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Germany's SEFE to Announce 10-Year Deal For Gas From Azerbaijan

Germany's SEFE to Announce 10-Year Deal For Gas From Azerbaijan

Bloomberg09-06-2025
Germany's state-owned SEFE is expected to announce a 10-year deal to buy gas from Azerbaijan's state-owned Socar, according to people familiar with the matter.
The agreement, which begins immediately, allows the German trading company to buy as much as 15 terawatt-hours of gas per year, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity. That's equivalent to about 1.5 billion cubic meters per year. The gas is likely to reach Europe via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, two of the people said. TAP, crosses Northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before coming ashore in southern Italy.
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2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks That Could Help Make You a Millionaire
2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks That Could Help Make You a Millionaire

Yahoo

time11 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks That Could Help Make You a Millionaire

ASML and Alphabet are two of the few undervalued AI stocks around today. Rising demand for semiconductors should help ASML grow revenue. Alphabet is a leader in AI on both consumer and enterprise applications. 10 stocks we like better than ASML › The cat is out of the bag with artificial intelligence (AI). Trillions of dollars in value have been added to stock portfolios on the backs of the AI revolution in just a few years. Nvidia is knocking on the door of a $4 trillion market capitalization. It is difficult to find undervalued AI stocks right now. But it is not impossible. Here are two AI stocks -- ASML (NASDAQ: ASML) and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) -- that look undervalued and can help investors become millionaires if they buy and hold for the long term. ASML is the leading seller of lithography equipment for making advanced semiconductors. In some cases, it is the only provider on the market. Lithography in this case is the use of lights and lasers to print tiny patterns on objects such as semiconductors. Advanced semiconductors require intricate designs over microscopic areas, which helps them generate more efficient computing power for AI applications. With its advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography systems (EUV), ASML is the only provider of machines that help make advanced semiconductors for the likes of Nvidia. This makes it a vital point in the semiconductor supply chain and a monopoly seller of its equipment today. Not a bad place to be in when semiconductor demand is soaring because of the insatiable need for more AI computer chips. Over the past 12 months, ASML generated $33 billion in revenue, which has grown a cumulative 353% in the last 10 years. Operating income has grown 551% to $11 billion. The company's growth is not linear because of lumpy equipment sales to large factories and the cyclicality of the semiconductor industry, but over the long term, demand prospects look fantastic. Manufacturers are planning hundreds of billions of dollars in capital expenditures to build new semiconductor factories. These factories will be stuffed with ASML lithography equipment. ASML has a trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 33. This is not dirt cheap in a vacuum, but I believe it makes the stock undervalued because of its future growth prospects, which will bring this P/E ratio down to a much more reasonable level. Buy ASML stock today and hold on tight for the long term. One of the reasons for the increased demand for computer chips and ASML equipment -- perhaps the largest reason -- is Alphabet. The owner of Google, Google Cloud, YouTube, Waymo, and Gemini keeps doubling down on AI. The big technology company can win in AI by playing two fronts: consumer and enterprise applications. With everyday users it is adding new AI tools to Google Search while building out advanced conversational AI with the Gemini application. Gemini now has an estimated 350 million active users and is growing rapidly, although it is still smaller than OpenAI's ChatGPT. With immense scale and resources, Alphabet will be able to deploy AI tools across its applications that are used by billions of people around the globe. On the enterprise side, Google Cloud is one of the leading AI cloud companies due to its advanced computing infrastructure. Google Cloud revenue grew 28% year over year last quarter to $12.3 billion, making it the fastest-growing segment for Alphabet. The division has invested heavily in its own computer chips called Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), which make it more efficient to build AI software applications on Google Cloud. There is expected to be hundreds of billions of dollars spent on AI cloud workloads in the coming years, which will help Google Cloud keep growing as a bigger piece of the Alphabet pie. Overall, Alphabet generated a whopping $360 billion in revenue over the past 12 months and $117.5 billion in operating income. Investors were previously worried about saturation of usage at Google Search, which has now proliferated around the globe. However, with the rise of AI applications, Alphabet looks to have increased its addressable market in organizing the world's information, the company's famous slogan. This will help revenue and earnings keep growing over the next decade. Today, you can buy Alphabet stock at a measly P/E ratio of 20. This makes the stock undervalued if you plan on holding for many years into the future. Before you buy stock in ASML, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and ASML wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $699,558!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $976,677!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,060% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 30, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Brett Schafer has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends ASML, Alphabet, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks That Could Help Make You a Millionaire was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

Frasers To Vote Against Hugo Boss Dividends After Amassing Big Stake
Frasers To Vote Against Hugo Boss Dividends After Amassing Big Stake

Forbes

time20 minutes ago

  • Forbes

Frasers To Vote Against Hugo Boss Dividends After Amassing Big Stake

A tie-up with David Beckham is one part of a strategy for growth by Hugo Boss. (Photo by Ernesto ...) German fashion house Hugo Boss has been warned by activist shareholder Frasers Group that it will vote against any dividends, as the U.K. retail group founded and owned by billionaire Mike Ashley steps up pressure on the company's management. The non-nonsense retail tycoon has been an outspoken critic of a number of retail chains and brands in which he has built a stake and while Hugo Boss responded positively, it will be aware that Ashley rarely backs down once he starts on such a path. Although Ashley is still backing the incumbent team, instead of dividend payouts Hugo Boss's leadership should prioritize funding long-term growth and financial flexibility, Frasers said in a statement issued late last week. In the release it claimed that the company's stock is currently undervalued and it called on Hugo Boss to redeem all its treasury shares. The stock value of Hugo Boss has ticked up 5% higher since the release, and now sit at around the same level as 12 months ago. Frasers and Hugo Boss have a long and established relationship that includes the U.K. retailer selling the fashion brand's stock across its multi-fascia store chains and online. Ashley's company has a holding in the business that has grown to 25% of voting rights, according to a filing last month, with exposure to a further 32% through the sale of put options. Frasers stressed that it will continue to support Hugo Boss Chief Executive Officer Daniel Grieder and Stephan Sturm, Chairman of its supervisory board, in growing the fashion brand. It also said it had not ruled out adding to its interests in the company over the next year, subject to market conditions. Frasers Builds Hugo Boss Stake Frasers has a reputation for growing large stakes in other retailers and has accumulated multiple brands and retail groups over the years as it has expanded into a powerful European business. Hugo Boss will also be more than aware that Frasers has often used its holdings in businesses to influence decisions at board level, or turn up the heat as with Mulberry, and Frasers Chief Executive Officer Michael Murray, who is also Ashley's son-in-law, recently joined the brand's supervisory board. In its own statement, Hugo Boss responded that it maintains an 'active and constructive' dialog with all shareholders, and appreciated the engagement with Frasers. The company will outline a new strategy at a capital markets day in the fourth quarter and Hugo Boss also said that while it had not previously seen any downside in keeping 1.4 million treasury shares acquired between 2004 and 2007, it is now considering redeeming them as Frasers requested. Mike Ashley continues to build stakes in brands and exert boardroom influence. (Photo credit should ... More read CHRIS J RATCLIFFE/AFP via Getty Images) In its most recent results for its first quarter, published May, Hugo Boss said that currency-adjusted revenues in EMEA (–1%) and the Americas (–1%) declined slightly; Asia/Pacific (–8%) had been impacted by ongoing subdued consumer demand in China. The digital business continued to grow (+4%), partially offsetting revenue declines in both brick-and-mortar retail (–4%) and brick-and-mortar wholesale (–3%). For its full-year 2025 outlook Hugo Boss said it expected sales to remain broadly stable (–2% to +2%), while it pointed to brand and product initiatives, including the global launch of its first Boss collection co-designed with David Beckham in April. Hugo Boss And Beckham Factor 'Following a strong finish to 2024, our performance in the first quarter of 2025 was affected by the rising macroeconomic uncertainty, which impacted global consumer sentiment and our industry. Against this backdrop, we continued to place strong emphasis on what we have in our control,' CEO Grieder said. 'We further advanced our most impactful strategic initiatives, such as our Boss One bodywear campaign with David Beckham, to further strengthen the relevance of Boss and Hugo. At the same time, we continued to realize cost efficiencies across important areas of our business, optimizing our global sourcing activities and unlocking further productivity gains. Altogether, these efforts supported our top- and bottom-line development in the first quarter.' In the same month Hugo Boss also successfully established a commercial paper (CP) program, enabling the group to issue short-term, unsecured notes in an aggregate amount of up to circa $585 million, expanding its access to capital markets beyond traditional bank financing. The CP program allows Hugo Boss to issue notes in various currencies, and the funds raised are intended for general corporate purposes.

Tech is only half the transformation—don't forget the people
Tech is only half the transformation—don't forget the people

Fast Company

time24 minutes ago

  • Fast Company

Tech is only half the transformation—don't forget the people

You just launched a new platform. The tech is live, the dashboards are humming, and the project milestones are moving along as planned. But three months in, something's off. Adoption is lagging. Teams are skeptical. Progress has stalled. If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. In my experience, too many transformation efforts focus on technology and process while overlooking the most critical factor: people. Real, lasting transformation doesn't happen because you install new software. It happens when you empower the humans behind the change. THE CHANGE MANAGEMENT GAP According to McKinsey, 56% of business leaders say their organizations have achieved most or all of their transformation goals. But only 12% have sustained those goals beyond three years. That gap is where change management lives and where most efforts fall short. It's easy to roll out a new tool. It's much harder to unlearn old habits, align cross-functional teams, or win over skeptics. Yet that's where the real opportunity lies for aspiring changemakers. McKinsey also finds that organizations that put people at the center of change are 3.4 times more likely to achieve and sustain performance gains—not because they work harder, but because they work smarter, with intention and empathy. HOW CHANGEMAKERS EMPOWER PEOPLE A powerful example of people-first transformation comes from Air France-KLM, which recently worked with my company to replace multiple legacy content management systems with a single platform across all brands and channels. Throughout the process, the management team recognized that transformation isn't just about technology: • They merged product and content teams from Air France and KLM, using intercultural workshops to build trust and collaboration. • They prioritized user adoption, providing extra training and support for business users less familiar with content management tools. • They communicated openly, maintained clear documentation, and ensured responsive support to manage uncertainty. • They celebrated milestones to reinforce progress and boost morale. • They established a two-way feedback loop with my team at Contentstack, surfacing user pain points and informing platform enhancements. If you want transformation to stick, you need more than a go-live date. You need to empower the people driving the change. Here's how: 1. Align change with purpose. Before introducing any tool or process, tie it to a clear, meaningful business outcome. If your goal is to reduce time-to-market for digital campaigns, show how the new system streamlines publishing across regions or channels. If you're aiming for more personalized customer experiences, connect the dots between composable content and one-to-one engagement. As a changemaker, you need to make that alignment obvious. Draw a straight line from your platform or initiative to a tangible business win. When that connection is clear, it's easier for internal champions to advocate for change and harder for detractors to push back. 2. Activate champions. Find internal collaborators early—people who speak their colleagues' language, model new behaviors, and provide honest feedback. The best way to activate champions? Show how the change solves their specific challenges. Their pain points often reflect broader organizational needs; when people see their frustrations addressed, they become advocates. And don't forget: vendors have champions, too—customer success managers, solution architects, and industry thought leaders who can amplify learning and momentum across organizations. 3. Tackle resistance with empathy. Resistance is natural when people are asked to leave familiar ways of working behind. Instead of pushing harder, get curious about what's behind the hesitation. At Levi's (another client of Contentstack), when the digital team proposed eliminating PDF mockups in favor of live previews, creatives initially balked; PDFs were central to their workflow. By making the change optional at first, they gave people space to adapt. Over time, creatives embraced the new process because they saw its value. As a changemaker (or tech provider), recognize that you may be seen as a disruptor (or outsider). Listen closely, adapt, and co-create with your stakeholders. When you acknowledge concerns and show flexibility, resistance becomes a catalyst for trust. 4. Enable teams for ongoing success. Modern transformation requires clearly defined roles, skill development, and ongoing support. Ask yourself: Are the right people in the right seats with the tools they need to succeed? Sometimes, enablement means unblocking; sometimes, it means rallying; sometimes, it means getting out of the way. Tech partners can play a critical role here—through AI Accelerators, customer conferences, peer communities, and other shared learning opportunities that help people and teams grow into modern heroes. VENDORS WON'T SURVIVE—PARTNERS WILL True partners earn trust when things get messy—when resistance surfaces or priorities shift—and stay present long after go live. If you're not guiding your customers through the human side of transformation, you're becoming replaceable. Transformation isn't just about new tools. It's about new ways of working and leading. That kind of change demands changemakers who champion people first—and partners who walk alongside them every step of the way.

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