We entered the thick of earnings season this week. Did you notice the noise got louder? Intel was the big winner and next week we’ll hear from tech giants Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta.

The surface level analysis always sounds simple: revenue beat, earnings miss, margin strength, etc.

But underneath? A much more complicated picture exists.

While the headlines often indicate broad optimism, not every company is equal. Some of the biggest movers are driven more by narrative than fundamentals, e.g. Tesla.

That’s where investors get into trouble.

Chasing what’s appears to work right now without understanding what’s actually driving performance is how portfolios quietly take on risk.

You don’t need to guess between what’s real and what’s hype.

We cut through the noise to break down the true profitability and valuation of every company, so you can separate real opportunities from dangerous traps.

For live examples of our truth telling at work, see our research from this past week.

New Long Idea:

Despite peer-leading profitability and long run tailwinds, this stock is priced as if profits will permanently fall and offers Very Attractive risk/reward. 

Your AI Is Designed to Lie To You:

AI is designed to please, not tell the truth. That’s a serious problem if you’re using AI to make important decisions. Are you getting the truth?

FinSights Showcase at Google Cloud Next 2026:

The Google Cloud AI leaders presented “Finsights: Financial Insights and Analysis Using AI Agents” at Google Cloud Next 2026. Learn more here.

Style Rankings for 2Q26:

We published our Style Rankings report for 2Q26 and our best and worst ETFs and Mutual Funds reports for each individual style. See the recap here.

AI: The Good and Bad News for Advisors:

The Financial Planning Association (FPA) of Middle Tennessee hosted CEO David Trainer for a discussion on how AI is changing the nature of the asset management and financial advisory professions. See the presentation here.

Stock-Picking Outperformance:

Our Focus List Stocks Model Portfolios outperformed as a Long/Short Portfolio in 1Q26.

Featured Stocks:

We featured a stock from our Exec Comp Aligned with ROIC Model Portfolio. See how quality corporate governance drives shareholder value creation.

Model Portfolio Updates:

We updated our Safest Dividend Yields Model Portfolio.

Danger Zone Podcast:

David Trainer joined Chuck Jaffe to discuss why Allbirds’ latest 10-K confirmed the business is worth next to nothing.

We hope you had a great week!

See a preview of upcoming research below.

Upcoming Research