Enterprise software has been one of 2026’s weakest-performing technology sectors as investors reassessed how generative AI could affect traditional subscription software business models. The result has been a sharp derating across many high-quality businesses, with several former market favourites trading 20-40% below recent highs despite continuing to generate strong cash flow. Analysts increasingly argue the sell-off has become indiscriminate, creating selective opportunities for long-term investors with a best balance of quality, valuation and long-term AI exposure. US software CompanyInvestment caseValuation viewMain riskBest suited toMicrosoftAI leader with AzurePremium but more reasonableHeavy AI spendingCore long-term investorsAdobeCreative software dominanceCheapest in yearsAI image generationValue…

Vodafone’s (LON:VOD) Q1 trading update gave investors something they have not seen consistently for years: improving momentum and the prospect that it is becoming a stronger income story. Organic service revenue rose 5.2%, adjusted EBITDAaL (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, Amortisation, and after Leases) increased 6.2%, and management now expects both profit and free cash flow to come in at the upper end of full-year guidance after a strong opening quarter. Growth was broad-based across Europe and Africa, helped by continued cost savings and the consolidation of Safaricom. For most UK retail investors, however, the key question is not whether…

Chinese equities have gone through an extraordinary boom-bust-recovery cycle. Regulatory crackdowns, the property crisis, weak consumer confidence and geopolitical tensions crushed valuations from 2021 onwards. Then 2025 brought a powerful rebound: the AIC’s China/Greater China investment trust sector gained roughly 42% in the 12 months to February 2026, helped by improving policy support, technology enthusiasm and deeply depressed starting valuations. The picture in 2026 has become much more uneven. China’s economy continues to grow, but at a slower rate, property remains problematic and geopolitical risk has risen. For UK retail investors, that creates an unusual combination: potentially attractive long-term valuations…

Intel’s (NASDAQ:INTC) turnaround gathered momentum in the second quarter, with revenue and profits comfortably beating Wall Street forecasts and AI-related data-centre demand emerging as a powerful growth engine. There is definitely positive operational momentum, but a more demanding valuation. Revenue jumped 25% year-on-year to $16.1 billion, versus market expectations of roughly $14.4 billion. Adjusted earnings of $0.42 per share were around double consensus forecasts, while adjusted gross margin recovered to 41.8%. Intel investor relations Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)Price: $100.23 (+4.1% after-hours)Market cap: $524.4bn Most strikingly, Data Center and AI (DCAI) revenue surged 59% to $6.3 billion. Q2 2026ReportedApprox. forecastYoYRevenue$16.1bn~$14.4bn+25%Adjusted EPS$0.42~$0.21–$0.22Improved from lossAdjusted…

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s (NYSE:TMO) second-quarter results delivered something investors in the life-sciences tools sector have been waiting for: stronger evidence that the post-pandemic downturn is giving way to a broader recovery. Thermo Fisher proving that stronger organic growth and margin expansion can be sustained. Revenue and earnings beat Wall Street forecasts, organic growth accelerated to 5%, margins expanded and management raised full-year guidance. Importantly, the improvement was broad-based, with pharma and biotech demand healthy, academic and government markets returning to growth and analytical instruments performing strongly. Thermo Fisher investor relations Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO)Price: $572.32 (+8.7%)Market cap: $212.69bn Investors responded…

Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) second-quarter earnings call gave investors plenty to debate beyond electric cars. Attention centred on Elon Musk’s expanding business empire — spanning Tesla, SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX), AI, robotics and autonomous driving — and the possibility that some of these interests could eventually be brought closer together, although investors chief worry appears to be that Tesla is becoming increasingly capital intensive. Musk did not announce a Tesla-SpaceX merger, nor did management suggest a transaction was imminent. But the discussion kept alive the possibility of greater consolidation across Musk-controlled businesses. Tesla investor relations Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)Price: $353.02 (-5.6% after-hours)Market cap: $1.10tn More questions…

Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) second-quarter results delivered one of the clearest signals yet that its enormous AI investment programme is translating into revenue growth. The standout was Google Cloud, where revenue surged 82% year-on-year to $24.8 billion. Search also remained remarkably resilient despite fears that generative AI could undermine Google’s traditional business model, with Search and other revenue rising 17% to $63.3 billion. Alphabet investor relations Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)Price: $330.72 (-3.3%)Market cap: $4.02tn Yet Alphabet shares initially fell around 3% after hours as investors focused on the extraordinary cost of competing at the frontier of AI. Capex explosion Alphabet spent $44.9 billion on…

Beaten down Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) delivered exactly the kind of update investors had been waiting for after the US market close on Tuesday 21 July: evidence that explosive AI-server growth may finally be translating into much stronger profitability. The shares jumped roughly 16% in after-hours trading after Super Micro said gross margin for its June quarter was expected to reach 15–17%, dramatically above its previous guidance of just 8.2–8.4%. It also disclosed more than $60bn of orders secured during the quarter. Super Micro investor relations Super Micro (NASDAQ:SMCI)Price: $30.56 (~16% after-hours)Market cap: ~$20.0bn That combination — huge demand plus…

Credo Technology (NASDAQ:CRDO) has emerged as one of the fastest-growing semiconductor infrastructure companies benefiting from the artificial-intelligence investment boom. Rather than designing GPUs, Credo solves an increasingly important problem created by them: how to move enormous quantities of data quickly, reliably and efficiently between servers, switches, accelerators and racks inside AI data centres. That puts Credo in the networking and connectivity layer of the AI ecosystem, alongside — and sometimes competing with — companies such as Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL) and Astera Labs (NASDAQ:ALAB). Credo Technology investor relations Credo Technology (NASDAQ:CRDO)Price: $212.07 (+48% YTD)Market cap: $39.55bn The investment case…

European equities enter the second half of 2026 with an unusually divided outlook. Economic momentum has improved, earnings forecasts are being upgraded, fiscal spending on defence and infrastructure offers a multi-year tailwind, and valuations remain substantially below Wall Street. Yet a 19 July strategy note from Bank of America argues that precisely because so much good news is now embedded in prices, European shares have become vulnerable to disappointment. Its strategists see scope for a decline of more than 5% by early Q4, warning that record-high expected profit margins and one of the lowest equity risk premiums in two decades…