Three stocks were added to the S&P 500 today (Bloom Energy, Illumina and Everpure) three were taken out (Builders FirstSource, Molson Coors and theTradeDesk). I just want to look at Everpure today and look at what makes this company so bullish and what’s going to be important for this company to execute on in the current quarter.

Bull Case

The bull case turns on the fact that Q3 FY 2027 revenues are at or above $1.3 billion, and the product’s gross margin expands to or above 69%. This should come from accelerated hyperscale shipments. For these to be true, we need to see the following:

• Total revenue: at or above $1.300 billion for Q3 FY2027 (year-over-year growth of 34.8% or more from $964.5 million in Q3 FY2026)

• Product gross margin: at or above 69.0% for Q3 FY2027, driven by high-margin hyperscale shipments yielding 75% to 85% margins

• Non-GAAP operating profit: at or above $255 million for Q3 FY2027 (surpassing the $230 million record achieved in Q2 FY2027)

• Diluted earnings per share (GAAP): at or above $0.26 for Q3 FY2027

Bear Concerns

The bear case turns on Q3 FY 2027 revenue landing at or below $1.2 billion, with product gross margin stalling out at or staying below 66.5% as hyperscale deliveries slip. For this to be true, we would expect to see the following:

• Total revenue: at or below $1.200 billion for Q3 FY2027 (year-over-year growth of 24.4% or less from $964.5 million in Q3 FY2026)

• Product gross margin: at or below 66.5% for Q3 FY2027, as component inflation outpaces pricing and hyperscale deliveries fail to ramp

• Non-GAAP operating profit: at or below $215 million for Q3 FY2027

• Diluted earnings per share (GAAP): at or below $0.18 for Q3 FY2027

Why this Event Matters

The December 1, 2026 earnings release for the third quarter of fiscal 2027 settles two core commitments management made across earlier calls: the timing of the hyperscaler revenue ramp and the gross margin inflection promised for the second half of the year.

Throughout the preceding three quarters, management consistently deferred expectations for hyperscaler contribution into the back half of fiscal 2027 [transcript:FY2026-Q4, transcript:FY2027-Q1, transcript:FY2027-Q2]. In both the first and second quarters of fiscal 2027, management explicitly characterized hyperscale revenue contribution as “minimal” [transcript:FY2027-Q1, transcript:FY2027-Q2], reiterating that contracted customer delivery schedules concentrated shipments into the third and fourth quarters [transcript:FY2026-Q4, transcript:FY2027-Q1, transcript:FY2027-Q2]. Q3 FY2027 is the first period where this committed order volume must appear directly in reported product revenue rather than remaining a multi-quarter forward commitment.

Directly tied to the hyperscale delivery timing is product gross margin recovery. Component cost inflation compressed product gross margin to 65.5% in Q1 FY2027 [transcript:FY2027-Q1] and 66.2% in Q2 FY2027 [transcript:FY2027-Q2], sitting at the lower boundary of management’s traditional 65% to 70% range [transcript:FY2026-Q4, transcript:FY2027-Q1, transcript:FY2027-Q2]. Management established that under its standardized hyperscale delivery model—where Everpure supplies hardware and software components while the customer procures NAND separately—hyperscale revenue yields gross margins between 75% and 85% [transcript:FY2026-Q4, transcript:FY2027-Q2]. Management specifically guided that these accretive shipments in Q3 and Q4 would begin lifting aggregate product gross margins [transcript:FY2027-Q1, transcript:FY2027-Q2]. The Q3 report tests whether that margin expansion materializes amid continued component pricing volatility.

The release will also test whether the accelerated top-line growth seen in the first half of the year—revenue expanded 35% year-over-year to $1.053 billion in Q1 [transcript:FY2027-Q1] and 38% to $1.186 billion in Q2 [transcript:FY2027-Q2]—reflected durable market share gains or transient customer pull-ins. In Q1, management estimated that price increases and customer purchasing ahead of further cost hikes accounted for nearly one-third of year-over-year revenue growth [transcript:FY2027-Q1]. Q3 will reveal whether underlying enterprise demand and Evergreen//One consumption momentum (which achieved an annualized total contract value run rate above $1.0 billion in Q2 [transcript:FY2027-Q2]) remain resilient once pull-in activity fades.

Finally, the report will show whether cash generation stabilizes following balance sheet pressures in Q2 FY2027, when operating cash flow dropped to -$136.3 million and free cash flow stood at -$237.6 million, reducing cash and short-term investments to $1.008 billion [financials:FY2027-Q2].

AutoZone posts their year-end numbers Tuesday before the market opens. There are reasons to be optimistic about AutoZone. As with any company, there are reasons to be optimistic, and there are reasons to be concerned. In this post, we will look at:

• what would have to happen for the bull case scenario to come true

• what we would worry about with the bear case

• why this event matters

Bull Case

For the bull case to come true, commercial same-store sales need to accelerate to 11% or higher, and global store openings need to reach 165 or more. That would lift Q4 FY 2026 diluted earnings per share to at least $54 on net sales of 6.75 billion or more.

• Total net sales for Q4 FY2026 at or above $6.75 billion

• Domestic commercial (DIFM) same-store sales growth for Q4 FY2026 at or above 11.0%

• Diluted earnings per share for Q4 FY2026 at or above $54.00

• Global net new store openings for Q4 FY2026 at or above 165 stores, bringing full-year FY2026 openings to 370 stores or more

Bear Case

What would bring the bear case into effect would be DIY transaction volumes declining as ticket inflation cools, while commercial comp growth slips below 8%, holding Q4 FY 2026 diluted EPS at or below $51 on total sales of 6.55 billion or less.

• Total net sales for Q4 FY2026 at or below $6.55 billion

• Total domestic same-store sales growth for Q4 FY2026 at or below 3.0%

• Domestic commercial (DIFM) same-store sales growth for Q4 FY2026 at or below 8.0%

• Diluted earnings per share for Q4 FY2026 at or below $51.00

• Global net new store openings for Q4 FY2026 at or below 145 stores, resulting in full-year FY2026 openings at or below 350 stores

Why this Event Matters

The September 22, 2026 earnings release closes out fiscal 2026 and directly settles three major operational commitments that management established across preceding quarters:

1. Delivery on the Back-Loaded Store and Mega Hub Expansion Target

Throughout fiscal 2026, AutoZone progressively raised its global expansion target from an initial 325–350 stores [transcript:FY2025-Q4] to approximately 365 stores by the end of Q3 [transcript:FY2026-Q3]. Because store openings were heavily skewed toward the back half of the fiscal year, management committed to opening approximately 160 stores globally in Q4 alone (compared to 141 in Q4 of fiscal 2025), alongside 15 Mega Hubs to reach 38 Mega Hub openings for the full year [transcript:FY2026-Q3]. This release provides the final accounting of whether the company achieved this aggressive building cadence within its roughly $1.6 billion capital expenditure plan [transcript:FY2026-Q3], and whether operating expenses per store remained disciplined in the guided ~3% growth range despite the heavy front-loaded occupancy and payroll costs of rapid openings [transcript:FY2026-Q3].

2. Resolution of the Tariff-Driven LIFO Drag on Margins

Tariff-driven inflation created substantial non-cash LIFO headwinds throughout fiscal 2026, reducing operating profit and gross margins by $98 million in Q1 [transcript:FY2026-Q1], $59 million in Q2 [transcript:FY2026-Q2], and $20 million in Q3 [transcript:FY2026-Q3], accumulating to $177 million year-to-date [transcript:FY2026-Q3]. For Q4, management forecasted the LIFO charge to settle at approximately $30 million—a 45-basis-point gross margin headwind and a $1.40 per share drag—bringing full-year LIFO charges to approximately $207 million compared to $64 million in fiscal 2025 [transcript:FY2026-Q3]. The Q4 release settles whether cost layer inflation has indeed plateaued at this lower rate, enabling reported operating profit (EBIT) and diluted EPS ($38.07 in Q3 [transcript:FY2026-Q3, financials:FY2026-Q3]) to re-converge with underlying merchandise margin gains.

3. DIY Traffic Elasticity as Ticket Growth Moderates

In domestic DIY, AutoZone relied on average ticket inflation—which reached 5.6% in Q3 on same-SKU inflation exceeding 7%—to offset consistent negative customer transaction counts of -3.6% in both Q2 and Q3 [transcript:FY2026-Q2, transcript:FY2026-Q3]. Management specifically asserted that average ticket growth would decelerate to the mid-4% range during Q4 as the company laps the onset of prior-year price increases, which should ease pressure on DIY transaction counts by late summer [transcript:FY2026-Q2, transcript:FY2026-Q3]. Q4 tests whether DIY transaction traffic stabilizes as ticket inflation cools, and whether domestic commercial (DIFM) same-store sales can maintain double-digit momentum (comping +10.4% in Q3 [transcript:FY2026-Q3]) against tougher prior-year comparisons.

Information Technology

• Longtime CEO Shantanu Narayen will transition to executive chair in December, handing Adobe’s leadership to Anil Chakravarthy at a pivotal juncture in creative AI.

• Oracle posted negative $5 billion in quarterly free cash flow as CapEx surged to $28 billion to build out cloud infrastructure.

• Oracle signed $26 billion in new RPO largely structured as prepayments or bring-your-own-hardware deals that avoid incremental capital spending.

Consumer Discretionary

• Copart is acquiring ACV, pushing the land-heavy salvage auction giant directly into asset-light, digital dealer-to-dealer wholesale.

Health Care

• CooperCompanies terminated its strategic review and will retain CooperSurgical, arguing fertility litigation and a new IUD competitor temporarily depressed valuation.

Consumer Staples

• Kroger warned that the Inflation Reduction Act drug pricing shifts and new GLP-1 formulary additions will create a 150-basis-point drag on sales in Q4.

In detail

Information Technology

Longtime CEO Shantanu Narayen will transition to executive chair in December, handing Adobe’s leadership to Anil Chakravarthy at a pivotal juncture in creative AI.

The leadership transition marks a formal shift at the top of the organization heading into the new fiscal period. With Chakravarthy stepping in as chief executive and taking a seat on the board of directors, the company sets its governance and managerial structure under new day-to-day oversight starting December 1st. The significance of the handover will depend on how the upcoming executive structure executes ongoing strategic priorities and whether the operational continuity under the incoming board member alters the company’s broader business trajectory over subsequent quarters.

I am delighted that Anil S. Chakravarthy will become Adobe’s next president and chief executive officer and join the board of directors. Effective December 1st.

ADBE — Shantanu Narayen, Chair and CEO (FY2026-Q3) — read it in the call

Oracle posted negative $5 billion in quarterly free cash flow as CapEx surged to $28 billion to build out cloud infrastructure.

A massive expansion in capital spending has driven quarterly cash generation deep into the red, reflecting the sheer scale of current deployment. Even after accounting for upfront prepayments, net cash outlays reached eighteen billion dollars, demonstrating the financial demands placed on the balance sheet during this deployment cycle. The significance of this cash drain depends on whether these aggressive capital investments yield sufficient returns to restore positive cash flow in upcoming periods, or if elevated capital requirements will continue to strain liquidity while infrastructure buildouts remain at peak intensity.

Our CapEx for the quarter was $28 billion leading to negative free cash flow of $5 billion. And our net cash CapEx, so net of pre was $18 billion for the quarter.

ORCL — Hilary Barbara Maxson, chief financial officer (FY2027-Q1) — read it in the call

Oracle signed $26 billion in new RPO largely structured as prepayments or bring-your-own-hardware deals that avoid incremental capital spending.

Securing substantial future commitments without taking on corresponding capital obligations offers a path to expand revenue backlogs without intensifying balance-sheet strain. By structuring the vast majority of newly added contract value around customer prepayments or client-supplied hardware mechanisms, the business secures long-term revenue streams while sheltering itself from extra capital outlays. The long-term durability of this approach will depend on whether enterprise clients continue accepting these capital-light contract structures and how efficiently the company can convert this growing backlog into recognized revenue without sacrificing operational margins over time.

our remaining performance obligations or RPO increased $26 billion from Q4. There are 2 things happening here. First, we continued to grow our RPO during the quarter to support future revenues, and the vast majority of those new contracts were via prepay or bring your own hardware or a similar mechanic so will not require incremental capital from Oracle.

ORCL — Hilary Barbara Maxson, chief financial officer (FY2027-Q1) — read it in the call

Consumer Discretionary

Copart is acquiring ACV, pushing the land-heavy salvage auction giant directly into asset-light, digital dealer-to-dealer wholesale.

The deal brings a massive digital footprint into the fold without requiring substantial real estate investments. Adding an operation that transacts over eight hundred thousand units annually expands the transaction base across nationwide automotive markets, shifting the operational footprint toward an infrastructure-free model. The true impact of the acquisition will hinge on how effectively the combined organization integrates this high-volume digital marketplace alongside existing channels, and whether absorbing a large-scale platform operating without physical acreage meaningfully enhances overall vehicle throughput and marketplace efficiency going forward.

We have agreed to acquire ACV. 1 of the largest primarily digital automotive marketplaces in the country. ACV sells more than 800 thousand vehicles, each year, and importantly, operates with virtually no land of its own.

CPRT — A. Jayson Adair, CEO and executive chairman (FY2026-Q4) — read it in the call

Health Care

CooperCompanies terminated its strategic review and will retain CooperSurgical, arguing fertility litigation and a new IUD competitor temporarily depressed valuation.

The decision to end the formal assessment keeps the surgical division within the corporate fold despite active buyout talks with multiple prospective suitors. Management concluded that holding the asset provides superior long-term shareholder value after external headwinds, including market entry from a non-hormonal competitor, dampened pricing during final negotiations. The wisdom of retaining the business will turn on whether these valuation pressures prove genuinely short-lived and whether the division can regain operational momentum, or if persistent market competition will permanently validate the lower price bids received during the evaluation process.

the Board has concluded the strategic review. As part of the process, we conducted a thorough assessment of CooperSurgical, including a potential sale of the business, where we received significant interest and engaged with numerous parties. Ultimately, however, the Board unanimously determined that shareholders are better served by continued ownership than by pursuing a transaction at this time. The Board and our advisers believe several temporary factors influenced valuations late in the process, including developments related to a competitive entrant in the non-hormonal IUD market and the i

COO — Albert White, President and Chief Executive Officer (FY2026-Q3) — read it in the call

Consumer Staples

Kroger warned that Inflation Reduction Act drug pricing shifts and new GLP-1 formulary additions will create a 150-basis-point drag on sales in Q4.

Upcoming legislative and formulary adjustments are poised to noticeably dampen underlying identical sales performance heading into the final quarter. The anticipated drag stems directly from pricing modifications tied to federal healthcare policy alongside the January inclusion of expensive treatments such as GLP-1 medications. How significantly this headwind alters full-year results will depend on whether pharmacy customer volume can compensate for mandated price shifts, and whether subsequent quarters see further formulary additions that compound top-line pressure or if identical store metrics stabilize once the January adjustments are fully absorbed.

We expect additional sales headwinds in the fourth quarter, the identical sales without fuel impact from the Inflation Reduction Act is projected to accelerate to approximately 150 basis points as new high cost drugs including GLP-1s, are added to the formulary in January.

KR — David John Christopher Kennerley, Chief Financial Officer (FY2026-Q2) — read it in the call

Coming up

• 2026-09-30 · MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC (MU) — Look for HBM (high bandwidth memory) revenue ramp, pricing momentum across DRAM/NAND, and gross margin guidance.

• 2026-09-24 · COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEW (COST) — Look for membership fee renewal rates following recent increases, e-commerce growth, and discretionary general merchandise demand.

• 2026-10-01 · Accenture plc (ACN) — Look for generative AI bookings growth, recovery in discretionary consulting spend, and full-year FY27 guidance.

• 2026-09-23 · CINTAS CORP (CTAS) — Look for organic revenue growth across Uniform Rental and First Aid segments alongside operating margin expansion. — our analysis

• 2026-10-01 · NIKE, Inc. (NKE) — Look for progress on product innovation and lifecycle resets, wholesale channel re-engagement, and Greater China sales trends.

• 2026-09-22 · AUTOZONE INC (AZO) — Look for same-store sales performance between Commercial (B2B) and DIY segments, as well as gross margin resilience. — our analysis

• 2026-09-23 · PAYCHEX INC (PAYX) — Look for small-business client retention and hiring trends, HR Solutions growth, and interest earned on client funds. — our analysis

• 2026-09-30 · JABIL INC (JBL) — Look for demand trends across cloud and AI data center infrastructure versus legacy automotive and industrial exposure. — our analysis

• 2026-09-29 · Carnival Corp Ltd. (CCL) — Look for net cruise yield growth, advance booking volumes and pricing for future quarters, and pace of debt paydown. — our analysis

• 2026-09-24 · DARDEN RESTAURANTS INC (DRI) — Look for same-restaurant guest traffic trends at Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse amid macro consumer pressure. — our analysis

• 2026-09-23 · GENERAL MILLS INC (GIS) — Look for organic volume recovery versus promotional discounting in North America Retail and Pet segments. — our analysis

• 2026-10-01 · MCCORMICK & CO INC (MKC) — Look for volume trends in the Consumer segment versus Flavor Solutions and gross margin expansion from cost-savings initiatives. — our analysis

• 2026-09-30 · FACTSET RESEARCH SYSTEMS INC (FDS) — Look for Annual Subscription Value (ASV) growth, client retention amid financial sector cost controls, and AI product monetization. — our analysis

Companies that reported this period

7 earnings calls held between 2026-09-05 and 2026-09-19.

• 2026-09-09 · CASEYS GENERAL STORES INC (CASY) — FY2027-Q1

• 2026-09-09 · COOPER COMPANIES, INC. (COO) — FY2026-Q3

• 2026-09-10 · ADOBE INC. (ADBE) — FY2026-Q3

• 2026-09-10 · COPART INC (CPRT) — FY2026-Q4

• 2026-09-10 · ORACLE CORP (ORCL) — FY2027-Q1

• 2026-09-11 · KROGER CO (KR) — FY2026-Q2

• 2026-09-17 · LENNAR CORP /NEW/ (LEN) — FY2026-Q3

What we heard

Information Technology

• HPE and Broadcom warned that surging GPU demand for High Bandwidth Memory is straining broader memory supply and capping server shipments. It shows AI infrastructure bottlenecks spilling over from compute silicon into system-level memory allocation.

• Traditional server revenue surged at Dell (+122%) and HPE (+35%) on higher average selling prices, despite unit supply constraints. Enterprise data center refreshes are generating substantial non-AI revenue growth while market attention remains fixed on GPUs.

AI

• Snowflake cut its full-year product gross margin target to 74% because fast-growing AI workloads carry lower contribution margins. It offers concrete evidence that early enterprise AI adoption can dilute software gross margins.

Consumer Discretionary

• Lululemon’s signature leggings sales dropped roughly 20% in Q2 as consumer preferences pivoted decisively to looser silhouettes. The abrupt fashion rotation shows how quickly category-defining athleisure staples can lose volume and pricing power.

• Copart agreed to acquire ACV, absorbing an asset-light marketplace selling 800,000 dealer vehicles annually with virtually no physical land footprint. The transaction expands the salvage yard leader directly into mainstream dealer-to-dealer wholesale auctions.

Consumer Staples

• Brown-Forman noted that 19 of 20 Nielsen spirits categories are contracting, with U.S. whiskey and tequila suffering the steepest declines and only ready-to-drinks growing. It signals a broad-based structural hangover across mainstream spirits rather than isolated brand weakness.

In detail

Information Technology

HPE and Broadcom warned that surging GPU demand for High Bandwidth Memory is straining broader memory supply and capping server shipments. It shows AI infrastructure bottlenecks spilling over from compute silicon into system-level memory allocation.

Accelerating accelerator adoption is reallocating clean room and wafer fabrication resources toward specialized high-bandwidth architectures rather than conventional DRAM. Because non-AI server platforms depend strictly on standard dynamic memory, manufacturing shifts toward specialized stacks create system-level procurement constraints across the broader hardware ecosystem. Buyers assembling artificial intelligence clusters must simultaneously source complementary system memory alongside specialized accelerators. Whether these bottlenecks ease will depend on how foundries balance clean room floor space and wafer lines between competing memory architectures, and how quickly enterprises navigate component procurement beyond primary compute silicon.

But in the memory space, you also have another trend underneath that obviously is driven by the technology shift. We had DDR4 to DDR5, that’s understood, but then you have traditional DRAM moving to HBM. And that HBM demand is super high because it’s driven by the GPU and the better memory that comes with it. So this is why you have to look at this wafer capacity, clean room capacity and then eventually the mix of what type of memory will be used and demanded as we go forward. Now in the traditional server, we use DRAM. We don’t use HBMs. And so that’s where we are focused very extensively. On

HPE — Antonio Neri, President and Chief Executive Officer (FY2026-Q3) — read it in the call

we all know about memory, HBM memory, and beyond HBM memory, the system memory that goes into AI servers, which we don’t supply necessarily, but our customers have to secure too.

AVGO — Hock Tan, President and CEO (FY2026-Q3) — read it in the call

Traditional server revenue surged at Dell (+122%) and HPE (+35%) on higher average selling prices, despite unit supply constraints. Enterprise data center refreshes are generating substantial non-AI revenue growth while market attention remains fixed on GPUs.

Data center spending is experiencing significant momentum outside specialized accelerator clusters, driven by enterprise refresh cycles and infrastructure upgrades. Organizations are updating existing compute fleets to handle traditional enterprise workloads while responding to heightened requirements around infrastructure resiliency and security. Furthermore, emerging agentic workflows and artificial intelligence tasks are generating substantial demand for central processing unit capacity alongside graphics processors. Pricing increases have played a critical role in driving top-line revenue expansion, offsetting restricted unit availability as enterprise customers modernize core infrastructure across both legacy systems and emerging compute architectures.

Moving to traditional servers. Revenue was up 122% as demand remains exceptionally strong, supported by multiple vectors of growth. First, a majority of our growth is coming from existing customers as they continue to refresh and modernize their data centers to support traditional workloads. Heightened security and resiliency requirements are also creating incremental demand as customers modernize their infrastructure. Second, we are seeing a growing trend of customers that require meaningful CPU compute capacity to support AI and agentic workflows. These workloads are creating incremental dem

DELL — Jeffrey Clarke, CEO (FY2027-Q2) — read it in the call

Server revenue growth of 35% accelerated sequentially as strong ASP growth in traditional servers offset supply-constrained unit volumes.

HPE — Marie Myers, Chief Financial Officer (FY2026-Q3) — read it in the call

AI

Snowflake cut its full-year product gross margin target to 74% because fast-growing AI workloads carry lower contribution margins. It offers concrete evidence that early enterprise AI adoption can dilute software gross margins.

The financial profile of enterprise software is shifting as customer consumption pivots toward fast-growing artificial intelligence features. Because these newer compute workloads currently deliver lower contribution margins than traditional software capabilities, rapid adoption alters overall profitability even as product usage accelerates. This dynamic directly impacts how software providers manage pricing models and underlying operational expenses as artificial intelligence makes up an expanding fraction of total product revenue. Gross margins will remain pressured unless operational efficiencies improve on these workloads or the revenue mix rebalances toward higher-margin traditional applications over upcoming fiscal quarters.

For FY 2027, we now expect 74% non GAAP product gross margin. This revised outlook includes a higher revenue mix from fast growing AI workloads which carry a lower contribution margin today.

SNOW — Brian G. Robins, Chief Financial Officer (FY2027-Q2) — read it in the call

Consumer Discretionary

Lululemon’s signature leggings sales dropped roughly 20% in Q2 as consumer preferences pivoted decisively to looser silhouettes. The abrupt fashion rotation shows how quickly category-defining athleisure staples can lose volume and pricing power.

A major shift in apparel design is testing brand flexibility as consumer interest pivots away from tight-fitting activewear. While alternative away-from-body silhouettes are generating positive commercial traction, replacement volumes remain insufficient to counteract the steep drop in foundational bottom-wear categories. The divergence highlights how quickly core franchise items can lose customer enthusiasm when silhouette preferences evolve across the market. Stabilizing top-line performance will depend on how effectively the broader assortment can ramp up production in loose-fitting styles to fully compensate for ongoing contraction in legacy product lines.

Leggings trends so far this year have been below our expectations, with sales declining approximately 20% in Q2. While we have been planning into lower legging sales, and we are seeing good traction in several of our away-from-body styles, we are not yet able to fully offset these declines.

LULU — Meghan Frank, Interim Co-CEO and CFO (FY2026-Q2) — read it in the call

Copart agreed to acquire ACV, absorbing an asset-light marketplace selling 800,000 dealer vehicles annually with virtually no physical land footprint. The transaction expands the salvage yard leader directly into mainstream dealer-to-dealer wholesale auctions.

Vehicle remarketing is seeing a notable strategic expansion as physical salvage infrastructure combines with an asset-light digital marketplace. By purchasing a platform that transacts over eight hundred thousand units per year without requiring owned physical acreage, a major yard operator can dramatically expand its reach across mainstream automotive transactions. This approach allows the buyer to capture digital dealer wholesale volume without the capital-intensive real estate requirements historically tied to vehicle storage. Future value creation hinges on how effectively the digital platform integrates into broader auction networks without increasing land footprints.

We have agreed to acquire ACV. 1 of the largest primarily digital automotive marketplaces in the country. ACV sells more than 800 thousand vehicles, each year, and importantly, operates with virtually no land of its own.

CPRT — A. Jayson Adair, CEO and executive chairman (FY2026-Q4) — read it in the call

Consumer Staples

Brown-Forman noted that 19 of 20 Nielsen spirits categories are contracting, with U.S. whiskey and tequila suffering the steepest declines and only ready-to-drinks growing. It signals a broad-based structural hangover across mainstream spirits rather than isolated brand weakness.

Widespread softness across retail channels has pulled virtually the entire beverage alcohol industry into negative territory, sparing only ready-to-drink options from broad-based volume declines. Even historically resilient categories are losing ground, with tequila underperforming and falling behind domestic whiskey in retail tracking metrics. This broad retreat underscores that current headwinds stem from overarching category-wide contractions rather than company-specific execution issues or minor market share shifts. The magnitude of this industry-wide downturn will depend on whether ready-to-drink formats can maintain sufficient momentum to offset persistent weakness across traditional spirits categories.

If you look at Nielsen, and you do the category breakdown, of which they, I do not know, have 20 categories in there. First of all, every single one of them is declining. The only thing that is growing is RTDs. Literally, there is not one growing category. But the single strongest category is U.S. whiskey. Tequila has now fallen several points behind U.S. whiskey. It is down 0.5 point

BF-B — Lawson Whiting, President and Chief Executive Officer (FY2027-Q1) — read it in the call

Coming up

• 2026-09-24 · COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEW (COST) — Watch for membership fee revenue growth and renewal rates following recent fee adjustments, alongside non-food e-commerce and discretionary demand.

• 2026-09-23 · CINTAS CORP (CTAS) — Watch for organic revenue growth across Uniform Rental and First Aid segments alongside operating margin resilience amid broader employment trends. — our analysis

• 2026-09-17 · FEDEX CORP (FDX) — Watch for structural cost savings delivered under the DRIVE initiative and parcel volume trends across Express and Ground amid global demand shifts. — our analysis

• 2026-09-22 · AUTOZONE INC (AZO) — Watch for domestic same-store sales trajectory, commercial (DIFM) segment share gains, and gross margin durability against supplier cost pressures. — our analysis

• 2026-09-23 · PAYCHEX INC (PAYX) — Watch for SMB client headcount and hiring trends, Management Solutions revenue growth, and the impact of rate expectations on float income. — our analysis

• 2026-09-24 · DARDEN RESTAURANTS INC (DRI) — Watch for same-restaurant sales and traffic trends across Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, plus the impact of promotional pricing on restaurant margins. — our analysis

• 2026-09-16 · LENNAR CORP /NEW/ (LEN) — Watch for new order volume growth, home sales gross margins, and the extent of mortgage rate buydowns and incentives needed to sustain absorption. — our analysis

• 2026-09-23 · GENERAL MILLS INC (GIS) — Watch for organic pound volume recovery versus price realization in North America Retail and Pet, alongside promotional intensity and gross margin performance. — our analysis

Companies that reported this period

17 earnings calls held between 2026-08-29 and 2026-09-12.

• 2026-09-01 · Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd (CRDO) — FY2027-Q1

• 2026-09-01 · Dell Technologies Inc. (DELL) — FY2027-Q2

• 2026-09-01 · Medtronic plc (MDT) — FY2027-Q1

• 2026-09-01 · Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW) — FY2026-Q4

• 2026-09-02 · Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) — FY2026-Q3

• 2026-09-02 · BROWN FORMAN CORP (BF-B) — FY2027-Q1

• 2026-09-02 · Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (HPE) — FY2026-Q3

• 2026-09-02 · NetApp, Inc. (NTAP) — FY2027-Q1

• 2026-09-02 · Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) — FY2027-Q2

• 2026-09-03 · CIENA CORP (CIEN) — FY2026-Q3

• 2026-09-03 · lululemon athletica inc. (LULU) — FY2026-Q2

• 2026-09-09 · CASEYS GENERAL STORES INC (CASY) — FY2027-Q1

• 2026-09-09 · COOPER COMPANIES, INC. (COO) — FY2026-Q3

• 2026-09-10 · ADOBE INC. (ADBE) — FY2026-Q3

• 2026-09-10 · COPART INC (CPRT) — FY2026-Q4

• 2026-09-10 · ORACLE CORP (ORCL) — FY2027-Q1

• 2026-09-11 · KROGER CO (KR) — FY2026-Q2

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What we heard

Health Care

• Veeva took direct aim at Salesforce, claiming over 180 customers are live on its CRM AI while its rival has zero large deployments live. It signals widening execution divergence in vertical enterprise software.

Technology

• Snowflake trimmed full-year product gross margin guidance to 74% due to a rising mix of lower-margin AI workloads. It offers clear evidence of the margin dilution software vendors face as AI compute scales.

Consumer Discretionary

• Consumer discretionary spending diverged sharply as Lululemon’s comparable sales fell 10% while Williams-Sonoma’s grew 6.2% across every brand. The contrast underscores that company-specific execution is dominating broad macro trends.

• One-off tariff refunds delivered a 560-basis-point boost to Lululemon’s operating margin and $34 million to Best Buy. These windfalls temporarily masked underlying operational deleverage and weakening core demand.

Information Technology

• HPE and Broadcom warned that soaring demand for High Bandwidth Memory in AI racks is straining supply and competing with standard DRAM. This shows memory bottlenecks extending beyond GPUs into broader hardware configurations.

• Dell reported traditional server revenue up 122% with over 10 points of share gains, while HPE saw traditional server unit volume constrained by supply. The gap highlights accelerating share shifts in enterprise compute infrastructure.

• Nvidia signaled that gross margins will trough at 71% to 72% in Q4 before stabilizing at 72% to 73% next fiscal year. This establishes a clear margin baseline through the transition to next-generation architectures.

In detail

Health Care

Veeva took direct aim at Salesforce, claiming over 180 customers are live on its CRM AI while its rival has zero large deployments live. It signals widening execution divergence in vertical enterprise software.

Enterprise adoption in vertical customer relationship management is increasingly defined by deployment track records. As software providers race to activate artificial intelligence capabilities for corporate clients, operational execution determines which platforms move beyond pilot phases into full production. A large customer enabling automated tools across its entire field force demonstrates that real-world utilization is already underway. This operational progress highlights the divergence between vendors completing enterprise-scale rollouts and competitors struggling to bring major implementations live, ultimately impacting how rapidly field organizations can modernize workflows.

Yes. It’s based on our execution and what we’re seeing with Salesforce as well. I think Peter alluded to earlier how Salesforce has been struggling with some of the larger projects that they have, and they don’t really have any customers live. And when you look at what Veeva is doing, it contrasts pretty significantly. We have over 180 customers live. We have customers that are turning AI on. We had a big milestone in CRM this quarter where one of our top 20 turned AI on in CRM for their entire field force. So really significant milestone.

VEEV — Paul Shawah, EVP, Strategy (FY2027-Q2) — read it in the call

Technology

Snowflake trimmed full-year product gross margin guidance to 74% due to a rising mix of lower-margin AI workloads. It offers clear evidence of the margin dilution software vendors face as AI compute scales.

Rapid adoption of artificial intelligence capabilities is reshaping the financial profiles of cloud data platforms. While customer demand for modern computational workloads continues to expand swiftly, these offerings currently yield lower contribution margins than established product lines. As client usage shifts toward these newer workloads, the changing revenue composition exerts downward pressure on overall profitability. Future margin trajectory will depend on whether infrastructure efficiencies, pricing adjustments, or scaling benefits can eventually lift contribution rates on these newer workloads to match the profitability of legacy offerings.

For FY 2027, we now expect 74% non GAAP product gross margin. This revised outlook includes a higher revenue mix from fast growing AI workloads which carry a lower contribution margin today.

SNOW — Brian G. Robins, Chief Financial Officer (FY2027-Q2) — read it in the call

Consumer Discretionary

Consumer discretionary spending diverged sharply as Lululemon’s comparable sales fell 10% while Williams-Sonoma’s grew 6.2% across every brand. The contrast underscores that company-specific execution is dominating broad macro trends.

Recent retail results reveal stark performance differences across the consumer discretionary landscape, demonstrating that operational execution outweighs broader economic conditions. While one retailer saw quarterly net revenue drop alongside a double-digit decline in comparable sales, another achieved revenue expansion and positive comparable sales growth spanning all of its individual brands and sales channels. This growing divergence indicates that merchant success is increasingly dictated by brand-specific strategies and channel execution rather than uniform consumer headwinds, determining which retailers can sustain momentum when customer spending patterns become selective.

For Q2, total net revenue decreased 4% or 5% in constant currency to $2.4 billion and comparable sales decreased 10%.

LULU — Meghan Frank, Interim Co-CEO and CFO (FY2026-Q2) — read it in the call

Our comp for Q2 came in at 6.2% with total revenue growth of 6.7%. This performance reflects strong execution by all of our brands across all of our channels and the hard work of our dedicated teams.

WSM — Laura Alber, President and Chief Executive Officer (FY2027-Q2) — read it in the call

One-off tariff refunds delivered a 560-basis-point boost to Lululemon’s operating margin and $34 million to Best Buy. These windfalls temporarily masked underlying operational deleverage and weakening core demand.

Non-recurring regulatory recoveries recently provided substantial financial cushions for major consumer retailers, altering their reported profitability metrics. One retailer captured a significant pretax refund under trade statutes that contributed hundreds of basis points to its operating margin, while another outpaced profit expectations partly through tens of millions of dollars in customs reimbursements. These external windfalls temporarily buoy financial results against underlying cost pressures and margin compression. Future quarters without such one-time credits will offer a clearer assessment of baseline operating profitability and retail demand fundamentals.

Operating income for the quarter was $454 million, or 18.8% of net revenue, compared to 20.7% of net revenue in Q2 2025. This result includes $134.5 million pretax benefit from IEEPA tariff refunds, which added 560 basis points to operating margin.

LULU — Meghan Frank, Interim Co-CEO and CFO (FY2026-Q2) — read it in the call

Our adjusted operating income rate of 4.3% was also better than planned, driven by a higher gross profit rate that included a $34 million benefit from tariff refunds.

BBY — Corie Barry, CEO (FY2027-Q2) — read it in the call

Information Technology

HPE and Broadcom warned that soaring demand for High Bandwidth Memory in AI racks is straining supply and competing with standard DRAM. This shows memory bottlenecks extending beyond GPUs into broader hardware configurations.

The rapid scaling of advanced computing architectures is creating structural pressures across the semiconductor memory ecosystem. High-bandwidth memory required for graphics processing units is consuming significant wafer and clean-room capacity, influencing the available supply mix for traditional dynamic random-access memory. At the same time, customers assembling artificial intelligence server racks must independently secure both specialized high-bandwidth components and standard system memory. If manufacturing bottlenecks intensify, supply constraints could disrupt traditional server build cycles and complicate hardware delivery schedules across standard enterprise data center infrastructure.

But in the memory space, you also have another trend underneath that obviously is driven by the technology shift. We had DDR4 to DDR5, that’s understood, but then you have traditional DRAM moving to HBM. And that HBM demand is super high because it’s driven by the GPU and the better memory that comes with it. So this is why you have to look at this wafer capacity, clean room capacity and then eventually the mix of what type of memory will be used and demanded as we go forward. Now in the traditional server, we use DRAM. We don’t use HBMs. And so that’s where we are focused very extensively. On

HPE — Antonio Neri, President and Chief Executive Officer (FY2026-Q3) — read it in the call

we all know about memory, HBM memory, and beyond HBM memory, the system memory that goes into AI servers, which we don’t supply necessarily, but our customers have to secure too.

AVGO — Hock Tan, President and CEO (FY2026-Q3) — read it in the call

Dell reported traditional server revenue up 122% with over 10 points of share gains, while HPE saw traditional server unit volume constrained by supply. The gap highlights accelerating share shifts in enterprise compute infrastructure.

Enterprise data center spending is expanding across traditional server lines, driven by infrastructure refresh cycles, enhanced security requirements, and the rising compute needs of agentic workflows. However, server vendors are navigating this demand surge with markedly different operational outcomes. While one hardware provider achieved triple-digit revenue expansion fueled by existing clients modernizing compute infrastructure, another relied on higher average selling prices to compensate for constrained unit shipment volumes. Sustained enterprise demand will test whether component availability and supply chain execution enable suppliers to capture full volume potential.

Moving to traditional servers. Revenue was up 122% as demand remains exceptionally strong, supported by multiple vectors of growth. First, a majority of our growth is coming from existing customers as they continue to refresh and modernize their data centers to support traditional workloads. Heightened security and resiliency requirements are also creating incremental demand as customers modernize their infrastructure. Second, we are seeing a growing trend of customers that require meaningful CPU compute capacity to support AI and agentic workflows. These workloads are creating incremental dem

DELL — Jeffrey Clarke, CEO (FY2027-Q2) — read it in the call

Server revenue growth of 35% accelerated sequentially as strong ASP growth in traditional servers offset supply-constrained unit volumes.

HPE — Marie Myers, Chief Financial Officer (FY2026-Q3) — read it in the call

Nvidia signaled that gross margins will trough at 71% to 72% in Q4 before stabilizing at 72% to 73% next fiscal year. This establishes a clear margin baseline through the transition to next-generation architectures.

Leading technology hardware and networking providers are mapping out profitability baselines as they navigate product transitions and scaling operational leverage. Projections indicate gross margins will reach an interim low in the fourth quarter before stabilizing into a predictable multi-year range, while enterprise storage and optical networking suppliers are managing slight margin improvements and raised annual outlooks. Clear forward guidance helps investors gauge how architecture shifts, component costs, and revenue growth translate into operating leverage across enterprise hardware and semiconductor product cycles.

For Q3, we expect GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins to be 74% plus or minus 50 basis points. We expect margins to bottom in Q4 in the 71% to 72% range before settling at 72% to 73% in fiscal year ‘28

NVDA — Colette Kress, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (FY2027-Q2) — read it in the call

We expect adjusted gross margins of 45% plus or minus 50 basis points, bringing the year to a similar range a raise of 50 basis points from last quarter.

CIEN — Marc D. Graff, CFO (FY2026-Q3) — read it in the call

Regardless, we expect Q4 operating margin to be approximately 66%, flat from a year ago because our strong revenue growth drives substantial operating leverage.

AVGO — Amie O’Toole, Chief Financial Officer (FY2026-Q3) — read it in the call

We said that we would see a trough in Q1, and we anticipate a slight improvement for the rest of the year or gradual improvement for the rest of the year. Now fast forward to today, we did manage Q1 product gross margin in a really great way. I think we did a great job in execution and we outperformed our expectations for Q1. So that’s sort of the first point I want to make. The second point is when we compare now Q2 to Q4 for the rest of the year to where it was 90 days ago, we’re now expecting it to be slightly better. So if you think of the prior guidance had product gross margin in sort of

NTAP — Wissam Jabre, CFO (FY2027-Q1) — read it in the call

Coming up

• 2026-09-10 · ORACLE CORP (ORCL) — Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) revenue growth rate and remaining performance obligations (RPO) from AI workloads.

• 2026-09-10 · ADOBE INC. (ADBE) — Digital Media net new annual recurring revenue (ARR) and direct monetization metrics from generative AI tools like Firefly. — our analysis

• 2026-09-17 · FEDEX CORP (FDX) — Express segment operating margins and structural cost reductions realized under the DRIVE network consolidation program. — our analysis

• 2026-09-11 · KROGER CO (KR) — Identical supermarket sales excluding fuel alongside commentary on the Albertsons merger proceedings. — our analysis

• 2026-09-10 · COPART INC (CPRT) — Global unit auction volume growth and insurance carrier total loss assignment rates. — our analysis

• 2026-09-08 · CASEYS GENERAL STORES INC (CASY) — Inside same-store sales performance and fuel margin cents per gallon. — our analysis

• 2026-09-16 · LENNAR CORP /NEW/ (LEN) — Net new order volumes and the extent of price concessions or mortgage rate buydowns impacting homebuilding gross margins. — our analysis

• 2026-09-09 · COOPER COMPANIES, INC. (COO) — Organic revenue growth in daily silicone hydrogel contact lenses and CooperSurgical fertility portfolio demand. — our analysis

Companies that reported this period

29 earnings calls held between 2026-08-23 and 2026-09-06.

• 2026-08-25 · INTU — FY2026-Q4

• 2026-08-26 · A — FY2026-Q3

• 2026-08-26 · Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) — FY2027-Q2

• 2026-08-26 · CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (CRWD) — FY2027-Q2

• 2026-08-26 · HPQ — FY2026-Q3

• 2026-08-26 · NVIDIA CORP (NVDA) — FY2027-Q2

• 2026-08-26 · SJM — FY2027-Q1

• 2026-08-26 · SNPS — FY2026-Q3

• 2026-08-26 · VEEV — FY2027-Q2

• 2026-08-26 · WSM — FY2027-Q2

• 2026-08-27 · ADSK — FY2027-Q2

• 2026-08-27 · BBY — FY2027-Q2

• 2026-08-27 · DG — FY2027-Q2

• 2026-08-27 · DLTR — FY2027-Q2

• 2026-08-27 · HRL — FY2026-Q3

• 2026-08-27 · MRVL — FY2027-Q2

• 2026-08-27 · ULTA — FY2026-Q2

• 2026-08-27 · WDAY — FY2027-Q2

• 2026-09-01 · Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd (CRDO) — FY2027-Q1

• 2026-09-01 · Dell Technologies Inc. (DELL) — FY2027-Q2

• 2026-09-01 · Medtronic plc (MDT) — FY2027-Q1

• 2026-09-01 · Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW) — FY2026-Q4

• 2026-09-02 · Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) — FY2026-Q3

• 2026-09-02 · BROWN FORMAN CORP (BF-B) — FY2027-Q1

• 2026-09-02 · Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (HPE) — FY2026-Q3

• 2026-09-02 · NetApp, Inc. (NTAP) — FY2027-Q1

• 2026-09-02 · Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) — FY2027-Q2

• 2026-09-03 · CIENA CORP (CIEN) — FY2026-Q3

• 2026-09-03 · lululemon athletica inc. (LULU) — FY2026-Q2