Latest in Finance
CNBC
28 minutes ago
- Business
- CNBC
We're raising our price targets on 5 stocks — and cutting our outlook on another
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Markets: The S & P 500 is rallying to a new record high on Friday, though the index came off its best levels of the day after President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that he has ended trade talks with Canada due to concerns about digital services taxes on U.S. tech companies. Still, it has been an exceptional week for the broader market. As tensions in the Middle East eased, oil prices plunged, interest rates declined, and stocks surged. Some of the biggest winners this week were in tech and AI -infrastructure related stocks. But the financials had an impressive week, too. We'll see the results of the Fed's annual stress test later Friday. Some Wall Street analysts expect Club name Wells Fargo to be among the biggest winners . Price target changes: We're making a handful of changes to our price targets on portfolio stocks. Apple : We are lowering our price target to $240 a share from $280 to reflect some of our recent concerns that a demand pull-forward from people buying iPhones ahead of tariffs could moderate sales in the quarters ahead. We've also expressed frustration about how Apple is allocating too much capital to stock buybacks, when those funds could be more effectively used to accelerate its lagging AI initiatives. Capital One Financial : We are increasing our price target to $250 from $210. As we talked about on Friday's Morning Meeting, the stock still trades at a huge discount to peer American Express , and maybe it shouldn't since Capital One now also operates a closed-loop network – meaning it issues its own cards and runs its own payment network, just like American Express. Based on 2026 earnings per share estimates, Capital One is trading at an 11 multiple while AXP trades at 18. We're not arguing for parity, necessarily. But if Capital One re-rates to 13 times earnings, still a five-turn discount to American Express, as it proves the benefits of the Discover deal, then we're talking about stock trading at about $250 based on the consensus earnings per share estimate of $19.32. CrowdStrike : We are nudging up our price target to $520 from $500. This higher price target reflects the higher price-to-earning multiple the best of breed cybersecurity companies continue to deserve in the market. Although we are raising our price target, we remain mindful of the run the stock has had this year. This was the main reason why we trimmed this position earlier in the week. GE Vernova : We are increasing our price target to $550 from $500. GE Vernova's valuation may look stretched, but the stock keeps powering higher due to the heavy investment needed to power AI data centers around the world. The robust demand for the company's gas turbines and electric grid solutions should translate to strong pricing power for many years. The company remains a potential winner from future trade deals and should benefit from the Trump administration's push to boost energy supply to power AI. Goldman Sachs : We are increasing our price to $725 from $615. We continue to see Goldman Sachs as one of the biggest beneficiaries of an improving initial public offering market, as well as an increase in mergers-and-acquisitions activity. The big banks could also get a boost from looser regulations , as we wrote Thursday. Meta Platforms : We are raising our price target to $800 from $700. A pair of separate bullish analysts raised their Meta price target above $800 this week, and we want to be right there with them because the social media giant has been one of the best at using AI to generate more revenue. Next week: There are no companies in the portfolio scheduled to report earnings next week. On the data side, it will be a jobs-week, which means we'll see the ADP employment report Wednesday morning, as well as the all-important nonfarm payroll report. The jobs report will be on Thursday, not the usual Friday, because the market is closed on July 4 in observation of Independence Day. A few other key data reports are the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing and services activity indexes for the month of June. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Australia's Securities Regulator to Probe ASX After Collapsed Blockchain Project
Australia's Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has turned to three of the country's most seasoned finance figures to probe the inner workings of the Australian Securities Exchange, including the exchange's doomed blockchain project. ASIC launched the inquiry on June 16 over 'ongoing concerns' it and the Reserve Bank of Australia expressed about the exchange's ability to run stable and secure market plumbing. Those concerns intensified when ASX scrapped a blockchain-based upgrade to its CHESS settlement engine in 2022, forcing a costly reset and drawing political heat. ASIC later sued ASX over making misleading statements on the project. Rob Whitfield, a former Westpac chief risk officer and now a Commonwealth Bank director, will chair ASIC's panel. Joining him are Christine Holman, who sits on the boards of utility AGL and restaurant operator Collins Foods, and Guy Debelle, a Reserve Bank of Australia's former deputy governor. The trio will inspect ASX's governance, technical capability, and risk controls and recommend fixes for any weak spots. Their brief stretches across the entire ASX group, which handles more than A$6 billion ($3.92 billion) in trades each day.
National Post
29 minutes ago
- Business
- National Post
BREAKING: Trump 'terminating' trade talks with Canada over digital services tax
Article content OTTAWA — U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday he is putting an end to trade discussions with Canada because of the digital services tax moving ahead next week. Article content Trump made the announcement on his social media network, Truth Social. Article content Article content 'We have just been informed that Canada, a very difficult Country to TRADE with… has just announced that they are putting a Digital Services Tax on our American Technology Companies, which is a direct and blatant attack on our Country,' he wrote. Article content Article content 'Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately. We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period.' Article content Article content The first payment for Canada's digital tax is due Monday, according to the Finance department, and covers revenue retroactively to 2022. The tax is three per cent of the digital services revenue a firm makes from Canadian users above $20 million in a year. Earlier this month, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said his government was moving ahead with the tax even though it remained an irritant with the United States. Article content 'That's the law in Canada. We had fairly long, extensive discussions at the G7 about the different regimes that you find in different parts of the world. That's not unique to Canada, by the way,' he said. Article content The prime minister's office did not immediately issue a comment about Trump's latest statement. Article content More details to follow… Article content — With files from Christopher Nardi and Bloomberg. Article content
Time of India
29 minutes ago
- Business
- Time of India
Trump terminates trade talks with Canada with immediate effect, says tariffs will be announced within a week
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that the country was he is calling off trade negotiations with Canada immediately, citing its digital services tax . He added that the neighbouring country would be informed of the tariff rate within a week. "We have just been informed that Canada, a very difficult Country to TRADE with, including the fact that they have charged our Farmers as much as 400% Tariffs, for years, on Dairy Products, has just announced that they are putting a Digital Services Tax on our American Technology Companies, which is a direct and blatant attack on our Country," Trump said on Truth Social. Trump accused Canada of blatant attack on the US and copying the European Union. "They are obviously copying the European Union, which has done the same thing, and is currently under discussion with us, also. Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately. We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven-day period," he added. Live Events Canada is the second-largest trading partner of the US. Currently, all non-USMCA goods imported from Canada face a tariff rate of 25 per cent. This excludes energy products, which Trump has applied a 10 per cent tariff rate to. It also bears much of the brunt of Trump's 50 per cent tax on steel and aluminum imports.
Forbes
30 minutes ago
- Business
- Forbes
Surging Investments in AI Are Transforming Cybersecurity
Human Digital Avatar as a Symbol of AI presses a virtual button on screen with Shield icon. Cyber ... More Security and Data Protection Concept. AI is transforming cybersecurity, and investments are following in close concert with those trends. AI systems seek to replicate human traits and computational capabilities in a machine and surpass human limitations and speed. Elements of AI emergence consist of machine learning and natural language processing. Today, AI can understand, diagnose, and solve problems from both structured and unstructured data—and in some cases, without being specifically programmed. AI is becoming integral in cybersecurity, and companies are logically investing in AI-based defenses against cyberattacks, and the demand for them is expected to grow in the next few years. AI offers a logical collection of tools and the best chance for defenders that work in an environment characterized by an uneven threat level and are already short on workforce and money. The demand for AI is growing due to expanded risks and threats to enterprises. This is unambiguous evidence that AI is becoming increasingly important in cybersecurity, and organizations must capitalize on its potential to remain competitive. The global market for AI in cybersecurity is surging. McKinsey & Company predicts a $5 to $7 trillion potential economic impact by this year. McKinsey says that AI is making the $2 trillion cybersecurity market even larger. In the first quarter of 2024, venture capital financing for cybersecurity firms, particularly those focused on AI security solutions, experienced significant growth. According to figures from Crunchbase, startups raised over $2.7 billion in 154 deals. From January 1 to May 5, 2024, private equity and venture capital firms said they will spend $8.1 billion on cybersecurity companies. That's a 91% rise from the same time in 2023, when it was $4.46 billion. Major cybersecurity investments in 2024 The sums invested are going up for a solid reason. Eighty-eight percent of cybersecurity specialists said that AI will be needed to make security tasks more efficient. The Real-World Impact of AI on Cybersecurity Professionals And 62% of businesses are using or looking into AI for cybersecurity. Cybersecurity professionals have mixed feelings about AI: 93% are afraid of threats from AI, while 69% think it is the answer. In the next several years, AI's ability to change things is likely to have a big effect on the industry. 33+ AI in Cybersecurity Statistics for 2025: Friend or Foe? 'The promise of these technologies is very exciting. Microsoft UK's chief envisioning officer Dave Choplin claimed that AI is 'the most important technology that anybody on the planet is working on today.' R&D and investments are a good barometer of what lies ahead in future technological developments. Microsoft Exec: 'AI Is the Most Important Technology That Anybody on the Planet Is Working on Today' - Business InsiderLock sign SMART CYBERSECURITY AI has much to offer cybersecurity, both in terms of new features and in terms of improving defensive operations in contexts where threats are present. As sensors and algorithms come together, automated cybersecurity solutions for threat detection, information assurance, and resilience may be what keeps businesses safe while they make the most of innovative technology. The overall IT perimeter for many enterprises and institutions is now more intricate and spread out because of on-premises systems, cloud computing, and edge computing. This means that threat detection, analysis, and incident response need to be better, and there has to be greater visibility. This element is an important part of smart cybersecurity. Smart cybersecurity can find, filter, neutralize, and fix cyber threats. It has a lot of potential. AI tools for threat intelligence and network surveillance can help make cybersecurity better. Generative AI (GenAI) algorithms might use predictive models more effectively in cybersecurity, which would result in better security data and better outcomes. Gen AI might be able to apply predictive models in cybersecurity in a way that works better, giving better results and more trustworthy security data. AI agents and GenAI could work together to suggest ways to reduce risk and improve businesses and organizations' cybersecurity expertise and incident response. Generative AI can quickly find useful information, the best ways to do things, and proposed actions from the body of knowledge in the security business. Also, Agentic AI-enabled cybersecurity has a lot of potential for finding, blocking, stopping, and fixing cyberthreats. Agentic AI can help with the main problems of threat detection, reaction speed, and analyst workload. These technologies automate tasks while still allowing human monitoring, which makes security teams work better in a more dangerous digital world. With enhanced analysis of background information, practitioners can quickly figure out what kind of attack it is and what they should do next. This factor alone can shorten the time that bad actors spend on a site from days to just minutes, which is a significant plus for cyber defenders. Smart algorithms can be applied to monitor the network for anomalous behavior, find new dangers that don't have visible signs, and take the right steps. It can also be used to compare data from different silos to figure out network risks and weaknesses, and the methods of attacks that are happening. Identity and access management are an important part of zero trust cybersecurity. AI could help by validating the accuracy of data across numerous remote databases. To protect digital convergence, AI will need to be used in cybersecurity defenses and the development of next-generation cyber capabilities, such as predictive security and analytics. AI will be able to improve cybersecurity in areas like Data Loss Prevention (DLP), data privacy and identity governance, data access restrictions, risk assessment, and managing the security posture of data for data discovery and categorization. Cybersecurity and AI are key areas of focus in the emerging digital ecosystem. These AI and computing technology tools can also contribute to advancements in various fields, including genetic engineering, augmented reality, robotics, renewable energies, big data, digital security, and quantum computing. Get ready for an innovative and exciting, but potentially precarious ride.
