

Yahoo Finance shows INTC at $95.80 as of this writing, down roughly 32% from that all-time high. Despite the drop, Intel is still up 159.62% year-to-date and 289.27% over the past year. Those numbers remain extraordinary, but the question now is whether the retracement has created a buying opportunity or a value trap.

Mizuho’s Vijay Rakesh, a 5-star-rated analyst ranked 12th out of 12,498 Wall Street analysts on TipRanks with a 64% success rate, just gave his analysis an answer.

He cut Intel’s price target to $92 from $109 while maintaining a Hold rating, according to a note shared with TheStreet. At $95, the stock is essentially trading at his target. To him, that is a “fairly valued” call, not a “sell everything” call.

Also Read: Intel’s stock split history (& prospects) explained

Why Rakesh cut Intel’s stock price target

Intel’s decline from its peak happened in three distinct phases, and understanding them helps us frame what Rakesh is actually saying.

First came the sector-wide rotation. Around early July, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley both warned that AI semiconductor valuations had outrun near-term demand. And of course, that triggered heavy selling across the chip sector and into hyperscalers.

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Second came the Q2 earnings reaction. The results themselves were extraordinary — $16.1 billion in revenue beat expectations by $1.8 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $0.42 nearly doubled estimates, DCAI grew 59% year over year to $6.3 billion, and Intel Foundry revenue hit $5.8 billion. 

But the stock fell nearly 8% the next day after earnings, according to Yahoo Finance. Why? The GAAP diluted loss per share of $2.16 from restructuring charges spooked investors, and critically, there were no outside 18A customer commitments to validate the foundry-at-scale thesis.

Third came the $15 billion equity raise in August. Necessary for the infrastructure buildout, but the dilution hit existing shareholders hard and reminded the market that being a world-class foundry requires burning significant cash before the economics work.

What Rakesh still likes in Intel

A Hold from a 12th-ranked analyst is not a dismissal. Rakesh made specific positive calls inside his notes that are worth understanding.

On AI server demand: he expects CPU-to-GPU ratios to improve from 1:4 today to potentially 1:1 over the long term as agentic AI scales. Intel’s server CPU supply remains tight and could stay constrained through 2027, meaning the company may continue to undersupply demand for several quarters. That is a revenue-protection argument at exactly the moment investors are most nervous.

On the foundry business: Rakesh projects Intel’s advanced packaging revenue growing to approximately $3.5 billion by 2029, supported by external customers including Google’s TPU program and potentially automakers and PC players. 

Related: Nvidia just sent a strong signal to AMD and Intel investors

External foundry revenue could reach a separate $3.5 billion by 2029 as the 14A node gains traction. Together, those two streams could approach 4% of Intel’s fiscal 2029 revenue under conservative estimates.

On the PC cycle: he sees corporate refresh demand beginning to show up, corroborated by Dell’s recent commentary. Memory tightness may slow upgrades into 2027, but early signs of improvement are present.

Intel’s CEO Lip-Bu Tan called Q2 “strongest revenue growth in more than fifteen years.”Jackpress Via Shutterstock

The Q2 foundation and what the market is still wrestling with

The Q2 2026 results, reported July 23, remain the clearest picture of where Intel’s business actually stands, according to Intel’s earnings release.

DCAI segment generated $6.3 billion in revenue, up 59% year over year. Foundry revenue grew 31% to $5.8 billion. Intel 18A-P entered risk production on schedule. 

Also Read: Intel Corporation Latest News and Stories 

Panther Lake processors entered high-volume manufacturing using ASML’s EXE High NA EUV technology. CEO Lip-Bu Tan called Q2 “our strongest revenue growth in more than fifteen years.”

The market is discounting the timeline between today’s results and profitable outside foundry scale. The Apple preliminary chip agreement, the Google cloud partnership expansion, and the preliminary customer conversations on 18A are encouraging signals. But preliminary agreements are not committed revenue, and the $15 billion equity raise is a reminder of what the path costs.

Wall Street’s current consensus among 31 analysts covering Intel in the past 3 months is 5 buys, 24 holds, and 2 sells, with an average price target of $116.16, according to TheStreet. Rakesh at $92 is at the cautious end of that range.

If you believe the agentic AI CPU thesis and the foundry optionality play out on schedule, the 32% discount from the June high looks like an opportunity. 

If you are waiting for outside 18A customer commitments and margin improvement before buying, Rakesh’s “fairly valued for now” framing is the more disciplined stand. Both positions are defensible. The gap between them closes when we see concrete foundry customers signed.

Related: Intel’s secondary share sale explained

I have been watching and covering Micron and SanDisk. The record earnings. Wall Street analysts’ ratings. The HBM supply squeeze. The Michael Burry short on one side and the Soros sevenfold buy on the other. The technical breakouts and subsequent pullbacks. 

These two stocks continue to be at the center of the market’s most important theme — AI infrastructure demand. And of course, the debate about where they go next is as live as it has ever been.

Lynx Research on Sept. 4, in a note shared with TheStreet, weighed in with price targets that should get any memory investor’s attention.

The firm set a $1,325 target for Micron (MU) and $2,450 for SanDisk (SNDK), according to the note. Based on current prices of Micron at $1,016 and SanDisk at $1,740, those targets imply meaningful upside for both.

Lynx’s main message is that the wild, hype-driven volatility of May and June is behind us. What has replaced it is calmer, more deliberate institutional buying. They say it’s the kind that tends to precede a real breakout.

The volatility shift Lynx Research says changes everything for Micron and SanDisk

Lynx made a specific and verifiable observation that I think we should take seriously. During May and June, daily price volatility for these stocks nearly doubled normal levels. 

The research firm described Micron during that period as “uninvestable.” Of course, this isn’t because the fundamentals were bad, but because the price action was too erratic for disciplined accumulation.

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Actually, that warning proved accurate because I saw Micron surge 19% in June and then drop 28% in July. The stock was being driven by momentum and sentiment, rather than fundamental buyers steadily building positions.

Then August came and changed the pattern. Micron’s daily volatility dropped to 3.5%. The stock quietly climbed 16% in August and 8.9% over the last five days, according to Yahoo Finance. I see that slow and steady price action typically reflects institutional money moving in, rather than retail speculation.

SanDisk tells a similar story. The $2,450 target actually sits above SNDK’s all-time high of $2,354.39, reached June 22, 2026. Lynx is calling for a new price target above the prior peak, which is an aggressive stance that requires the supply thesis to hold.

Both stocks remain top S&P 500 year-to-date performers. SanDisk leads the entire index at 633%, according to Slickcharts, followed by Moderna, Dell, and then Micron at 256.19%.

The supply-demand backdrop that gives Lynx’s thesis its foundation

The Lynx call is grounded in specific market dynamics, as confirmed by the most recent earnings data.

SanDisk’s Q4 fiscal 2026 results showed datacenter revenue of $2.977 billion, up 103% sequentially and 1,298% year over year (YoY).

Datacenter’s share of SanDisk’s total bits grew from 12% in Q4 fiscal 2025 to 38% in Q4 fiscal 2026. 

The broader NAND market is expected to exceed $300 billion in calendar year 2026, three times the prior year, and reach $500 billion in calendar year 2027.

Customer demand currently outpaces supply, and SanDisk expects bits to remain on allocation beyond calendar year 2027.Source: SanDisk Q4 Fiscal 2026 Results

On the DRAM and HBM side, Micron’s fiscal Q3 2026 results showed:

Data center revenue exceeded $25 billion, an annualized run rate above $100 billion.

DRAM revenue reached $31.3 billion, up 343% YoY. 

NAND revenue hit $9.9 billion, up 361% YoY. 

HBM4 revenue shipments have already exceeded $1 billion. Source: Micron Q3 Fiscal 2026 Results

The HBM4 12-high volume ramp is tracking at twice the rate of the HBM3E ramp, and Singapore facility capacity contributions begin in the first half of calendar year 2027.

Data shows the AI supply chain is stretched to its limits, with lead times for critical components reaching 40 weeks, according to a Business Insider report. That suggests these shortages are structural rather than temporary.

Both SanDisk and Micron remain top S&P 500 year-to-date performers. SanDisk leads the entire index at 633%, followed by Moderna, Dell, and then Micron at 256.19%.Saulo Ferreira Angelo Via Shutterstock

What the tech conference catalysts could do for both stocks

Lynx is watching several near-term catalysts:. We have Citi’s 2026 Global TMT Conference, starting Sept. 8, and the Goldman Sachs Communacopia and Technology Conference on Sept. 9, SanDisk reported.

Presentations or comments from memory companies at these events could either confirm the supply-constraint thesis or introduce demand-softening concerns or faster capacity expansion.

The research firm’s view is that if conference commentary confirms ongoing AI-driven shortages, the breakout Lynx is forecasting could happen quickly. Any hint of easing supply constraints or weaker demand would delay the move.

My read is that both stocks have worked through the extremes. From the parabolic run in June driven by AI enthusiasm, to the fear-driven sell-off in July due to profit-taking and macro concerns. 

The volatility compression Lynx describes is a technical setup that precedes a move in either direction but historically tilts toward continuation when fundamentals support it.

SanDisk at $1,740 with a $2,450 target and supply allocated beyond 2027. Micron at $1,016 with a $1,325 target and HBM4 ramp accelerating. Those two conference presentations, and several others, are the next pieces of evidence.

Related: JPMorgan revamps SanDisk stock with massive price target

While mainstream airlines will sell seats in fare classes promising an increasing degree of comfort and luxury, multiple airlines have tried positioning them as boutique carriers in which every seat is business class.

The biggest success (vacation airline BermudAir eventually abandoned its initial all-business model in favor of cheaper tickets) with this model seen at the moment is that of French boutique airline La Compagnie.

Founded by French businessman and pilot Frantz Yvelin out of Orly Airport in Paris in 2013, the airline operates a fleet of three Airbus A321LR long-rage passenger jets equipped with 76 lie-flat seats each on routes between Newark Liberty and Paris, Nice and Milan.

La Compagnie to launch new service to Düsseldorf, add third A321neo plane

While a round-trip ticket will start at approximately $3,500, the model of leaning into “French style” and a more luxurious way to travel to these European cities quickly found their market amid wealthier Europe-bound Americans given that it is slightly lower than business class on a mainstream airline.

This week, the airline announced that it will add a fourth European city to its network that is made possible by adding a third Airbus A321neo long-range plane to its fleet.

Related: What does it mean to fly business on a vacation airline

The capital of Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia region was chosen due to the large number of business travelers to the economic hub that is the home of major global corporations like ThyssenKrupp, Henkel and Vodafone Germany.

According to the numbers that pushed La Compagnie to launch the route, over 24,000 international companies and 1,700 U.S. companies have bases in the wider Düsseldorf area while La Compagnie is also betting on summer tourism to a region of Germany known for its historic towns, castles and vineyards.

Düsseldorf is a major European hub for many international companies.Detlef Reich / 500px / Getty Images

La Compagnie CEO Christian Vernet calls flights to Düsseldorf a “natural next chapter”

“Düsseldorf represents a natural next chapter in La Compagnie’s development,” President and CEO Christian Vernet said in a statement. “At the heart of one of Europe’s most dynamic economic regions, with strong international businesses and longstanding ties to the United States, North Rhine-Westphalia is well suited to our unique all-business-class model. We look forward to welcoming travelers from the region on board, while also offering our American clientele a new and convenient gateway to Germany.”

The first flight has been set for April 27 while tickets are already available on the La Compagnie website. La Compagnie will take delivery of the new A321neo aircraft at some point prior to the launch in early 2027; it will also have the same configuration of 76 lie-flat seats in a two-two layout.

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The flight between New York and Düsseldorf will run five times a week during the summer season as uptake during the first season determines whether the route will be returned or expanded into year-round service in the coming years.

La Compagnie will also take delivery of an Airbus A321XLR at some point 2028 as it teases future expansion to other European destinations permitted by the new aircraft.

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