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Verizon: Your Total Return Leader for 2026 Might Be Hiding in Plain Sight

Written by Thomas Hughes

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is up approximately 15% year-to-date as of early February and is on track to be a leader for total return investors.

Its nearly 6% yield is safe, and the market for its stock, on track for a significant breakout, can rise another 50% within a two to three-year time frame.

The driver is the impact of the recently appointed CEO, Dan Shulman, who has reinvigorated subscriber growth for this communications stock and amplified the long-term outlook. 

However, investors should still watch execution on network investments and pricing discipline as the turnaround unfolds.

Verizon Market Heats Up, On Track for Significant Breakout

The stock price action since the Q4 2025 release, issued in late January, is aggressively bullish. The market advanced by more than 15% over three weeks, rising from the low end to the high end of its existing trading range. The critical factors are the volume, which spiked to historical highs, and the indicators, which signal a strong buy. Stochastic and MACD align, with bullish crossovers near the bottom of their respective ranges, suggesting a strengthening market with bulls in charge and plenty of room to move higher. 

Regarding the technical targets, the base case is a movement equal to the February rally, approximately $17, while the bull case suggests a 45% upsidefrom the breakout point. That projection puts this market near historical highs on track to set new highs, assuming business traction and momentum are sustained. The valuation metrics are more enticing, with Verizon trading near 9x its 2026 earnings, about half its historical high. 

Analysts and Institutions Drive VZ Market, Point to New Highs

Analyst sentiment underpins the stock price action. The analysts’ response to Q4 results was overwhelmingly bullish, with 11 revisions issued by a field of 20, and all positive. The worst are two affirmed ratings amounting to a Moderate Buy and above-consensus price target. The remainder includes two upgrades to Buy or Outperform equivalents and seven price target increases.

The net result is that coverage remains steady, sentiment is firming, and bullish bias is strengthening. The consensus, which forecasts a new long-term high, is rising, and revision trends point to the high end of the mid-$50’s. 

Institutional activity is also a driving force for this market. The group owns more than 60% of the stock and bought on balance every quarter in 2025 and the first month of 2026. The support base they provide is strong, given the greater-than-$2 bought for each $1 sold balance, and is quickly becoming a tailwind.

Assuming no change in the fundamental outlook, analysts and institutions suggest this market will set new highs soon; it’s only a matter of when. When it happens, the technical targets will take effect regardless of where the analysts’ high end is set. In this scenario, VZ will continue to perform well and sustain a bullish revision cycle. 

Verizon Indicates Pivot With Q4 Results, 2026 Guidance

Verizon is issued a good report and robust guidance, strengthened by CEO Shulman’s confident, consumer-focused, win-big attitude. The company reported $36.4 billion in revenue, up 2% year over year and 50 basis points better than expected, driven by a six-year high in net subscription additions. Strength was seen across business metrics, with consumer and business segments contributing to growth and margin. 

Margin news is mixed: margins are contracting under the influence of marketing and 5G build-out, but still better than expected, compounded by the guidance. The net result is that adjusted earnings of $1.09 were nearly 300 bps better than MarketBeat’s reported consensus, sufficient to enable balance sheet improvement while paying dividends, and guidance for 2026 is robust. The company targets net additions two to three times the prior year’s level, a six-year high in free cash flow, and low-end EPS of $4.95, compared to the $4.77 consensus estimate. This is potentially cautious, given the momentum seen in the Q4 2025 results. READ THIS STORY ONLINE

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Insiders Buy 3 High-Risk Stocks—Here’s What’s Driving the Moves

Written by Leo Miller

When it comes to analyzing insider trades, investors should keep several important nuances in mind. For example, insider sales can often appear alarming until one realizes that they were made under a predetermined Rule 10b5-1 plan. Because insiders must schedule these trades far in advance of their execution, they don’t provide a clear bearish signal.

Meanwhile, insider buying tends to be a much better indicator for investors. As famed asset manager Peter Lynch once said, “Insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.”

To this end, let’s break down the recent insider buys and news surrounding three high-risk names: GameStop (NYSE: GME), USA Rare Earth (NASDAQ: USAR), and Under Armour (NYSE: UA). 

Insiders and Michael Burry Buy GME Amid CEO’s Bold Statements

GameStop has been in and out of financial headlines for years now, most known for its association with the “meme-stock” phenomenon.

Recently, CEO Ryan Cohen conducted an interview with the Wall Street Journal. Cohen reportedly wants to acquire a major public company to turn GameStop into a much larger firm. Notably, the company has $8.8 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities available to finance an acquisition.

Still, details are scant at this point, with Cohen saying, “It’s ultimately either going to be genius or totally, totally foolish.” Despite the huge amount of uncertainty surrounding Cohen’s plans, insiders and outside investors and buying GME shares.

Three insiders purchased a total of nearly $11 million in shares from Jan. 20 to Jan. 23.

Additionally, “Big Short” investor Michael Burry has been buying GME. While this insider buying provides positive signals, betting big on GameStop remains risky—especially since almost all of GME’s recent insider buying came from Cohen himself.

USAR Insiders Make Purchases After Key Funding Announcements

USA Rare Earth is another name seeing notable insider buying. Two insiders purchased a total of around $2.17 million worth of shares on Jan. 29. These buys came days after the company announced a non-binding letter of intent (LOI) with the U.S. Department of Commerce. This LOI could provide USAR with $1.6 billion worth of government funding, $1.3 billion of which would be in the form of a secured loan.

However, the agreement has not been finalized.

USAR has also received $1.5 billion in financing from private investors, earmarked for building out its rare earth mine-to-magnet value chain. Currently, MP Materials (NYSE: MP) remains the only U.S. company with a scaled rare-earth mining operation, a designation that USAR is poised to disrupt.

Given the strategic importance of rare-earth magnets to many technology companies and national defense, it’s logical for the U.S. government to work with USAR.

Clearly, the company insiders are buying into the firm’s future, providing a bullish signal. Still, with massive amounts of volatility and government funding not finalized, USAR is a high-risk stock.

Under Armour Sees Over $200 Million in Insider Buys

Last up is the seemingly forgotten apparel brand Under Armour. Since late December 2025, major shareholder Prem Watsa has purchased a large number of Under Armour shares.

These shares are held by subsidiaries of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, of which Watsa is the CEO. In total, Watsa purchased $219 million worth of Under Armour shares from late December to early February, which were underpinned by $1 million of insider purchases from three separate individuals in August 2025.

These buyers were vindicated on Feb. 6, when shares surged by over 19% on Under Armour’s latest earnings report, which beat sales expectations and delivered an adjusted earnings-per-share (EPS) surprise.

While these insider buys and the company’s earnings are positive signs, Under Armour’s outlook is mixed. Much of the company’s EPS beat came from a one-time tax benefit. Additionally, the stock trades at a steep forward price-to-earnings ratio of 59x. It has posted negative sales growth for 11 consecutive quarters and expects sales to decline again next quarter, which may cause investors to question its premium valuation going forward. 

Insiders Buys: Positive Indicators, But Not Gospel

While these insider purchases provide encouraging signs from these firm’s key confidants, they are one key indicator that investors should consider. Just as external market watchers can be wrong in their assessments of a stock’s future, so can insiders. READ THIS STORY ONLINE

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2 Subscription Economy Winners That Still Dominate Their Niches

Written by Jordan Chussler

Over the past decade, Deere & Company (NYSE: DE)—more commonly known by its brand name John Deere—has received mounting criticism for its transition to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The move indicated a shift in which the company—a manufacturer of agricultural, construction, and forestry machinery—began implementing a restricted-repair model. 

The result: Farmers and other vocations that rely on heavy machinery are forced to use integrated digital technology in tractors and other equipment. The company states that, rather than outright ownership of machines, its customers hold an implied license to operate the software and equipment in tandem.  

While Deere has faced criticism for the move, the company is just one example of the proliferation of the subscription economy—a business model in which firms have shifted to generating recurring revenue from consumers who pay regular fees for ongoing services rather than purchasing products outright. 

There have been numerous successful adoptions of this model, from Instacart grocery delivery provider Maplebear (NASDAQ: CART) to music-streaming service provider Spotify (NYSE: SPOT). But a few companies are so well-positioned that they can be deemed the winners of the subscription economy. And right now, two of them are on sale.

How the Subscription Economy Has Taken Over

Driven by the digital transformation, the subscription economy focuses on captive audiences who are willing to pay recurring fees for personalization and convenience, in turn providing companies with predictable revenues.

The model isn’t anything new. Newspapers are an anachronism in 2026, but the industry embraced the very same practice being used today by gaming companies, telehealth and medication platforms, and mobile app-based rideshare providers.

The difference today is that, rather than paperboys delivering goods and services, the digital services are driving modern adoption. 

According to industry consultancy firm Grand View Research, the digital transformation market size, which was estimated to be valued at $1.07 trillion in 2024, is expected to reach $4.62 trillion by 2030, good for a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.5%.

While that alone should grab investors’ attention, it merely serves as a foundation for the explosive adoption of subscription models. Grand View Research also found that the global subscription economy market, valued at $492.34 billion in 2024, is expected to reach $1.51 trillion by 2033 based on a CAGR of 13.3%. 

Netflix Dominates Streaming Video and Is on Sale 

Movie theaters are hanging on by a thread, and if you ask executives at Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), they may tell you the industry is facing a fate similar to that of Blockbuster Video. 

Since the communication services sector’s mainstay has grown into a household name, it has amassed a market cap of more than $347 billion. And while competitors—including Amazon’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) Prime Video and Disney’s (NYSE: DIS) Hulu and Disney+—have emerged, the ubiquity and track record of Netflix make it the runaway market leader.  

Last year, Netflix reaffirmed its dominance when it announced a deal to take over Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD). In January, that agreement was amended to an all-cash deal in order to expedite the acquisition and counter a bid from rival Paramount Skydance (NASDAQ: PSKY). 

The takeover amounts to $83 billion, with Warner Bros. Discovery planning to spin off its networks division—including CNN, TBS, TNT, and the Discovery Channel—into a new public company called Discovery Global. 

That deal sent shares of NFLX lower. Year-to-date (YTD), the stock is down nearly 10%, following a more than 39% slide from its all-time high in June 2025. 

Here’s why that’s good news for prospective investors and current shareholders. The stock’s trailing 12-month (TTM) price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is 32.53, but its forward P/E ratio is just 3.34, implying that the stock is providing some of its greatest value since its May 2002 IPO. 

Analysts assign NFLX a Moderate Buy rating, but their average one-year price target of $116.08 suggests more than 41% potential upside.

Software’s Sell-Off Means Adobe Shares Are a Bargain 

From semiconductor leases to iCloud storage, the tech sector is no stranger to the subscription model. But the recent sell-off in software stocks has resulted in skittish investors wary of the space. 

That may be true for short-term swing traders, but for buy-and-hold investors looking to acquire shares at a bargain, perhaps no other company in this corner of the market is a better buy-low candidate than Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE).

The SaaS company—famous for Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and Acrobat—has seen its stock fall more than 19% YTD, and since its all-time high in November 2021, ADBE is down more than 61%. 

However, that software no longer offers single-purchase options. Instead, the product suite’s subscription revenue reached nearly $6 billion in Q4 2025, representing a 12% year-over-year increase. 

Overall, Adobe’s recurring revenue has contributed to a five-year annual revenue growth rate of 13.15%. Despite the stock’s slide, annual net income (a.k.a. profit) has grown $4.82 billion in 2021—the year of ADBE’s all-time high—to $7.13 billion in 2025, good for a nearly 48% increase. 

Meanwhile, analysts’ average 12-month price target of $401.13 implies nearly 50% potential upside. The stock’s forward P/E is also attractive at 16.12. Meanwhile, Adobe has only missed earnings once in the past 27 quarters, dating back to Q2 2019. READ THIS STORY ONLINE

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