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The company outlined its objectives, including reaching a $15 million adjusted EBITDA run rate, expanding telecom licenses and commercial presence to nearly 30 countries, and scaling high-margin Fintech, Cybersecurity, and AI-driven services.
It also reaffirmed its commitment to a recurring dividend policy.
Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: IQSTEL Clocks 90% Revenue Surge, On Track To Meet 2025 Goals
Its top priorities for 2026 are to initiate the process of acquiring 100% ownership of several of its most strategic telecom subsidiaries.
IQSTEL also plans to complete the migration of most of its telecom subsidiaries into a single, unified technological platform, and ultimately finalize the migration for all subsidiaries in which it expects to hold 100% ownership.
According to the company, the consolidation will significantly reduce operating costs and improve scalability.
Currently, IQSTEL holds telecom licenses in the U.S. and Switzerland and plans to expand its licensing footprint into at least three additional countries in 2026.
It also intends to complete additional telecom acquisitions aimed at expanding its commercial footprint to at least six new countries, bringing it closer to a presence in approximately 30 countries worldwide.
Financially, IQSTEL aims to reach a $15 million adjusted EBITDA run rate in 2026. The milestone is a key step in preparing IQSTEL to become a $1 billion revenue run-rate company by 2027.
The company aims to increase the market value of the company, closing the valuation gap toward a 10x EBITDA multiple as a first stage, and positioning IQSTEL to pursue a 20x EBITDA valuation by 2027.
Following the Globetopper acquisition, IQSTEL's Fintech services now represent approximately 20% of its revenue and EBITDA stream.
In 2026, it plans to officially launch its cybersecurity services for the telecom industry, with the support of its sibling company, Cycurion, with the objective that this business contributes approximately 5% of its bottom-line results during the year.
At the same time, IQSTEL will continue developing AI-based solutions for the telecom industry, also in collaboration with Cycurion, while expanding the commercial deployment of its AI-driven services for the contact center industry.
In 2026, IQSTEL will continue its roadshow efforts with family offices, with the objective of increasing institutional and long-term holdings from approximately 5% to 10%.
Additionally, it plans to initiate quarterly live earnings calls with shareholders.
IQST Price Action: iQSTEL shares were up 5.50% at $3.07 during premarket trading on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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The company said that it expects the move to help stabilize its finances and support its goal of reaching profitability in 2026.
Reborn Coffee sold nearly 1.2 million common shares at $5.45 per share, a level it described as roughly three times its recent market value.
Reborn said the capital raise, combined with year-end balance sheet actions, lifted estimated stockholders' equity to about $3.4 million as of Dec. 31. Management believes that figure restores compliance with Nasdaq's stockholders' equity requirement, though the company is still awaiting formal confirmation from the exchange.
Also Read: Reborn Coffee Expands Globally, Eyes Blockchain For Future-Proof Financial Management
Alongside the investment, Reborn completed a warrant exchange with prior investors, eliminating outstanding warrants and removing approximately $1.3 million in derivative liabilities—changes the company said strengthen the balance sheet and limit future dilution.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jay Kim said the transactions provide stability heading into the new year. He noted, "The receipt of $6.5 million in premium-priced equity capital at approximately three times our current market price, combined with the elimination of warrant-related derivative liabilities, significantly strengthens our balance sheet. We believe these actions address the previously identified equity deficiency and provide a solid financial foundation as we enter 2026."
Kim added that improving operations, implementing tighter cost controls, and expanding the mix of domestic and international opportunities position the company to turn profitable next year.
Meanwhile, Reborn said it plans to update investors once Nasdaq issues a formal compliance determination.
REBN has a 52-week high of approximately $8.30 and a 52-week low of nearly $1.20, underscoring the stock's volatility over the past year. Shares fell sharply from earlier highs to their lows before rebounding more than 50% off the bottom.
REBN Price Action: Reborn Coffee shares were up 6.67% at $1.92 during premarket trading on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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Following the recent $14 million acquisition of Israeli defense firm Tiltan Software Engineering, CEO Menny Shalom confirmed exclusively to Benzinga that the company is actively seeking additional acquisitions in the “drone and anti-drone sectors.”
Check out NUKK’s stock price here.
While the acquisition of Tiltan was publicly announced as a move into simulation and AI, Shalom spoke about the company’s broader roadmap in an emailed response to Benzinga. Nukkleus intends to leverage Tiltan's software capabilities as a foundational layer for a new vertical dedicated to unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
“Nukkleus is looking to acquire additional assets and companies in the drone and anti-drone sectors, and we believe Tiltan would be a strategic asset to these sectors,” Shalom told Benzinga.
This signals a potential shift for the defense aggregator, moving from general supply chain consolidation toward building a specialized capability in one of the fastest-growing segments of modern warfare.
See Also: What’s Going On With Nukkleus Stock Today?
The strategic logic behind the deal appears to rest on “navigation resilience”—the ability for drones to operate when GPS signals are jammed by electronic warfare, a common scenario in current conflicts like Ukraine and the Middle East.
Tiltan CEO Ehud Shafir highlighted that “increased drone deployment has highlighted navigation resilience as a growing operational concern,” noting that the company is working to address these specific gaps.
Tiltan's technologies are already embedded with major Israeli defense contractors, including Elbit Systems and Rafael.
Shalom also clarified Nukkleus's operational strategy, distinguishing it from traditional vertical integration. Rather than forcing a “top-down” transformation of legacy manufacturers into software companies, Nukkleus is pursuing a federated model where portfolio companies retain autonomy while sharing technology.
“Our long-term strategy isn't to own the whole supply chain,” Shalom explained. “We actively encourage collaboration… leading to organic ideas for how to combine technologies, capabilities, and expertise.”
By combining Tiltan's navigation software with prospective hardware acquisitions, Nukkleus aims to create “battle-tested” solutions for the U.S. and European markets, which are currently scrambling to modernize their inventories against electronic warfare threats.
Shares of Nukkleus declined by 62.21% over the last six months and 86.04% over the last year. On Monday, the stock fell 6.87% to $3.93 apiece and rose 2.50% after-hours.
Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings shows that NUKK maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long term. Additional information is available here.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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Each trading day, Benzinga Pro features hundreds of headlines and press releases, allowing traders to access the latest market news and individual stock information.
Below is a look at its most-searched tickers for 2025, along with how interest in those names compares to 2024 and the midpoint of 2025.
Current prices and 2025 performance are based on closing prices on Dec. 31, 2025, and do not include dividends.
3. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
4. Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR)
5. Opendoor Technologies (NASDAQ:OPEN)
6. Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD)
8. Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ)
9. CoreWeave Inc (NASDAQ:CRWV)
10. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Ranking just outside the top 10 for the full year were Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) and Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) at 11th and 12th, respectively. Meta ranked 15th halfway through 2025 and ranked 11th in 2024. Rigetti was not in the top 20 at the halfway point of 2025 or in the 2024 rankings.
The top three most-searched tickers for 2024 and halfway through 2025 were also the top searched tickers for the full 2025 year. Nvidia lost its crown from 2024, falling to third place, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust jumped to first place.
These three tickers were often the most-searched on Benzinga Pro each month, underscoring their importance to traders and the markets.
Ranking fourth for the full year was Palantir, which was one of the top-performing S&P 500 stocks for 2025. The stock moved up from its seventh place ranking in 2024, as it continues to be one of the most popular stocks for retail investors.
Also popular with retail investors in 2025 was Opendoor Technologies, which ranked fifth for the full year among popular tickers and was the top gainer by percentage among the 12 most-searched tickers.
AMD maintained its sixth-place ranking from 2024 and also saw stronger interest in the second half of 2025, going from ninth place at the midway point to sixth to finish the year.
Apple, the Invesco QQQ Trust, and Amazon all ranked in the top 10 for searches in 2024 and, after ranking outside the top 10 at the halfway point, finished strong to rank as the top 10 searched tickers for the full year.
CoreWeave went public in March 2025 and became one of the hottest public companies after its listing. The stock ranked among the 12 most-searched tickers for several months and finished the year ranked ninth.
While the list above shows which tickers gained or maintained strong dominance for search by Benzinga users, it's important to also look at which tickers dropped off the lists.
Dropping out of the top 10 from 2024's most-searched tickers in 2025 were Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) and GameStop Corporation (NYSE:GME), which ranked fourth and 10th, respectively.
Stocks that ranked in the top 10 most-searched at the midway mark of 2025 that didn't stay in the top 10 were Hims & Hers Health (NYSE:HIMS), UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH), Super Micro Computer and Oklo Inc (NYSE:OKLO).
These trends could point to lost interest in Super Micro Computer, Opendoor and Palantir becoming more popular with retail investors than GameStop and nuclear stocks like Oklo falling out of favor in the second half of 2025.
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Image created using artificial intelligence via DALL-E.
Each trading day, Benzinga Pro features hundreds of headlines and press releases for traders to peruse the latest market news and individual stocks.
• SPDR S&P 500 stock is showing positive momentum. What’s next for SPY stock?
Below is a look at its most-searched tickers for December, along with a look at how the interest in the names compares in recent months.
Current prices and 2025 performance are based on closing prices on Dec. 31, 2025, and do not include dividends.
4. Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ)
7. iRobot Corporation (OTC:IRBTQ). The figures below are from when it was ticker IRBT, which ended Dec. 31, 2025.
9. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Just missing out on the top 10 were Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) and IREN Ltd. (NASDAQ:IREN), which ranked 11th and 12th, respectively. Micon has not ranked in the top 12 for any of the past three months. Iren ranked 10th and seventh in October and November, respectively.
Read Also: S&P 500 Gains 17% in 2025 — Did Benzinga Readers Nail The Prediction?
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, which tracks the S&P 500, ranked first for a third straight month with Benzinga readers interested in the well-known ETF.
Tesla and Nvidia switched places in interest for December, with the Elon Musk-led electric vehicle company moving up one place.
There was a significant gap among interest after the top three tickers, which isn't a huge surprise given the popularity of the SPY, Tesla, and Nvidia among investors.
Ranking fourth was the Invesco QQQ Trust, which ranked sixth in the month of November. This marks a second straight month in the top 12 after previously not ranking for multiple months.
Oracle re-entered the top 12 after several months out of the rankings. This could point to increased interest in the name and renewed interest in the AI trade.
Broadcom also re-entered the top 12 for the first time since September, after two months outside the top 12.
Apple moved back into the top 10, after dropping from seventh to 12th from October to November. The technology giant is often one of the most-searched tickers each month and for the full year.
Iren dropped out of the top 10 after two months, ranking 10th and seventh, but remains just outside the rankings at 12th.
New to the top 10 in December were SMX and iRobot. SMX saw shares soar in value after a 1-for-8 reverse stock split was completed. The stock later fell significantly after profit-taking and investors exiting the name. iRobot announced its bankruptcy in December, which came after a deal with Amazon.com was later pulled due to regulatory uncertainties.
Dropping out of the top 12 in December were Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) and Opendoor Technologies (NASDAQ:OPEN).
Palantir ranked in the top 10 in three of the past four months, including a second-place ranking in August and fourth place ranking in November. It will be interesting to see how quickly the stock re-enters the top 10 in interest.
AMD ranked in the top five in each of the last two months and was one of the top 10 most-searched tickers for 2025.
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The S&P 500, which is tracked by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY)
, set several record highs in 2025 and ended the year in positive territory. Here's how Benzinga readers' year‑end prediction stacked up against the final result.The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust is up 17.1% year-to-date with just hours left to go before 2025 bows out, likely hitting the top range of a question asked by Benzinga earlier this year.
Benzinga polled readers asking what the return of President Donald Trump to the White House meant and if it could produce similar stock-market returns to his first year in office previously.
In 2017, the initial year of Trump's first presidency, the SPY was up 21.7%.
“What do you think the return will be in 2025, his first year back,” Benzinga asked readers in January 2025.
The results were:
The largest share of respondents went with the most bullish prediction, with 26% expecting the index to rise at least 16% for the year — and that group ultimately proved correct.
The second‑most popular pick, calling for an 11% to 15% gain, came close but ended up slightly conservative.
Those who chose the "Will Decline" option — which tied for the second‑most votes — missed by the widest margin, as SPY finished the year up more than 17%.
And while readers nailed the S&P 500's overall direction in 2025, they were far less accurate when predicting the top‑performing Magnificent Seven stock.
Readers predicted NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) to be the top gaining of the seven stocks, with a near majority (48%) picking the semiconductor company. Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), which outperformed the rest of group in 2025, had ranked fifth with only 6% of the vote.
After a strong and record-breaking 2025, investors want to know if 2026 will bring similar returns or better. The first year of Trump's second presidency marked the fourth best return in the last five years for the S&P 500. Here are the recent returns:
The 2025 return of 17.1% is also the fourth best of five years that Trump has been in office for the majority of the full year. Here are the past returns with Trump in the White House:
Investors likely would love to see the same strong returns in three of the four years with Trump in office previously and also see a return to the 24% or more gains they saw in three of the last four years prior to 2025.
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The crypto boom of 2025 didn't just peak — it overheated.
And according to Freedom Capital Markets Chief Market Strategist Jay Woods, one of the biggest accelerants was the sheer number of powerful figures piling into the trade, including President Donald Trump and his family. Their involvement, he told Benzinga, helped turn crypto into one of the most crowded trades of the year — and that overcrowding is now casting a long shadow over 2026.
"That became such a crowded trade," Woods told Benzinga of crypto. "We had too many people in high places, including the president of the United States and his family, getting involved."
, hit new all-time highs in 2025, only to plunge back in recent months amid forced liquidations of overleveraged positions and a broader investor pullback from risky assets.While Woods didn't directly link the late‑2025 crypto crash to the investor frenzy that preceded it, he made clear that the technical damage now visible across major charts reflects just how overheated the space became.
And that damage, he warned, won't be quick to repair.
"I think crypto will struggle to make new highs in 2026," Woods said.
He has shared his prediction for the S&P 500 with Benzinga and picked a few Magnificent Seven stocks to watch in 2026. When it comes to cryptocurrency, Woods will likely be on the sidelines for 2026.
Read Also: Donald Trump’s 2025 Crypto Playbook: Here’s Every Major Move He Made
Woods told Benzinga that fundamentals offer little clarity right now, leaving the technical picture to tell the story. And that story, he said, is one of a market that needs time. "We've seen a lot of damage done technically and it will take time for Bitcoin and Ethereum and Solana to get back on that uptrend."
There is one potential stabilizing force for major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL): consolidation. For Bitcoin specifically, Woods believes the market needs to settle before any meaningful recovery can begin.
"I still think we need to see some consolidation here around the $90,000 level in Bitcoin," he said. Only after that, he added, could the market get an "all clear" and "march to new highs."
Until then, Woods' message is clear: after a year defined by overcrowding — even at the highest levels of power — crypto enters 2026 on the defensive.
Bitcoin trades at $87,905 at the time of writing. The leading cryptocurrency has traded between $74,436.66 and $126,198.07 over the last year, hitting new all-time highs of $126,198.07 on Oct. 6, 2025.
Bitcoin is down 5.9% year-to-date in 2025.
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Small and mid-cap biotech stocks entered 2025 like a compressed spring, and it finally snapped higher.
“Biotech was a coiled spring following several quarters of underperformance,” Dr. Terry Smith, Director of Life Sciences Research at Emerald Advisers, told Benzinga.
After years of capital flight, sentiment shifted rapidly as multiple headwinds eased at once: lower interest rates, a ramp-up in M&A, clearer visibility on tariff policy and drug pricing frameworks such as the Most Favored Nation (MFN) policy, strong late-stage clinical data, and a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that has, so far, behaved more predictably than feared.
Of all the catalysts, M&A has emerged as the most powerful stabilizing force, according to industry experts and analysts.
According to JPMorgan data, small- and mid-cap companies accounted for 57% of biopharma acquisitions by deal count in Q3 2025. While median deal value fell to $303 million from $516 million in Q2, 33 deals worth $30.9 billion pushed 2025 M&A volume ahead of full-year 2024.
Johnathon Anderson, CEO of biotech firm Peptide Systems, said the wave of deals has fundamentally changed risk perception. “This M&A floor has de-risked the sector, allowing investors to chase growth in specific high-tech sub-sectors.”
Dr. Smith echoed that view, noting that frequent mid-sized acquisitions with strong premiums are healthier for small-cap investors than a handful of mega-deals.
While GLP-1 obesity drugs dominated 2024 headlines, investor attention in 2025 rotated toward cancer and autoimmune disease treatments, including next-generation cell therapy, particularly in-vivo and non-viral CAR-T approaches.
Traditional CAR-T therapies remain expensive and operationally complex, requiring cell extraction, lab modification, and reinfusion. Newer in-vivo platforms aim to engineer immune cells directly inside the patient, lowering costs and improving scalability.
Roughly $6 billion in acquisitions have already occurred in this niche over the past six months, signaling strong big-pharma interest, Anderson noted.
Based on Benzinga Pro data and analyst commentary, investors are watching several names as the sector heads into 2026:
“Looking ahead to 2026, we expect increased M&A and strategic partnerships as large pharma looks to replenish late-stage pipelines, particularly in immunology, rare disease, and neurology,” said Elena Meng, research analyst at Gabelli Funds.
“A lower interest-rate environment should also improve funding conditions, benefiting companies with credible regulatory paths and near-term catalysts.”
However, despite the optimism, risks persist.
Dr. Smith flagged FDA staff turnover as a potential long-term concern, warning that institutional knowledge loss could eventually slow approvals even though timelines have held so far.
Anderson also highlighted an "IPO air pocket" created by the 2023–2024 biotech downturn. With fewer IPO-ready companies, institutional capital is increasingly flowing into Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPE) deals, effectively turning public small-cap biotechs into late-stage venture investments.
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Michael Terpin, CEO of Transform Ventures and author of the book “Bitcoin Supercycle,” predicted Bitcoin’s capitulation to around $55,000 – $65,000 in 2026, driven by “plenty” of panic selling by short-term holders.
“The Bitcoin halving cycle is still quite relevant in 2026. Every four years, the Bitcoin bubble popped and it generally took about a year to fully remove the froth of the prior bull market,” Terpin said in a note shared with Benzinga.
Terpin expected Bitcoin to gain momentum starting in 2027 and rise to $250,000-$350,000 or more in the 2028-29 bull market.
Closely aligned with this projection was Kadan Stadelmann, blockchain developer and chief technology officer of Komodo Platform.
"Bitcoin could potentially bottom out at its 2017 high in 2026, which would see it settle around the $69,000-$74,000 range,” Stadelmann projected.
Stadelmann said factors such as a potential U.S. recession or a bursting tech or AI bubble could trigger further downsides for Bitcoin, while rate cuts by the Federal Reserve could add bullish impetus.
See Also: Bitcoin Faces Another 50% Reckoning As Gold Shines, Analyst Says
Hedy Wang, CEO & co-founder of crypto infrastructure startup Block Street, said she’s “cautiously optimistic” heading into 2026.
“We're wrapping up the year with the fear and greed index firmly rooted in extreme fear, which is when Bitcoin usually starts getting interesting,” Wang said, acknowledging that sentiment is “washed out.”
“Still, the supply story hasn't changed, and you sometimes tend to get a little holiday bump when volumes are thin and retail drifts back in,” she added.
Regarding 2026, Wang said people who bought Bitcoin “when it felt uncomfortable” would be rewarded.
Chris Kline, COO & Co-Founder at BitcoinIRA, said that Bitcoin’s long-term thesis remains “extraordinarily bullish,” despite “short-term volatility” for risk assets.
“Bitcoin is positioned for near-term consolidation through the holiday season before what we anticipate will be a wave of institutional professionalization in 2026, driven by continued ETF momentum,” Kline told Benzinga.
It’s worth mentioning that despite the market slump, spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded inflows worth over $21 billion in 2025, according to SoSo Value.
Contrary to earlier projections in this article, Lucien Bourdon, Bitcoin Analyst at hardware wallet company Trezor, stated that the 4-year cycle was “breaking down” and predicted the apex cryptocurrency to consolidate in the short term.
“The key variables are macro liquidity and whether institutional demand stays supportive,” Bourdon added.
Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was exchanging hands at $89,879.41, up 2.51% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Photo by Frame Stock Footage via Shutterstock
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Rounding the year, Benzinga caught up with the CEO, Keyvan Mohajer, to reflect on key accomplishments and discuss what 2026 has in store for the leading voice AI company.
SoundHound began the year on a firm footing, driven by the early success of Polaris, its proprietary foundation model for speech and language.
Polaris had already posted headline-grabbing benchmarks: up to four times lower latency and 35% lower word error rates than comparable big tech models, while supporting nearly 30 mature languages. But according to Mohajer, the real story emerged when customers put the system through its paces in production.
“While we showed a 35% better error rate than big tech models using industry standard benchmarks, when our customers tested Polaris with their own data, the improvement was as high as 70%,” Mohajer says. That leap in accuracy has become a major driver of SoundHound’s differentiation.
As more Amelia platform customers migrate from third-party legacy vendors to Polaris, he notes, “we’ve cut error rates, lowered costs, and enabled faster iteration cycles.”
By midyear, those product advantages were reflected in the numbers. Second-quarter revenue surged to $42.7 million, a 217% year-over-year increase, as the platform crossed 1 billion processed queries per month.
A key catalyst was last year’s acquisition of Amelia, an agentic AI platform with a deep presence in financial services, insurance, and healthcare. The deal brought hundreds of enterprise customers and a foothold in some of the most demanding regulated sectors.
“While we have diversified the industries we support, the core ingredient to succeed is the same: having the best conversational AI for customer service and user interface experiences,” Mohajer says.
Still, vision alignments surprised even him.
“What stood out most was how closely these enterprise customers aligned with our core ideal that dependable, real-world performance matters more than flashy demonstrations,” he clarified.
With no overlap in verticals and highly complementary technology stacks, the integration has accelerated product development and strengthened SoundHound’s compliance posture.
The result, Mohajer argues, is a suite of AI agents that “not only perform reliably but also make decisions, drive outcomes, and adapt to enterprise workflows,” making the platform more “robust, enterprise-ready, and capable of powering the next generation of autonomous AI-driven applications.”
By the third quarter, SoundHound’s ecosystem evolution became clear. Revenue reached $42.0 million, up 68% from a year earlier, bringing year-to-date sales to $114 million, a 127% jump. The company’s cash balance rose to $269 million, and it continued to expand into new geographies and form factors.
One of the most significant moves of the year was a major deal to bring SoundHound’s Chat AI into millions of smart devices in India, including partnerships with prominent two-wheeler brands. India is a leading growth market, but its cultural complexity makes it a challenging puzzle to solve for language technology.
“One of the biggest challenges in India is the diversity of languages, dialects, and accents. Users are often even switching between these within a single sentence,” Mohajer says.
“This level of linguistic complexity is difficult for traditional voice systems, but it’s a core strength of SoundHound’s technology.”
Designed to handle code-switching, regional accents, and colloquial speech in noisy real-world environments, SoundHound’s stack enables OEMs to deliver a consistent, intuitive experience without forcing users to change how they speak. “That ability to understand people as they are is what will drive adoption and trust in the Indian market,” he notes.
SoundHound also pushed deeper into in-vehicle monetization, extending voice commerce beyond food and coffee ordering to include restaurant reservations and parking payments.
Partnerships with OpenTable and Parkopedia, along with wins across European and U.S. automakers, laid the groundwork for what Mohajer calls a defining milestone in 2026.
“One of the milestones I’m most excited about is seeing agentic voice commerce become a real, everyday behavior inside the vehicle and ultimately any IoT device with a microphone,” he clarifies.
SoundHound is already running pilots with leading automotive brands for hands-free ordering and paid parking, and it plans to showcase an expanded vision at CES 2026. With this technology, possibilities scale far beyond commerce, from intelligent vehicle diagnostics and service appointment bookings to calendars, messages, and travel planning.
“What makes our agentic voice commerce platform especially powerful is that it is limitless,” Mohajer argues. Enterprise customers can bring their own AI agents into the vehicle, and SoundHound can also host any agent compatible with MCP and A2A protocols, “creating an ecosystem where innovation can scale quickly.”
“Seeing these pilots mature into production deployments and new logo wins will be a defining moment for us in 2026,” he concludes.
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Photo by Tigarto via Shutterstock
When it comes to tracking the trading activity of members of Congress, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are two of the most popular, thanks to years of outperforming the market. A market expert tells Benzinga it drives him crazy that members of Congress can legally trade stocks, but investors should make sure they're following along.
The investment styles of Pelosi and Taylor Greene are different, but they have several stocks in common across their investment portfolios.
While Pelosi's disclosed trades are often sizable in nature and sometimes come in the form of stock options instead of common shares, the trades are sometimes reported weeks after they are made.
Freedom Capital Markets Chief Market Strategist Jay Woods said Pelosi took her time filing, which may give the edge to tracking another congresswoman.
"Marjorie Taylor Greene was great at stock trading as well," Woods told Benzinga. "In fact, she was even better to follow because she would file things on time.
Woods said Greene's filings come almost in real time and provide a look at her trades, with investors able to quickly follow and make the same moves.
"So yes, follow Nancy Pelosi, follow Marjorie Taylor Greene."
The market expert told Benzinga that investors should look at the track record of Congress members versus stock market indexes. Woods said investors should also look to see if they provided feedback on rulings that were favorable to stocks they are invested.
"It's not rocket science. They insider trade and it's not considered that because they're legally allowed to do it."
Greene has said in the past that a portfolio manager handles all of her trades. The congresswoman brushed off criticism earlier this year over the timing of buying numerous stocks before Trump announced a pause on tariffs and sent stock prices significantly higher.
The congresswoman recently announced her future resignation, which could eliminate her public trading disclosures. Pelosi also announced that she will not run for re-election in 2026, which would see her exit Congress in January 2027.
Did You Know?
Several members of Congress have supported a ban on trading stocks and options for elected leaders, an item that has generated increased support from the public.
"I've been anti-Congress investing in stocks for years," Woods told Benzinga. "As someone in the industry who has very strict rules to adhere to, I have to disclose everything I do. I have a certain holding period."
Woods said he has to disclose and also can't invest based on committee meetings where contracts are awarded.
"There's no way in hell I can invest in that."
The market expert said Congress members trading in stocks based on information from their leadership roles or favorable rulings for companies should be illegal.
"That's illegal in my world, but it's not in the congressional world. It's something that has driven me crazy since the beginning of time."
While there has been increased attention to a potential ban on the trading by members of Congress, Woods said he doesn't see them ever changing their ways.
"Why would they? They're making too much money to do so."
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Photos: Shutterstock
The Magnificent Seven stocks had mixed results in 2025: three outperformed the S&P 500, while four posted gains on the year, but failed to beat the broad stock market index. In November 2024, Benzinga readers were asked about which Magnificent Seven stock would perform the best in 2025. Here's a look at whether they were right.
The S&P 500, which is tracked by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY)
, posted several new all-time highs in 2025. Magnificent Seven stocks also hit new all-time highs during 2025, but the majority failed to outperform the S&P 500.NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) was one of the top performing stocks in 2024 with a gain of 171%, the largest of the Magnificent Seven stocks for the year.
In November 2024, with Nvidia shares up nearly 200%, Benzinga asked readers if any of the Magnificent Seven stocks would beat Nvidia in 2025.
Here were the results:
The near majority saw Nvidia repeating in 2025 as the champion among the widely followed seven stocks. Barring a last-minute miracle rally from Nvidia, the stock will finish in second place for 2025. Here are the current year-to-date returns with less than two days left in 2025:
Alphabet is the top-performing Magnificent Seven stock for 2025, and by a wide margin. Despite being picked by only 6% of readers and ranking fifth among the seven stocks, Alphabet was the top 2025 performer.
Nvidia ranks second. Third place most likely belongs to Tesla, barring any huge volatility on the final trading day of the year.
One of the remaining battles is whether Microsoft will finish ahead of or behind the S&P 500 for the year. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust is currently up 17.7% year-to-date and ahead of Microsoft.
The Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (BATS:MAGS), which tracks the seven stocks, is up 22.9% year-to-date at the time of writing.
Read Also: Congressman Can’t Stop Buying Magnificent 7 Stocks: These Are His Latest Picks
While Nvidia couldn't repeat as champion in 2025 after two years atop the leaderboard, Alphabet is a popular pick to outperform once again in 2026.
Freedom Capital Markets Chief Market Strategist Jay Woods recently told Benzinga that Alphabet is his top Magnificent Seven stock, saying investors should stick with what was working heading into 2026.
"I love Alphabet over the long term. That's one you put away," Woods told Benzinga.
Woods said antitrust litigation may have been hurting the stock previously, but investors are now realizing the potential of segments like YouTube and Waymo, which are owned by Alphabet.
Beyond Alphabet, Woods named Tesla as his other favorite Magnificent Seven stock for 2026.
Alphabet reported revenue growth of 16% year-over-year for the third quarter, with double-digit growth across all reporting segments.
Analysts and investors will be closely watching the Magnificent Seven stocks once again in 2026.
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Image created using artificial intelligence via DALL-E.
When it comes to investing themes over the past several years, stocks with exposure to artificial intelligence or building AI products have been widely followed. A market expert shares with Benzinga which of the four themes of AI, quantum, nuclear or space a person would most want to invest in for 2026.
• Where are RGTI shares going?
Freedom Capital Markets Chief Market Strategist Jay Woods sees the S&P 500 having a lower gain in 2026 than in 2025. When asked to pick between key themes of AI, space, nuclear and quantum stocks for 2026, Woods provided his best answer.
"I still think quantum is a place where we can see some sizable pockets of upside growth as those contracts keep getting awarded," Woods told Benzinga.
CEO Jensen Huang calling quantum the next big thing doesn't hurt either."I listen when Jensen speaks. So quantum stocks are where I would want to put money."
Woods named Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) as a quantum stock that he owns in the sector. The market expert said he sold around 70% of his initial holdings in the stock after the price went "a little parabolic."
"I still think it's a place where I want to have some exposure."
While quantum was Woods’ pick of the four named themes, the market expert also highlighted AI as one to watch.
"I don't think the AI story is dead by any means," Woods told Benzinga. "But I think the AI story has changed to what have you done for me lately? Show me some results. Where is the growth?"
Woods highlighted Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) as an example.
"Agentforce was very promising, doing well, and then had some stumbles."
Woods also highlighted Adobe Inc (NASDAQ:ADBE).
"Look at Adobe. Adobe has struggled. It's picked up some steam lately, but that AI story is getting competitive and there are going to be winners and losers."
The market expert told Benzinga it's no longer about buying stocks that have AI exposure, but finding companies that have AI exposure in less crowded sectors that are showing promise.
"AI is alright. We know there's potential."
Woods named Nvidia as a company that is "hitting on all cylinders" when it comes to AI growth.
Other companies that are “hitting on all cylinders” are Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) and Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO), Woods added.
"You now have to do a little more research when investing in the AI story."
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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.
One of the key investing stories to watch in 2026 is the potential for a SpaceX IPO, an offering that was confirmed by the company's CEO Elon Musk. A market expert shares with Benzinga what the IPO could mean for a bull run, other IPOs and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)
investors.• Tesla stock is showing positive momentum. What’s next for TSLA stock?
Freedom Capital Markets Chief Market Strategist Jay Woods said a potential SpaceX IPO in 2026 would be "some IPO."
"I hope it happens at the New York Stock Exchange. I doubt it will," Woods told Benzinga.
Woods said the offering could be on watch for other top private companies for their potential listings.
"What that could hopefully do is get people at OpenAI to say let's see how it goes."
The market expert said a SpaceX IPO might not happen in 2026, and if it does, it would likely come in the second half of the year.
"That could really open the floodgates. If this goes and goes well, the optimism that you see in historical bull runs will be at a new level."
Woods said a successful SpaceX IPO would see some of the top private companies test the markets, but some might not, as they don't need to right now with success in the private markets.
"I see something like that coming in 2027, and that will be where we get a little euphoric, and this bull run will go back to stampeded mode instead of just grazing out the pasture for now."
Woods recently picked Tesla as one of his top Magnificent 7 stocks for 2026. When asked if the SpaceX IPO could hurt Tesla by having some investors or believers in Musk moving to the space company, the market expert said that's a great question.
"A lot of people don't realize that Tesla doesn't have any money invested in SpaceX," Woods said. "So people who invest in Elon Musk are also going to want to go to SpaceX."
Woods said, hopefully, fans of Musk who want exposure to both Tesla and SpaceX have the money for both.
"It could have an initial downdraft because people are selling Tesla to buy SpaceX."
While the initial impact could be negative for Tesla, Woods believes a successful IPO of SpaceX could be a tailwind for Tesla, showing strong demand for a Musk-related company.
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Photo: Shutterstock
Procure Holdings CEO Andrew Chanin told Benzinga that maintaining a pure‑play focus is central to the firm's identity and a key differentiator from other space‑themed ETFs.
The Ark Space & Defense Innovation ETF (BATS:ARKX) launched in 2021, takes a broader approach. Unlike the Procure Space ETF, the fund from Cathie Wood's Ark Invest includes companies with lower direct exposure to space and, in some cases, stronger ties to adjacent sectors such as eVTOLs and defense.
"To my knowledge, UFO is the only pure play space ETF out there in the United States," Chanin told Benzinga. "That's important to us because it has to be, our fund is called the Procure Space ETF. We have the trademark space ETF."
According to Chanin, some 80% of the companies in the index tracked by UFO derive the majority of their revenue from space‑related businesses, activities, and services.
"It's taking into account companies that are actually doing space. They're actually making money from space. They're actually a space company."
Chanin acknowledged that one could make a broad argument that nearly any public company has some connection to space, but said investors seeking true pure‑play exposure want something more direct.
"Someone that wants to invest in space probably wants to invest in actual space companies."
For Procure, ensuring that most holdings generate the majority of their revenue from space is a defining advantage.
"Anyone can be cute and try to throw in a company and make and argument for why it's space but that doesn't make it space.”
A look at the top holdings of the Procure Space ETF and the Ark Space & Defense Innovation ETFs could show some of the key differences and the focus on pure-play space companies by the older Procure fund.
Here are the top 10 holdings of the Procure Space ETF:
Here are the top 10 holdings of the Ark Space & Defense Innovation ETF:
The only stocks in the top 10 of both ETFs are Rocket Lab and Trimble. A look at the newer Ark fund shows more exposure to defense names like L3Harris and Kratos and also includes eVTOL company Archer in the top 10 holdings. Deere, which has some satellite technology, is also a top 10 holding and could be an example of a company with exposure to the space sector, but not a majority of revenue coming from the segment.
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Image: Shutterstock
Legendary investor Warren Buffett is set to step down from his role as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK)
(NYSE:BRK) at the end of 2025. Freedom Capital Markets Chief Market Strategist Jay Woods shares with Benzinga what Buffett’s legacy means to him and recounts a chance encounter with the Oracle of Omaha.As the man who beat the S&P 500 many times heads to the exit, Woods was asked what he will remember most about Buffett.
"Buffett to me, the ultimate investor," Woods told Benzinga.
Woods said Buffett never really got involved in the technology sector outside of an investment in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and "he didn't need to."
"Warren Buffett was someone who bought quality. He bought lots of it. He bought it on the cheap."
The market expert said Buffett didn't get stuck in the "day-to-day operations" of companies, choosing instead to take a long-term approach to investing in companies that would perform well.
"His overall trading philosophy is the stuff of legends, and the people that have invested with him have been rewarded for it."
Woods said having Buffett step down is "the end of an era."
"I don't think we'll ever see anything like that again."
Woods shared a story with Benzinga not shared with many others, dating back to the investor's time working at Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS).
"I had to go back to the office to get something and it's very rare I go back to the office. I go back to the office and I go into the lobby and who's in the lobby? A ton of security people. And in the center of that scrum is Lloyd Blankfein and Warren Buffett," Woods told Benzinga.
Woods said the encounter between the then-Goldman Sachs CEO and Buffett occurred during the 2008 financial crisis.
"It was announced next day that Warren Buffett was taking a stake in Goldman Sachs and helping secure us when it looked like Goldman was on the ropes like so many other financial companies."
Woods said when he saw Buffett and Blankfein he had no idea what was about to happen.
"That was part of a historic meeting that I had no idea I was walking by."
Woods said he also saw Buffett from a distance on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Woods told Benzinga it'll be weird not getting an annual letter from Berkshire Hathaway or seeing him as active with the company.
"Berkshire continues to invest in great quality companies and I look forward to see what their philosophy is going forward. I suspect it won't change too drastically from what Warren Buffett has instilled in them," Woods said.
The market expert said Berkshire has shown a little more "risk on" with recent investments like UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH), which was bought on a dip.
"I'm curious to see what kind of investing strategy the new team takes because we are seeing some more risk and more technology names."
Woods highlighted the recent investment by Berkshire in Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) as an example.
Another stock highlighted by Woods was Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY), which the investor said Berkshire has kept buying and buying despite the stock going nowhere.
"Are they still believers in the energy space? And what's their time horizon?"
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Photo: Shutterstock
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