Latest news with #Morris
Business Insider
2 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Analysts Remain Bullish on Meta Platforms Stock Despite Near-Term Headwinds
Meta Platforms (META) stock has risen 16.3% over the past month and is up 10.2% year-to-date. The company impressed investors with its market-beating first-quarter results. However, macro uncertainty and tariff wars could weigh on ad spend and impact Meta's performance. Despite near-term headwinds, most Wall Street analysts remain bullish on META stock, as they are confident about the social media giant's strong positioning, solid execution, and resilience. Confident Investing Starts Here: Meta Platforms' Impressive Performance Meta Platforms topped analysts' Q1 2025 revenue and earnings estimates, with its ad revenue rising 16% to $41.4 billion. Moreover, the company reported a 6% increase in daily active users across its family of apps (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp) to 3.43 billion. The company is leveraging AI (artificial intelligence) to enhance its tools. Meta's artificial intelligence assistant, Meta AI, now has one billion monthly active users across the company's family of apps. While Meta Platforms lowered its full-year expenses outlook, it raised its capex guidance to the range of $64-$72 billion from $60-65 billion for additional data center investments to support its AI initiatives and a rise in the expected cost of infrastructure hardware. Overall, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed confidence in navigating the ongoing macro uncertainties. Analysts' Views on META Stock's Growth Trajectory Recently, Loop Capital analyst Rob Sanderson increased the price target for Meta Platforms stock to $888 from $695 and maintained a Buy rating, citing the company's upbeat Q2 2025 outlook. The 5-star analyst stated that his expectation that a drop in spending intensity from China-based advertisers would flatten revenue growth was a 'misread.' Sanderson believes that META stock remains the best non-hardware example of a tangible, 'right-now beneficiary of AI.' He expects META stock to outperform the Magnificent 7 peer group this year. Likewise, encouraged by the Q1 results and second-quarter outlook, Guggenheim analyst Michael Morris reaffirmed a Buy rating on META stock and increased the price target to $725 from $675. The 5-star analyst noted that management's discussion and outlook focused on continued pursuit of the growth opportunities in AI, engagement, and advertising, with the guidance reflecting the impact of macro uncertainty, demand headwinds from Asian e-commerce exporters, and healthy April ad trends. Morris believes that overall, Meta Platforms indicated that demand across its portfolio remains strong, as reflected in the 6% user growth, 5% impression growth, and 10% ad pricing growth. META's enhanced engagement is driven by AI developments, primarily through improved content recommendations, noted the analyst. Overall, Morris continues to view Meta as the 'best positioned digital ad player,' particularly as more supply is expected to come online later this year. Is META a Good Stock to Buy? With 41 Buys, three Holds, and one Sell recommendation, Wall Street has a Strong Buy recommendation on Meta Platforms stock. The average of $696.12 implies about 8% upside potential from current levels.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Alaskan man cheats death after pinned by 700-pound boulder in icy creek
SEWARD, Alaska – What began as a tranquil Alaskan hike rapidly escalated into a desperate fight for survival for one couple. Last Saturday, 61-year-old Kell Morris and his wife sought to avoid holiday crowds by venturing onto a quiet, untracked path near Seward, firefighters said. Their peaceful outing, however, was shattered when a massive boulder dislodged from the canyon wall, striking Morris and pinning him in the frigid Fourth of July Creek. What unfolded next was a complex, multi-agency rescue effort. The Seward Fire Department, alongside various other agencies, immediately responded, locating Morris about 2 miles upstream from their command post. Due to the extreme terrain, crews advanced slowly on foot and using ATVs. Alaska Slammed By Atmospheric River As Summer Cruise Season Revs Up A critical turning point in the rescue came when a neighboring firefighter, employed by a helicopter tour group, overheard the emergency call. He and a pilot swiftly volunteered their helicopter, airlifting six firefighters directly to Morris's location and cutting 45 minutes off the crucial travel time, according to the Seward Fire Department. "The patient was in a boulder field and the helicopter could only hover while firefighters had to jump from the helicopter to the ground as the helicopter could not land safely," the Seward Fire Department said. Rescuers found Morris lying face down in the creek with a 700-pound boulder pinning him while his wife held his head above the water. "The patient was hypothermic and in and out of consciousness," firefighters said. "Crews used air bags, ropes and brute force to lift the boulder off the patient and pull him to safety." Rare Tornado Spotted In Alaska's Chugach State Park May Only Be State's 5Th On Record Once out of the icy water, rescuers worked quickly to warm him. As his body temperature rose, Morris became more alert and his vital signs stabilized, firefighters said. However, it quickly became apparent that traditional methods of transporting him down the treacherous canyon were neither safe nor feasible. In a final critical move, pararescue jumpers with the 176th Wing Air National Guard were called in and successfully hoisted Morris out of the canyon and transferred him to an awaiting ambulance. Morris was then rushed to a local hospital, where he is expected to make a full recovery. "It is no doubt that without the help from Seward Helicopter tours this incident could have had a much different and potentially fatal outcome," firefighters emphasized. "It is community members and businesses that we work so well with that make our jobs easier and more productive."Original article source: Alaskan man cheats death after pinned by 700-pound boulder in icy creek
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Alaska man survives being pinned face-down by 700-pound boulder in creek after help from his wife
An Alaska man survived being pinned face-down by a 700-pound boulder in a creek after his wife held his head above water to prevent him from drowning, officials say. The harrowing incident involving Kell Morris happened last Saturday as he was hiking near Godwin Glacier outside of Seward on an isolated and undeveloped trail behind a state prison, according to Seward Fire Chief Clinton Crites. "The patient was found lying in the creek on his stomach with an approximately 700 lb. boulder on top of him with his spouse holding his head out of water. The patient was hypothermic and in and out of consciousness," the Seward Fire Department said. "Crews used air bags, ropes, and brute force to lift the boulder off the patient and pull him to safety. Once out of the water, the crew re-warmed the patient, and he became more alert, and his vitals improved." Morris, 61, who was trapped for about three hours, later told the Associated Press that "I was very lucky" and "God was looking out for me." Human Remains Found In Sunken Boat Bring Closure To Texas Family's Alaska Tragedy His wife, Jo Roop, is a retired Alaska State Trooper. They moved to Seward, about 120 miles south of Anchorage, from Idaho last fall when she took a job with the local police department. Read On The Fox News App The trail the couple was hiking on was a rocky creek bed lined with large boulders deposited by the glacier. Morris told the AP he noticed dangerous boulders -- some weighing up to 1,000 pounds -- along the banks of the creek and avoided them the best he could, until he ran into an area he couldn't pass. "I was coming back and everything, the whole side slid out from under me," he said. Morris described how things became a blur as he tumbled down an embankment about 20 feet, landing face down in the water. Then he immediately felt a boulder hit his back in what Crites described as "basically an avalanche of boulders." Hiker, 33, Dies After Hiking Arizona Mountains In Extreme Heat, 4 Others Rescued Morris recounted to the AP how he felt an intense pain in his left leg and waited for his femur to snap. "When it first happened, I was doubtful that there was going to be a good outcome," Morris said. His wife tried to free him for about 30 minutes, putting rocks under the boulder and trying to roll it off him, before she left to find a cell signal to call 911. She used her law enforcement experience to send exact GPS coordinates to dispatch. The Seward Fire Department said a volunteer at the nearby Bear Creek Fire Department who works for Seward Helicopter Tours then heard the call "while working and he and a pilot volunteered to respond to the scene and pick up six firefighters via helicopter and transport them to the patient, thus cutting down 45 minutes of travel time. "The patient was in a boulder field and the helicopter could only hover while firefighters had to jump from the helicopter to the ground as the helicopter could not land safely," it said. The Seward Fire Department said Morris was airlifted to a local hospital where he is now expected to make a full recovery, but "it is now doubt that without the help from the Seward Helicopter Tours this incident could have had a much different and potentially fatal outcome." Firefighters who carried out the rescue used two air bags normally reserved to extract people from wrecked vehicles to slightly lift the boulder. "It just became an all-hands brute force of 'one, two, three, push,'" Crites told the AP. "And seven guys were able to lift it enough to pull the victim out." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Original article source: Alaska man survives being pinned face-down by 700-pound boulder in creek after help from his wife
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Morris Motors boss may have inspired Tolkien villain
The fascist-sympathising founder of Morris Motors was demonised as a soulless industrialist in an unknown story by JRR Tolkien that is to be published for the first time. William Morris, Viscount Nuffield, is thought to have inspired the Lord of the Rings author to create a villain for a satirical fantasy in which he vented his loathing for the motor car and its devastating impact on his beloved Oxford. Morris made his fortune by mass-producing small cars at affordable prices and, although he donated millions to worthy causes, he also supported Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists. Morris Motors became the major employer in the region during Tolkien's lifetime, providing a pull for workers and businesses supporting the car industry. A dramatic rise in Oxford's population between the wars was driven partly by the growth of the industry, which in turn had a dramatic impact on traffic. The businessman is thought to be the inspiration for a character known as the Daemon of Vaccipratum in the never before published story, called The Bovadium Fragments. It is thought Tolkien also took inspiration from a planning controversy that erupted in the 1940s, when he was the University of Oxford's Professor of English Language and Literature at Merton College. A bid to alleviate clogged-up traffic by building a dual carriageway across Christ Church Meadow, an ancient open space in the heart of Oxford, sparked a protracted public debate well into the 1960s, when the plan was eventually aborted. The Bovadium Fragments reflects his mastery of Latin. Bovadium was the Latinised name for the village of Oxford, and the Daemon of Vaccipratum translates as 'the demon of the cow pasture', or Cowley, which was where Morris had established his motor manufacturing plant. In one passage of the unearthed story, Tolkien writes: 'But it came to pass that a Daemon (as popular opinion supposed) in his secret workshops devised certain abominable machines, to which he gave the name Motores.' The Bovadium Fragments was among Tolkien manuscripts that were either donated or deposited posthumously by his estate to Oxford's Bodleian Library. It will be published in October by Harper Collins. Chris Smith, the Harper Collins publishing director, described it as 'a sharply satirical account of the perils of allowing car production and machine-worship to take over your town, where things ultimately all go to hell, in a very literal sense'. Tolkien's son and literary executor, Christopher, had edited the text before his death in 2020. The book will include an essay by Richard Ovenden, Bodley's librarian, who has conducted extensive research into the planning controversy, having established its inspiration for Tolkien's story. He said that it is about a scholar in the future looking at evidence of a society that is now lost, having 'worshipped the motor car', adding: 'Tolkien was deeply affected by the way that the motor industry was changing his city, and that shines through.' Asked why The Bovadium Fragments had not been published before, Mr Ovenden said: 'Christopher's priority in publishing his father's unpublished works was on the Middle Earth-related material. This material didn't really fit with that or with his father's more scholarly pieces, and so it got left. 'I would visit Christopher and his wife Baillie in France every year. On one of those visits, he drew this to my attention and said, 'What's all this about, what do you think the background of this was?'' Mr Ovenden described it as 'a contribution to environmental literature and the conservation of historic cities'. 'It was written in the late 1950s and 1960s, but it has this extraordinary contemporary resonance,' he said. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Global News
13 hours ago
- Global News
Alaska man survives being pinned for hours underneath 700-pound boulder
An Alaska man who was pinned facedown in an icy creek by a 700-pound boulder for three hours survived the ordeal with only minor injuries. Kell Morris, 61, said he is one of the luckiest men alive, thanks in part to his wife's quick thinking and lots of luck. 'And luckier that I have such a great wife,' Morris told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Morris' wife held his head above water to prevent him from drowning while waiting for rescuers to arrive after Morris was pinned by the boulder, which crashed onto him during a hike near a remote glacier south of Anchorage. The couple decided to hike on the remote trail to avoid the crowd of tourists that visit the Kenai Peninsula during Memorial Day weekend. This June 4, 2023, photo shows Kell Morris, left, and his wife Jo Roop, in Sandpoint, Idaho. Kell Morris via AP He said his second stroke of luck came when a sled dog tourism company that operates on the glacier overheard the 911 dispatch and offered to send its helicopter to the scene where Morris was trapped, which was inaccessible to all-terrain vehicles. Story continues below advertisement It took seven men and inflatable airbags to lift the boulder off Morris as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Morris' wife, Jo Roop, a retired Alaska State Trooper, said they moved to Seward from Idaho last fall when she took a job with the local police department. The couple decided to hike near Godwin Glacier on an isolated and undeveloped trail behind a state prison. The trail had a rocky creek bed lined with large boulders deposited by the glacier. Morris said he noticed dangerous boulders along the banks of the creek and tried to avoid them, until he ran into an area he couldn't pass. That's when a 700-pound boulder came tumbling down and pinned him in the creek, similar to the James Franco biographical film, 127 Hours, where a mountain climber becomes trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone in Utah. 'I was coming back and everything, the whole side slid out from under me,' Morris said, noting that that's when he felt the boulder hit his back. Seward Fire Chief Clinton Crites described it as 'basically an avalanche of boulders.' 0:45 Australian woman stuck upside down between 2 boulders for 7 hours after dropping phone When Morris landed, there were rocks under him, in between his legs and around him that caught the weight of the boulder, preventing him from being crushed, according to Crites. But the one massive rock still had him pinned and Morris felt pain in his left leg and said he was waiting for his femur to snap. Story continues below advertisement 'When it first happened, I was doubtful that there was going to be a good outcome,' Morris said. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Roop tried to free him for about 30 minutes by putting rocks under the boulder and trying to roll it off him before she left him to go and find a phone signal to call for help. She walked nearly 300 metres to connect with 911 and used her law enforcement experience to send the exact GPS co-ordinates to dispatch to help save her husband. After the Bear Creek Fire Department heard the call, it diverted the helicopter and firefighters jumped out to help move the boulder. By the time the firefighters arrived, Morris was hypothermic from the cold water running off the glacier, Crites said. 'I think if we hadn't had that private helicopter assist us, it would have taken us at least another 45 minutes to get to him, and I'm not sure he had that much time,' Crites said. The firefighters used ropes, 'brute force' and two airbags that are normally used to extract people from wrecked vehicles to slightly lift the boulder. 'But then it just became an all-hands brute force of 'one, two, three, push,'' Crites shared. 'And seven guys were able to lift it enough to pull the victim out.' Story continues below advertisement 'Once out of the water, the crew re-warmed the patient, and he became more alert, and his vitals improved. It was determined there was not an effective and safe manner to bring the patient down the canyon,' according to the Seward Fire Department. 'The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center through the Alaska State Troopers was contacted for assistance. The AKRCC dispatched the 176th Wing Air National Guard Pararescue Jumpers to hoist the patient out of the canyon and transfer him to the awaiting ambulance.' An Alaska National Guard helicopter lifted them out of the creek bed with a rescue blanket and Morris spent two nights at Seward Providence Hospital for observation before walking away unscathed. 1:50 Dog rescued after being trapped under boulder 'I fully anticipated a body recovery, not him walking away without a scratch on him,' Crites said. Story continues below advertisement 'I was very lucky. God was looking out for me,' Morris said. The Seward Fire Department said there is 'no doubt that without the help from Seward Helicopter tours this incident could have had a much different and potentially fatal outcome.' 'It is community members and businesses that we work so well with that make our jobs easier and more productive. We send a huge thanks to Seward Helicopter Tours, Pilot Neo Martinson & Sam Paperman, Seward Fire and Bear Creek Fire responders, AK State Troopers, AKRCC, the 176th Air Wing, and SVAC for making this a successful rescue,' the fire department added in its news release. Morris said that when he goes hiking with his wife this weekend, they will stick to authorized trails. 'We're going to stop the trailblazing,' he said. Story continues below advertisement A similar situation took place in December 2023, when a hiker became trapped under a large boulder in the Inyo Mountains in California, located between Sequoia and Death Valley national parks. Inyo County Search & Rescue, a volunteer organization that works in tandem with the Inyo County Sheriff's Office, said it was alerted about the trapped hiker on the afternoon of Dec. 5. The team 'arrived at the hiker's location well after dark,' and found the hiker 'in great pain with his left leg pinned beneath a large boulder on a steep hillside,' according to a Facebook post. View image in full screen After a hiker became trapped under a large boulder in the Inyo Mountains, rescuers worked through the night to free him. Inyo County Search & Rescue Rescuers estimated that the boulder weighed somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 pounds. With 'limited resources' to lift the heavy boulder, rescuers fashioned a system of ropes and pulleys and used leverage to shift the rock enough to free the trapped hiker. Story continues below advertisement The hiker suffered serious injuries. — With files from Global News and The Associated Press
