Brown & Brown, Inc. completes the acquisition of Accession Risk Management Group
Brown & Brown, Inc. is a leading insurance brokerage firm delivering comprehensive and customized insurance solutions and specialization since 1939. With a global presence spanning 700+ locations and a team of more than 23,000 professionals, following the acquisition of Accession, we are dedicated to delivering scalable, innovative strategies for our customers at every step of their growth journey. Learn more at BBrown.com.
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Globe and Mail
3 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Ambiq Micro's IPO Could Signal the Next Wave of AI-Driven Chip Stocks
Key Points Ambiq Micro debuted to much fanfare on the first day of trading following its highly touted IPO. The company is a pioneer in ultra-low-power semiconductors used at the edge. While Ambiq Micro's future looks bright, that are potential risks investors shouldn't ignore. 10 stocks we like better than Ambiq Micro › Since generative artificial intelligence (AI) burst on the scene more than two years ago, some of the biggest beneficiaries have been chipmakers. More specifically, advanced semiconductors provide the computational horsepower necessary to breathe life into these AI algorithms. Nvidia, Broadcom, and Arm Holdings have all been at the forefront of AI chip design and reaped the rewards. Nvidia and Broadcom stocks have soared 961% and 439%, respectively, since late 2022, while Arm has gained 173% since its September 2023 initial public offering (IPO). Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » Ambiq Micro (NYSE: AMBQ) made a big splash during its public debut, as the low-power chip designer's stock surged 61% on its first day of trading last Wednesday, though it has since leveled off. Investors have been keen to profit from the ongoing adoption of AI, and the robust demand for Ambiq Micro stock suggests that power-miserly AI chip stocks could mark the next frontier. The power conundrum One of the biggest challenges associated with the increasing adoption of AI is the issue of power consumption. Most chipmakers have taken a brute-force approach, increasing the sheer magnitude of computational horsepower to decrease the time necessary to train and run these next-generation algorithms. The complex calculations required are computationally intensive, resulting in an increasing amount of energy consumption. Ambiq is taking a different approach. In the S-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prior to its IPO, the company described itself as a "pioneer and leading provider of ultra-low-power semiconductor solutions designed to address the significant power consumption challenges of general-purpose and AI compute -- especially at the edge." Ambiq suggests its hardware and software innovations "deliver two to five times lower power consumption than traditional semiconductor design." The company is currently focused on the edge, including personal devices, as well as the medical and healthcare industries. Many of these applications are currently handled by small devices with limited battery life, where reduced power consumption is critical. In the future, Ambiq is working to expand its ultra-low-power technology to other areas of AI, including high-performance computing (HPC), data centers, and automotive, which could mark the next wave of AI chip solutions. A growing opportunity The need for power-miserly solutions could usher in the next wave of AI chips, and Ambiq's results are intriguing. For the year ended Dec. 31, the company generated revenue of $76 million, up 16% year over year, while its loss per share of $113.81 improved 24%. The trend continued in the quarter ended March 31, as revenue of $15.7 million climbed 3%, while its loss per share of $18.96 improved 30%. There is a significant concentration risk. Ambiq divulged that its top five customers accounted for 92% of revenue in the most recent quarter. Furthermore, wireless device specialist Garmin, Alphabet 's Google, and "another confidential customer" represented 38%, 25%, and 23% of net sales, respectively, according to its regulatory filing. Ambiq's flagship system-on-a-chip (SoC) is designed for smaller form-factor devices, such as smartwatches, fitness trackers, hearing aids, virtual and augmented reality glasses, and livestock tracking devices. Chief technology officer (CTO) Scott Hanson noted the company's next frontier is smart glasses. "We spent the last 10-plus years figuring out how to build the lowest power chips, and so we're in a great position to attack the same problem (on glasses)," he said. The low-power wearable chips market is expected to grow by 15% annually between 2024 and 2030 to nearly $28 billion. When viewed in the context of Ambiq's 2024 sales of $76 million, the opportunity is apparent. Every rose has its thorns It's important to remember that while Ambiq's potential is clear, risks abound. It has only just entered the glare of the public spotlight, and investors should keep in mind the aforementioned concentration risk and mounting losses, though its results are moving in the right direction. There's also the matter of Ambiq's valuation. As of market close on Monday, the stock had a market cap of roughly $673 million and trailing-12-month sales of $76.6 million. That works out to about 9 times sales, and while that's certainly not outrageous, it is a high price to pay for an unprofitable company with little public track record. As such, investors interested in taking a stake in this ultra-low-power pioneer should make Ambiq a small part of a well-balanced portfolio. Should you invest $1,000 in Ambiq Micro right now? Before you buy stock in Ambiq Micro, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Ambiq Micro 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 $624,823!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,064,820!* *Stock Advisor returns as of August 4, 2025
Globe and Mail
4 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
The Smartest Dividend Stocks to Buy With $10,000 Right Now
Key Points Several strategic decisions United Parcel Service has made of late are starting to come together just as the world shakes off the last of the post-pandemic delivery and logistics lull. Shares of drugmaker Pfizer have been upended by price-control worries and a wind-down of its booming COVID-19 business. But there's reason to look for better days on the horizon. Defense contractor Lockheed Martin looks and seems vulnerable. The market's not seeing its future in quite the right light, though. 10 stocks we like better than Lockheed Martin › Are you looking to put a sizable chunk of cash to work generating investment income? Whether you intend to live on this income or reinvest it to bolster your portfolio's overall growth, there are several great dividend-paying options out there right now. Here's a closer look at three of your best bets at this time, not despite each stock's recent turbulence and mostly bearish drama but because of it. United Parcel Service You probably already know that United Parcel Service 's (NYSE: UPS) revenue dwindled after soaring during and because of the COVID-19 pandemic, taking a similar toll on the bottom line. Indeed, the delivery giant's business has been stagnant -- at best -- since 2022. Its second-quarter sales and income both fell on the order of 1% year over year, extending its anemic results in the meantime. The amount of business and pricing power that was in place just four years ago simply isn't there anymore. UPS stock's 63% pullback from its 2022 peak to yet another new multiyear low reached earlier this month, however, is overdone at the exact wrong time to price in such pessimism. Not every investor will immediately agree with this assessment. The threat of a lingering tariff war continues to threaten United Parcel Service's business following its post-pandemic slowdown. The company isn't exactly helping its stock either, opting not to offer any guidance with its recently released Q2 report, after which CEO Carol Tomé lamented during the quarterly earnings call that "for our sector, this remains a very unsettling time." There's an argument to be made, however, that all the worst-case scenario is now priced in at a time when things are on the verge of turning around. The decision to make fewer but more profitable deliveries has already been enacted, for instance. And the company has already cut $3.5 billion worth of annual overhead, with total yearly savings of $6 billion being targeted further down the road. It's just going to take a little more time to make and see the adjustment to such changes. The backdrop is still quite bullish in the meantime, though. An outlook from Mordor Intelligence suggests the global parcel delivery market is set to grow at an average annual pace of just over 5% through 2030, jibing with expectations from Global Market Insights. That's better growth than we've seen at any point since the wind-down of the coronavirus contagion. Newcomers will not only be plugging into UPS while its forward-looking yield stands at 7.4%, but while the stock's priced dirt cheap -- at only 13 times this year's analyst-expected per-share earnings of $6.64. It's not going to get much cheaper than that. Pfizer It's a tough time to be excited about owning any pharmaceutical stocks, but especially Pfizer (NYSE: PFE). Not only is the federal government looking to force drugmakers to offer better prices to its Medicare program, but Pfizer still hasn't restored the revenue it lost once the need for its COVID-19 vaccine and treatment evaporated in 2023. That's the chief reason shares have been more than halved since late 2021. Well, that and the fact that the company is technically dishing out more in dividends than it's earning while it's facing a handful of patent expirations in the foreseeable future. Just don't lose perspective here. On any of it. Take its underfunded dividend as an example. It's not actually underfunded. Last year's reported per-share earnings of $1.41 were less than the full-year dividend payout of $1.68 per share, but that figure reflected a one-time accounting charge. Stripping this expense out of the equation reinflates earnings to a more normalized figure of $3.11 per share, easily covering its dividend. Pfizer also has replacements in the works for all its COVID drugs that are less needed, as well as its drugs with patents set to expire in the foreseeable future. Vepdegestrant (for ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer) and sigvotatug vedotin (for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer) are both in late-stage trials now, for instance, as part of a developmental pipeline that consists of around 50 oncology drugs. Although none of these drugs are going to be approved and marketed in the immediate future, the company is aiming to launch at least eight new cancer drugs by 2030. The market could begin rewarding their eventual success much sooner, though. The company's also looking to enter the multibillion-dollar weight-loss market with its own GLP-1 receptor agonist, which is based on the same basic science as well-known semaglutide. And as for the threat of lower drug prices for Medicare-covered patients, don't read too much into it. This threat remains in permanent circulation and rarely causes as much trouble as feared. As BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan David Seigerman noted back in May, when President Donald Trump first ramped up his rhetoric on the matter, his plan "could be more rhetoric than actual implementable policy." In other words, it's more bark than bite. Don't be surprised to see Pfizer shares start climbing again once more investors start connecting all these dots, particularly given how their weakness has inflated the stock's forward-looking dividend yield to 7.2%. Lockheed Martin Finally, add defense contractor Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) to your list of dividend stocks to buy with bigger amounts of capital while its forward-looking dividend yield is a respectable 3.1%. It's yet another victim of federal budget real and feared. In June, for instance, the U.S. Department of Defense halved its previous order of F-35 fighter jets (which account for more than one-fourth of Lockheed's annual revenue) for the government's fiscal year beginning in October. That followed March's news that the DoD chose Boeing rather than Lockheed to manufacture the next-generation F-47 fighter plane... a contract that could have been worth hundreds of billions of dollars over the course of many, many years. Meanwhile, support for Ukraine in its conflict against Russia appears to be waning, potentially crimping deliveries of new weaponry to the region. All told, Lockheed Martin shares are down more than 30% from October's peak and still testing new 52-week lows on these worries. . Once again, though, don't lose perspective. The U.S. military may not need as many F-35 fighter planes as it thought it would in the year ahead, nor does it want Lockheed-Martin to manufacture its next generation of fighter jets. It still needs much of Lockheed's weapons and military hardware, though, like its newly unveiled artificial intelligence-powered synthetic aperture radar (SAR) that facilitates airborne maritime surveillance or its new magnetic anomaly detection technology (capable of finding submerged submarines) for its Sikorsky MH-60R "Seahawk" maritime helicopters. And just last month, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency added another $2 billion to an $8.3 billion contract with Lockheed to provide it with terminal high-altitude area defense (THAAD) interceptor missiles. Sure, investors would love to see strong and sustained demand for the F-35, which generates maintenance revenue long after the purchase of the aircraft is completed. Shareholders would have also been thrilled to see the company win the F-47 contract to the same reason. Lockheed Martin still has a range of ways to monetize its military hardware know-how for the long haul, though. Let's also not forget that one of the few things the United States' two major political parties agree on is the need to fully fund the nation's ability to defend itself and its interests. Even in the face of economic uncertainty, the U.S. Senate's overseeing panel recently approved a defense budget of $852 billion for the upcoming year, up just a bit from this year's figure and extending a multiyear growth trend that isn't apt to slow anytime soon. Admittedly, Lockheed stock's 3.1% yield isn't huge. It's based on a dividend; however, that's now been raised for 22 consecutive years. So close to becoming dividend royalty, it's unlikely the company's going to stop raising its annual dividend payments now. Should you invest $1,000 in Lockheed Martin right now? Before you buy stock in Lockheed Martin, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Lockheed Martin 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 $624,823!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,064,820!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,019% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 178% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 4, 2025
Globe and Mail
6 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
1 Incredible Reason to Buy Uber Technologies Before Aug. 6
Key Points Shares of Uber have advanced by about 44% year to date. The company's combination of steady growth and reasonable stock valuation make it an appealing choice ahead of its next earnings release on Aug. 6. 10 stocks we like better than Uber Technologies › It's been a banner year for Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER). As of this writing, the company's stock has advanced by 44% year to date. However, despite this impressive performance, investors may still want to consider buying shares ahead of the company's upcoming earnings announcement on Aug. 6. Here's why. Uber stock has a unique combination of value and growth Two of the most important concepts to grasp when investing are growth and value. Most often, we sort stocks into these two categories, with shares of young, fast-expanding companies in the former camp, and the shares of established, profitable companies in the latter camp. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More » Yet, every so often, there are companies that bridge the gap -- and it looks like Uber is one of those examples. Uber is a fast-growing company. Revenue has increased from below $30 billion to more than $45 billion in only three years. Average quarterly revenue growth over that period has been an impressive 25%. Similarly, profits have soared over the same period. The company's net income now stands at $12.8 billion, after posting a loss of more than $8 billion only three years ago. Turning to valuation, Uber stock is surprisingly affordable. Shares of Uber have a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of only 15x. That's about half the average P/E ratio for the S&P 500, which is around 30x. With the company set to release earnings results on Aug. 6, investors may want to consider buying shares of the company ahead of time, thanks to its reasonable valuation and long-standing history of impressive growth. Should you invest $1,000 in Uber Technologies right now? Before you buy stock in Uber Technologies, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Uber Technologies 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 $624,823!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,064,820!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,019% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 178% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 4, 2025
