Category: Tech

Nvidia Just Reported the Most Profitable Quarter in Semiconductor History — the Downstream Effects Are Just Starting

Posted on by [email protected]

The numbers Nvidia posted Wednesday evening after the closing bell were not just a beat — they were a redefinition of what a technology company can generate in a single quarter. Record revenue of $81.6 billion, up 85% year over year. Data center revenue of $75.2 billion, up 92%. Net income of $58.3 billion — a 211% increase from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.87, clearing the $1.77 consensus estimate. Gross margins held at 75% despite a simultaneous transition between two major chip architectures.

And then came the guidance. Nvidia is projecting $91 billion in revenue for the current quarter — well above the $87 billion Wall Street consensus and comfortably ahead of the highest whisper numbers circulating before the print. The company announced a new $80 billion share repurchase authorization and returned approximately $20 billion to shareholders through buybacks and dividends in the quarter alone.

Nvidia’s stock rose modestly after hours, a reflection not of disappointment but of a market that had already priced in excellence and received confirmation.

What’s Driving It

The engine behind the numbers is Blackwell — Nvidia’s current generation AI chip architecture that now drives the majority of data center compute revenue. Blackwell 300 products ramped aggressively in the quarter, and Nvidia’s networking solutions — including InfiniBand, Spectrum-X Ethernet, and NVLink — posted networking revenue growth of 64% sequentially as AI factories scaled their interconnect infrastructure.

Nvidia also launched the Vera Rubin platform during the quarter — its next-generation architecture purpose-built for agentic AI workloads. The Vera CPU is described as the world’s first processor designed specifically for AI agents, with first deployments expected at Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and CoreWeave in the second half of 2026. At its March GTC conference, CEO Jensen Huang projected that Blackwell and Vera Rubin combined would generate $1 trillion in revenue across 2026 and 2027. Wednesday’s results do nothing to undermine that projection.

Notably, Nvidia’s Q2 guidance explicitly excludes any data center compute revenue from China — the H20 export restrictions imposed in April remain fully in effect — making the $91 billion outlook that much more significant.

The Small and Microcap Read-Through

For investors operating below the $2 billion market cap threshold, Nvidia’s quarter is not just a large-cap story. It is a forward demand signal for an entire ecosystem of smaller companies.

The top five hyperscalers — Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Oracle — are now expected to nearly double their capital expenditure spending in 2026, a significant revision upward from prior estimates of 62% year-over-year growth. That level of infrastructure commitment does not get executed through Nvidia alone. It flows through hundreds of suppliers, component manufacturers, and technology providers operating at every layer of the AI buildout stack.

Smaller companies in specialty semiconductor materials, advanced cooling systems, power infrastructure, optical networking components, and AI-optimized software are direct downstream beneficiaries of a sustained hyperscaler capex cycle. Many of those companies sit well below the $2 billion market cap threshold and have yet to see their valuations reflect the demand environment Nvidia’s results just confirmed.

The AI infrastructure buildout is not slowing. Wednesday night’s print made that case with $81.6 billion worth of evidence.

SKYX Platforms (SKYX) – Conversation with Management; Updated Model

Posted on by [email protected]


Thursday, May 21, 2026

Joe Gomes, CFA, Managing Director, Equity Research Analyst, Generalist , Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

Overview. We had the opportunity to chat with SKYX management this week following the Company’s first-quarter earnings release. In short, management believes momentum continues to build with new agreements in the European hospitality business, the ongoing AI upgrading of the retail websites platform, recent capital raises which provide a runway to cash flow positive, and the potential for regulatory reform.

Key Drivers. The announced major construction and hospitality projects represent over one million units alone, with several projects projected to begin ordering this year, while management expects to deploy 100,000 units by year-end through the retail and pro channels. Turbo Heater retail sales are exceeding expectations, and the Company is developing additional line extensions here. The economy and, in particular, the housing market, remain a variable that could impact the pace of sales, in our view.


Get the Full Report

Equity Research is available at no cost to Registered users of Channelchek. Not a Member? Click ‘Join’ to join the Channelchek Community. There is no cost to register, and we never collect credit card information.

This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision. 

The Federal Government Just Bet $2 Billion on Quantum Computing — and Several of the Winners Are Small Caps

Posted on by [email protected]

The Trump administration moved Thursday to establish the United States as the dominant force in quantum computing, announcing $2 billion in equity investments across nine domestic companies as part of a coordinated push to accelerate the technology’s development and close the gap with China. The move sent shares in several of the recipients surging between 6% and 31% on the day — and for investors paying attention to the small and microcap names in the deal, the signal goes well beyond a single-session pop.

The investments will be funded through incentives under the CHIPS and Science Act, originally signed by former President Biden, and represent the latest instance of the Trump administration taking direct equity stakes in strategic technology companies — a model it has already deployed with Intel and rare-earth mining company MP Materials.

Who Gets What

IBM is the largest recipient, securing $1 billion to establish a new company called Anderon in New Albany, New York — which the administration is positioning as America’s first dedicated quantum chip manufacturing facility. IBM will contribute $1 billion alongside intellectual property, assets, and workforce, with plans to bring in additional private investors as the venture scales. Contract chipmaker GlobalFoundries received $375 million and launched a new division called Quantum Technology Solutions, with the government taking approximately a 1% equity stake in the company.

The remaining funding flows directly into smaller players. D-Wave, Rigetti Computing, and Infleqtion each received approximately $100 million, while Diraq received up to $38 million to address specific technical hurdles around error rates — one of the central engineering challenges still limiting quantum computing’s practical performance. PsiQuantum, which raised $1 billion in private funding last year from investors including Nvidia’s venture capital arm, is also among the recipients.

Rigetti Computing shares surged more than 25% Thursday. Infleqtion jumped nearly 29%. Both are among the smaller names in the cohort and carry market capitalizations well within ChannelChek’s coverage universe.

Why This Matters Beyond the Headlines

Quantum computers are designed to process information exponentially faster than conventional supercomputers, with potential applications spanning drug discovery, financial modeling, logistics optimization, and cryptography. The technology has faced persistent skepticism around timelines — Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang suggested last year that practical quantum computers could be two decades away — but Thursday’s announcement carries a specific weight that speculation does not.

The US government has demonstrated through its CHIPS Act deployment that it does not take equity positions in technologies it considers speculative. The CEO of Infleqtion made that point directly Thursday, arguing that this level of federal commitment signals the technology is advancing faster than the broader market appreciates.

For small and microcap investors, that framing is the critical takeaway. Government equity validation in early-stage technology companies has historically served as a powerful de-risking signal that accelerates institutional interest and compresses the timeline to commercialization. Several of the quantum computing companies receiving funding today were, as recently as 18 months ago, viewed primarily as speculative bets.

Thursday’s announcement reframes that narrative — and the market reaction suggests investors are adjusting their positioning accordingly.

SpaceX Is Targeting the Largest IPO in History

Posted on by [email protected]

The IPO market is about to face its most consequential test in decades. SpaceX, Elon Musk’s aerospace, satellite, and artificial intelligence conglomerate, is targeting a June 12 Nasdaq debut under the ticker SPCX — aiming to raise as much as $75 billion at a valuation approaching $1.75 trillion. If it prices at that level, it would shatter Saudi Aramco’s 2019 record of $35.4 billion as the largest initial public offering ever completed.

The timeline is now concrete. SpaceX is expected to file its S-1 prospectus publicly this week, with a roadshow scheduled to begin June 4 and share pricing targeted for June 11. A 5-for-1 stock split is completing by May 22, adjusting the internal per-share value from $526.59 to approximately $105.32 — a move widely interpreted as lowering the entry price ahead of listing to broaden retail accessibility. Musk has reportedly directed that up to 30% of IPO shares be reserved for individual investors, an unusually high retail allocation for a deal of this magnitude.

What SpaceX Actually Is Now

SpaceX merged with Musk’s AI venture xAI in February, creating a combined entity that now encompasses the Falcon 9 rocket program, the Starlink satellite internet service, the Starship development program, and xAI’s artificial intelligence platform. The company generated between $15 billion and $16 billion in revenue in 2025, with Starlink — which now serves more than 9 million users globally — serving as the primary growth engine. At the targeted $1.75 trillion valuation, the deal implies a revenue multiple of approximately 109 to 116 times trailing sales — a figure that reflects growth expectations rather than current fundamentals.

BlackRock is reportedly in discussions to invest between $5 billion and $10 billion in the offering, which would represent one of the largest anchor commitments in IPO history. The deal’s dual-class share structure will preserve Musk’s voting control following the listing.

The Context: A Record That Puts Everything Else in Perspective

SpaceX’s targeted raise of $75 billion is more than double Aramco’s record. It is more than the combined IPO proceeds of the ten largest US technology listings in the past decade. The valuation of $1.75 trillion would immediately place SPCX among the ten most valuable publicly traded companies in the world on its first day of trading.

The deal follows Cerebras Systems’ blockbuster Nasdaq debut last week, which saw shares surge nearly 90% on the first day of trading and briefly pushed the company’s market cap above $100 billion. That listing, itself the largest US tech IPO since Uber in 2019, now looks like a warm-up act.

What It Means for Smaller Investors and the Broader Market

For small and microcap investors the SpaceX IPO is relevant on two levels. First, the deal’s scale and the retail allocation represent a genuine opportunity for individual investors to participate in a listing that institutional capital will compete aggressively to access. Second, a successful SpaceX debut at or near the targeted valuation would validate the current wave of AI and space technology investment theses — and create a rising tide for smaller companies operating in adjacent spaces.

Domestic satellite technology providers, aerospace component manufacturers, launch infrastructure companies, and AI hardware suppliers in the sub-$2 billion market cap range have historically seen multiple expansion in the wake of high-profile sector listings. SpaceX going public at $1.75 trillion would be the most powerful sector validation signal the space and AI technology markets have ever received.

OpenAI and Anthropic are both reportedly preparing IPO filings for later in 2026. The window is open and the market is paying attention.

Publicis Drops $2.5 Billion on LiveRamp — Why the Ad Giant Just Made Data Its Most Valuable Asset

Posted on by [email protected]

The advertising industry’s M&A playbook just got rewritten. French media and communications giant Publicis Groupe announced Sunday it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire LiveRamp Holdings (NYSE: RAMP), a San Francisco-based data collaboration platform, in an all-cash deal valued at $2.546 billion in total equity value — or approximately $2.167 billion on an enterprise value basis after accounting for LiveRamp’s net cash position of $379 million.

The offer price of $38.50 per share represents a 30% premium to LiveRamp’s closing price of $29.66 on May 15, the last trading session before the announcement. RAMP shares surged more than 26% Monday morning on the news, one of the largest single-day moves in the company’s history.

The Deal at a Glance

LiveRamp operates a global data collaboration platform that helps companies connect, control, and activate their first-party data across marketing ecosystems — essentially serving as the connective tissue between brands, publishers, and data partners in an era where third-party cookies are dead and privacy regulations have made clean data infrastructure a competitive necessity. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, LiveRamp posted total revenue of $813 million, up 9% year over year, with annualized recurring revenue reaching $545 million — up 8%.

Both companies’ boards unanimously approved the transaction. LiveRamp will continue operating as a standalone business following the close, with CEO Scott Howe remaining in place and reporting directly to Publicis Chairman and CEO Arthur Sadoun. The deal is expected to close before year-end 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and a LiveRamp shareholder vote.

Why Publicis Wants This — and Why It Matters

Publicis has been one of the most acquisitive players in marketing technology over the past several years, systematically building out a data and AI services stack to differentiate itself from legacy agency competitors. The LiveRamp acquisition is framed internally as a bet on the agentic AI era — the next phase of AI deployment where autonomous agents need clean, permissioned, interoperable data to execute decisions at scale. LiveRamp’s infrastructure sits directly in that critical path.

For Publicis, this is about owning the data layer rather than just accessing it. As AI-driven marketing automation accelerates, the companies that control how data flows between brands and platforms hold significant structural leverage. At $2.167 billion enterprise value, the acquisition values LiveRamp at roughly 2.7x trailing revenue — a reasonable multiple for a high-margin, recurring-revenue data business with demonstrated growth in a market that is consolidating fast.

The Signal for Small and Microcap Investors

LiveRamp’s exit is a textbook example of what strategic acquirers are willing to pay for in the current environment: recurring revenue, clean data infrastructure, and a platform that becomes more valuable as AI workloads scale. That combination is commanding meaningful premiums.

For investors in the sub-$2 billion data, martech, and AI-adjacent software space, this deal is worth studying closely. As large enterprises accelerate their AI buildouts, the demand for best-in-class data collaboration tools, identity resolution platforms, and first-party data infrastructure is only growing — and the number of independent companies built to serve that need is shrinking. M&A activity in this space is not slowing down.

LiveRamp built something the market needed. Publicis just put a $2.5 billion price tag on exactly what that’s worth.

Cerebras Systems Explodes Out of the Gate — What the Biggest AI IPO Since Uber Means for the Market

Posted on by [email protected]

The AI investment frenzy has a new benchmark. Cerebras Systems (Nasdaq: CBRS), a Silicon Valley-based AI chipmaker and direct Nvidia competitor, made its long-awaited public debut Thursday in the largest US tech IPO since Uber went public in 2019 — and the market response was emphatic.

The company priced its shares at $185 Wednesday evening, already well above a marketed range that had been revised higher twice due to surging investor demand. By Thursday morning, shares opened at $350 — nearly 90% above the IPO price — briefly surged past $385, and settled into mid-afternoon trading around $300 to $325. At its opening price, Cerebras carried a fully diluted market valuation exceeding $100 billion.

The Numbers Behind the Debut

Cerebras sold 30 million shares, raising $5.55 billion — nearly 60% more than its initial target. The offering was reported to have drawn orders for more than 20 times the available shares. If underwriters exercise their option on an additional 4.5 million shares, total proceeds could reach approximately $6.4 billion. For context, the company was valued at just $8.1 billion eight months ago. That kind of re-rating in under a year is not a routine event.

What Cerebras Actually Does — and Why It Matters

Founded in 2016, Cerebras built its reputation around a wafer-scale engine — a chip roughly the size of a dinner plate — designed specifically to accelerate AI training and inference workloads. The architecture was engineered to address limitations in traditional GPU-based systems when running large-scale AI models. The company has shifted its business model this year toward a cloud-based delivery approach, competing directly with infrastructure providers including Google, Microsoft, Oracle, and CoreWeave.

The pivot also resolved one of the central concerns that caused Cerebras to withdraw its original IPO filing in late 2025: excessive customer concentration. At the time, a single customer — UAE-based G42, backed by Microsoft — represented 85% of revenue. In Thursday’s offering, that figure had dropped to 24%, with new enterprise deals signed with Amazon and OpenAI diversifying the revenue base significantly.

The company also swung to a $237.8 million net profit compared to a loss of nearly half a billion dollars the prior year.

The Ripple Effect for Smaller AI Plays

The Cerebras debut isn’t just a headline event — it’s a sentiment accelerator. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has already climbed 66% in 2026, and Thursday’s IPO is expected to open the floodgates for what could be a wave of major AI listings. SpaceX — which merged with xAI earlier this year — is preparing for a share sale, and both OpenAI and Anthropic are reportedly eyeing public offerings later in 2026.

For small and microcap investors, the signal is clear: institutional capital is flowing hard into AI infrastructure, and the secondary effects typically follow. Smaller companies in AI hardware supply chains, edge computing, data center cooling, and specialized semiconductor materials have historically seen multiple expansion in the wake of high-profile sector IPOs. Cerebras just lit the match.

The IPO market for AI is officially open. The question now is who comes next — and how much room is left on the runway.

AI Trade Reignites, Dow Reclaims 50,000 — What the Market Reset Means for Small and Microcap Investors

Posted on by [email protected]

US equity markets surged Thursday as a convergence of catalysts — a thawing US-China trade relationship, renewed AI momentum, and better-than-expected corporate earnings — pushed major indices to milestone levels not seen in months.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed back above 50,000 for the first time since February, rising roughly 450 points on the session. The S&P 500 crossed 5,700 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced approximately 1%, fueled largely by a sharp rally in Nvidia shares after the US government approved sales of its H200 chips to select Chinese firms.

The AI Trade Is Back — and It Has Teeth

Nvidia’s stock jumped more than 4% on the chip sales approval news, but the broader implication for investors is more significant than a single-day move. The H20 and H200 chip sales to China had been a major overhang for AI-exposed names across the market cap spectrum. Their approval signals a shift in Washington’s posture — at least selectively — toward allowing AI hardware exports to flow into one of the world’s largest technology markets.

For small and microcap investors, this matters. AI infrastructure spending at the enterprise and hyperscaler level creates downstream demand that flows through the supply chain — from specialty semiconductor materials and PCB manufacturers to data center cooling solutions and edge computing plays. Many of those companies sit well below the $2 billion market cap threshold. When the AI trade re-accelerates at the large-cap level, it has historically pulled forward activity in the smaller names that feed that ecosystem.

US-China Summit Adds Macro Tailwind

President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping opened a two-day summit Thursday, with both sides calling for improved ties. The meeting — attended by top US CEOs including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Tesla’s Elon Musk, and Apple’s Tim Cook — carries real implications for trade policy across sectors. Any meaningful reduction in tariff friction or expansion of technology trade frameworks could disproportionately benefit smaller US exporters and manufacturers who have faced margin pressure from supply chain disruptions and retaliatory tariff exposure.

The summit is still ongoing and outcomes remain fluid, but the market is clearly pricing in a more constructive tone.

Cisco’s Restructuring Has a Broader Message

Cisco shares soared Thursday after the company posted an earnings beat and announced an AI-focused restructuring that will eliminate roughly 4,000 positions. The move isn’t just a cost story — it’s a signal that legacy networking infrastructure is being repositioned around AI workloads. When large incumbents restructure toward AI, they typically shed non-core business lines and reduce focus on smaller verticals. That creates opportunity gaps that agile smaller companies can move into.

Retail Sales and Oil: The Inflation Watch Continues

April retail sales came in higher, boosted partly by elevated fuel prices tied to the ongoing Middle East conflict. The inflationary undertow remains a risk variable, particularly for consumer-facing small caps operating on thin margins. Investors should continue monitoring energy price movements as a potential headwind heading into Q2 earnings season.

Thursday’s rally is a reset, not a resolution. But for small and microcap investors, the underlying signals — AI demand returning, trade tensions easing, and large-cap restructuring creating white space — are worth watching closely.

Information Services Group (III) – Post Call Update

Posted on by [email protected]


Monday, May 11, 2026

Joe Gomes, CFA, Managing Director, Equity Research Analyst, Generalist , Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

AI. AI demand continues to accelerate for ISG. In the first quarter, ISG delivered $21 million of AI-related revenue, about a third of the firm-wide total, up from $12 million a year ago. AI-related revenue includes work where AI is a key part of the client solution, including AI research and insights, AI strategy, sourcing governance, operating model design, business case validation, software, tech provider evaluation, and transformation support. AI and the cost optimization initiatives that fund digital transformation remain leading areas of client investment, and that plays to ISG’s strengths, in our view.

ISG AI Index. The Company’s recently launched ISG AI Index underscores how the AI market continues to develop. Initial spending is concentrated in infrastructure as hyperscalers ramp up capacity to meet demand. Software and platform providers are beginning to monetize their AI capabilities, while managed services are still in the early stages, indicating the larger opportunity remains to come.


Get the Full Report

Equity Research is available at no cost to Registered users of Channelchek. Not a Member? Click ‘Join’ to join the Channelchek Community. There is no cost to register, and we never collect credit card information.

This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision. 

Codere Online (CDRO) – A Strong Start To The Year

Posted on by [email protected]


Friday, May 08, 2026

Michael Kupinski, Director of Research, Equity Research Analyst, Digital, Media & Technology , Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Jacob Mutchler, Research Associate, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

Q1 Results. The company reported Q1 revenue of €64.4 million and adj. EBITDA of €6.0 million, both of which surpassed our estimates of €59.0 million and €2.7 million, respectively, as illustrated in Figure #1 Q1 Results. Notably, revenue was up 13% YoY, driven by strong growth in Mexico and Spain, both of which increased average monthly users over the prior year period.

Favorable fundamentals. Notably, in Q1, the company benefited from strong activity in Mexico, which generated revenue of €34.6 million, up 13% YoY. The favorable performance in Mexico was supported by 98,000 average monthly users, up 20% YoY. Additionally, Spain performed strongly, with revenue growing 16% to €25.5 million and average monthly users reaching 59,000, up 13% YoY. On a consolidated basis, the company averaged 183,000 monthly active users, up 14% YoY.


Get the Full Report

Equity Research is available at no cost to Registered users of Channelchek. Not a Member? Click ‘Join’ to join the Channelchek Community. There is no cost to register, and we never collect credit card information.

This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision. 

Michael Burry Bails on GameStop — and His Exit Says Everything About the eBay Deal

Posted on by [email protected]

When the investor who called the 2008 housing crash walks away from a position, the market pays attention. Michael Burry, the Scion Asset Management founder made famous by The Big Short, confirmed Monday that he exited his entire GameStop (NYSE: GME) stake — and the reason behind the move cuts straight to the heart of one of the most audacious M&A proposals in recent memory.

The trigger: GameStop’s unsolicited, nonbinding offer to acquire eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) for approximately $55.5 billion in cash and stock — a deal that would be roughly four times the size of GameStop itself.

The Deal That Broke the Thesis

GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen announced Sunday that the company has offered $125 per share for eBay, structured as a 50/50 split between cash and GameStop common stock. The bid carries a roughly 20% premium to eBay’s last closing price and a 46% premium relative to where the stock traded in early February — around the time GameStop began quietly accumulating a 5% stake in the e-commerce platform.

To fund the cash portion, GameStop has secured a nonbinding highly confident letter from TD Bank for approximately $20 billion in debt financing. The company also holds roughly $9.4 billion in cash. However, a significant funding gap remains, with estimates suggesting the deal falls roughly $16 billion short of the implied transaction value — a gap Cohen suggested could be bridged through additional stock issuance.

Cohen’s vision centers on leveraging GameStop’s roughly 1,600 U.S. retail locations as fulfillment and drop-off points for eBay transactions, along with a targeted $2 billion in annualized cost reductions within 12 months of closing. He sees eBay as a severely undermanaged asset with the potential to significantly grow its earnings under tighter operational discipline.

Why Burry Left

Burry’s exit wasn’t impulsive — it was disciplined. His investment thesis for GameStop was built around the idea that the company could evolve into a Berkshire Hathaway-style holding vehicle: lean, cash-rich, and deploying capital conservatively. The eBay deal, as structured, blows that framework up entirely.

The pro forma leverage from the transaction would push the combined company’s Debt/EBITDA ratio well above 5x — a level that Burry had identified as a hard ceiling for his investment case. Interest coverage ratios under 4.0x further complicated the math. Burry noted on his Substack that this was his first sale since launching the newsletter, underscoring how seriously he viewed the deal as a departure from GameStop’s core value proposition.

GME shares fell more than 2% in after-hours trading following Burry’s announcement and have declined over 10% from recent highs.

Burry’s departure doesn’t necessarily doom the deal or GameStop’s stock — but it does crystallize a growing tension between Cohen’s aggressive growth ambitions and the disciplined capital allocation thesis that attracted institutional-minded investors to GME in the first place.

eBay has acknowledged receiving the proposal and confirmed its board will review the offer. Markets remain skeptical — eBay shares are trading well below the $125 offer price, a clear signal that investors are pricing in a low probability of the deal closing as proposed.

For small and microcap investors watching from the sidelines, the GameStop-eBay saga is a masterclass in how quickly an investment thesis can be rewritten — and why leverage assumptions matter as much as the deal itself.

Release – ISG to Ring Nasdaq Closing Bell

Posted on by [email protected]

May 4, 2026

STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm, will ring the closing bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York’s Times Square tomorrow to mark the 20th anniversary of the firm’s founding in 2006.

ISG shares were first listed on Nasdaq on February 1, 2008, under the ticker symbol III.

“From our founding in 2006, with no revenues and no payroll, we have grown to become a market-leading, AI-centered technology research and advisory firm,” said Michael P. Connors, chairman and CEO of ISG, who will ring the closing bell. “We now have 1,500 professionals in 20 countries helping more than 900 blue-chip clients embrace one of the most significant technology shifts in decades – leveraging AI for operational excellence and faster growth.”

As an independent advisor to leading global enterprises, ISG influences more than $200 billion of client technology spend each year. In 2025, ISG generated nearly $250 million in revenue and saw its share price rise 78 percent, earning the firm a spot among the top 8 percent of Nasdaq-listed technology companies under $1 billion in market cap.

“ISG is always pivoting to the next,” Connors said. “Over the years, we have expanded our capabilities through a series of acquisitions—15 in all—while growing our business organically through continuous innovation and service excellence.”

Joining in the ceremony are 60 ISG colleagues, including 22 employees with more than 20 years of service, along with family members and honored guests.

“I want to thank everyone who has been a part of our growth,” he said. “Our first 20 years have been an extraordinary journey, and the future is even more exciting. We remain committed to helping clients achieve meaningful business success and to creating long-term value for our shareholders.”

The Nasdaq closing bell ceremony will be webcast live tomorrow starting at 3:45 p.m., U.S. Eastern Time, on the Nasdaq site, Facebook Live and X.

About ISG

ISG (Nasdaq: III) is a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm. A trusted partner to more than 900 clients, including 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is a long-time leader in technology and business services that is now at the forefront of leveraging AI to help organizations achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm, founded in 2006, is known for its proprietary market data and research, in-depth knowledge and governance of provider ecosystems, and the expertise of its 1,500 professionals worldwide working together to help clients maximize the value of their technology investments.

Source: Information Services Group, Inc.

Belden Bets $1.85 Billion on RUCKUS Networks to Become a Full-Stack IT/OT Powerhouse

Posted on by [email protected]

Belden Inc. (NYSE: BDC) is making its biggest strategic push in years. The St. Louis-based specialty networking solutions provider announced Wednesday it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire RUCKUS Networks from Vistance Networks (Nasdaq: VISN) for approximately $1.85 billion in a debt-financed transaction that fundamentally reshapes what Belden is — and who it competes against.

The deal adds capabilities Belden simply doesn’t have today: enterprise-grade Wi-Fi and switching technology. For a company that has long been the infrastructure layer — the cables, connectors, and passive components behind enterprise and industrial networks — acquiring RUCKUS is a direct move up the stack.

What Belden Is Buying

RUCKUS is not a niche player. The company serves more than 48,000 customers globally with an integrated portfolio spanning Wi-Fi, enterprise switching, and an AI-driven cloud networking platform. Its sweet spots are high-density, mission-critical environments — hospitality, education, and healthcare — exactly the verticals where Belden already has customer relationships and distribution reach.

That overlap is the deal’s core thesis. Belden walks into existing customer accounts and can now offer a complete end-to-end networking solution rather than handing off business to competitors at the active networking layer. The cross-sell opportunity is immediate and doesn’t require building new channels from scratch.

The industrial angle is equally compelling. As manufacturers and industrial operators accelerate the convergence of their IT and OT environments — connecting factory floors to enterprise networks — demand for high-performance wireless and switching in industrial settings is rising sharply. RUCKUS gives Belden a proven platform to chase that opportunity.

The Financial Case

At approximately 13x projected 2026 adjusted EBITDA, Belden is paying a growth multiple, but the numbers justify the premium. RUCKUS comes in with high-single-digit revenue growth, gross margins above 60%, and adjusted EBITDA margins above 20% — all meaningfully better than Belden’s current profile. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to adjusted earnings per share and expand both gross and EBITDA margins in the first full year of ownership.

The combined adjusted EBITDA base is projected at approximately $650 million, which gives Belden a meaningful cash generation engine to attack the debt load. J.P. Morgan has provided fully committed debt financing, and Belden expects to bring net leverage below 3.0x within the first full year post-close, targeting approximately 1.5x by 2029. Share repurchases will be paused until leverage is closer to that long-term target — a responsible trade-off given the size of the bet.

The Bigger Picture

This acquisition is Belden making a definitive statement about what it wants to be. The company has spent years positioning around industrial and enterprise connectivity, but selling passive networking infrastructure in a world moving toward software-defined, cloud-managed networking was increasingly a commodity play. RUCKUS changes that equation.

Bringing an AI-driven cloud networking platform under the Belden umbrella alongside established hardware capabilities creates a more defensible, higher-value business. Customers increasingly want fewer vendors and more complete solutions — Belden is positioning itself to be that vendor.

Both boards have approved the transaction. Close is expected in the second half of 2026, pending regulatory approvals.

Perfect (PERF) – Limited Take Private Upside; Rating Change

Posted on by [email protected]


Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Michael Kupinski, Director of Research, Equity Research Analyst, Digital, Media & Technology , Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Jacob Mutchler, Research Associate, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

Q1 2026 results showed solid execution. Perfect Corp. reported Q1 revenue of $17.9 million, which was up 12% over the prior year period and in line with our estimate of $18.0 million. Furthermore, gross profit was up 17.8%, and operating income was a positive $1.5 million, reflecting continued progress in the company’s transition to a higher-quality, subscription-driven AI revenue model. Notably, the company reported adj. EBITDA of $2.3 million, which was better than our estimate of $1.1 million.

Performance was driven by strength in AI subscriptions and monetization. The results reflected strong growth in mobile app and web subscriptions and a sharp increase in virtual points usage, partially offset by declines in legacy licensing revenue and some softness in subscriber and key customer counts.


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