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The biggest gainer on the S&P 500 this year is up 145%, and it isn’t Nvidia
Thursday 01 Aug 2024What is the best performing S&P 500 stock so far this year? AI (artificial intelligence) chip champ Nvidia (NVDA:NASDAQ) maybe? Weight loss wonder Eli Lilly (LLY:NYSE) or bitcoin proxy MicroStrategy (MSTR:NASDAQ) perhaps? No, no, and no. The gong goes to another AI story stock, Super Micro...
Entain shares plumb four-year low after latest profit downgrade
Thursday 01 Aug 2024Shares in embattled Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain (ENT) plunged by almost a tenth on Monday (29 July), plumbing new four-year lows after the gambling giant’s US joint-venture partner BetMGM said it expected to deploy ‘greater than expected’ marketing in iGaming the back half of the year. This...
No pain relief for shareholders in consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser
Thursday 01 Aug 2024From being one of the hottest properties in the market pre-pandemic, and having had a ‘good crisis’ as it were thanks to its hygiene division, global personal and household products group Reckitt Benckiser (RKT) now finds itself in the investment equivalent of the bargain bin. Shares in the Nurofen...
McDonald’s sales drop shows customers are no longer ‘lovin’ it’
Thursday 01 Aug 2024Sales at McDonald’s (MCD:NYSE) fell for the first time in three years in the second quarter as the fast-food giant fell victim to consumers cutting back on eating out. For the three months to the end of 30 June, McDonald’s reported a 1% fall in global comparable sales as diners choked at the high...
Bumper share buyback unveiled by IT reseller Computacenter
Thursday 01 Aug 2024International IT reseller Computacenter (CCC) has unveiled a new share buyback programme worth £200 million, larger than analysts had expected and worth about 7% of its issued share capital. Buying back shares in the company when the stock is seen as discounted has been a regular feature of...
MicroStrategy set for 10-for-one share split
Thursday 01 Aug 2024US-listed software analytics and bitcoin hoarder MicroStrategy (MSTR:NASDAQ) is primed to pull the trigger on a 10-for-one stock split after the close of trading tonight (1 Aug). All shareholders will receive nine additional shares for each one they own, which are expected to be distributed after...
Geopolitical tensions drive contract wins at defence support firm Cohort
Thursday 25 Jul 2024Berkshire-based Cohort (CHRT:AIM) , which provides advanced military systems and software to clients including the UK’s Ministry of Defence, posted record revenue and profit for the year to the end of April as rising geopolitical tensions drive more customers to its door. Sales for the year hit £...
Downtrend looks set to continue for specialty chemical-maker Victrex
Thursday 25 Jul 2024Shares in Blackpool-based specialty chemical-maker Victrex (VCT) touched 10-year lows last week after the firm said trading in its markets remained tough and it would take a sustained upturn in its medical division to meet its annual profit target. The FTSE 250 supplier of high-performance polymers...
Income investors make hay as UK dividend payments hit all-time high
Thursday 25 Jul 2024There has never been a better time to be an income investor in UK equities, as payouts for the period from April to June hit an all-time quarterly record of £36.7 billion according to the latest Dividend Monitor from Computershare. Most of the increase was thanks to one-off special dividends,...
More volatility in prospect as Biden exits the presidential race
Thursday 25 Jul 2024The apparent coronation of vice president Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee after incumbent Joe Biden’s exit from the presidential race has had a relatively mild market impact thus far. While the recent ‘Trump trade’, with investors expecting renewed inflationary pressure, a worsened fiscal...