Samsung Electronics is preparing to unveil its flagship Galaxy S26 series, including the premium Galaxy S26 Ultra, at a Galaxy Unpacked event on February 25, 2026, in San Francisco, according to multiple reliable leaks and industry reports. The high-end model will hit global markets starting March 11, marking a later-than-usual launch window for the South Korean tech giant’s annual flagship lineup.
The February 25 date, a Wednesday, aligns with Samsung’s preference for mid-week Unpacked events and has been corroborated by prominent leakers such as Evan Blass (@evleaks), who shared what appears to be an official event invite on X. The invitation confirms the timeline, though specifics on the exact start time and full agenda remain under wraps. Pre-orders are expected to open immediately following the announcement, with in-store availability commencing on March 11—a Wednesday Samsung reportedly selected to avoid the superstitious connotations of Friday the 13th.
This schedule represents a shift from recent years, when Samsung typically revealed its Galaxy S series in January. The delay to late February stems from production adjustments, including mass production timelines for components and a strategic push to refine features amid intense competition from Apple, Google, and emerging Chinese brands. South Korean outlet The Elec previously reported that mass production for the S26 Ultra began in December 2025, while base models followed in January, contributing to the extended runway.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra, positioned as Samsung’s top-tier offering, is expected to retain a familiar design language while introducing targeted upgrades. Leaks from Android Headlines and other sources have surfaced official-looking renders showing a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with QHD+ resolution (likely 3120 x 1440 pixels) and a variable 1-120Hz refresh rate. The panel reportedly incorporates Samsung’s new “Privacy Display” technology, which limits visibility from side angles to enhance user privacy—a feature teased in recent company announcements.
Advertisement
Dimensions are projected at approximately 163.6 x 78.1 x 7.9mm and 214 grams, nearly identical to the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s profile, suggesting incremental refinements rather than a radical redesign. The device will support the built-in S Pen stylus, with rumors of a curvier tip for improved ergonomics and precision.
Under the hood, the S26 Ultra is widely expected to feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset globally, though some markets may see a variant with Samsung’s in-house Exynos 2600 processor. The chip promises enhanced AI capabilities, improved power efficiency, and superior performance for gaming and multitasking. RAM is tipped to reach 16GB across configurations—up from 12GB in recent models—while storage options start at 256GB and extend to 1TB, with no microSD expansion.
Camera upgrades remain a focal point for the Ultra model. Leaks indicate a quad rear setup headlined by a 200MP main sensor (ISOCELL HP2 or similar) with an f/1.4 aperture for better low-light performance and light gathering. It will be joined by a 50MP ultrawide (Samsung JN3), a 50MP periscope telephoto with 5x optical zoom (IMX854 sensor), and a 10MP or 12MP 3x telephoto lens. The front camera is expected to be a 12MP unit. A redesigned camera island and potential improvements in processing via the new chipset aim to address past criticisms of over-processing in Samsung’s flagship photography.
Battery life has drawn mixed reactions from leaks. The S26 Ultra is rumored to retain a 5,000mAh capacity—unchanged from predecessors—with 45W wired charging, though some reports suggest a jump to 60W in certain configurations. Reverse wireless charging support continues, but no major capacity increase appears imminent, disappointing some analysts who anticipated a stacked battery design for better endurance.
Advertisement
Other anticipated features include Android 16 out of the box with One UI 8, seven years of major OS updates and security patches, enhanced Galaxy AI tools for photo editing, real-time translation, and productivity, and improved water and dust resistance (likely IP68). Color options may include Cobalt Violet, Black, and additional shades teased in renders.
Pricing remains speculative but is expected to start around $1,299 for the base 256GB model in the U.S., with potential increases due to component costs and inflation. In other markets, including South Korea and Europe, equivalents could see slight adjustments. Samsung’s trade-in program and carrier promotions are likely to soften the entry price for upgraders.
The S26 series launch arrives amid a fiercely competitive smartphone market. Apple’s iPhone 17 lineup is rumored for September 2026, while Google’s Pixel 11 series could debut earlier. Samsung aims to differentiate through its ecosystem integration, including seamless connectivity with Galaxy Watches, Buds, and tablets, plus advanced AI features powered by on-device processing.
Industry observers view the February timing as strategic, allowing Samsung to showcase innovations ahead of Mobile World Congress in early March and capitalize on early-year consumer interest. The company has ramped up reservations on its U.S. website, offering early access perks for those who sign up.
Advertisement
While leaks provide a detailed picture, official confirmation will come at the February 25 Unpacked event, where Samsung is also expected to reveal the Galaxy Buds 4 series and possibly other wearables or accessories.
As anticipation builds, the Galaxy S26 Ultra represents Samsung’s latest bid to maintain dominance in the premium Android segment, blending incremental hardware evolution with software-driven AI advancements.
The Department of Defence will finally move to divest both Leeuwin Barracks in East Fremantle and Irwin Barracks at Karrakatta, after years of speculation.
U.S. cattle herds may be smaller for the foreseeable future as ranchers show few signs of building up the nation’s livestock supply, said executives from Tyson Foods, America’s largest meat supplier.
Officials at the Arkansas-based company said the shortage of cattle on U.S. pastures is expected to last through at least 2026 and 2027. Last week the U.S. Agriculture Department said the cattle herd was at its lowest level since 1951. The tighter supply is driving up cattle costs and squeezing meatpackers like Tyson.
“The data that we see indicates an ultimately smaller herd,” Tyson Chief Operating Officer Devin Cole said on a call with analysts. “Cattle are going to remain extremely tight.”
Markets staged a strong rebound on Tuesday, driven by a landmark trade agreement between India and the United States. Analysts say the sharp surge in the Nifty suggests a potential shift in the near-term trend after the Budget-related sell-off, as the index has reclaimed its key moving averages.
Shares of Trent, NHPC, Tube Investments, Hexaware Technologies and Apollo Tyres will be in focus as the companies will announce their third quarter results today.
BPCL
Live Events
State-run refiner Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) has raised its capital expenditure plan for the coming fiscal year by 35% to Rs 25,000 crore, driven by an aggressive push into petrochemicals, even as peers Indian Oil and ONGC have trimmed their investment budgets. Bajaj Finance
Bajaj Finance on Tuesday reported a 6% year-on-year (YoY) decline in its consolidated net profit for the third quarter at Rs 4,066 crore. The drop in bottomline was mainly due to an accelerated ECL provision and one-time charge of new labour codes. Adjusted for the above and tax, the profit grew 23% to Rs 5,317 crore.Pidilite Industries
Pidilite Industries on Tuesday reported 12% rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 624 crore for the third quarter ended December 2025. The company had posted a profit of Rs 557 crore in the third quarter last fiscal, Pidilite Industries, manufacturer of adhesives, sealants and construction chemicals.
AB Capital
Aditya Birla Capital reported a 33% jump in its December quarter consolidated net profit at Rs 945 crore compared to Rs 708 crore reported in the year ago period. The profit after tax (PAT) is attributable to the owners of the company.
Advertisement
Mankind Pharma
Indian drugmaker Mankind Pharma reported a higher third-quarter profit on Tuesday, driven by strong domestic demand for its drugs used for treating long-term illnesses. The company, which makes Gas-O-Fast antacid tablet and Manforce condoms, said its consolidated net profit climbed to Rs 409 crore ($45.3 million) for the quarter ended December 31, from Rs 380 crore.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
The rupee surged the most in seven years and India’s equity gauges logged their largest gains in nine months after Washington agreed, as part of a long-awaited trade deal, to reduce tariffs hurting shipments and foreign inflows.
News of the successful US-India agreement caused both the Nifty and the Sensex to surge as much as 5% intraday. The central bank, meanwhile, reportedly bought dollars, preventing the rupee from appreciating too much, too soon. The Nifty 50 advanced 639.15 points, or 2.5%, to 25,727.5 at close of trading, while the Sensex climbed 2,072.67 points, or 2.5%, to end at 83,739.1.
ET Bureau
“The tariff-related uncertainty was one of the many reasons for India’s rising trade gap, equity market underperformance, $19 billion of selling by foreign investors in 2025, and a weakening currency,” said Ashish Gupta, chief investment officer, Axis Mutual Fund. “The new framework removes a key source of uncertainty around the growth outlook, supporting external demand, improving business sentiment, and potentially catalysing a pickup in private capex.”
The rupee, which had the dubious distinction of being the worst performer in Asia in 2025, rallied 125 paise on Tuesday to 90.26 a dollar from 91.51. Its logical advance beyond 90, dealers said, was halted only by the central bank’s decision to buy the US currency, which it had relentlessly sold from its stockpile earlier to prevent the local unit’s rout.
Advertisement
Live Events
Trade Anxiety Abates “Capital flows could see an improvement as the deal lifts overall sentiment,” said Shailendra Jhingan, head of treasury, ICICI Bank. “Foreign capital, which had stayed on the sidelines over the past few months, may begin to return, leading to inflows into both equity and debt markets.” He expects the rupee, the value of which vis-à-vis the dollar has a disproportionate say on overseas capital flows into Mumbai-listed growth assets, to trade between 90 and 89.50 per dollar by end of March. India’s volatility index VIX—the stock market’s fear gauge— fell 7% to 12.90, reflecting a thaw in trader anxiety. Analysts said the index could challenge its all-time high of 26,373.2 in the near term.
Altius, Fortius “The Nifty has traded in a broad range of nearly 1,500 points for most part of May to now, and after the announcement of the trade deal, we may see this range shifting upward, with a potential for Nifty to move toward 26,650 levels on the back of improved sentiment in the coming weeks,” said Rohit Srivastava, founder, indiacharts.com.
Foreign portfolio investors were net buyers of ₹5,236 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutions bought shares worth ₹1,014 crore. So far this year, overseas investors have net sold to the tune of nearly ₹28,180 crore.
BNP Paribas Securities said the trade deal supports its positive outlook on Indian equities this year. It expects a return of foreign fund flows to benefit IT and financial stocks.
Across Asia, markets surged Tuesday, reversing some of the recent losses. Japan gained 3.9%, China 1.3%, Hong Kong 0.2%, South Korea 6.8% and Taiwan 1.8%. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 was up 0.1% at the time of going to press.
Advertisement
At home, the broader market too ended strong, with the Nifty Mid-cap 150 and Nifty Smallcap 250 surging more than 2.9% each. Of the total 4,422 stocks traded on the BSE, 3,279 advanced and 1,015 declined.
Harendra Kumar, managing director of Elara Securities, said the deal strengthens India’s long-term macro setup. “With the tariff overhang now behind us, India’s longterm growth outlook has strengthened, with the GDP potentially expanding at 8-8.5% from FY28-FY29 onwards,” Kumar said. “This should support higher valuation multiples for Indian markets and, alongside a weaker rupee, improve India’s appeal to FIIs.”
Kumar expects the Nifty to hit 30,000 by March 2027.
Gupta said the tone for equities has turned more favourable after a weak start to 2026. The backdrop, he said, is improving thanks to better valuations, stronger earnings expectations, firmer economic momentum following the budget and steady domestic flows. “With tariff uncertainties now resolved, the near-term risk-reward has shifted in favour of equities, and these factors together are expected to meaningfully strengthen India’s FY27 growth outlook,” he said.
Professional Capital Management CEO Anthony Pompliano explains why he is ‘betting’ on Elon Musk after the SpaceX founder merges SpaceX with his A.I. start-up and more on ‘The Claman Countdown.’
French police raided X offices in Paris on Tuesday as part of an investigation into the company’s use of algorithms and its artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok.
French prosecutors had opened the probe in 2025 following a complaint by a lawmaker alleging that biased algorithms on the platform were likely to have distorted the operation of an automated data processing system.
Authorities are now examining suspected algorithm abuse and fraudulent data extraction by X or the platform’s executives, prosecutors said.
Britain’s privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office, also said on Tuesday in a statement it had launched a formal investigation into Grok over the processing of personal data and reports that the chatbot had been used to generate nonconsensual sexual imagery, including of children.
X went on to criticize the French authorities’ actions, accusing prosecutors of bypassing international legal mechanisms.
The investigation has also broadened to include Grok, X’s AI chatbot. (Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The company said in a statement on X that the Paris Public Prosecutor’s office was “plainly attempting to exert pressure on X’s senior management in the United States by targeting our French entity and employees, who are not the focus of this investigation.”
Musk called the raid a “political attack.” (Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo/Reuters / Reuters Photos)
In a separate statement, Europol said it was supporting the French investigation with the assistance of the French Gendarmerie’s cybercrime unit.
“The investigation concerns a range of suspected criminal offences linked to the functioning and use of the platform, including the dissemination of illegal content and other forms of online criminal activity. Europol stands ready to continue supporting the French authorities as the investigation progresses,” it said.
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (TTWO) Q3 2026 Earnings Call February 3, 2026 4:30 PM EST
Company Participants
Nicole Shevins – Senior Vice President of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications Strauss Zelnick – Executive Chairman & CEO Karl Slatoff – President Lainie Goldstein – Chief Financial Officer
Conference Call Participants
Advertisement
Douglas Creutz – TD Cowen, Research Division Eric Handler – ROTH Capital Partners, LLC, Research Division Colin Sebastian – Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, Research Division Christopher Schoell – UBS Investment Bank, Research Division Andrew Marok – Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Research Division Edward Alter – Jefferies LLC, Research Division Jason Bazinet – Citigroup Inc., Research Division Alec Brondolo – Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division Michael Hickey – The Benchmark Company, LLC, Research Division Andrew Crum – B. Riley Securities, Inc., Research Division Brian Pitz – BMO Capital Markets Equity Research Martin Yang – Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division Omar Dessouky – BofA Securities, Research Division
Presentation
Operator
Advertisement
Hello, and thank you for standing by. My name is Tiffany, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Q3 Fiscal Year 2026 Quarterly Earnings Results Call. [Operator Instructions]
I would now like to turn the call over to Nicole Shevins, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications. Nicole, please go ahead.
Nicole Shevins Senior Vice President of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Advertisement
Good afternoon. Thank you for joining our conference call to discuss our results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2026 ended December 31, 2025.
Today’s call will be led by Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Karl Slatoff, our President; and Lainie Goldstein, our Chief Financial Officer. We will be available to answer your questions during the Q&A session following our prepared remarks.
Before we begin, I’d like to remind everyone that statements made during
Billionaire Adrian Portelli’s push into the fuel market seems to be taking shape after months of speculations and social media posts.
Signage for Portelli’s LMCT+ has appeared at a former Shell site in Melbourne, leading many to assume that the opening of the brand’s first physical location is not far off.
LMCT+ Signage Appears at Former Shell Site in Melbourne
The former Shell site is located at the corner of Gower St and Plenty Rd in Preston, according to Real Commercial.
The membership-based brand is a result of Portelli’s frustrations with the fuel market in Australia, notes WhichCar, particularly the refusal of major companies to offer discounts.
LMCT+ is, therefore, positioning itself as “rewards hubs” that offer fuel discounts in addition to other promotions and giveaways from the brands.
Advertisement
It has also been speculated that the Preston location will not be the only LMCT+ sites as it is only a sign of things to come.
Social Media Comments Are Positive
Social media comments regarding LMCT+ and Portelli have largely been positive.
Comments left on LMCT+’s Instagram posts range from calls for cheaper fuel to support for Portelli should he decide to run for office.
“You are a hero to the working class,” one comment reads.
Advertisement
“Run for parliament & you got my vote,” another comment says.
There is even one comment that reads “Can you just buy Australia and fix it … thanks.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has confirmed that another Australian, a male in his 20s, died while skiing in Japan.
The tragic news comes after 22-year-old Brooke Day passed away following a ski lift accident.
Second Australian Dies in While Skiing in Japan
According to a report by news.com.au, the Australia man died while skiing off-piste in an unpatrolled terrain between Niseko Moiwa Ski Resort and Niseko Annupuri International Ski Resort.
The young man had been skiing with a group, who eventually noticed that he disappeared along the way.
His friends went back to search firm and found another group of skiers performing CPR on him.
Advertisement
He was brought to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to ABC News.
“We send our deepest condolences to the family at this difficult time,” DFAT said in a statement, per 7NEWS. “Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment.”
One Tragedy After the Other
The death of the young Australian man comes after Brooke Day passed away following a ski lift accident.
According to The Gurdian, the 22-year-old sustained critical injuries after her backpack was caught in the ski lift as she was trying to disembark.
Advertisement
This caused her to be dragged along the snow before being suspended in mid-air. She reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest.
The accident took place at the Tsugaike Mountain resort in Otari, near Nagano.
| Photography and videos by Ricky-Thomas Serikawa for WSJ
A Michigan pension fund wanted to grow the second-largest coffee farm in Hawaii. What happened there demonstrates the perils of investing public workers’ savings in private markets.
Advertisement
The $16 billion Lansing-based retirement fund ended up abandoning the coffee farm last spring after nine years and $86 million in losses. A few months later, the pension said it had lost $53 million on another ambitious private market bet: an investment with a one-year-old Swiss firm in renewable energy technology.
