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🦉 The Night Owl Newsletter for May 3rd
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Nobody Understands Why Trump Is Invading Iran (here’s the answer) (From Banyan Hill Publishing)
Roblox Stock Slides to New Low as Safety Changes Weigh on Outlook
Written by Jennifer Ryan Woods

It’s been a tough stretch for online gaming platform Roblox Corp. (NYSE: RBLX), and some investors aren’t eager to keep playing.
Following the company’s first-quarter earnings report on April 30, shares plunged, hitting a new 52-week low of $41.75 and extending a sell-off that has already weighed heavily on the stock over the past several months.
While Roblox delivered solid year-over-year growth and a smaller-than-expected loss, the company lowered its guidance, warning that new safety features, including global age checks and chat restrictions, could weigh on user growth and bookings.
Guidance Overshadowed Mixed Results
For the quarter, Roblox reported a loss of 35 cents per share, wider than the year-ago loss of 32 cents per share, but better than the 41-cent-per-share loss Wall Street was expecting. Revenue of $1.44 billion grew more than 43% year over year, but missed expectations by nearly $300 million.
On the earnings call, the company emphasized its commitment to rolling out additional safety features, while acknowledging the move would create a near-term headwind.
“We’re committed to setting the global standard for healthy, safe, and age-appropriate digital engagement,” Chief Executive David Baszucki said, adding, “In Q1, we became the first large online gaming platform to introduce age checks to access chat on a global basis.”
Safety Changes Are Already Weighing on Growth
The safety changes have already had an impact, reducing the percentage of users communicating on the platform and causing lower App Store ratings, which may be contributing to a slowdown in organic signups.
The pressure is expected to continue in the near term. Roblox expects daily active users to decline between the first and second quarters before returning to sequential growth in the third quarter. As a result, the company lowered its full-year guidance, now calling for top-line growth of 20% to 25% and bookings growth of 8% to 12%. It also warned that margins are likely to come under pressure this year.
A handful of negative analyst reactions followed the report, with at least two analysts downgrading the stock and one slashing their price target. The stock now carries a consensus rating of Hold. While many on Wall Street have turned more cautious, analysts overall still see upside, with the average 12-month price target suggesting the stock could rise more than 100%.
A Sharp Reversal From Last Year’s Rally
Roblox stock has taken investors on a roller coaster over the past year. Shares soared from the $50 to $60 range in April 2025 to an all-time intraday high above $150 by late July, driven by strong bookings growth and investor optimism. Shares gave back some gains in the following months, but remained elevated through the end of September, trading around $139. Between early April and late September, shares had risen more than 125%.
But momentum began to fade throughout the fall, and sentiment turned decisively more negative following the third-quarter earnings report at the end of October. Revenue missed expectations, and guidance pointed to margin pressure, sending shares down more than 15% in the sessions that followed.
The stock has struggled to regain traction since. Before the first-quarter earnings report, shares were trading around $55. They were recently trading around the mid-$40s, down roughly 15% to 20% following the report.
Strong Growth, But Profitability Still a Challenge
Despite the recent weakness in the stock, Roblox’s underlying business has continued to show solid growth. In the first quarter, bookings rose 43% year over year, which Baszucki said was “roughly twice what we’ve shared with investors as our long-term growth trajectory.”
The company also generated $629 million in operating cash flow, up 42% year over year, and $596 million in free cash flow, up 40%. Monthly unique payers rose to 31 million, up 52% from the prior year.
However, profitability remains a key issue. While margins have improved, they remain negative, and the reduction in bookings expectations is expected to pressure them further this year.
Despite the Sell-Off, the Stock Isn’t Cheap
Even after the recent sell-off, Roblox stock isn’t particularly cheap. It trades at a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of about 6.2X, more than double the gaming industry average of roughly 3X.
The valuation is similar to peers like Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), which trades at around 6.8X sales. However, the profitability difference is significant. Electronic Arts reported net income of around $1.12 billion in 2025, while Roblox posted a net loss of around $1.07 billion.
Is This a Buy-the-Dip Moment?
Following its steep decline that began last year, Roblox is clearly under pressure, and the latest earnings report has only added to investor concerns.
If the company can show that the impact from new safety controls is temporary, the recent sell-off could begin to look overdone. However, if growth continues to slow and profitability remains elusive, the stock could face further downside.
For now, investors appear to be stepping to the sidelines as they wait for more clarity on whether this pullback represents an opportunity or a sign of further trouble ahead. READ THIS STORY ONLINE
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2 Stocks to Watch as the Quantum Space Gets More Crowded
Written by Nathan Reiff

A mid-April surge to nearly $22 a share was short-lived, and now D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) is once again trending downward, as it has for much of the year so far.
There’s no doubt that it is a difficult time for quantum computing stocks, with pressure mounting from investors for pure-play companies to prove their mettle by demonstrating that they can actually generate sales and profit. Despite some important progress in this direction, these goals remain elusive for D-Wave and many of its rivals.
Another challenge facing D-Wave? A wave of new entrants into the space, as novel quantum players reach the market and legacy tech companies not previously involved in quantum computing are beginning to expand their operations into this area.
Two recent developments highlight how quickly the quantum ecosystem is getting more crowded—and a third, longer-term risk could draw even more companies into the space.
Cisco’s Universal Quantum Switch Could Be a Game Changer, But in What Way?
Global hardware, software, and telecom giant Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) may not be a direct competitor of D-Wave and other pure-play quantum companies, but its growing presence in the space is nonetheless a complicating factor.
Cisco recently introduced its Universal Quantum Switch, a key quantum networking tool that aims to direct quantum information between systems without destroying the information in the process. This has previously been a major hindrance in quantum architecture.
Cisco’s new switch helps to cement it as an essential provider of quantum infrastructure of a kind that is different from the quantum systems that D-Wave and other rivals build. In this way, there may not be significant direct competition, and indeed, Cisco’s newest product could provide a major boost to those other systems. At the same time, though, the lower the barriers to entry into the quantum space, the more likely it may be that other legacy tech firms will bulk up their quantum operations, crowding the field even further.
Honeywell’s Quantinuum Looks Ahead to Ambitious IPO
Automation and aerospace firm Honeywell International Inc. (NASDAQ: HON) is not known as a quantum company, but it is preparing to bring one to investors via IPO.
Quantinuum, which was formed half a decade ago after separating from Honeywell, filed in mid-April for a U.S. IPO after being valued at $10 billion in a fundraising round last fall. Honeywell remains the majority owner of Quantinuum.
Besides the entry of yet another new quantum computing business to the U.S. equities space, the fact that Quantinuum is going public via IPO (rather than via special purpose acquisition company) suggests company leaders are confident it will hold up in the face of heightened scrutiny during the process. The major backing from $135-billion Honeywell certainly helps in that regard.
However, Quantinuum’s aspirations go beyond that, as it aims to be the “largest standalone integrated quantum computing” firm. Quantinuum’s Helios quantum computing system launched in 2025 and may be an increasingly viable alternative to D-Wave’s Advantage2 system or similar offerings from rivals.
The soon-to-be-public company also tallied up some $600 million in investments late last year and won a partnership with NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA). It seems poised to be a major player in quantum.
The Cybersecurity Factor
Another major consideration for investors attempting to select future quantum winners is the increasing threat the technology poses to cybersecurity.
Everything from traditional security systems to Bitcoin may be vulnerable to security risks thanks to the power of quantum computing, with analysts speculating that the biggest impact may still be years away.
Again, this may not seem to directly impact an investment in a pure-play quantum company like D-Wave right now. But cybersecurity is big business across virtually every industry that is globally connected. As it becomes clearer just the type of risk that ultra-powerful quantum systems may pose to pre-existing security tools, there will undoubtedly be an incentive for new companies to get involved in the quantum space as a way of adapting. The quantum computing field will likely once again get more crowded, making it all that much harder still for individual firms to stand out.
Despite its slump in recent months, D-Wave stock is still up by over 190%in the last 12 months. This impressive rally has already reversed itself in 2026 and could face further challenges going forward as well based on factors entirely outside of the company’s control. This makes the race toward marketability and profitability even more urgent for D-Wave and its peers. READ THIS STORY ONLINE
Nobody Understands Why Trump Is Invading Iran (here’s the answer) (Ad)

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Trump’s Rescheduling of Marijuana Is a Spark for Top Marijuana ETFs
Written by Jessica Mitacek

After amassing enormous losses over the past five years, cannabis stocksreceived a much-needed shot in the arm last week when President Donald Trump announced plans to officially reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
The April 23 announcement comes on the heels of Trump’s April 18 executive order seeking to increase funding and accelerate research for the use of psilocybin and other psychedelics as medical treatments for serious mental illnesses.
While investors may question the sustainability of the recent rally in pot stocks after some of the industry’s biggest names experienced +90% losses over the past five years, for speculative investors looking for a buy-low opportunity, two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) can provide broad exposure at bargain bin prices.
Conditional Marijuana Rescheduling Is a Slow-Burning Catalyst
While the news served as a short-term tailwind for cannabis stocks, long-term, it could take some time to impact the top lines of companies that have positioned themselves to capitalize on state-level medical and recreational decriminalization.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the agency—in cooperation with the Drug Enforcement Administration—issued an order immediately placing both U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved products containing marijuana as well as marijuana products regulated by state medical marijuana licenses in Schedule III of the CSA.
However, that does not include the rescheduling of broader marijuana products, and specifically for recreational use. That will depend on an administrative hearing scheduled for June 29, which aims to “provide a timely and legally compliant pathway to evaluate broader changes to marijuana’s status under federal law.”
Regardless, the move to immediately reschedule FDA-approved products and state-regulated products has been long-awaited. The drug was added to Schedule I in October 1970 during President Richard Nixon’s first term, and the move by the Trump administration serves as a massive, long-term tailwind in the making.
The market reacted accordingly. From its one-month low on March 30 to its one-month high on April 22, the North American Cannabis Index (NTR) gained more than 33%. For two of the largest ETFs in the space, those gains were even more magnified, demonstrating the upside potential that a rebound in cannabis stocks could carry.
A Basket of Pot Stocks Harvesting Global Gains
During the same time that the NTR index was rising in anticipation of cannabis’ rescheduling, the Amplify Alternative Harvest ETF (NYSEARCA: MJ) gained 44%.
The passively managed fund seeks to track the Prime Alternative Harvest Index, which includes global companies engaged in the legal cultivation, production, and distribution of cannabis and related products, as well as ancillary industries.
Notably, the ETF remains down in 2026, with a year-to-date (YTD) loss of more than 6%. But prior to March 30, that loss exceeded 31%, with its Q1 performance suggesting that more of the troubles that plagued the fund over the past five years—amounting to a loss of more than 89%—were in store.
Shares are still trading well below their 52-week high of $46.75, but it appears that MJ’s holdings are turning a corner.
Institutional inflows have marginally outpaced outflows over the past year, though they remain well below 2024 highs. But for speculative investors, the ETF pays for patience.
The MJ’s dividend currently yields 2.12%, or 59 cents per share annually.
A Cannabis ETF With a Domestic Twist
Narrower in scope, the AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (NYSEARCA: MSOS), which launched on Sept. 1, 2020, is an actively managed ETF that mostly invests in the stocks of U.S.-based cannabis and hemp companies.
As a result, the fund’s 62% gain from March 30 to April 22 outpaced both the NTR index and the Amplify Alternative Harvest ETF over the same period.
That has helped the fund break above even in 2026 with a YTD gain of more than 7%. But like MJ, the MSOS has suffered enormous losses over the past five years, totaling more than 88%.
However, over the past 12 months, the ETF has seen institutional buyersmore than double the number of sellers, with inflows surpassing outflows for three consecutive quarters. Meanwhile, short interest in the MSOS—while still notable at 5.94%—has steadily declined from its record high in December 2025.
Prospective investors should be mindful of the fund’s relatively high expense ratio of 0.77%. And unlike the Amplify Alternative Harvest ETF, the MSOS does not pay a dividend. However, with its singular focus on the U.S.-based cannabis and hemp industry, its has the potential to produce outsized gains based on the momentum provided by the Trump administration’s rescheduling of marijuana. READ THIS STORY ONLINE
Trump Admin to Pump $1 Billion into this “Off-the-Radar” AI Stock (Ad)

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Further Reading: Ticker Revealed: Pre-IPO Access to “Next Elon Musk” Company(From Banyan Hill Publishing)