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$8.5T

Analysts at consulting firm Pantheon Macroeconomics estimate that the stock market’s enthusiasm for all things AI has added some $8.5 trillion to aggregate US household wealth since late 2022. They wrote:

“The S&P 500 returned about 70% between the start of ChatGPT mania around the end of 2022 to the end of Q2 2025, with roughly half of those returns generated by the ‘magnificent seven’ tech stocks, a very rough proxy for the stock market boost from AI euphoria.

We estimate that translates into a lift to household wealth held in stocks of about $8.5T.”

As my colleague Luke Kawa recently wrote, stock market wealth seems to be underpinning US consumer spending, especially among the richest Americans. Some of that spending may retrench if AI is indeed a bubble — as some have recently mooted — and eventually pops.

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Bumble soars on better-than-expected Q4 and strong first-quarter profit outlook

Bumble surged more than 20% in premarket trading on Thursday after the dating app operator posted better-than-expected Q4 results and provided Q1 profit guidance that also beat estimates, powered by its ongoing turnaround efforts.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2025, the company reported:

  • Revenue of $224.2 million — down 14% year on year, but above the Wall Street consensus estimate of $221 million (per data compiled by Bloomberg).

  • Adjusted EBITDA of $71.6 million, beating analyst expectations of $63.5 million.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2026, Bumble forecasts:

  • Adjusted EBITDA of $76 million to $80 million, well ahead of analysts’ consensus estimate of $57.7 million.

  • Revenue in the range of $209 million to $213 million, roughly meeting Wall Street expectations of $210 million.

Since founder Whitney Wolfe Herd returned to the top job around a year ago, Bumble has been undergoing a broad turnaround plan, featuring the introduction of new AI-enabled features to compete with stiff competition in the dating app market.

In the company’s press release, Wolfe Herd commented on its strategic overhaul: “With the heavy lift of our quality reset behind us, we are accelerating product innovation and prioritizing member experience enhancements. We are building from a stronger base and positioning Bumble for its next chapter of product-led growth.”

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UiPath dips despite revenue beat, as guidance fails to excite analysts about longer-term growth

UiPath is down 5% in premarket trading on Thursday after the software and agentic automation company’s guidance failed to fully address investors’ growth concerns, despite posting upbeat results for the quarter and full year ended January 31, 2026.

For the final quarter of FY2026, UiPath posted revenue of $481 million, just above analysts’ consensus estimate of $465 million (compiled by Bloomberg), and adjusted earnings per share of $0.30, topping Wall Street estimates by 18%. The company’s annualized recurring revenue grew 11% year over year to $1.853 billion, and the quarter also rounded out the company’s first profitable full year, with a GAAP operating income of $57 million for fiscal 2026.

Despite the better-than-expected results, shares slumped seemingly on the company’s conservative growth guidance. UiPath expects the following for the full year ending January 31, 2027:

  • Revenue between $1.754 billion and $1.759 billion, which would signal a slowdown in year-over-year growth to at least 9%, compared with 13% in the latest full-year results.

  • ARR in the range of $2.051 billion to $2.056 billion as of January 31, 2027.

  • Non-GAAP operating income of approximately $415 million.

In the wake of the results, a number of analysts have cut their price targets, suggesting that Wall Street was implicitly hoping for more exciting guidance. Morgan Stanley’s analyst cut their price target to $17 (from $19), Canaccord dropped its target to $15 (from $19), and UBS lowered it to $13 (from $17).

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Oil jumps back over $100 per barrel with tankers ablaze after being struck near the Strait of Hormuz

Plans to release strategic reserves have offered some relief, but the IEA warns the conflict is causing the largest oil supply disruption ever.

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