Category: 3. Business

Hackers have stolen personal information of a majority of insurance firm Allianz Life’s 1.4 million customers in North America, its parent company said.

“On July 16, 2025, a malicious threat actor gained access to a third-party, cloud-based CRM system used by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz Life),” Allianz said in a statement to the BBC.

The German parent company added that the hackers were “able to obtain personally identifiable data related to the majority of Allianz Life’s customers, financial professionals, and select Allianz Life employees, using a social engineering technique”.

The data breach was only related to Allianz Life, according to the company.

The insurance giant disclosed the data breach in a legal filing with the attorney general in the US state of Maine.

It did not specify how many people had been affected.

In the statement, the insurance company said it had taken “immediate action” to contain the breach and had notified the FBI.

It said that there was “no evidence the Allianz Life network or other company systems were accessed, including our policy administration system”.

Allianz – which has over 125 million customers globally – added that it was in the process of contacting and assisting the individuals affected by the data breach.

A social engineering cyber-attack is when hackers pressure or trick users into giving away sensitive information, such as by impersonating a trusted company or person.

A joint road policing operation involving three forces from across the South West has seized more than 10 uninsured vehicles through number plate recognition.

Officers from Devon and Cornwall, Avon and Somerset, and Hampshire Police forces took part in the operation on Friday, to coincide with the busiest day of travel into region.

Thirteen uninsured vehicles were seized and people were also stopped for other crimes including speeding, mobile phone offences and fuel theft.

Sgt James Gallienne, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said the operation was important as “at least one person every day” is seriously injured by an uninsured or hit and run driver.”

He added: “Operations like this aim to educate about and enforce the law in order to reduce the number of uninsured drivers on the road and reduce collisions.

“Devon and Cornwall remain safe places to live and visit and we will continue to be proactive in keeping our road network safe.”

The three police forces worked alongside the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) using Automatic Number Plate Recognition to monitor interchanges on the A30, A38 and A380 to identify uninsured vehicles.

“Every 20 minutes, someone is falling victim to an uninsured or hit-and-run driver, with one person so seriously injured that they require life-long care,” the MIB said.

“Removing uninsured vehicles from the road helps protect all road users from potential harm.

“Additionally, uninsured drivers are frequently linked to other criminal activities, including drug or drink driving, excessive speeding, and organised crime such as drug running.”

Roads policing inspector Matt Boiles, from Avon and Somerset Police, added: “We typically see a significant rise in traffic volumes at the start of the summer holidays as people travel to and through our region.

“By targeting uninsured vehicles, we’re aiming to reduce risk to all road users during one of the busiest times of year.”

The MIB said many of the drivers of the seized vehicles were knowingly uninsured but urged all drivers to check their insurance status

• Palantir has witnessed a meteoric rise in its share price thanks to the company’s successful foray into the artificial intelligence (AI) arena.

• Several respected investors on Wall Street have been applying different approaches when it comes to investing in Palantir, making it hard to discern how “smart money” feels about the company.

• Palantir is trading for a historically high valuation, and broader buying and selling themes from institutional money managers could suggest a sell-off is on the horizon.

• 10 stocks we like better than Palantir Technologies ›

Outside of Nvidia, I’d argue that no other company has benefited from the tailwinds of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution as much as data mining specialist Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR).

Over the last three years, shares of Palantir have gained more than 1,300%. Just this year alone, Palantir stock has rocketed by 97%. To put that into perspective, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes haven’t even posted gains of 10% in 2025.

While it can be tempting to follow the momentum in hopes of more outsize gains, smart investors understand that hope is not a real strategy.

Let’s explore the catalysts behind Palantir’s generational run, and assess some recent trading activity to help discern whether Palantir stock could be headed even higher.

When AI first started to emerge as the next megatrend during late 2022 and early 2023, investors were consistently bombarded with news around big tech’s splashy investments in the space. Microsoft plowed $10 billion into OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. Both Amazon and Alphabet invested hefty sums into a competing platform, called Anthropic. Tesla was touting its advancements in self-driving cars and humanoid robots. You get the drift — the AI narrative largely hinged on the moves big tech was making.

But in the background, Palantir was building. In April 2023, the company launched its fourth major software suite — the Palantir Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP).

As the graph above illustrates, Palantir was a relatively slow-growth, cash-burning enterprise prior to the release of AIP. But since AIP’s launch a little more than two years ago, Palantir’s revenue has accelerated considerably. On top of that, the company has been able to command improving unit economics underscored by a sweeping transition to positive net income and generating billions in free cash flow.

At the end of 2022, Palantir had 367 total customers. As of the end of the first quarter this year, Palantir boasted 769 total customers. Perhaps even more impressive is that the company’s commercial customers (non-government) have risen by more than twofold over the last couple of years.

To me, AIP is serving as a gateway for Palantir to expand its reach beyond federal contracts with the U.S. military, which is what Palantir is best known for. AIP represents a transformational shift as a defense contractor to a more ubiquitous software platform capable of penetrating the private sector, despite relentless competition from larger companies such as Salesforce or SAP.

As a Palantir bull myself, I’ve been blown away by management’s ability to outmaneuver big tech and deliver on lofty growth targets time and again. But as an investor, I can’t help but wonder if the company’s share price trajectory is sustainable.

In addition to analyzing financial trends and operating metrics, investors can augment their due diligence process by listening to how Wall Street analysts talk about a company or even dig into the trading activity of notable investors. Thanks to a nifty tool called a form 13F, investors can access an itemized breakdown of all of the buys and sells from hedge funds during a given quarter.

During the first quarter, famed billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller sold out of his fund’s Palantir position. In addition, Cathie Wood has been trimming exposure to Palantir in Ark’s portfolio as well.

On the flip side, billionaire investors Ken Griffin and Israel Englander both added to their funds’ respective Palantir positions during the first quarter. Given these dynamics, it might be hard to discern how Wall Street really feels about Palantir.

I think there are some nuances to point out given the details above. First, both Druckenmiller and Wood have been in and out of Palantir stock in the past — this is not the first time each investor reduced their exposure to the data analytics darling.

On top of that, I think Griffin’s and Englander’s activity should be taken with a grain of salt. Both investors run highly sophisticated, multistrategy hedge funds. From time to time, some of this activity may include being a market maker.

Although it may appear bullish that Palantir stock is held in Griffin’s Citadel and Englander’s Millennium Management portfolios, I wouldn’t quite buy that narrative. Neither fund is necessarily known for holding positions for the long term.

Moreover, as a multistrategy fund with a number of different teams and objectives, I think that it’s highly likely that Citadel and Millennium have a layered and complex hedge strategy when it comes to owning a volatile growth stock such as Palantir.

The chart below illustrates institutional buying and selling of Palantir stock over the last few years.

Given that buying (the purple line) remains elevated over selling (the orange line), this could suggest that Palantir remains a favorite among institutional portfolios. However, as I expressed above, not all hedge funds and money managers have the same strategy. In other words, some of this elevated buying could be part of a broader, more complex trading strategy and less so an endorsement of long-term accumulation.

Over the last few months, Palantir stock has become increasingly more expensive. In fact, the company is trading well beyond levels seen during peak days of the dot-com or COVID-19 bubbles.

While it’s impossible to know for certain where Palantir stock will be trading by the end of the year, smart investors know that nothing goes up in a straight line forever.

A good indicator for how investors feel about Palantir’s prospects should come after the company reports second-quarter earnings in a couple of weeks. As a reminder, shares fell off a cliff for a brief moment following the company’s first-quarter blowout report. Expectations are rising with each passing report, and I would not be surprised to see Palantir stock sell off again — even if its Q2 results are stellar.

Given the convergence between institutional buying and selling, combined with Palantir’s increasingly expensive valuation, I can’t help but be cautious at this point. I do think a valuation correction could be in store sooner or later and would not be surprised if shares are trading for a considerably lower price by the end of the year.

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Adam Spatacco has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, Palantir Technologies, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, Palantir Technologies, Salesforce, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

After Soaring Nearly 100% So Far This Year, Where Will Palantir Stock Be at the End of 2025? was originally published by The Motley Fool

Google

‘Employment benefits’

Shares in struggling retailers and ageing consumer brands surged, as amateur traders cast aside Wall Street’s skepticism and mobilized online. It’s like 2021 all over again.

But the latest meme-stock rally could be even bigger than its predecessor four years ago, when investors piled into recognizable but unloved stocks, such as the video games retailer GameStop and the movie theatre chain AMC, according to the founder of the Reddit forum that helped whip up the frenzy.

Retailer Kohl’s, camera firm GoPro, fast-food chain Wendy’s and doughnut chain Krispy Kreme each staged rapid rallies this week, driven by abrupt surges in trading volume reminiscent of the the meme-stock craze of 2021, when social media memes boosted a collection of struggling stocks, triggering extraordinary and volatile leaps in value.

Actress Sydney Sweeney helped bring clothing retailer American Eagle Outfitters into the mania after it was announced the Euphoria and White Lotus star would front the brand’s latest marketing campaign. The company’s shares surged about 10% in trading on Thursday.

Meme stocks are “about to leap-frog in size and scope and scale, so that retail traders are going to redefine what matters”, according to Jaime Rogozinski, founder of the wallstreetbets Reddit forum behind many of the volatile rallies.

“The world of finance is clearly changing, with blockchain technologies encroaching, and AI agents that trade on their own,” he said. “And the collective of retail traders is adapting along with it.”

Rogozinski founded wallstreetbets in 2012, but said Reddit ousted him as a moderator in 2020. His bid to sue the social media company for trademark infringement was dismissed by the US court of appeals for the ninth circuit last month.

The forum’s users home in on stocks and share their own research. “It’s a decentralization of power of who can be financial analyst,” said Noor Al, a moderator on wallstreetbets. “Great ideas can now come from anyone, anywhere.

“We’re seeing the power of retail push stocks, sometimes to the tune of billions of dollars, through the power of ideas, the power of community and the power of the people,” he added.

The meme-stock craze of 2021, which produced stars such as Roaring Kitty, was a product of the Covid era, when many amateur traders were stuck at home and flush with pandemic stimulus cash.

Whether this latest frenzy produces similar winners is not yet clear. Kohl’s finished the week up 32%, GoPro was up 66% and Krispy Kreme was up 41%. The rallies show some investors are willing to take on more risk, as stocks scale record highs and the market, dominated by big tech, becomes harder to beat.

Often, meme-stock bets are unbound from economic fundamentals, as investors move to support a brand for romantic or ideological reasons. Donald Trump’s Trump Media & Technology Group, home to Truth Social, is valued at more than $5bn on quarterly revenue of about $1m.

The wallstreetbets ethos “has always to some extent been about flaunting and exploiting the ironies, relevance or irrelevance” of the stock market, said Rogozinski, who pointed to Wendy’s, the hamburger chain, as a good example. “Wendy’s has always been a meme that goes back a decade. It brings a smile to my face, because on Reddit there’s always been this thing where they say: ‘Sir, this is a Wendy’s.’

“It’s an inside joke, and I don’t even get where it started. It’s just a meme,” he added. The stock’s fleeting rise – it rallied 10% in two days, but finished the week broadly flat – shows some retail investors do not necessarily care about the typical factors that drive the market, such as tariffs and war in the Middle East. “It’s this ability for us to almost make fun of the financial system.”

Long-term institutional players will always get the last laugh, Rogozinski conceded, because prices will return to normal valuations. “But in the short term there’s lot of money to be had with this volatility, and the fact that stocks are able to move up and down with such ease is but a mere showcase for how the financial system needs a facelift in relevancy.”

While current market conditions do not replicate the low interest rates and retail investor buoyancy of the Covid era, market records and a robust economy have made meme stocks attractive once again for some. “You see all these indications where this is full-blown meme mania,” Brent Kochuba, founder of derivatives-data firm SpotGamma, told Bloomberg.

“The macro economic environment really favors the retail and speculative plays,” agreed Al. “I think were only going to see more speculation and excitement. It’s a good time to tune in, because retail players can react and provide insight faster.”

Days traders are not necessarily bothered by a company’s financial performance, said Rogozinski. “You have this activist, elective investor who is saying, ‘I don’t care what the financial statements look like, I don’t care what the discounted cashflow is, I like the food, I like the video-game store, I like the meme. So dude, you can go back to Excel spreadsheets if you want, but I really like the chicken tenders,’” he said.

There is now a “third component” to investment, beyond supply and demand, he claimed, “which is, ‘dude, I don’t care if you think it’s going to go up or not, or if they have assets or liabilities. I care about this company and I’m going to help it out. I’m going to go buy my jeans from American Eagle.’”

Early retirement is a wealthy indulgence that needs to be discouraged. As a minimum, ministers should strip away any inducement offered by the tax system for people who want to retire in their 50s.

Every western country needs their more mature workers to keep going, if not full time, then part time. And if not paid work, then unpaid voluntary work that acknowledges the luck that flows from being a 21st-century baby boomer in good health.

Communities, regions and countries cannot afford for older people to pack up and head for the golf course, or worse, book a permanent cruise and spend their cash in international waters.

Last week, the government convened a pensions commission to consider a narrow question: how to boost the incomes of lower-paid workers in retirement.

It is understandable that the government is worried about the increasing numbers of low-income workers who will soon spend a long retirement struggling to make ends meet.

This is a genuine concern and a subject worthy of a commission. Yet there is a need to address a far wider question, which is how society will thrive when the age pyramid is inverted, with only a smattering of young people holding up a mountain of retirees.

Retirement has its origins in the Industrial Revolution and the need to prevent older people from ending their years in abject poverty, not to fulfil a bucket list of expensive desires.

The commission should ask why anyone in the 21st century should think they can put their feet up seven days a week when they are fit and well, and able to participate in economic life.

Yet a prosperous retirement is the aim of so many – and not only when they are approaching their 60s.

If you look at the strike record of full-time university lecturers you would think they obsess about their pensions every day.

Council staff spend precious hours scrolling through WhatsApp groups discussing the most mundane changes to their retirement plans with a degree of attentiveness that, to give them credit, is in line with the generosity of their benefits.

Company boardrooms are no different. Executives will set aside huge amounts of time to manage their complex and stunningly generous pensions. Having a financial consultant ready and available on the phone to talk about their retirement plans has become a must-have demand in the corporate world.

Maybe its the lure of sailing on the Adriatic or cruising the Caribbean that captivates so many, or less positively, the frustration and anxiety from working near, with or for incompetent or venal managers in a succession of modestly paid jobs.

Still, whatever the reason, too many people want to cash out of the economy, trading their pension and property gains for a long period of rest, with only the stress of remembering what day it is to bump their heart rate.

Some economists have argued that this moment – when boomers are no longer participating in the workplace – will trigger a profound shift in the economy. Those workers still in the labour market will bid up their wages, pushing up prices and making high inflation a permanent feature.

Governments will find it harder to borrow money, in part because pension funds, after decades of growth, will have a declining need to buy their bonds.

There are also extra bills to pay. In its latest report on the UK, the International Monetary Fund says the effects of population ageing on health and pension costs will account for a further 8% of GDP by 2050 compared with an extra 5.5% of GDP, on average, in other advanced European economies.

These are important issues connected with the nation’s finances. So, too, are the ways better-off baby boomers insulate themselves.

First, they take most of the pension money and invest it abroad where the gains are much higher, either because their workforces are young, dynamic and more productive or because the companies are American and enjoy monopolistic strangleholds in their respective markets.

Investing abroad gives the boomer a ring-fenced income no matter how clapped out the economy they call home.

The second track is to import young workers from abroad, boosting the labour supply as boomers make their exit.

Financial insulation is understandable when government finances are under strain. Yet one of the reasons the wheels are coming off the modern liberal state is because baby boomers, who by sheer force of numbers and their better education spurred the postwar recovery, are causing the downturn by bailing out.

Worse, they are cashing out, too.

Without a debate about what it means to be old and the responsibilities that come with receiving a pension, the government’s commission will be left to merely tinker.

We are only a few years away from the baby boomer generation all reaching retirement age. Everyone born in the years up to 1964 will be eligible to collect the state pension in 2031. It’s a turning point that everyone should be preparing for, especially when all the Pimm’s-drinking early retirees are added to the list. The commission’s remit should be wider.

By Jurica Dujmovic

NuScale Power has the government support, the technology and the financial backing to succeed. Will that be enough?

NuScale offers exposure to what could be a transformative energy technology – if you can stomach the stock’s volatility.

Nuclear power is having its moment again. After decades in the wilderness, small modular reactors (SMRs) are emerging as a potentially transformative technology, backed by close to $1 billion in new U.S. federal funding and surging demand from AI data centers hungry for clean, reliable electricity.

At the center of this renaissance sits NuScale Power (SMR) – the only company with a U.S.-approved SMR design. Its stock has become a proxy for investors betting on the nuclear future – and judging by its 32% gain in the past month, optimism is high.

First to market, but is that enough?

NuScale’s competitive moat stems from a hard-won regulatory victory. In May, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the Oregon-based company’s uprated 77-megawatt reactor design, the second SMR design ever cleared by U.S. regulators. The plant design retains the safety features that made NuScale’s technology attractive to regulators – natural convection cooling and passive safety systems – while boosting power density through larger individual modules. Each upgraded module produces 77 megawatts compared to the original 50-megawatt design, with six-module plants generating 462 megawatts total.

NuScale is now the only SMR developer with an NRC-approved design ready for deployment. Technically it’s a “standard design approval” – one step below full certification – but it provides the regulatory foundation utilities need to reference the design in license applications and move forward with concrete project planning. This matters less than the practical advantage: NuScale can offer customers a pre-vetted design while competitors are still navigating the complex approval process.

This regulatory head start isn’t trivial. In an industry where licensing can take longer than actual construction, having preapproved designs positions NuScale as an early contender for the U.S. Department of Energy’s new $900 million SMR funding program. The DOE initiative, reissued in March, aims to support up to two first-mover SMR projects with $800 million in funding, while allocating another $100 million for broader industry support.

Financial reality

For all its technological promise, NuScale remains a pre-revenue company navigating the expensive transition from research to commercialization.

For all its technological promise, NuScale remains a pre-revenue company navigating the expensive transition from research to commercialization. In the nuclear industry context, this means the company doesn’t yet earn income from electricity sales or operating plants, though it is beginning to generate revenue from engineering services and licensing fees for early-stage SMR projects. The first quarter of 2025 offered glimpses of this developmental progress: revenue jumped nearly nine-fold to $13.4 million from just $1.4 million a year earlier, driven by initial technology sales and engineering work for Romania’s first SMR plant.

Losses remain substantial. NuScale posted a $35 million operating loss in the first quarter of 2025, a decrease from the prior year as R&D spending eased. More encouraging for investors is NuScale’s financial runway. As of March 31, the company held about $492 million in cash and equivalents, plus $30 million in short-term investments. This war chest was bolstered by a $102 million stock sale in the first quarter of this year, providing what management estimates is more than three years of runway at current burn rates.

Moreover, federal backing runs deep. The DOE has provided more than $575 million to support NuScale’s SMR development to date – an extraordinary level of public investment that underpins the company’s financial position and validates its technology approach.

Volatile stock in an uncertain business

NuScale’s stock performance tells the story of an industry caught between promise and uncertainty. After going public via a SPAC in 2022, NuScale shares languished before skyrocketing 445% in 2024. The momentum continued into 2025, with the stock doubling in weeks and gaining 120.6% in the first six months of the year.

NuScale’s market capitalization tops $13 billion – remarkable for a company with no operating plants. The primary catalyst has been policy momentum, particularly Trump’s aggressive pro-nuclear stance. A flurry of executive orders in May 2025 directed regulators to expedite reactor licensing and designated AI data centers as “critical defense facilities” requiring advanced reactor power. This enthusiastic federal endorsement sent NuScale and other nuclear stocks soaring.

A U.S. setback is a cautionary tale

NuScale’s journey hasn’t been without setbacks. The collapse of its first planned U.S. project – a six-module plant canceled in late 2023 – serves as a reminder that interest doesn’t equal investment. Cost estimates for that project ballooned 53%, to $89 from $58 per megawatt-hour, prompting several municipal utility participants to withdraw and ultimately killing the venture.

This experience underscores the cost risk inherent in first-of-a-kind nuclear projects. While SMRs promise economies of scale through factory fabrication and modular construction, these benefits remain theoretical until proven in practice. The hope is that standardized manufacturing will drive down costs, but early projects inevitably face the learning-curve premium that comes with pioneering technology.

NuScale has pivoted from that U.S. disappointment to pursue international opportunities that could serve as crucial proof-of-concept projects. The company’s flagship overseas venture in Romania is moving forward, with engineering design work underway for a six-module, 462-megawatt plant at Doicesti. Groundbreaking is expected by 2027, targeting operation around 2030 in partnership with Romanian utility Nuclearelectrica (RO:SNN).

The Romanian project could become the first operational NuScale SMR in the world, providing powerful validation for other potential customers. Success there would demonstrate that NuScale’s design works as advertised and create a template for international export of U.S. nuclear technology.

Also on MarketWatch: Why cheaper power looks unlikely as Trump’s big budget law reshuffles the U.S. energy landscape

NuScale has also forged a manufacturing partnership with South Korean conglomerate Doosan (KR:000150) to produce the first 12 reactor modules, addressing supply-chain concerns that have plagued other nuclear projects.

Racing for the lead

While NuScale enjoys its regulatory head start, competition is intensifying. For example, GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy – a joint-venture between GE Vernova (GEV) and Japan’s Hitachi (JP:6501) (HTHIY)- is leveraging decades of experience with a small modular reactor now under construction in Canada. The project is expected to be completed in 2028; its success could quickly erode NuScale’s first-mover advantage.

Meanwhile, privately held companies such as Holtec International and X-energy are also pursuing aggressive strategies, with X-energy securing Amazon.com (AMZN) as a strategic backer for five gigawatts worth of new SMRs by 2039. These partnerships with tech giants underscore the growing nexus between cloud computing and nuclear power that could drive demand.

For investors, timing is everything

The next 18 months will be crucial for NuScale.

For investors, NuScale represents both the promise and peril of betting on transformative technology. The company sits at the intersection of several powerful trends: surging electricity demand from AI, federal commitment to nuclear and corporate appetite for clean power. NuScale CEO John Hopkins has indicated a goal of securing the first “tier 1” customer by the end of 2025, potentially a utility or data-center consortium, to keep the timeline of delivering a plant by 2030 intact.

The next 18 months will be crucial for NuScale. Success in landing DOE funding, signing concrete customer contracts and maintaining project timelines could validate the stock’s premium valuation. Conversely, delays, cost overruns or losing ground to competitors could trigger significant downside.

The investment case ultimately rests on execution. NuScale has the regulatory approval, the technology and the financial backing to succeed. Whether management can convert its head start into operating plants and sustained profitability is the defining question for investors willing to bet on nuclear power’s next chapter.

With the first SMRs potentially online by the end of this decade, NuScale offers exposure to what could be a transformative energy technology – provided investors can stomach the inherent volatility of pioneering an entirely new nuclear sector.

More: Trump’s support for nuclear is enriching uranium – and powering up these energy stocks and ETFs

-Jurica Dujmovic

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Mark Zuckerberg has named Shengjia Zhao, an artificial intelligence researcher who joined Meta Platforms Inc. from OpenAI in June, as the chief scientist for the social media company’s new superintelligence AI group.