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DraftKings rebounds after Wall Street hears its prediction market plans

The company plans to launch its own predictions product in the coming months.

DraftKings more than reversed its 11% drop in the wake of its post-close earnings report Thursday, after briefing analysts in its earnings call about its plan to get its own prediction markets business up and running “in the coming months.”

Sportsbooks like DraftKings — and FanDuel, which is owned by Flutter Entertainment — have been battered in recent months, as it has become clear that gamblers are now often turning to prediction markets like Kalshi to take positions on the outcomes of NFL games rather than making bets on traditional sportsbooks.

DraftKings responded by recently buying CFTC-licensed derivatives exchange Railbird as it moves quickly to get its own prediction markets business up and running.

Prediction markets are currently federally regulated as financial derivatives by the CFTC — though there is ongoing litigation in which state gambling regulators argue that prediction markets should be subject to state laws on sports gambling.

At any rate, DraftKings executives told Wall Street analysts in a post-earnings conference call early Friday that it views these markets as a significant opportunity to expand into states where sports gambling is currently illegal.

In his opening remarks on the conference call, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins had this to say on the topic:

“We are excited about our pending launch of DraftKings predictions and its potential to expand our total addressable market in the coming months. We expect DraftKings predictions to enter many new states with sport event contracts, unlocking a new customer base and revenue stream.

Nearly half the country’s population remains without access to legal online sports betting. But there are several other companies offering federally regulated predictions in all 50 states as growth in predictions continues. This may also motivate more states to legalize online sports betting and iGaming with reasonable regulation and taxation.”

DraftKings has other growth strategies in the works as well, such as a Spanish-language version of its betting app “that will meet the demands for a growing audience ahead of the World Cup in 2026.”

The market clearly likes what it heard more than it liked the look of the numbers yesterday: the company fell short of sales expectations and trimmed its full-year guidance. After falling roughly 11% after-hours, DraftKings regained all that ground and is up more than 3%.

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Klarna surges on $1 billion in Q1 revenue and user growth

Klarna is climbing Thursday after the fintech company reported a strong start to 2026, swinging to a net profit of $1 million.

The companys revenue for Q1 landed at $1 billion, above estimates, with earnings per share increasing by $0.25 to $0.01. The revenue beat helped drive adjusted operating profit up to $68 million, a leap from just $3 million in the same period a year ago. Operating income also turned positive at $17 million, reversing a $99 million operating loss from the first quarter of 2025. Meanwhile, active Klarna users jumped by 21% year on year to 119 million.

Klarna did give a weaker-than-expected outlook for the upcoming quarter, projecting revenue to land between $960 million and $1 billion, missing the $1.05 billion target analysts had modeled. Despite the soft current-quarter guidance, management reiterated its full-year 2026 growth and profitability projections, highlighting that its short loan durations allow it to effectively manage credit risk and adapt to market shifts in real time.

Klarna is spend-centric, not lend-centric, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO and cofounder of Klarna, wrote in a statement. The FY26 framework is unchanged — these results give us confidence in the trajectory we laid out.

The stock has dropped over 45% since the start of 2026.

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Ondas surges as Q1 revenue beats estimates, guidance raised

Ondas is surging in premarket trading after posting record Q1 revenue Thursday morning that exceeded analysts’ estimates.

Key numbers:

  • Revenue of $50.1 million (estimate: $39.36 million).

  • Adjusted EBITDA loss of $10.9 million (estimate: $19.53 million).

The company ended the first quarter with a pro forma order backlog of $457 million, up sharply from $68.3 million at the end of 2025.

The primary catalyst for this backlog expansion is the company’s aggressive integration of newly secured defense and autonomy contracts. One driver is Ondas’ recently finalized $175 million acquisition of Mistral, which directly injected $264 million in contracted backlog and established Ondas as a prime contractor for the US Army and Special Operations.

Furthermore, the company’s newly formed ONBERG Autonomous Systems joint venture is actively positioning Ondas to capture upcoming critical infrastructure and drone defense contracts across Germany and Ukraine.

Looking ahead, we believe Ondas is well positioned for the remainder of 2026 and beyond, said Eric Brock, chairman and CEO of Ondas. Recent global developments continue to underscore the urgency driving accelerated adoption of our solutions, reinforcing our long-term thesis and validating the strategic actions we have taken to position the Company for a multi-decade growth cycle.

Ondas raised its full-year 2026 revenue target to at least $390 million, compared with analysts’ forecasts for $377 million.

Before Thursday, the stock had fallen about 9% year to date after surging in 2025.

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Take-Two climbs on reports that “GTA 6” pre-order dates were leaked by a Best Buy email

Gaming publisher Take-Two is up about 6% in premarket trading on Thursday following reports that the preorder date for “Grand Theft Auto 6,” its juggernaut title 13 years in the making, was accidentally leaked overnight.

According to several accounts on X, an email purported to be from Best Buy to affiliates has revealed May 18 as the preorder date. “GTA 6” is currently set to release on November 19. A May preorder date would put to rest fears of another delay to the game, which some analysts expect to sell more than 25 million copies on day 1.

In a Thursday morning X post, Insider Gaming owner Tom Henderson wrote, “Insider Gaming has been able to independently verify that the GTA 6 Pre-Order from Besy Buy is legitimate.”

Take-Two shares climbed earlier this month on a note from Bank of America stating that it believes “GTA 6” will have an $80 price tag.

Take-Two declined to comment on the rumors in an email to Sherwood News. Best Buy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Intuitive Machines sinks after Q1 revenues miss estimates

Intuitive Machines shares are dropping in premarket trading after it reported first-quarter sales that fell short of Wall Street expectations. Just ahead of this release, the company also announced that it’s reached an agreement to acquire UK satellite company Goonhilly Earth Station as well as its US subsidiary to enhance its ability to talk to spacecraft from Earth.

The key Q1 numbers:

  • An adjusted loss per share of $0.25 (compared to analyst estimates of an $0.08 loss).

  • Revenue of $186.7 million (estimate: $208.1 million).

The company provided full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $900 million to $1 billion. The midpoint of $950 million exceeds the analyst consensus estimate of $931.67 million. For the full year, management expects to be adjusted EBITDA positive.

Intuitive Machines contracted backlog surged by $842 million from year-end 2025 to a record $1.1 billion, fueled by an a series of defense, civil, and commercial launch agreements. This includes the newly finalized US Space Force Andromeda indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract, which features a $6.2 billion program ceiling and marks the first revenue synergy after closing an $800 million acquisition of Lanteris Space Systems back in January of this year.

Civil operations are anchored by a $180.4 million NASA contract for its fifth official Commercial Lunar Payload Services task order, which will allow Intuitive Machines to use NASAs brand-new, extra-large lunar lander to carry scientific equipment to the south pole of the moon.

“The next phase of the space economy will not be defined only by who reaches new destinations, said Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus. It will be defined by who can build the infrastructure, connect it reliably, and operate it at scale.

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POET Technologies surges after $50 million purchase order to launch partnership for new AI infrastructure

Shares of POET Technologies are soaring in premarket trading after the company announced a $50 million initial purchase order as part of a joint venture with Lumilens to develop new AI infrastructure.

Specifically, the two parties are aiming to deliver chip-level components that can speed the flow of information by translating electrical signals into photonics (and vice versa) — an Electrical-Optical Interposer.

The target audience is clear: “Engineering samples from this joint development program are expected in late 2026, with production ramp aligned to hyperscaler customer deployments in 2027,” per the press release.

This initial order could scale to more than $500 million in cumulative purchases over five years, and also sees the privately held photonics company Lumilens receive warrants that expire in nine years with an exercise price of $8.25 per share to purchase up to 22.9 million shares of POET, with roughly 2.3 million exercisable based on the initial order.

This pact helps reverse the damage to POET’s order book from Marvell’s recent cancelation, in which the chip and networking company cited a breach of confidentiality in terminating its (inherited) agreement with POET.

Shortly before that notice, POET CFO Thomas Mika had told Stocktwits TV that the company was a supplier to Marvell.

The orders announced today are contingent on the successful development of these offerings and the ability to manufacture them at scale.

“Honestly, technology doesn’t mean anything unless you can manufacture it,” POET Executive Chairman and CEO Dr. Suresh Venkatesan told Sherwood News during an interview in Q4. “So our focus really this year has been to cross that last hurdle of ensuring that the technology that we’re developing is truly manufacturable at scale and at wafer scale.”

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