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Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
5 Top S&P 500 Financial Stocks That Bucked the "Sell in May" Trend
Wall Street's well-known seasonal adages have not held true this year. April, typically a strong month for investors, ended on a mixed note amid heightened market volatility. The saying for May — 'Sell in May and go away' — also didn't play out as expected. Instead, U.S. stock markets posted impressive gains last three major indexes finished May in the green. The Dow rose 3.9%, the S&P 500 climbed 6.2% and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 9.6%. Further, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 logged their best monthly performances since November of May's top five performing sectors was Financial Services, up 4.5%. Let's keep an eye on some of the best-performing stocks from the sector – Coinbase Global COIN, Northern Trust NTRS, BNY Mellon BK, Franklin Resources BEN and Bank of America BAC. Each of our picks currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Price Performance in May Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Easing trade tensions, strong economic data and robust tech earnings boosted market confidence in May. Temporary tariff reductions, improved consumer confidence, steady job growth and better-than-expected corporate earnings—especially in tech—supported gains. However, legal uncertainty around tariffs and elevated market valuations continues to pose risks for investors. Coinbase: America's largest registered cryptocurrency exchange is well-placed to capitalize on heightened crypto market volatility and rising asset prices. Coinbase is also poised to benefit from President Trump's pro-crypto outlook and emphasis on regulatory clarity. With 83% of its total revenues coming from the United States — a market increasingly viewed as a future crypto hub — the company is strategically aligned with domestic expand crypto's practical use, Coinbase is investing in key infrastructure, including Base — a low-cost Layer 2 scaling solution. These initiatives, along with its focus on stablecoins, underscore the company's efforts to advance real-world utility for digital assets. Management envisions Coinbase to be the platform for companies that are trying to integrate a financial standpoint, Coinbase remains fundamentally sound. The company ended 2024 with $9.3 billion in USD resources — consisting of cash, cash equivalents and USDC — up $3.8 billion from the prior year. Its debt burden has decreased in recent quarters, and improvements in both its debt-to-capital ratio and the times interest earned suggest a strong ability to manage and service rising costs, including higher transaction and operating expenses, continue to weigh on margins. Also, Coinbase is vulnerable to fluctuations in crypto asset prices. A significant drop in the value of Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other digital currencies could affect earnings, reduce the carrying value of its crypto holdings and limit future cash flows. Though the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings suggests a decline in 2025, the metric is expected to grow next year. Northern Trust: As a leading provider of wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking solutions to corporations, institutions, families and individuals, this custodian bank is well-positioned to leverage its organic expansion efforts. As the client base continues to expand, Northern Trust is expected to see a rebound in loan activity, particularly as its wealth management services attract more clients. The launch of Family Office Solutions in April, targeting ultra-high-net-worth clients, provides tailored support such as investment advisory, consolidated reporting, bill pay and outsourced chief investment officer capabilities, which is expected to enhance the Wealth Management segment. This ongoing focus on this segment is expected to drive growth in the lending portfolio in the near Trust has taken measures to reinstate its operating leverage over the upcoming quarters. It is focused on disciplined headcount management, vendor consolidation, rationalization of its real estate footprint and process automation. Through these efforts, the company will likely improve productivity and meet its financial targets. The ultimate measure of the success of the company's past efforts is its ability to consistently achieve its financial target of a return on equity (ROE) between 10% and 15%. In the first quarter of 2025, it reported its third consecutive quarter of positive operating leverage and achieved an ROE of 13%, signaling progress toward sustainable profitability rising expenses are likely to hurt Northern Trust's bottom-line growth in the near term. The uncertain global financial market and weak economic conditions could affect its Zacks Consensus Estimate for NTRS' 2025 and 2026 earnings suggests a solid year-over-year Mellon: Operating in 35 countries, BNY Mellon provides various products and services to individuals and institutions. Its global client base consists of financial institutions, corporations, government agencies, endowments and foundations and high-net-worth the macroeconomic headwinds caused by the Trump administration's tariff plans, the Federal Reserve is likely to keep interest rates high for long. Hence, this will support BNY Mellon's net interest income (NII) as funding costs stabilize gradually. While the company's NII declined in 2020 and 2021 because of low interest rates and in 2024 due to higher funding costs, the metric recorded a five-year (ended 2024) CAGR of 6.2%. A similar trend is expected to continue in the quarters ahead as funding costs keep coming Mellon has been trying to gain a foothold in foreign markets and is undertaking several growth initiatives (including launching new services, digitizing operations and making strategic buyouts). Given the huge growth potential of overseas securities markets and a rise in complex new securities, the long-term growth prospects of the industry are encouraging. The company's international revenues are expected to continue improving as the demand for personalized services rises across the globe. Rising expenses due to inflationary pressure and technological investments are a concern. Also, BNY Mellon's largest source of revenue is fee income, which constitutes almost 70% of total revenues. It is facing fee income growth sustainability concern due to the significant volatility in the capital Zacks Consensus Estimate for BK's 2025 and 2026 earnings suggests a solid year-over-year As a global investment management company, Franklin generates income from offering investment management and related services to retail mutual funds and institutional and high-net-worth investors in jurisdictions worldwide. The company sells these products to the public under several brands like Franklin, Templeton, Legg Mason, Balanced Equity Management, Benefit Street Partners, Brandywine Global Investment Management and Clarion the past few years, Franklin has grown through acquisitions and partnerships. The buyouts have led to an enhanced presence in the separately managed account space and bolstered its investment capabilities in private debt, real estate, hedge funds and private equity. Such efforts will help the company in improving and expanding its alternative investments and multi-asset solutions efforts to diversify its business into asset classes that are seeing growing client demand, like alternative asset classes, are expected to propel assets under management (AUM) growth. A regionally-focused distribution model has improved its non-U.S. business with favorable net flows. Also, strategic acquisitions keep supporting AUM's growth.A robust AUM balance, along with diverse product offerings, investment strategies and a relatively strong distribution platform, will keep supporting Franklin's revenue growth. Further, the company has been an early entrant in many foreign markets, enjoying a first-mover volatility in investment management fees due to market fluctuations is concerning as it is a major component of Franklin's revenues. Higher costs and a strict regulatory environment are added the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BEN's earnings suggests a decline in fiscal 2025, the metric is expected to rise in fiscal 2026. Bank of America: As one of the most interest rate-sensitive among big banks, Bank of America is expected to benefit as the interest rates are likely to remain higher for a long time. The company is seeing an upside for NII in 2025, driven by decent loan demand, higher-for-longer interest rates and robust deposit balance. The company expects 2025 NII to rise 6-7%.Also, Bank of America's aggressive branch expansion across the United States as part of a broader strategy to solidify customer relationships and tap into new markets will drive NII growth over time. The company continues to align its banking centers according to customer bank has embarked on an ambitious expansion plan to open financial centers in new and existing markets. By 2027, it plans to expand its financial center network and open more than 150 centers. Given such expansion efforts, BAC's expenses are likely to remain elevated in the near term. Further, Bank of America has been renovating and updating its existing financial centers across the country for clients to engage with financial specialists. These initiatives, along with the success of the person-to-person money transfer system Zelle and the digital financial assistant Erica, will enable the company to improve digital offerings and cross-sell several products, including mortgages, auto loans and credit the challenging operating environment is expected to make fee income growth challenging for Bank of America. A steady increase in expenses and weak credit quality are other near-term Zacks Consensus Estimate for BAC's 2025 and 2026 earnings suggests a solid year-over-year improvement. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Bank of America Corporation (BAC) : Free Stock Analysis Report The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BK) : Free Stock Analysis Report Franklin Resources, Inc. (BEN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Northern Trust Corporation (NTRS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research 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
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trust Wallet Launches Buy+, Powered by Binance Connect, to Simplify Crypto Access
DUBAI, UAE — June 2, 2025 — Trust Wallet, the world's leading self-custody Web3 wallet trusted by over 200 million users, has launched Buy+, a new feature powered by Binance Connect, to simplify crypto access for users worldwide and make onboarding easier for newcomers. The feature allows anyone to purchase tokens on BNB Chain, Base and Solana using fiat — without needing to own crypto assets, or to understand complex crypto workflows. Before this improvement, buying a new or trending token often meant a multi-step process, including manual swaps and switching between platforms. For many — especially beginners — this was confusing, time-consuming, and carried the risk of mistakes. Now, with Buy+, Trust Wallet simplifies everything into one seamless flow — making it possible to go from card, Apple/Google Pay and more, to a user's desired token in just a few taps, all without leaving the app or giving up self-custody. 'The first step to onboard a fiat asset into the desired crypto asset directly is often the hardest. And that's what we're improving as part of the effort to bring web2 user experience to web3 tech,' said Eowyn Chen, CEO of Trust Wallet. 'When people discover a good crypto asset, they want to be able to buy it quickly, securely, and easily. Increasingly, these assets are not the major coins but rather smaller, trending tokens. So, we seamlessly integrate fiat onboarding with on-chain crypto swapping with the fewest steps. With this new capability, we're giving users a simpler, safer, and smarter way to get their desired tokens —without compromising on self-custody or experience.' Buy+ works by intelligently routing transactions based on token availability. If a token is directly supported by Binance Connect, the purchase is completed in one seamless fiat-to-crypto flow. If not, the feature automatically facilitates a two-step process — first acquiring the required native token and then swapping it within the Trust Wallet app — all while maintaining full self-custody and minimizing complexity for the user. This feature pairs Binance Connect's fiat-to-crypto infrastructure with Trust Wallet's smart routing and swap capabilities to deliver a uniquely seamless experience that balances speed, flexibility, and full ownership. 'At Binance, we're focused on breaking down barriers to crypto adoption, and the launch of the Buy+ feature in Trust Wallet — powered by Binance Connect — is a major step in that direction,' said Thomas Gregory, Vice President of Fiat at Binance. 'By removing the complexity of chains, swaps, and token transfers, we're giving users — especially those new to crypto — a faster, simpler way to access the tokens and communities they care about. Binance Connect is proud to power this experience and enable our partners to deliver seamless fiat-to-crypto journeys.' Additional blockchain networks will be supported in future rollouts, as Binance Connect continues to expand access to Web3 tokens. This collaboration between Trust Wallet and Binance Connect reflects a shared commitment to lowering barriers to entry and making Web3 more intuitive for millions of users worldwide. Get Started Today To try Buy+ Token, download or open the latest version of Trust Wallet and tap "Buy" on any supported token. The feature is now live. Note: Until further notice, this feature will not be available in the UK, US, Canada, Nigeria, Netherlands, Russia, Belarus, Cape Verde, Cuba, Syria and Iran. This communication is not intended for audiences within the United Kingdom. If you are accessing this content from within the United Kingdom, please exit immediately. — About Trust Wallet Trust Wallet is the secure, self-custody Web3 wallet and gateway for people who want to fully own, control, and leverage the power of their digital assets. From beginners to experienced users, Trust Wallet makes it easier, safer, and convenient for millions of people around the world to experience Web3, access dApps securely, store and manage their crypto and NFTs, as well as buy, sell, and stake crypto to earn rewards — all in one place and without limits. For media enquiries, contact: press@ About Binance Connect Binance Connect is a leading fiat-to-crypto infrastructure platform powered by Binance. It enables seamless on- and off-ramp solutions for Web3 applications, wallets, and marketplaces by leveraging Binance's global liquidity, regulatory compliance, and diverse payment rails — including card payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay, local banking options, and P2P trading. Built to simplify access to digital assets, Binance Connect bridges traditional finance and decentralized ecosystems, empowering developers, businesses, and users to interact with crypto securely and efficiently. For media enquiries, contact: pr@ 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
Business Insider
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Buzzy AI health startup Superpower is making another acquisition to power its food-as-medicine push
Consumers increasingly want to take control of their health — including by taking control of what they eat. Buzzy AI startup Superpower just made its second acquisition of the year to capitalize on that interest. Superpower is building a health AI "super app" that combines biannual lab tests with users' health histories to create personalized lifestyle recommendations. The startup announced $30 million in Series A funding, led by Forerunner, just last month. Now, Superpower is buying at-home lab testing company Base, Business Insider has learned exclusively. Base, started by former Amazon engineer Lola Priego, provides at-home blood and saliva tests to help consumers improve habits like their sleep and diet with personalized lifestyle recommendations. It was Base's diet analysis business that sold Superpower on the deal. Superpower CEO Jacob Peters told BI that the startup bought Base primarily for its wealth of nutritional data, which he said "would save us a lot of clinical R&D" as Superpower digs deeper into food-as-medicine care. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Priego launched Base in 2019, and the company last raised a $3.4 million seed round in 2021 led by Female Founders Fund. Superpower is far from the only player interested in the nutrition market. Investors are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into nutrition care startups like Nourish and Fay Nutrition, while movements like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s " Make America Healthy Again" are taking hold. Those trends, too, are picking up steam with the explosion of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and a growing consumer fascination with longevity, as some look to hack their health and extend their lifespans. Superpower hits on that longevity care demand, with scores provided on its app measuring users' "biological age" and overall health. The startup even hired its own "chief longevity officer" in September. Still, Peters said Superpower isn't a longevity startup, adding that he thinks most consumers simply want to get a better hold on their health — "If you superpower your health, you superpower your life." Superpower is making M&A central to its strategy, an unusual approach for an early-stage startup. Base is its second acquisition of the year; Superpower bought women's health startup Feminade in January. Peters said he expects to see more consolidation across digital health to combine point solutions tackling small slices of the market. And Superpower itself wants to connect a broad range of offerings into its app so patients can get all of their health needs met in one place. "This probably won't be our last M&A," Peters laughed. Reimagining concierge care with AI Peters launched Superpower in 2023 alongside cofounders Max Marchione and Kevin Unkrich, CTO, born from their personal experiences with a broken healthcare system. Peters, for one, was diagnosed with the autoimmune disorder Crohn's disease a few years ago and spent four months in the hospital, undergoing multiple surgeries and racking up seven-figure bills. "It was a big light bulb moment for me: as a person with health challenges, no one's really coming to save you," he said. He and the Superpower team set out to create an AI-powered experience inspired by concierge medicine, which typically offers more attentive healthcare at a higher price tag, and making that style of care more widely accessible with technology. Its approach has attracted investors from Susa Ventures to Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. Superpower's members take biannual lab tests, either at home or at one of Superpower's partner labs, to assess more than 100 blood biomarkers. The Superpower app then pulls in user data from patient medical records, the lab tests, and wearables, and surfaces AI-driven insights based on that data to help its members optimize their health across their nutrition, sleep, and hormones. Superpower's AI-generated action plans are reviewed by human care teams behind the scenes. Users can message their care teams to get further combined guidance from those human providers and AI. Many consumer health startups launch to focus on one or a few problems, as Ro and Hims and Hers did with conditions like erectile dysfunction and hair loss. Superpower wants to take a different approach, aiming to be comprehensive from day one, so the startup can be known for its platform rather than for any single offering, Peters said. That ambition comes with a cost: Superpower's memberships run $500 a year. While lower than what most Americans spend on healthcare in a year, that price point could put the app out of reach for many consumers. Peters said the Superpower team is thinking hard about how to make its services available to the largest group possible. Superpower launched to sell directly to consumers, but in the future, Peters said the startup may consider contracting with employers to cover the costs of its memberships for employees. "We want to build a platform that makes it easy to get the world's best healthcare to everyone at very low and accessible costs. That's the north star for us, to put a healthcare super app and AI doctor on everyone's phone," he said.
Daily Record
7 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Daily Record
Boots £32 summer beauty bag worth £124 includes Sol De Janiero and MAC
Every item is travel-sized and is ready to either take abroad or keep in your at-home bag Boots shoppers can get their hands on a bag of beauty goodies that the high-street store says are perfect for anyone jetting off on holiday and needing some fresh cosmetics. All of the items come in compact sizes that Boots says is ideal for travelling. The retailer described its Mini Get Holiday Ready Bag bundle as offering "glow-boosting skincare, mood-lifting fragrance and hydrating must-haves". In total, shoppers could spend over £124 on these products (based on the per ml price from full-sized versions) but the collection is available online for £32. It includes several of items from top brands compacted into under 100ml travel-friendly versions. Boots adds: "Treat your skin, lift your lashes, and bask in golden-hour beauty all day long." It continues: "All housed in a gorgeous re-usable zip pouch to keep your items safe, whether you're lounging around the pool or chilling at home. Perfect to store your book, sun lotion, jewellery and more to keep them protected and all together while you're on holiday." The bag contains seven products: Milk Lip + Cheek Stick - in the shade Werk (Full size, 6g - worth £22). MAC Stack Elevated Mascara Mini (8ml - worth £16). Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base (15ml - worth £19). Laneige Water Bank Blue Hyaluronic Cream Moisturiser (20ml - worth £19.50). Floral Street Sunflower Pop EDP (10ml - worth £29). Sol De Janiero Cheirosa 62 (30ml - not available individually at Boots). Rituals: The Ritual Of Karma Shimmering Body Oil (30ml - not available individually at Boots). There are other beauty bundles elsewhere that offer shoppers good value for money when stocking up on beauty products. Next has a £22 Rise and Radiate Skincare box that is worth £115 and Cult Beauty is selling the £40 Set for Sun Edit that is worth £175. Of the products included in Boots' Mini Get Holiday Ready Bag, fans may be keen to get their hands on the Sol De Janiero spray as it's already quite popular with thousands of reviews. The Sol De Janiero Cheirosa 62 spray has an "alluring pistachio and salted caramel scent". Some of the five-star reviews suggest that this version of the popular body spray is "lovely", "lasts a long time" and " smells like a summer holiday in a bottle". But, some claimed that the scent was "quite overwhelming" as another person said: "It gave me an instant headache". Another item included in the bag is the Floral Street Sunflower Pop perfume, which is worth £29 on its own. Considering that the bag itself is worth £32, shoppers get an extra six products for £4. It is described as a "fresh" and "citrusy" perfume, and dozens of shoppers were "obsessed with this perfume." However, it received a few low-scoring reviews because some shoppers "didn't find the fragrance strong enough to last." Another product is the Milk Lip + Cheek Stick that shoppers claim "lasts a long time" and "gives a good pop of colour". A downside is that shoppers are only able to get one specific shade in the bundle, whereas buying individually allows for a choice of 11 different options.
Business Mayor
26-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Decoding Base's upgrade plan: Is it ready to take on Ethereum?
Base's TVL surged to $4 billion with upgrades for faster transactions, lower fees, and decentralization. Base challenges Ethereum's scalability with ambitious performance upgrades and decentralization plans, eyeing L2 dominance. Base is stepping up. With its TVL climbing back to late-2024 highs, the Coinbase-backed Layer 2 is launching key upgrades to reduce fees, speed up transactions, and decentralize its infrastructure on Ethereum's mainnet. However, with Ethereum still facing scalability challenges, the real question is—can Base transition from a fast follower to a dominant Layer 2 player? Base's bold vision for the future Jesse Pollak's latest X post sketched a performance roadmap for Base: sub-200 millisecond confirmation times, fees under a cent, and output at 200 transactions per second. Source: X But it's not just about speed, seems like. Pollak emphasized neutrality – eliminating sandwich attacks and giving builders fair execution – alongside plans to decentralize core infrastructure in two stages. When asked if Base could ever hit 1 million TPS, his one-word reply – yes – wasn't framed as a joke. TVL rebounds – but can momentum stick? Base's rapid ascent As of May 2025, Base has emerged as a formidable player in the Layer 2 landscape. This growth positions Base ahead of competitors like Arbitrum [ARB] and Optimism [OP] in terms of TVL and daily transaction volumes. Ethereumm[ETH] isn't standing still. The recent Pectra upgrade brought moderate gains in scalability – boosting blob output and nudging smart contract wallet usability forward. Read More PEPE prices up 12% from this support level – Is it all good news? Further down the roadmap, the Fusaka upgrade promises more technical muscle through PeerDAS and Verkle Trees, targeting data availability and state size concerns. Base, on the other hand, is moving faster. With shorter confirmation times, cheaper fees, and a push toward decentralizing core operations, it's making a case for near-term dominance in the L2 arena. READ SOURCE
