#valuation

#valuation

On Wednesday, the startup announced that it raised an additional $250 million in Series D funding at a $12 billion valuation, co-led by Thrive Capital and DST. That's double the valuation from its last raise in October: $200 million at $6 billion, led by GV. It has now raised a total of $700 million, the company says, from backers including Sequoia, Nvidia, Kleiner Perkins, Blackstone, Bond, Craft Ventures, Mayo Clinic, and others.

The JPMorgan Active Growth ETF ( NYSEARCA:JGRO) delivered a 14.2% return over the past year, trailing the S&P 500's 17.9% gain by nearly 4 percentage points. For investors paying a 0.44% expense ratio for active management, underperformance raises a key question: what should you watch to understand whether this fund can close the gap? JGRO's $8.5 billion portfolio reveals a critical vulnerability through its concentration strategy. The fund's top three positions control over a quarter of assets, creating exposure to mega-cap technology headwinds.

With the first full trading week of 2026 now in the books, investors might be wondering if the strong early start in the S&P will precede even more strength. Undoubtedly, a lack of a Santa Claus rally has seemingly paved the way for a rather hot start to 2026, with some memory chip stocks really picking up momentum while certain semiconductor equipment makers made up for lost time.

Thermo Fisher posted Q3 revenue of $11.12 billion, up 4.9% year over year, and delivered $5.79 in earnings per share against estimates of $5.50. That marked the company's 14th earnings beat in the last 16 quarters. The consistency reflects a diversified product portfolio across scientific instruments, reagents, and consumables serving research labs, hospitals, and biopharma customers. Danaher's Q3 was more complicated. Revenue reached $6.05 billion, up 4.4%, and the company beat estimates with $1.89 per share versus $1.72 consensus.

Paramount said in a letter on Thursday that it valued WBD's cable TV networks at $0.00 per share, when including expected debt and other costs. The letter came a day after WBD rebuffed Paramount's attempted acquisition for an eighth time in favor of Netflix's offer. In the letter, Paramount acknowledged "the theoretical possibility" that WBD's cable assets "could trade with up to ~$0.50 per share" of value.

Our Q2 outlook reflects substantial records across revenue, gross margin, EPS and free cash flow, and we anticipate our business performance to continue strengthening through fiscal 2026. Micron's technology leadership, differentiated product portfolio, and strong operational execution position us as an essential AI enabler, and we are investing to support our customers' growing need for memory and storage," he said in the Q1 FY26 press release.

Over the next decade, you'll surely want to own at least one artificial intelligence (AI) chip stock. You might assume that all you need is NVIDIA ( NASDAQ:NVDA) stock and nothing else. However, even though NVIDIA is the market's darling, your best pick could actually be Advanced Micro Devices ( NASDAQ:AMD) stock. Even though it's a giant company, Advanced Micro Devices is an underdog in some respects.

The optimism is rooted in Lowe's operational consistency. The company has beaten earnings estimates in all four of its most recent quarters, with the latest Q3 2025 report delivering $3.06 per share versus the $2.81 consensus, an 8.9% surprise. That marks eight consecutive quarterly earnings beats heading into 2026, with an average surprise of 4.1%. Revenue growth of 3.2% year-over-year also outpaces Home Depot's 2.8%.

Analysts are overwhelmingly bullish on Axon. The average Wall Street price target sits at $820, implying 38% upside. Out of 19 analysts covering the stock, 17 rate it a Buy or Strong Buy, with 2 Hold ratings and zero Sells. The optimism is grounded in strong fundamentals. Revenue grew 30.6% year over year in the most recent quarter, and analysts expect that momentum to continue.

Shares of Lululemon Athletica ( NASDAQ:LULU) jumped 7% on December 18 following news that activist investor Elliott Management built a $1 billion stake in the athleisure retailer. The move sparked a surge in retail trader enthusiasm on Reddit, with sentiment scores climbing to 72 (bullish) from neutral levels just days earlier. The Elliott news arrives as Lululemon recovers from a brutal year, with shares down 44% over the past 12 months but up 31% in the last month alone.

Among the key items I look at when I consider companies' income statements and balance sheets is how much gross and net margin they're creating. That's because these metrics are pretty solid estimations of how well a given company is operating. Indeed, at the end of the day, valuations come down to how much cash flow or earnings a given company will generate over their remaining years in operation.

It adjusts the company's holdings to the current market price of bitcoin, accounts for liquid cash and debt, and factors in share dilution. mNAV provides a clearer picture of a bitcoin treasury company's true financial position than conventional accounting standards. It has become the standard tool for evaluating corporate bitcoin strategies because it centers the analysis on bitcoin itself, rather than legacy accounting conventions that can distort value.

Block ( NYSE: XYZ) has delivered strong momentum in 2025, with shares climbing steadily as the company demonstrates improving profitability and operational leverage. The fintech platform operator behind Square and Cash App has transformed from losses just two years ago to consistent quarterly profits, with Q3 2025 earnings surging 64% year over year. With Wall Street's consensus target at $84, investors are asking whether Block can push to $100 in 2026.

Okta's quarter showed operational maturity. Revenue climbed 12% year over year, but operating cash flow surged 37% to $218 million. Free cash flow reached $211 million. The company turned a $16 million loss into $23 million in operating income. CEO Todd McKinnon highlighted "continued strength with large customers" and adoption of Okta Identity Governance and Auth0 for AI Agents. Large enterprise deals carry higher margins and stickier retention.

Analysts remain bullish on Reddit's prospects, with a consensus price target of $242. That implies modest 2% upside from current levels around $238, but the Street's optimism is grounded in explosive growth. Wall Street expects revenue to continue accelerating, driven by the platform's 116 million daily active users across 100,000+ communities. As CEO Steve Huffman noted in the recent earnings call, "Reddit provides something rare on the Internet. 444 million people come here each week for authentic conversations they can't find anywhere else."