Latest news with #Za
TimesLIVE
11 hours ago
- Health
- TimesLIVE
Lungu's death 'should not be used in a PR stunt by the Zambian government'
Makebi Zulu, the spokesperson for the family of the late former Zambian president Edgar Lungu, has accused the Zambian government of using Lungu's death and funeral arrangements as a publicity stunt. On Wednesday, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria halted the funeral plans to bury Lungu after an urgent court application filed by Zambian officials to stop the scheduled private ceremony by the family, which was set to take place on the same day. The Zambian government wanted full control of the former president's funeral arrangements, including the repatriation of his body. Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Zulu said taking Lungu's body to Zambia would not give him a dignified funeral. 'The family has been consistent. He mattered to the family when he was president, he matters to the family now,' he said. 'The family only wants to give him a dignified burial, not one that's shrouded in mockery, PR and giving the international community a perception that he was properly treated when in fact not. 'His death should not be used as a PR stunt by the government of Zambia.' Lungu died in a South African hospital on June 5 at the age of 68. He was receiving specialised treatment at a medical centre in Pretoria after suffering from a rare disorder that caused a narrowing of the food pipe, for which he had been treated in South Africa before. This is six months after his attempt to return to politics was curbed by a court ruling that he could not run for office again. Zulu claimed Lungu was not treated well by the Zambian government, saying that the court processes would give the family an opportunity to tell the truth about how Lungu was treated. 'Maybe this time around Edgar has refused to go down to the soil without the truth being told. Now onwards until his burial, the truth of Edgar shall be told, and we shall tell it in a very systematic way. 'That story shall be told in court, and evidence shall be brought before the court that will exonerate President Edgar and his family. This is an opportunity we shall take with both hands and tell the story of Edgar.' He said Lungu was brought to South Africa as private citizen and wasn't given the privileges of a government official. 'We shall tell the full story in court. How he came into South Africa as a private citizen, how that he came on a commercial flight, flying economy, walked through security clearance, walked through immigration like a normal person, waited for an Uber outside the airport. Is that the life of a former president? Certainly not.' Lungu took over the Zambian presidency in 2015 after former president Michael Sata died. After taking office, Lungu embarked on legislative reforms which were seen as progressive, including amending the constitution to reduce the power of the president. He won a presidential election in 2016 that gave him a five-year term in office. But shortly before it ended, he tried and failed to reverse the constitutional changes he had made. Zulu called on the Zambian government to apologise for not treating Lungu well when he was alive. 'Decency requires that the government should say 'we are sorry we never treated him well. We are sorry we did wrong to him. Now that he's dead how can we make amends?' 'No-one spoke for Edgar when he was alive and now people want to pretend to speak for him when they were never there for him in his lifetime,' said Zulu.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
New York-style pizza gets a home in Chennai at ‘Za Pizza Cafe
In Crazy, Stupid, Love, Ryan Gosling's character Jacob, the effortlessly charming womaniser, eats a slice of New York pizza dressed in a blazer and formal pants. He leans on a railing, and the slice is folded just the way it is meant to be. It is casual, confident, unforgettable. This is not the only time a New York slice made it to the big screen. From Spiderman to Miss Congeniality, Hollywood has long cemented its cult status. And now, Chennai has another spot attempting to bring a slice of the Big Apple home. 'Za Pizza Cafe, located on the now-tattered Khader Nawaz Khan (KNK) Road, channels a classic American diner with dark blue and red accents and a geometric black-and-white tiled floor. One wall is filled with framed covers of The NewYorker. There is an open kitchen towards one end, where a 400-kilo pizza oven quietly churns out perfectly crisp pizzas once every six to eight minutes. 'In Chennai, a lot of people were doing Neapolitan-style pizza, so we decided to do something completely different, and that's how we decided on New York pizza,' says Ritvik Varun, one of the founders of 'Za. So what makes a New York pizza? By definition, a New York pizza has a thin, crisp crust, that can hold its shape. It is topped with a simple uncooked tomato sauce, and low-moisture mozzarella cheese that melts without making the crust soggy. It is popularly sold by the slice, which is folded and eaten on the go. It is everything a Neapolitan pizza is not. 'In New York, they sell it by the slice. Here, we are still educating customers that reheated slices are not old food,' adds Ritvik. Apart from pizza, the menu has a wide selection of small plates and salads. We try the Kentucky chicken tenders served with three house-made dips — spicy ranch, classic ranch, and hot honey. They are crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside, and pair perfectly with all three dips. For non-meat eaters, a similar small plate option is the crispy oyster mushroom wings. The garlic parmesan pillows, brushed with garlic butter, come with a cheese dip but go great with the pesto dip that you can order separately. There are seven dips on the menu — ranch, spicy ranch, hot honey, chilli garlic oil, pesto, buffalo, and cheese — and each one can be ordered to go with different small plates, or even the pizzas. 'We call them crust dippers because a lot of people do not like eating the crusts of the pizzas, and these might help,' says Varun Sheth, the co-founder. An Instagrammable small plate is the mozzarella triangle with a cheese pull that can stretch for days. Though under-seasoned, it goes best with the tangy, spicy buffalo sauce, rather than the chunky marinara sauce it is served with. From the pasta section of the menu, we try the spicy vodka macaroni with ricotta. Despite the name, the sauce contains no vodka, using white wine vinegar instead to mimic the flavour. The pasta is slightly overcooked and not al dente. Currently being sold as full 12-inch pies, the pizza section has a range of vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. 'Usually New York pizzas are much larger — 16 or even 18 inches — but we have only started with 12 for now,' says Varun. 'Our aim is to evolve constantly.' We try the Umami Mami, which is topped with caramelised onions, mushrooms, truffle oil, confit garlic and parmesan, and stands up to its name. The Chicken Pizzaiola, topped with marinara sauce, grilled chicken, black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and finished with garlic aioli, leans towards tangy and could benefit from a drizzle of hot honey. One stand-out feature of 'Za is how seriously they take even home delivery. Each delivery includes a card with reheating instructions for a pan, a microwave, and an oven. 'After all, pizza tastes best when reheated,' says Ritvik. 'Za Pizza Cafe is located at 9, Oyster Building, 1st Floor, Khader Nawaz Khan Road, Chennai. A meal for two costs ₹1,000.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ollie's Bargain Outlet (OLLI) Surpasses Q1 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
Ollie's Bargain Outlet (OLLI) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.75 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.70 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.73 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 7.14%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this retailer would post earnings of $1.20 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.19, delivering a surprise of -0.83%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times. Ollie's Bargain Outlet , which belongs to the Zacks Consumer Products - Staples industry, posted revenues of $576.77 million for the quarter ended April 2025, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.14%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $508.82 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates two times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Ollie's Bargain Outlet shares have added about 2% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 0.9%. While Ollie's Bargain Outlet has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Ollie's Bargain Outlet: favorable. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to outperform the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.89 on $654.15 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $3.72 on $2.57 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Consumer Products - Staples is currently in the bottom 42% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. One other stock from the same industry, RH (RH), is yet to report results for the quarter ended April 2025. This furniture and housewares company is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.09 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +77.5%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.1% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. RH's revenues are expected to be $818.86 million, up 12.6% from the year-ago quarter. 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 Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. (OLLI) : Free Stock Analysis Report RH (RH) : 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
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is It Worth Investing in Chewy (CHWY) Based on Wall Street's Bullish Views?
The recommendations of Wall Street analysts are often relied on by investors when deciding whether to buy, sell, or hold a stock. Media reports about these brokerage-firm-employed (or sell-side) analysts changing their ratings often affect a stock's price. Do they really matter, though? Let's take a look at what these Wall Street heavyweights have to say about Chewy (CHWY) before we discuss the reliability of brokerage recommendations and how to use them to your advantage. Chewy currently has an average brokerage recommendation (ABR) of 1.61, on a scale of 1 to 5 (Strong Buy to Strong Sell), calculated based on the actual recommendations (Buy, Hold, Sell, etc.) made by 28 brokerage firms. An ABR of 1.61 approximates between Strong Buy and Buy. Of the 28 recommendations that derive the current ABR, 19 are Strong Buy and one is Buy. Strong Buy and Buy respectively account for 67.9% and 3.6% of all recommendations. Check price target & stock forecast for Chewy here>>>While the ABR calls for buying Chewy, it may not be wise to make an investment decision solely based on this information. Several studies have shown limited to no success of brokerage recommendations in guiding investors to pick stocks with the best price increase potential. Are you wondering why? The vested interest of brokerage firms in a stock they cover often results in a strong positive bias of their analysts in rating it. Our research shows that for every "Strong Sell" recommendation, brokerage firms assign five "Strong Buy" recommendations. This means that the interests of these institutions are not always aligned with those of retail investors, giving little insight into the direction of a stock's future price movement. It would therefore be best to use this information to validate your own analysis or a tool that has proven to be highly effective at predicting stock price movements. With an impressive externally audited track record, our proprietary stock rating tool, the Zacks Rank, which classifies stocks into five groups, ranging from Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) to Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), is a reliable indicator of a stock's near -term price performance. So, validating the Zacks Rank with ABR could go a long way in making a profitable investment decision. Although both Zacks Rank and ABR are displayed in a range of 1-5, they are different measures altogether. The ABR is calculated solely based on brokerage recommendations and is typically displayed with decimals (example: 1.28). In contrast, the Zacks Rank is a quantitative model allowing investors to harness the power of earnings estimate revisions. It is displayed in whole numbers -- 1 to 5. Analysts employed by brokerage firms have been and continue to be overly optimistic with their recommendations. Since the ratings issued by these analysts are more favorable than their research would support because of the vested interest of their employers, they mislead investors far more often than they guide. In contrast, the Zacks Rank is driven by earnings estimate revisions. And near-term stock price movements are strongly correlated with trends in earnings estimate revisions, according to empirical research. In addition, the different Zacks Rank grades are applied proportionately to all stocks for which brokerage analysts provide current-year earnings estimates. In other words, this tool always maintains a balance among its five ranks. Another key difference between the ABR and Zacks Rank is freshness. The ABR is not necessarily up-to-date when you look at it. But, since brokerage analysts keep revising their earnings estimates to account for a company's changing business trends, and their actions get reflected in the Zacks Rank quickly enough, it is always timely in indicating future price movements. Looking at the earnings estimate revisions for Chewy, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has remained unchanged over the past month at $1.23. Analysts' steady views regarding the company's earnings prospects, as indicated by an unchanged consensus estimate, could be a legitimate reason for the stock to perform in line with the broader market in the near term. The size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, has resulted in a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for Chewy. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> It may therefore be prudent to be a little cautious with the Buy-equivalent ABR for Chewy. 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 Chewy (CHWY) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
GDS Holdings (GDS) Q1 Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates
GDS Holdings (GDS) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.48 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $0.22 per share. This compares to loss of $0.27 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 318.18%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this company would post a loss of $0.27 per share when it actually produced a loss of $0.10, delivering a surprise of 62.96%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times. GDS Holdings , which belongs to the Zacks Technology Services industry, posted revenues of $375.26 million for the quarter ended March 2025, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.20%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $363.89 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates three times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. GDS Holdings shares have added about 14% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 1.4%. While GDS Holdings has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for GDS Holdings: favorable. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to outperform the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is -$0.15 on $390.46 million in revenues for the coming quarter and -$0.49 on $1.59 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Technology Services is currently in the top 20% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. Another stock from the same industry, Sprinklr (CXM), has yet to report results for the quarter ended April 2025. The results are expected to be released on June 4. This customer experience software developer is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.04 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +8.3%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. Sprinklr's revenues are expected to be $201.89 million, up 3% from the year-ago quarter. 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 GDS Holdings (GDS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Sprinklr, Inc. (CXM) : 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
