Tara Viswanathan, cofounder of AI-powered construction startup Unlimited Industries, recently put OpenAI's agentic capabilities to the test and was impressed by the results.
In a post on X, Viswanathan described how she used ChatGPT (Pro version) to find an Airbnb for an October event. This was her prompt:
"I want to find an Airbnb for [event] in [city / neighborhood] in October this year. I want it for at least that Wednesday through ideally the next Monday. And I want a super nice modern spot that is ideally walkable to the event. Tell me about the area nearby. And ideally it's walkable to coffee shops and things like that too. And I want it to have at least four bedrooms."
She also helped ChatGPT do preparatory work by getting the chatbot to absorb information about her preferences upfront.
"What are some core things that you need to know about me so that you can execute on more complicated tasks accurately?," she wrote to ChatGPT. "Different types of preferences or styles, things like that. Give me a list of questions that I can answer so you can remember. And give me multiple choice answers to make it easy for me."
That resulted in Viswanathan sharing likes and dislikes on topics such as food/meals, hotels, travel, and communication, helping the ChatGPT agent conduct more bespoke research on her behalf.
The AI delivered a spot-on recommendation within about 10 minutes, versus more than an hour if she'd done this online research herself.
"I'm very picky about where I stay," she wrote. "The benefit is less about the time savings and more about the peace of mind knowing it's going to handle it. Insane."
Some travelers love organizing trips more than actually going on them. For everyone else, Viswanathan's experiment offers a compelling glimpse of the future: A proactive AI concierge that knows you well enough to get travel recommendations right the first time.
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Tesla posted its financial results for the second quarter of 2025 this afternoon. The numbers show yet another bad three months for the automaker. As competition in the EV marketplace has exploded, Tesla has increasingly been left behind, with a small and aging model lineup, before we even contemplate how CEO Elon Musk has tarnished what was once the hottest brand in the car world. Earlier this month, we learned that sales dropped by 13 percent year over year in Q2 2025; today, the financials show that automotive revenues fell even more, dropping 16 percent year over year to $16.7 billion.
Tesla’s battery business has been feeling the pain, too. For a while, this was a growth area for the company, albeit one with a relatively minor contribution to the bottom line. During Q2 2025, Tesla’s energy generation and storage division brought in $2.8 billion in revenue, a 7 percent decline from the same period in 2024.
Sales of Carbon credits—those government-issued permits that other automakers buy in order to pollute—shrank by more than half, to $490 million. Those other automakers are now selling EVs, at least most of them, and have less need to buy credits from Tesla. It’s likely this subsidy, which has kept the company out of the red in the past, will be even less of a contributor in the coming years as the US strips away environmental protections.
Julian LeFay, the man often credited as "the father of The Elder Scrolls," has died at the age of 59, his creative partners announced this week.
"It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that we inform our community of the passing of Julian LeFay, our beloved Technical Director and co-founder of Once Lost Games," his colleagues wrote in a Bluesky post.
LeFay spent most of the 1990s at Bethesda Softworks, culminating in his work on The Elder Scrolls series into the late '90s.
On July 10, 2025, Stewart Murray Lee (Head of People & Strategy) executed an open market sale of 50,000 shares of New Horizon Aircraft Ltd.(NASDAQ:HOVR), with the transaction disclosed in a Form 4 filing dated July 15, 2025.
Transaction summary
Metric
Value
Shares Traded
50,000
Transaction Value
$89,050
Post-Transaction Value
$387,180, as of July 15, 2025.
12-month Performance
196%, as of July 15, 2025.
Key questions
What proportion of the insider's holdings was sold in this transaction? The transaction represented approximately 16.8% of Lee Stewart Murray's holdings, leaving 248,194 shares after the sale.
What is the current market context for New Horizon Aircraft Ltd? As of July 18, 2025, shares were priced at $1.74 a share. In the 12 months ended July 19, 2025, the company delivered a 190.6% total return, reflecting significant appreciation over the past year.
What is the significance of this transaction relative to recent activity? This is the insider's first reported sale following a period of predominantly buying activity and accelerating trade frequency, with five trades in the last 30 days and six in the last 90 days.
Company overview
Metric
Value
Market capitalization
$65.10 million
Employees
20
Revenue (TTM)
$0
Net income (TTM)
$10,114,000
Company snapshot
Develops hybrid electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, including the Cavorite X7, targeting the regional air mobility market.
Operates a research and development-driven model focused on engineering and prototyping.
New Horizon Aircraft Ltd. is an early-stage aerospace engineering company specializing in hybrid eVTOL aircraft for regional air mobility. Its focus on the Cavorite X7 positions it to compete in the emerging advanced air mobility sector.
Foolish take
New Horizon Aircraft was founded in 2013. It was acquired by Astro Aerospace in 2021, was taken private a year later by its own shareholders, and eventually went public on the Nasdaq stock exchange in January 2024 through a SPAC merger.
Horizon Aircraft, as the company calls itself, is building a hybrid electric eVTOL that can quickly move people and goods within a region of 50 to 500 miles. Cavorite X7 is a 7-seater aircraft that can take off and land vertically similar to a helicopter but can fly faster, farther, and more efficiently. Emergency medical services, disaster relief, critical supplies to remote communities, military missions, and luxury travel are the key use cases for eVOTL aircrafts.
The eVOTL market has strong growth potential. Grand View Research, for instance, predicts the eVOTL aircraft market in the U.S. to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 53% from 2024 to 2030.
Horizon Aircraft currently has a full-sized prototype aircraft under construction but it doesn’t expect to deliver its first aircraft “until 2027, at the earliest, if at all.” It will take years for the Canada-based company to obtain a type certificate, production certificate, and airworthiness certificate for the Cavorite X7 from Canada’s civil aviation authority, without which it cannot sell planes commercially. The eVOTL stock, meanwhile, has surged 190% in one year and has a market cap of $65 million, as of this writing.
Glossary
Open market sale:When an insider sells company shares on a public stock exchange, not through private arrangements. Form 4 filing:A required SEC document disclosing insider trades in a company's securities. Insider:Company executive, director, or major shareholder with access to non-public information. Insider's trade sizes:The number of shares an insider typically buys or sells in each transaction. Post-transaction:The status or amount of holdings after a specific trade has been completed. Total return:The investment's price change plus all dividends and distributions, assuming those payouts are reinvested. eVTOL:Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing aircraft, capable of taking off and landing like a helicopter using electric or hybrid power. Regional air mobility:Air transportation solutions for short to medium distances, often using innovative aircraft. Prototyping:Creating early models of a product to test concepts and designs before full-scale production. TTM:The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report. Advanced air mobility:New aviation technologies enabling efficient, flexible, and often urban or regional air transport.
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Tesla saw a 17% growth in its services business, but it was not enough to close the gap in falling EV sales, fewer regulatory credits, and a decline in solar and energy storage sales.
Alphabet beat Q2 expectations, but investors were uneasy over a surprise $10 billion capex increase.
It's the latest sign that the race to stay ahead on AI is getting eye-wateringly expensive.
But Google's stock quickly recovered as its CEO touted big growth numbers for its AI features.
Google's parent company Alphabet beat analyst estimates for its second-quarter earnings on Wednesday, but its stock initially faltered after Alphabet reported it would increase its capital expenditures by $10 billion this year.
Investors have been closely monitoring Alphabet for signs of weakness as more and more people turn to ChatGPT instead of Google to find answers on the internet.
The tech giant saw strong growth in its core search business, which was up over 11% year-over-year, fueled in part by the strong performance of its AI overviews, CEO Sundar Pichai said in a statement.
Alphabet also reported strong growth for Google Cloud, which recently signed on OpenAI as a customer and grew by a third to over $13 billion in revenue for Q2.
"We had a standout quarter, with robust growth across the company," Pichai said. "We are leading at the frontier of AI and shipping at an incredible pace."
Despite the strong performance, investors were initially spooked over Google's announcement that it would boost capital expenditures by $10 billion this year — bringing its total to a staggering $85 billion.
Most of those massive expenditures are for keeping Google at the leading edge of an increasingly competitive AI race.
Alphabet shares were trading down around 2.5% immediately after the earnings release was published on Thursday afternoon.
However, they quickly regained lost ground and were up about 2% during after-hours trading at the time of this writing.
The stock bump happened as Alphabet shared more about its latest user numbers for its AI features, showing strong momentum.
For example, Pichai revealed that AI Overviews — the feature which summarizes Google Search results — now has 2 billion users, up from 1.5 billion in May.
The app for Google's answer to ChatGPT, Gemini, now has 450 million monthly active users, Pichai also said. Plus, a new Search function called AI Mode, which just launched this summer, has 100 million users in the US and India.
During the earnings call, Pichai said that the $10 billion capex increase was due, in part, to a lack of chips for training and running Google's latest AI models.
Those are especially critical for Google Cloud, which is growing fast and provides AI services to users like its rival AWS.
"It's a tight supply environment, and we are investing more to expand," Pichai said.
Pichai shrugged off the AI talent wars raging across Silicon Valley.
"Through this moment, we continue to look at both our retention metrics — as well as the new talent coming in — and both are healthy," he said. "I do know individual cases can make headlines, but when we look at numbers deeply, I think we are doing well through this moment."
Here are the key numbers for Alphabet's second quarter, compared to analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg and LSEG:
Earnings per share: $2.31 vs. $2.17 expected
Revenue: $96.42 billion vs. $93.94 billion expected
Google advertising revenue: $71.34 billion vs. $69.69 billion expected
YouTube advertising revenue: $9.79 billion vs. $9.56 billion expected
Search revenue: $54.19 billion vs. $52.85 billion expected
I like turning wedding weekends into mini vacations.
Anna Staropoli
I've received lots of wedding invitations over the past few years.
Many of the weddings I've been invited to have required me to travel.
Now, I like to turn every wedding invitation into a mini vacation.
I don't know whether the influx of wedding invites I've received is a byproduct of the many celebrations that got delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic or a rite of passage for anyone approaching their late 20s.
Either way, the last few years have filled my calendar — and the outside of my refrigerator — with many an invitation and save the date. Many of these invitations have also required me to travel.
To maximize pricey flights, I've leveraged weddings to explore places like West Palm Beach, Cleveland, and even my own city. Here's how I've created the perfect marriage between wedding and personal travel.
I stay open and flexible to spur-of-the-moment experiences
While in Ohio for my cousin's wedding, I stopped at the house from "A Christmas Story."
Anna Staropoli
Sandusky, Ohio, doesn't exactly scream "getaway," but for my cousin's wedding, my boyfriend and I embarked on a Midwest road trip.
While driving, I discovered two things: "A Christmas Story"was filmed in Cleveland, and my boyfriend had never had a meal at Waffle House.
Before we even arrived at our hotel, we mapped out our return, making sure to hit the iconic filming location and the famous chain restaurant on the way home. I loved that attending the wedding gave us a reason to explore the area and try new things.
Once in Sandusky, I maintained that eagerness, visiting Lake Erie, trying Culver's custard, and exploring Marblehead Lighthouse.
To manage expectations, I've learned to treat each wedding trip as an introduction to a place
A few years ago, I planned my first post-wedding trip to Miami after a friend's West Palm Beach ceremony.
Although I enjoyed Miami, I chastised myself for everything I'd missed in the Palm Beaches. Beyond visiting the Norton Museum of Art, I saw little of West Palm.
Since then, I've adjusted my expectations. I have neither the time nor energy to do everything I'd like to, so I regard wedding trips as city introductions rather than the end-all-be-all of tours.
This mindset has minimized the pressure I place on my vacations and inspired future travels.
Even when weddings are close to home, I embrace the art of the staycation
I'm glad I decided to get a hotel room when I attended a wedding on Lake Canandaigua.
Anna Staropoli
Last summer, I attended a wedding on Lake Canandaigua, just an hour from my Rochester, New York, apartment. Although I could've commuted, the venue had been on my radar since moving upstate, so I booked a room.
That decision was well worth the hotel cost. I jumped in the lake countless times, caught up with college friends, and sipped riesling: the Finger Lakes' claim to fame.
That wedding also sparked my interest in exploring the other Finger Lakes and refreshed my perspective on my surroundings.
I try not to jam-pack my schedule after the wedding festivities are over.
I'm planning on attending a wedding at the Chicago Botanic Garden soon. Although I'd initially planned for an extra day in the city, I realized my hotel was actually an hour away from the city center.
In order to conserve my energy, I've since adapted my trip to tour Chicago's North Shore and the chic, much closer suburb of Lake Forest, Illinois.
Beyond those activities, however, I'm leaving the rest of my day open. After a weekend of wedding events, I'll likely feel worn down and ready to recharge. Although weddings are structured to the hour, wedding trips can balance out the frenzy of a celebratory weekend.
This story was originally published on August 13, 2024, and most recently updated on July 23, 2025.
It will be a massive undertaking to build out the hardware and support necessary to power increasingly advanced artificial intelligence and provide it at a global level where billions of people can access it.
According to research by McKinsey & Company, the world's technology needs will require $6.7 trillion in data center spending by 2030. Of that, $5 trillion will be due to the rising processing power demands of artificial intelligence (AI). These investments, though, will lay the groundwork for the next era of global innovation, which will revolutionize existing industries and create new ones.
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Some key companies have already been experiencing significant growth due to the AI trend, and there is still likely a long runway ahead for players in key AI infrastructure spaces, including semiconductors, cloud computing, and networking.
Here are five top stocks to buy and hold for the next wave of AI innovation.
Image source: GETTY IMAGES
Nvidia: The data center AI chip leader
Inside these colossal AI data centers are many thousands of AI accelerator chips, usually from Nvidia(NASDAQ: NVDA). The company's graphics processing units (GPUs) are the only ones that can make use of its proprietary CUDA platform, which contains an array of tools and libraries to help developers build and deploy applications that use the hardware efficiently. CUDA's effectiveness -- and its popularity with developers -- has helped Nvidia win an estimated 92% share of the data center GPU market.
The company has maintained its winning position as it progressed from its previous Hopper architecture to its current Blackwell chips, and it expects to launch its next-generation architecture, with a CPU called Vera and a GPU called Rubin, next year. Analysts expect Nvidia's revenue to grow to $200 billion this year and $251 billion in 2026.
Amazon and Microsoft: Winning in AI through the cloud
AI software is primarily trained and powered through large cloud data centers, making the leading cloud infrastructure companies vital pieces of the equation. They're also Nvidia's largest customers. Amazon(NASDAQ: AMZN) Web Services (AWS) has long been the world's leading cloud platform, with about 30% of the cloud infrastructure market today.Through the cloud, companies can access and deploy AI agents, models, and other software throughout their businesses.
AWS's sales grew by 17% year over year in Q1, and it should maintain a similar pace. Goldman Sachs estimates that AI demand will drive cloud computing sales industrywide to $2 trillion by 2030. Amazon will capture a significant portion of that, and since AWS is Amazon's primary profit center, the company's bottom line should also thrive.
It's a similar theme for Microsoft(NASDAQ: MSFT). Its Azure is the world's second-largest cloud platform, with a market share of approximately 21%. Microsoft stands out from the pack for its deep ties with millions of corporate clients. Businesses rely on Microsoft's range of hardware and software products, including its enterprise software, the Windows operating system, and productivity applications such as Outlook and Excel.
Microsoft's vast ecosystem creates sticky revenue streams and provides it with an enormous customer base to cross-sell its AI products and services to. Microsoft has also invested in OpenAI, the developer behind ChatGPT, and works with it extensively, although that relationship has become somewhat strained as OpenAI has grown increasingly successful.
Regardless, Microsoft's massive footprint across the AI and broader tech space makes it a no-brainer.
Arista Networks and Broadcom: The networking tech that underpins AI
Within data centers, huge clusters of AI chips must communicate and work together, which requires them to transfer massive amounts of data at extremely high speeds. Arista Networks(NYSE: ANET) sells high-end networking switches and software that help accomplish this. The company has already thrived in this golden age of data centers, with top clients including Microsoft and Meta Platforms, which happen to also be among the highest spenders on AI infrastructure.
Arista Networks will likely continue benefiting from growth in AI investments, as these increasingly powerful AI models consume ever-increasing amounts of data. Analysts expect Arista Networks to generate $8.4 billion in sales this year (versus $7 billion last year), then $9.9 billion next year, with nearly 19% annualized long-term earnings growth.
Tightly woven into this same theme is Broadcom(NASDAQ: AVGO), which specializes in designing semiconductors used for networking applications.
For example, Arista Networks utilizes Broadcom's Tomahawk and Jericho silicon in the networking switches it builds for data centers. Broadcom's AI-related semiconductor sales increased by 46% year-over-year in the second quarter.
Looking further out, Broadcom is becoming a more prominent role player in AI infrastructure. It has designed custom accelerator chips (XPUs) for AI model training and inference. It has struck partnerships with at least three AI customers that management believes will each deploy clusters of 1 million accelerator chips by 2027. Broadcom's red-hot AI momentum has analysts estimating the company will grow earnings by an average of 23% annually over the next three to five years.
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Donald Trump complains about media companies all the time. He has yet to focus his ire on Netflix, though.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Donald Trump has complained about media companies making movies outside the US.
Netflix just emphasized how much of its production happens in the US.
Coincidence?
Donald Trump, who frequently complains about media companies, doesn't appear to be angry at Netflix at the moment.
Netflix would like to keep it that way.
Which may explain why the company spent a bit of time in its latest earnings report talking up its commitment to making its shows and movies in America.
In the streamer's second quarter earnings report, Netflix officials made a point of emphasizing how much money it has spent making content in the US — $125 billion between 2020 and 2024 — and how much more it plans to spend in the near future — including new production facilities in New Mexico and New Jersey.
But you can check out the language the company used in its shareholder letter for yourself:
As we grow globally, our most significant investment remains in the US, which accounts for the majority of our content spend, workforce and production infrastructure. From 2020-2024, we estimate that we contributed $125 billion to the US economy. Our expansion in Albuquerque, NM—adding four new soundstages to a 108-acre site—and our plan to invest roughly $1B to develop a state-of-the-art production facility (including 12 new soundstages) in Fort Monmouth, NJ, underscore our ongoing commitment to production in the US.
This isn't the first time Netflix has played up its interest in US production. That statement above includes a link to a report spelling out its investment in the US, which was published April 23 — less than a couple weeks before Trump came out with its Hollywood tariff plan.
And Netflix also discussed its US investments in its previous earnings report, which came out on April 17. But the language it used there was much lighter on superlatives, and much less America-centric. Compare and contrast:
While the majority of our content spend and production infrastructure investment is in the US, we now also spend billions of dollars per year making programming abroad. And instead of just licensing local titles, we're now making local shows and films in many countries, commissioned by our local executives, that keep our members happy. And our local slates are improving each year.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, by the way, has said he had a "nice long dinner" with Trump in December at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, prior to Trump's second inauguration. "He said Melania and [son] Barron were big fans," Sarandos said.
Netflix posted record-setting earnings and revenue for the second quarter on Thursday.
The streamer also raised its revenue forecast for the year.
Analysts are watching the platform's plans to scale through live sports and TV and grow its ads business.
Netflix posted record-setting revenue and earnings for the second quarter, and signaled there's more growth on the horizon.
The streaming giant's revenue rose 15.9% year over year to $11.08 billion, and earnings grew 47% to $7.19 per share. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected quarterly revenue of $11.06 billion and earnings of $7.09 per share.
The company also raised its revenue forecast for 2025 to $44.8 billion to $45.2 billion, in part because of its momentum growing subscribers and its advertising business.
Netflix shares were relatively flat in after-hours trading following the earnings release on Thursday.
Wall Street has long crowned Netflix as the streaming king. The streamer's latest win comes on the heels of releases like "Squid Game," which released its third and final season in late June. Netflix said the season was its sixth biggest ever with 122 million views.
Netflix stopped reporting specific subscriber figures last quarter, which makes it difficult to gauge the platform's user growth.
But estimates from third-party data firm Antenna suggest Netflix's gross monthly subscriber additions in the US have fallen from their peak.
Analysts are focused on how the platform continues to scale through live sports and TV, as well as creator-driven partnerships.
So far, Netflix has announced a return of a Christmas Day NFL game, a September fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford, and a forthcoming reboot of the late-80s hit "Star Search," among other live programming.
The live content serves dual purposes: helping Netflix continue to grow its subscription base and providing ample opportunities for its budding advertising business.
Netflix expects its advertising revenue to double this year, as executives previously outlined on the first-quarter earnings call. The company also plans to introduce interactive ads in the second half of 2025, co-CEO Greg Peters said on Thursday's earnings call.
Nearly half of new Netflix subscribers in the US chose the ad tier from January to May, according to Antenna data.
At $8 a month, Netflix's ad plan is starting to look like a bargain. It's the same as Paramount+'s ad tier and cheaper than comparable plans from Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max. The ad version of Amazon Prime Video costs $15 a month. And Peacock is planning to raise the price of its ad plan to $11 a month, Vulture reported on Thursday.
"We also think that we are an incredible entertainment value — not only compared to traditional entertainment, but if you think about other streaming competitors," Peters said.
Netflix said it also wants to use artificial intelligence to help create ads, content, and content recommendations.
Co-CEO Ted Sarandos told analysts that "The Eternaut," an Argentine sci-fi show, has the first generative AI final footage to appear on screen in a Netflix show or movie. The series used generative AI for a sequence where a building collapsed in Buenos Aires.
"That VFX sequence was completed 10 times faster than it could have been completed with visual, traditional VFX tools and workflows," Sarandos said on the earnings call. "Also, the cost of it would just wouldn't have been feasible for a show in that budget."
On July 10, 2025, Community Trust & Investment Co reported selling shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), reducing its position by $5.79 million in the latest SEC filing.
What happened
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission dated July 10, 2025, The firm sold 13,371 shares of Microsoft during Q2 2025. The reported transaction totaled $5.79 million. After the trade, the fund held 224,197 shares as of June 30, 2025, with a position value of $111.52 million as of June 30, 2025.
What else to know
The sale reduced Microsoft’s portfolio weight to 6.45% of 13F reportable AUM as of June 30, 2025
Top holdings after the filing:
MSFT: $223,035,672 (12.90% of AUM)
GOOGL: $216,864,286 (12.54% of AUM)
NVDA: $214,820,910 (12.42% of AUM)
CTBI: $209,470,000 (12.10% of AUM) as of Q2 2025
AAPL: $157,356,788 (9.10% of AUM)
Microsoft shares closed at $501.48 on July 10, 2025, up 9.13% over the year ending July 10, 2025
One-year alpha versus the S&P 500: (3.49) percentage points as of July 10, 2025
Dividend yield 0.65%; forward P/E ratio of 37.44 as of July 10, 2025
Company overview
Metric
Value
Revenue (TTM)
$270.01 billion
Net income (TTM)
$96.6 billion
Dividend yield
0.65%
Current price
$501.48
Company snapshot
Offers a diversified portfolio including software (Windows, Office, Azure), cloud services, business solutions, gaming (Xbox), and hardware devices.
Generates revenue through software licensing, cloud subscriptions, enterprise services, device sales, and advertising.
Serves organizations, enterprises, and individual consumers globally.
Microsoft Corporation is a global leader in technology, operating at scale across cloud infrastructure, productivity software, and digital platforms. The company leverages a broad product suite and recurring revenue streams to maintain a strong competitive position. A strategic focus on cloud computing and enterprise solutions underpins its sustained growth.
Foolish take
Microsoft is a giant in tech and with its early backing of OpenAI, a leader in artificial intelligence. The company has seen double-digit growth in both revenue and net income for the past five quarters (with Q2 2024 as the sole exception at 9.7% net income growth), largely driven by its cloud computing segment, which grew 22% last quarter.
With a strong financial standing, Microsoft is heavily investing in AI-related cloud infrastructure, projecting approximately $80 billion in spending for 2025.
However, investors should be aware of risks, primarily the strain in Microsoft's relationship with OpenAI and its reliance on it for the lion's share of its cloud revenue growth. There's a possibility OpenAI could switch cloud providers and leave Microsoft hanging out to dry.
Microsoft stock currently trades at a P/E ratio of 38, higher than its 20-year average. While it's a solid addition to a diversified portfolio, I think there are better opportunities within big tech.
Glossary
13F reportable assets under management (AUM): The value of securities an institutional investment manager must report quarterly to the SEC on Form 13F. Portfolio weight: The percentage of a fund’s total assets allocated to a specific investment or holding. Alpha: A measure of an investment’s performance compared to a benchmark, showing value added or subtracted by active management. Dividend yield: Annual dividends paid by a company divided by its share price, expressed as a percentage. Forward P/E ratio: Price-to-earnings ratio using forecasted earnings over the next 12 months, indicating expected valuation. Transaction value: The total dollar amount generated from buying or selling a security in a single trade. Cloud services: On-demand computing resources and software delivered over the internet, often by subscription. Filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission: Submission of required financial or ownership documents to the SEC for regulatory compliance. Top holdings: The largest investments in a fund’s portfolio, ranked by value or percentage of assets. TTM (Trailing Twelve Months): Financial data covering the most recent 12 consecutive months, used for analysis.
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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
On July 14, 2025, Gayn Erickson (President and CEO) reported a disposal of 4,518 shares of Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR)valued at $62,619 to either pay the exercise price of vested stock, or tax liability with shares instead of cash. This transaction does not amount to a sale of stock by the CEO.
Transaction summary
Metric
Value
Shares Traded
4,518
Transaction Value
$62,619
Post-Transaction Shares
272,511
Post-Transaction Value
$3.8 million
YTD Performance
-11.1% (as on market close on July 16, 2025)
Company overview
Metric
Value
Market capitalization
$441.6 million
Revenue (TTM)
$59.0 million
Net income (TTM)
($3.91 million)
One-year price change
-14.49%
Company snapshot
Aehr Test Systems provides test and burn-in systems for integrated circuits, including the ABTS and FOX product families, as well as wafer probing and packaging solutions for logic, memory, and photonic devices in the semiconductor equipment industry. The company leverages proprietary technology to address the stringent quality and performance requirements of leading chip manufacturers.
It generates revenue primarily from the sale of proprietary test systems, consumables, and related services to semiconductor manufacturers.
The company targets global semiconductor manufacturers and integrated circuit producers seeking advanced reliability and quality assurance solutions.
Foolish take
Aehr Test System CEO, Gayn Erickson's "sale" of less than $63 thousand worth of stock isn't anything to get excited about. He currently holds a $4 million direct ownership stake in a company with a current market capitalization of just $440 million, and there's a specific reason behind this transaction.
According to the SEC filing, Erickson withheld the 4,518 shares to cover the costs and taxes incurred by the vesting of the restricted stock units. In other words, all things being equal, Erickson's stock holdings will increase due to the vesting of restricted stock.
That's probably good news because Aehr, a company that manufactures test and burn-in equipment used in semiconductor manufacturing, appears to be one of the success stories of 2025. Having started the calendar year with a heavy reliance on the weakening silicon carbide (SiC) Wafer Level Burn In (WLBI) market – an end market overwhelmingly tied to electric vehicle (EV) investment – Erickson has successfully navigated the company's revenue to new markets like gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors, and artificial intelligence processor burn-in markets.
With these new end markets starting to make meaningful contributions to revenue and the prospect of an eventual return to growth in SiC WLBI, when the EV market eventually improves, Aehr Test Systems has a bright future.
Glossary
Insider:A company executive, director, or major shareholder with access to non-public company information. Form 4:A required SEC filing disclosing insider transactions in a company's securities. Exercise price:The set price at which an option holder can buy or sell the underlying security. Option-related transaction:A trade involving company stock options, such as exercising or selling shares acquired via options. Burn-in:A testing process where electronic devices are operated under stress to detect early failures. Wafer probing:Testing semiconductor chips on a wafer before they are cut and packaged. Photonic devices:Electronic components that use light (photons) for functions like communication or sensing. Outstanding shares:The total number of a company’s shares currently held by all shareholders. Total return:The investment's price change plus all dividends and distributions, assuming those payouts are reinvested. Proprietary technology:Technology owned and controlled by a company, often protected by patents or trade secrets. TTM:The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report. Consumables:Products used up during equipment operation, requiring regular replacement (e.g., test sockets, probes).
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Lee Samaha has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
On July 1, 2025, Marita Zuraitis, President & CEO of Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN), sold 5,000 shares in an open market transaction for a total value of $214,350.
Transaction summary
Metric
Value
Shares Traded
5,000
Transaction Value
$214,350
Post-Transaction Shares
307,154
Post-Transaction Value
$12.46 million as of July 3, 2025
Key questions
How does this sale compare with the insider's historical trading behavior? This transaction matches Marita Zuraitis's median trade size of 5,000 shares, though it is well below her 75th percentile trade size of 52,758 shares. She averages 7.3 trades per year, indicating a relatively active trading cadence.
What is the impact on insider ownership? After the transaction, she holds 307,154 shares, representing 0.75% of the company's shares outstanding and maintaining a material equity stake.
Company overview
Metric
Value
Market Capitalization
$1.65 billion
Trailing 12-Month Revenue
$1.57 billion
Net Income (TTM)
$114.5 million
Dividend Yield
3.43%
Company snapshot
Horace Mann Educators Corporation is a specialized financial services provider with a focus on the education sector, leveraging a multi-line insurance and retirement platform. The company provides property and casualty insurance, supplemental insurance, life and retirement products, and student loan solutions. It operates an insurance holding company model, distributing products through a dedicated sales force targeting the education sector, primarily K-12 educators and school employees.
The business serves public school teachers, administrators, and their families across the United States, focusing on tailored financial services for the education community.
Foolish take
CEO Marita Zuartis' trade does not seem out of the ordinary. The transaction value of a little over $214,000 seems miniscule compared to the total value of stock she holds. Insiders can sell shares for any number of reasons.
Horace Mann has had a good year so far, with operating income more than doubling over the last six quarters. Over the last 12 months, the stock has returned 18%, outperforming the S&P 500's 11% return. The insurance holding company's Property and Casualty (P&C) segment reported a strong first quarter with a combined ratio of 89.4%, reflecting strong profitability, driven by an 8% increase in net written premiums.
Management has also been focusing on growth via expansion of sales and distribution channels, as well as by leveraging technology. The company introduced its proprietary customer relationship managemnt system (CRM) called Catalyst that enhances both customer interaction and efficient use of insurance agents.
At a trailing 12-month price-to-earnings ratio of 14.9, Horace Mann stock trades way below its five and 10-year average of 30 and 25, respectively. WIth management seemingly clear on growth and the stock already outperfoming the overall market, the stock may be undervalued.
Glossary
Insider: An executive, director, or major shareholder with access to non-public company information. Open market transaction: The buying or selling of securities on a public exchange, not through private or pre-arranged deals. Median trade size: The middle value of all trade sizes made by an insider, showing typical transaction volume. 75th percentile trade size: A trade size greater than 75% of all other trades by the insider, indicating larger-than-usual activity. Material equity stake: A significant ownership position in a company, often large enough to influence decisions. Moving average (MA50, MA200): The average stock price over the past 50 or 200 days, used to identify price trends. Insider ownership: The percentage of a company’s shares held by its executives, directors, or key employees. Insurance holding company: A parent company that owns one or more insurance businesses but may not directly sell insurance itself. Dividend yield: The annual dividend payment divided by the stock’s current price, expressed as a percentage. Supplemental insurance: Additional insurance coverage that complements primary policies, covering gaps or extra expenses. Dedicated sales force: A team of company-employed representatives focused on selling products directly to targeted customers. Trailing 12-Month (TTM): Financial data covering the most recent 12 consecutive months, not limited to the calendar or fiscal year.
Where to invest $1,000 right now
When our analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,059%* — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500.
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Isac Simon has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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