‘Dumb' AI Bots Collude to Rig Markets, Wharton Research Finds
Now, a trio of researchers say that scenario is far from science fiction.
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Opendoor stock pops 10% as company says CEO will step down
Opendoor Technologies (OPEN) shares spiked as 8% in early trading Friday after the company announced that CEO Carrie Wheeler will step down, effective immediately. The company's board appointed Opendoor's chief technology and product officer Shrisha Radhakrishna as president and interim leader of the company. Opendoor, which uses iBuyer real estate technology to flip homes, said it was searching for a new CEO. Since going public through a SPAC transaction in 2020, Opendoor has yet to post a profitable quarter. The company received a warning in May that it faced potential delisting from the Nasdaq after trading under $1 for more than 30 days. Shares have surged more than 200% in the past month, powered in part by Carvana (CVNA) turnaround spotter EMJ Capital and speculative investors on Reddit's wallstreetbets, a haven for meme stocks. EMJ Capital founder and president Eric Jackson said in an X post on July 14 that his firm was taking a long position in Opendoor, which was then trading under $1 per share. "The communication on the earnings call from the CEO and the CFO was really awful," Jackson told Yahoo Finance last week. Jackson has been critical of Opendoor's top leadership, most recently following the company's latest quarterly results in early August, when the stock sank 20% following disappointing earnings forecast. Year-to-date Opendoor shares are up 100%. Sign in to access your portfolio
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Flowers Foods Trims Annual Outlook As Bread Demand Softens
Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) shares are trading lower on Friday. The company reported a second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 30 cents, which is in line with the analyst consensus estimate. Quarterly sales of $1.242 billion (+1.5% year over year) missed the Street view of $1.266 billion. 'Macroeconomic uncertainty and shifting consumer demand have continued to pressure the bread category,' said Ryals McMullian, chairman and CEO of Flowers decreased 1.2% in the quarter under review, while volume declined 2.4%. Net income decreased 12.8% to $58.4 million, representing 4.7% of sales, an 80-basis point decrease, primarily due to greater outside purchases, increased workforce-related costs, and higher interest expense. Adjusted net income decreased 16% to $63.4 million. View more earnings on FLO Adjusted EBITDA decreased 4% to $137.7 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 11.1% of net sales, down 60 basis points. 'We are proactively working to mitigate this weakness with disciplined cost savings efforts,' the CEO added. Simple Mills contributed $61.4 million in net sales, with a net loss of $2.1 million. The company exited the quarter with cash and equivalents worth $11.045 million. Long-term debt as of quarter-end expanded to $1.749 billion, compared with $1.021 billion as of December 28, 2024. Outlook Flowers Foods cut its FY2025 adjusted EPS forecast to $1.00–$1.10, down from its prior view of $1.05–$1.15. The revised outlook compares with the consensus estimate of $1.09. The company also lowered its FY2025 sales guidance to a range of $5.021 billion–$5.083 billion from $5.079 billion–$5.170 billion. This new sales forecast falls short of the Street's expectation of $5.310 billion. Price Action: FLO shares are trading lower by 2.63% to $16.11 at last check Friday. Read Next:Photo by Kritchai7752 via Shutterstock UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article Flowers Foods Trims Annual Outlook As Bread Demand Softens originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Sign in to access your portfolio
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Why would Trump and Intel want to work together: Opening Bid top takeaway
Investors are in wait-and-see mode. Fed watchers have had quite a week, getting a hot Producer Price Index, a tame Consumer Price Index, and solid retail sales data out today. As it stands, markets are still betting on that September rate cut from the Jerome Powell-led Federal Reserve. There have been a few earnings stumbles in CoreWeave (CRWV), Applied Materials (AMAT), and Cava (CAVA), but a few bright spots from the likes of Cisco (CSCO). The Bullish (BLSH) IPO saw an enthusiastic response. And now markets cast their gaze to the highly anticipated meeting today between President Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The outcome of this meeting could have a host of surprises that bullish investors haven't even thought about! Stock analysis: Intel The Trump administration is reportedly in talks to have the US government take a stake in Intel (INTC). An Intel spokesperson didn't comment directly on this to me, but offered this: "Intel is deeply committed to supporting President Trump's efforts to strengthen U.S. technology and manufacturing leadership. We look forward to continuing our work with the Trump Administration to advance these shared priorities, but we are not going to comment on rumors or speculation.' The questions here are numerous. Why would the administration even want a stake in an Intel that is far behind chief rivals Nvidia (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)? I encourage Trump to compare Nvidia's earnings report on Aug. 27 to the last disaster from Intel a few weeks ago. The president isn't known to hitch his ride to losers. Intel has been a loser and may stay that way in the chip game for some time. Then again, why would Intel want to get in bed with the government when embattled CEO Lip-Bu Tan and the board must act quickly to reorganize the company? I find it hard to believe the government will be a quiet minority shareholder! Intel has billions in cash and doesn't need the money that comes with terms from any government deal. There is a lot at stake here, as Intel should be a beacon of US chip-making, not the punching bag in tech circles. The company's financials have taken a major hit, with sales down for more than three straight years and earnings evaporating in the process. "[A stake would] be a big step for Intel, but right now Intel is on a horse and buggy compared to the Godfather of AI Jensen [Huang] and Nvidia," Wedbush tech analyst Dan Ives told me. Roundtable analysis: More tech When a Wall Street analyst who has been a bear on a stock for a while suddenly issues an upgrade, it always catches my attention. Today, we have that situation on Salesforce (CRM). DA Davidson analyst Gil Luria lifted his rating on Salesforce to Neutral from Underperform. Luria said investor sentiment has declined sharply on Salesforce in recent months as questions mount around the company's acquisition strategy and near-term margins. But what may not be factored into the stock is new activist investor activity, Luria said. Luria pointed out that noted activist investor Starboard Value — led by Jeff Smith — increased its stake in Salesforce by 47% this quarter, according to new 13F filings. Starboard pushed for big changes at Salesforce three years ago, which ultimately led to a new focus on margin expansion by CEO and co-founder Marc Benioff. Luria said, "We believe this is a signal there will be another round of investor activism and increased pressure on management to refocus on growth of the core business, additional margin expansion and hold off on dilutive M&A." Meanwhile, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway sold 20 million shares of Apple (AAPL) during the period, according to a new 13F filing. Berkshire's Apple holdings remain its largest equity stake by market value, despite dropping by about $9.2 billion in the second quarter. Is Buffett signaling he is concerned about Apple's tariff exposure? Perhaps. After all, Apple did warn tariffs would hit its profits by $1.1 billion in the current quarter. Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor and a member of Yahoo Finance's editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
