Dear Friend,

Watch what the institutions are doing, not what they're saying.

Bank of America increased its stake in one small gold company by 139%.

Jane Street, one of the most sophisticated trading firms alive, by 159%.

Millennium by 122%.

And one value fund, Kopernik Global, made it their single largest holding. They own roughly 8% of the entire company.

The company doesn't even mine. It owns the rights to an 88 million ounce deposit, one of the largest on earth, with government-built roads and power already running to the property and permits that never expire.

Market cap: about $4 billion. Value of the metal in the ground at today's prices: hundreds of billions.

The institutions did this math quietly, over months.

You get to do it this afternoon.

Name, ticker and the full file here >>

"The Buck Stops Here,"

Kelly Maguire
Behind the Markets

Why Lowe’s Could Be a Bargain Before Housing Recovers

Author: Thomas Hughes. Posted: 8/19/2026.

Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) continues to face headwinds in 2026. However, the stock’s valuation, capital returns and long-term catalysts make for a compelling setup. Trading in the low $200s, LOW is near multi-year lows and at the bottom end of its historical price-to-earnings (P/E) range, setting the stage for a significant rebound.

Until then, the dividend remains reliable and market-beating, yielding 2.3% compared with the low-1% range for most S&P 500 stocks. It is also a growing distribution. Lowe’s is a Dividend King with more than 50 years of consecutive increases to its credit and the capacity to continue raising its dividend annually for years to come.

Lowe’s Has Near-Term and Long-Term Catalysts

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Lowe’s has several near-term catalysts, including its Pro pivot, capital allocation and the eventual recovery of the housing market. The Pro pivot—Lowe’s strategic shift toward professional customers such as contractors, remodelers and builders rather than DIY weekend shoppers—is helping sustain growth and margins today. The strategy is supported by an aggressive acquisition posture in 2025.

Additions such as Foundation Building Materials and Artisan Design Group have not only strengthened Lowe’s position in Pro markets but also expanded its offerings and created cross-selling opportunities.

Capital allocation is critical, as the company paused its aggressive buyback plans first to fund acquisitions and now to reduce debt. Capital allocation could provide a triple catalyst: the dividend outlook is strengthening, the balance sheet is improving and a path to future share reduction is emerging. As it stands, it will take a few more quarters for debt reduction to make an impact, but the shareholder deficit is falling sharply, providing evidence that the company’s strategy is working.

As for the housing market, when it will unfreeze is anybody’s guess, with oil prices running high, inflation following suit and the FOMC on track to hold, if not hike, interest rates. The takeaway, however, is that Lowe’s is positioning itself for success today and accelerated growth and profitability when housing markets improve. Between now and then, investors can take advantage of low stock prices to build a position and reap the dividend.

Lowe’s Mixed Results Overshadow Inherent Strength

Lowe’s had a tough second quarter, with revenue of $26 billion falling slightly short of consensus estimates. The miss was attributed to persistent weakness in DIY projects, the company’s core driver. However, while the result was tepid, the weakness was relative: revenue was up 8.3% year over year, and analysts had expected worse.

Data shows that 100% of analysts lowered their targets after the quarter began, with most expecting results at the low end of the range, well below the consensus. Internally, growth was underpinned by a 0.2% comparable-store gain and strength in the Pro business linked to acquisitions. Digital was another critical component, increasing 15.7% year over year and contributing significantly to comparable-store strength.

Margin news was good, although the IEEPA tariff refund had an effect. Key details for investors include $2.4 billion in net income and $4.40 in adjusted earnings per share (EPS), which grew marginally from the prior year and exceeded MarketBeat’s consensus by a nickel. Looking ahead, the company expects persistent DIY weakness to weigh on its full-year outlook and guidance, but less than the market feared. The new target assumes results at the low end of the prior range—enough for year-over-year growth, healthy profits and continued execution of the strategy.

Analysts Expected Worse for Lowe’s—The Bottom Is In

The good news is that analysts had already trimmed their expectations ahead of the release and were expecting worse news. In this scenario, sentiment trends remain steady and supportive for the market.

MarketBeat tracks 36 analysts who rate LOW a consensus Moderate Buy, with about 64% showing a Buy-side bias and 20% upside to the consensus target.

The range of recent targets is wide, suggesting some uncertainty within the group, but it centers around the consensus figure, providing a moderate level of conviction in the outlook. A move to the consensus target of $262 would put the stock at the high end of its trading range, within easy reach of its all-time high.

Institutional activity suggests that downside is limited now that Lowe’s stock has sold off. Institutions own nearly 75% of the shares and have bought aggressively over the trailing 12 months (TTM). The group sold shares in the first quarter of 2026, but overall, it bought $2 for every $1 sold during the TTM.

The likely outcome is that institutions will continue to underpin support at the low end of Lowe’s trading range until sufficient catalysts emerge for the stock to regain traction.

Securing AI: 5 Most-Upgraded Stocks From the Q2 Reporting Season

Author: Thomas Hughes. Posted: 8/31/2026.

Anyone doubting the importance of cybersecurity to AI—or its strength as a business model—need only look at MarketBeat’s Most Upgraded Stocks. The five most upgraded stocks from the Q2 reporting period were all cybersecurity names. Not five of the most upgraded—the five most upgraded stocks. These companies' services are in demand, and the game is just getting started.

The early phase of AI cybersecurity was underpinned by modelers and model trainers who needed to keep their technology both secret and secure. The phase unfolding today is adoption, and it is by far the larger phase, with cybersecurity companies embedding AI into their offerings and operations—and their clients doing the same.

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The critical takeaway is a chain reaction: AI drives automation, automation is handled by agents, and those agents become cyber identities multiplying across the internet at an exponential pace. Each needs monitoring, but the bigger imperative is protecting the enterprise data and operations behind them.

For those looking for the single cybersecurity stock to rule them all, there isn’t one. While some companies offer superior coverage in their “comprehensive” packages, none provide 100% complete coverage, and all are intended to be used alongside other tools. This creates numerous growth opportunities in a highly fragmented market, but some companies are clearly favored as the second half of the year progresses. Look for these names to move toward the upper end of their target ranges, then keep advancing.

Okta: Identity Security Protects Even the Deepest Corporate Secrets

Okta’s (NASDAQ: OKTA) importance lies in how it handles identities. The exponential increase in AI agents means exponentially increased traffic, both internally and from outside sources. Okta’s platform acts as a central control plane, identifying, tokenizing, tracking and monitoring agents alongside their human counterparts while enabling or disabling access as needed.

Okta's Q2 results showed significant traction and outperformance, with expectations that this strength will continue as agentic traffic increases.

MarketBeat tracks 43 analysts covering Okta, and all made at least one revision during the trailing 90 days leading into Sept. 1, with most revisions coming after the Q2 release. The current consensus rating is a Moderate Buy with a bullish bias, but the price targets matter most. An eye-popping upswing in price targets drove a 40% increase in the consensus over the last 30 days.

Consensus aligns with the highs reached at the end of August, while the high-end targets forecast a move above $200 and likely continued gains as the year progresses.

CrowdStrike’s Falcon Platform Provides Real-Time Control

CrowdStrike (NASDAQ: CRWD) provides real-time visibility and governance for agentic AI applications. It can detect and respond to threats as they arise, securing endpoints from malicious behavior such as ransomware attacks.

Recent earnings results included sustained 25% year-over-year growth, acceleration from the prior year and an optimistic outlook. Executives highlighted record and accelerating annual recurring revenue growth, which was up nearly 55%, and expect further acceleration in the coming quarters.

MarketBeat tracks 51 analysts with coverage, and 46 issued updates during the trailing 90 days. The trend reflects increased coverage, firming sentiment, a bullish bias and an uptrend in the price target. Consensus assumed no upside as of late August, but the high-end target of $425 is where the trend points; that represents about 90% upside.

Datadog Unified Platform Observes, Traces, Secures Agentic AI

Datadog (NASDAQ: DDOG) provides a unified platform for developers and engineers, enabling visibility and security across technology stacks. 2026 results reflected acceleration, outperformance and sustainability, with guidance above forecasts, although management guided for a slight deceleration in upcoming results.

The critical takeaway is that analysts didn’t mind the guidance too much, as the 43 analysts tracked by MarketBeat issued positive revisions during the period, primarily after the Q2 release. They rate the stock as a Moderate Buy, have a bullish bias and forecast about 18% upside at the consensus. The high-end price targets, where the trend leads, add more than 20%.

Cloudflare: The First Line of Defense, But There’s More

Cloudflare (NYSE: NET) is an important first line of defense for internet-connected companies, providing proxy services through its global edge network. More importantly, Cloudflare can track incoming and outgoing agentic traffic and monetize it. Agentic AI is changing how the internet works; websites and publishers need a way to monetize traffic, and Cloudflare provides it.

Its results and analysts' responses mirror those of the other leading plays, including acceleration and outperformance, as well as a robust upswing in price targets. The consensus forecast indicates only moderate upside as of late August; the upper end of the price targets, however, adds 25%.

Palo Alto Networks: Comprehensive, But Not Quite Comprehensive Enough

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a leading cybersecurity play, providing some of the most complete coverage on the market. However, it is still not a pure play, although it may become one as it continues to acquire other companies. Highlights from 2026 include the strength of its platformization strategy, which unifies products into a single access point, along with the customer gains and deeper market penetration this strategy is driving.

Analysts rate PANW as a Moderate Buy; coverage and sentiment are firming, and the price target trend is upward. The high end tops out at $475, representing 25% upside, but higher highs are likely over time.