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Wall Street heads into the final full week of June with investors focused on inflation data, AI-related earnings, and the health of the banking sector.

The week’s marquee earnings report arrives Wednesday when Micron Technology (MU) reports results. As one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI boom, Micron’s outlook for memory demand and datacenter spending could have implications across the semiconductor sector. Investors will also be watching investor events from Nvidia (NVDA) and Qualcomm (QCOM) for fresh commentary on AI trends.

Consumer spending will be another major theme. Amazon’s (AMZN) four-day Prime Day event begins Tuesday, while Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT), Best Buy (BBY), and Kohl’s (KSS) are expected to run competing promotions, offering a real-time test of consumer demand.

On the macro front, Thursday’s core PCE report will provide the latest reading on inflation. Economists expect the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge to rise to 3.4%, while durable goods orders and remarks from New York Fed President John Williams could offer additional clues on the economic outlook.

Bank stocks may see heightened attention Wednesday evening when the Federal Reserve releases its annual stress-test results for the largest U.S. lenders, including JPMorgan (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Morgan Stanley (MS).

Elsewhere, investors will watch the Russell index reconstitution and GTA VI pre-orders.

Earnings spotlight: Tuesday, June 23: FedEx (FDX), Carnival Corporation (CCL). See the full earnings calendar.

Earnings spotlight: Wednesday, June 24: Micron (MU). See the full earnings calendar.

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What SA Analysts Are Watching

Micron : Am I Buying More? No; Am I Done? Not At All

The Fed Just Killed The Rally

I Was Wrong About Kevin Warsh

FedEx: Tariffs, Amazon Changes, And Earnings On The Horizon

BlackBerry Stock: Downgrading To Hold Ahead Of Earnings

Carnival: The Market May Be Missing PROPEL’s Appeal

Insider Watch

Check out the week’s top insider trades, highlighting significant purchases and sales by investors, directors, and executives. Notable transactions took place at American Express (AXP), Dell (DELL), and Broadcom (AVGO).

Investing Group Spotlight

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

Sunday’s edition of The New York Times’ popular word-grouping game served up a grid that rewarded sitcom knowledge, weather vocabulary, and a genuinely devious wordplay twist that left even experienced solvers second-guessing their early progress.

How the Game Works

For newcomers, NYT Connections presents 16 words that must be sorted into four thematic groups of four. Players are limited to four mistakes, and the color-coded difficulty system, with yellow being easiest and purple being trickiest, means surface-level connections often mislead solvers into incorrect groupings. Since its June 2023 launch, Connections has carved out its own niche in the Times’ puzzle ecosystem, standing alongside Wordle and the crossword as a daily ritual for millions of players worldwide.

Sunday’s Four Categories

The themes and answers for the June 21, 2026, NYT Connections puzzle were as follows:

Yellow Group: Precipitation — DRIZZLE, RAIN, SHOWERS, SPRINKLES.

Green Group: Bowls Over — FLOORS, ROCKS, STUNS, SURPRISES.

Blue Group: NBC Sitcoms — COMMUNITY, FRIENDS, SCRUBS, WINGS.

Purple Group: Starting With Kinds of Insults — BARBADOS, DIGGITY, DISSECT, SLAPDASH.

Breaking Down the Categories

Puzzle #1106 registers as moderate difficulty with a sting in the tail. Yellow falls quickly for weather watchers, while Green requires recognizing figurative language, though ROCKS might briefly send solvers down a geology rabbit hole before they realize the category actually centers on verbs meaning to overwhelm, impress, or astonish someone.

Blue separates the sitcom streamers from the casual viewers, drawing together four popular television shows that all originally aired on the same network. The category particularly favors NBC fans and anyone familiar with the network’s long history of beloved comedy programming.

The Purple Category’s Wordplay Trap

As is typical for Connections puzzles, the purple category delivered the day’s most challenging twist, built around a hidden prefix scheme rather than any straightforward thematic connection. Purple, predictably, is the streak-ender — that hidden-insult-prefix trick won’t reveal itself without serious lateral thinking about word construction rather than word meaning.

The category required players to recognize that each of the four words begins with a term that, on its own, functions as a mild insult or criticism. BARBADOS looks like a Caribbean vacation, not a diss track waiting to happen, while the remaining words in the category similarly disguised their insult-prefix connection behind everyday vocabulary that gave no immediate indication of the underlying wordplay.

Where Players Got Tripped Up

Beyond the purple category’s central trick, several individual words throughout the grid were specifically designed to mislead solvers into incorrect early groupings. SCRUBS could have been mistaken for cleaning or medical terms, and WINGS might have sent solvers toward birds or aviation, rather than their actual placement within the NBC sitcoms category.

One puzzle solver who completed Sunday’s grid without any mistakes described their solving order as starting with the more straightforward categories before tackling the trickier ones. “I didn’t make any mistakes this time. Here’s the order I solved them in: yellow, green, blue, purple,” the solver noted, describing their experience working through Sunday’s puzzle.

Tips for Future Puzzles

Connections veterans continue to recommend scanning for the most straightforward, tightly defined categories first, such as colors, numbers, animals, or other clearly bounded groupings, since these tend to be the easiest to lock down early and build solving momentum. Puzzle editor Wyna Liu is famous for mixing categories that overlap, so when a word seems to fit multiple potential groups, solvers are encouraged to assume the puzzle is deliberately trying to mislead them rather than taking the most obvious interpretation at face value.

Purple is specifically designed for wordplay and misdirection, frequently incorporating idioms, homophones, or cultural references that only become clear once the more straightforward categories have already been solved and removed from the board.

The Game’s Continued Popularity

Launched in June 2023, Connections is one of the New York Times’ newest puzzle hits, second only to Wordle in overall popularity among the publication’s growing portfolio of daily games. The game’s format, which combines straightforward vocabulary categories with increasingly abstract and wordplay-driven groupings, has helped it build a dedicated daily following that treats the puzzle as an essential complement to Wordle in their daily routine.

Where to Find More Puzzle Help

Beyond Connections, The New York Times Games collection includes several related puzzles such as Wordle, Strands, the Mini Crossword, and a dedicated Connections Sports Edition that tests knowledge of athletic trivia using the same grouping format. Sunday’s slate also included Strands puzzle number 840 and Connections Sports Edition puzzle number 636, giving puzzle enthusiasts a broad menu of additional daily challenges beyond the standard Connections grid alone.

With Sunday’s puzzle now solved by players who successfully navigated both the NBC sitcom category and the hidden insult-prefix trick in purple, attention turns to Monday’s edition, puzzle number 1107, when a fresh sixteen-word grid and an entirely new set of hidden categories will be waiting for the Connections community’s next daily challenge.

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

This report contains independent commentary to be used for informational and educational purposes only. Michael Kramer is a member and investment adviser representative with Mott Capital Management. Mr. Kramer is not affiliated with this company and does not serve on the board of any related company that issued this stock. All opinions and analyses presented by Michael Kramer in this analysis or market report are solely Michael Kramer’s views. Readers should not treat any opinion, viewpoint, or prediction expressed by Michael Kramer as a specific solicitation or recommendation to buy or sell a particular security or follow a particular strategy. Michael Kramer’s analyses are based upon information and independent research that he considers reliable, but neither Michael Kramer nor Mott Capital Management guarantees its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. Michael Kramer is not under any obligation to update or correct any information presented in his analyses. Mr. Kramer’s statements, guidance, and opinions are subject to change without notice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Neither Michael Kramer nor Mott Capital Management guarantees any specific outcome or profit. You should be aware of the real risk of loss in following any strategy or investment commentary presented in this analysis. Strategies or investments discussed may fluctuate in price or value. Investments or strategies mentioned in this analysis may not be suitable for you. This material does not consider your particular investment objectives, financial situation, or needs and is not intended as a recommendation appropriate for you. You must make an independent decision regarding investments or strategies in this analysis. Upon request, the advisor will provide a list of all recommendations made during the past twelve months. Before acting on information in this analysis, you should consider whether it is suitable for your circumstances and strongly consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser to determine the suitability of any investment.

Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

TORONTO — Substitute Deniz Undav emerged as Germany’s hero with a dramatic 94th-minute winner that completed his side’s stunning comeback win against Ivory Coast and booked their place in the World Cup knockout stages.

The four-time winners endured a frustrating outing after going behind to a 30th-minute goal from Ivory Coast captain Franck Kessie, but Julian Nagelsmann turned to his bench in search of a response — and Undav delivered emphatically with a second-half double.

Undav’s Decisive Impact off the Bench

The Stuttgart forward applied a smart finish to fellow substitute Nadiem Amiri’s cross to break Ivory Coast’s resistance in the 68th minute before scoring the winner in the 94th minute to inflict a painful defeat on the African nation. Undav had also scored a goal and provided two assists after coming off the bench in Germany’s 7-1 opening win against Curaçao, continuing a remarkable pattern of impact substitute appearances through the tournament’s early stages.

Ivory Coast’s Path Still Open

Despite the painful late defeat, the dejected Ivorians can still progress from Group E behind Germany with a win against World Cup debutants Curaçao in their final game, leaving their tournament hopes alive heading into the decisive final round of group matches.

An Energetic Start From the Ivorians

Emerse Fae’s side impressed with their energy and directness early on in Toronto, but it was Germany who carved out the clearer of chances in the opening stages. The Germans had the ball in the back of the net in the 22nd minute through Aleksandar Pavlovic, but his header from a corner was ruled out for a foul on goalkeeper Yahia Fofana.

Kessie Breaks Through

Ivory Coast then took the lead as their exciting 19-year-old winger Yan Diomande found Amad Diallo, whose close-range effort was blocked by Nathaniel Brown, only for Kessie to convert the rebound and put the Ivorians in front.

A Second Disallowed Goal Compounds Germany’s Frustration

Germany’s frustration grew as Kai Havertz had a goal disallowed for a foul on Emmanuel Agbadou by Jamal Musiala in the build-up, while an unmarked Christ Inao Oulai and Kessie spurned chances to double the Ivorians’ lead. Those misses ultimately proved costly as Germany were undone by the injury-time winner from Undav.

Fofana had kept out efforts from Brown and Amiri late on, but there was nothing he could do as Undav expertly trapped a pass from Felix Nmecha and slotted past the goalkeeper on the turn to break Ivorian hearts in the dying seconds.

Nagelsmann’s Bench Comes Through Again

Germany put on a show in their opener as they delivered a thrashing of Curaçao for the biggest win of the opening round. But an exciting Ivory Coast side, brimming with confidence from a late victory against Ecuador in their opener, posed an altogether different challenge.

Diomande, linked with a move to Liverpool, showcased his pace and raw ability on the left flank for the Ivorians, while Manchester United winger Amad, Kessie, and 20-year-old Oulai all caused problems for the German defense, which has now kept just one clean sheet in its past six matches.

Ultimately, though, Germany were rescued by the quality of their substitutes. With his side trailing 1-0, Nagelsmann made a triple change in the 60th minute, bringing on Jamie Leweling, Amiri, and Undav, with the latter duo combining for the equalizer only eight minutes later.

Undav’s Rising Profile

Undav then struck a second to take his tally to nine goals in just 11 appearances for Germany and make his case for a starting spot again, helping his side put embarrassing group-stage exits in 2018 and 2022 behind them. That scoring rate places him among the most efficient finishers in the current squad, despite his role so far in the tournament being limited primarily to appearances off the bench.

Heartbreak for Ivory Coast, but Genuine Promise Remains

Ivory Coast, meanwhile, can take a lot of heart from their performance despite the last-gasp defeat. This group of players remains well-placed to achieve a feat that eluded the likes of Didier Drogba, Yaya Touré, Kolo Touré, and Salomon Kalou before them — taking their country to the knockout stages of a World Cup.

With the result, Germany have secured their place in the knockout rounds and put two consecutive disappointing group-stage exits behind them, a significant marker of progress for Nagelsmann’s side after the team’s struggles at the previous two tournaments. For Ivory Coast, the final group match against Curaçao now represents a must-win scenario to keep their own knockout-stage ambitions alive, with the Elephants still well-positioned despite Sunday’s heartbreaking finish, given the broader competitiveness and quality they displayed for long stretches against one of the tournament’s traditional powerhouses.

With SpaceX commanding a valuation north of $2 trillion following its blockbuster Nasdaq debut, a growing chorus of market analysts is making the case that investors chasing space-and-AI exposure may find better value, lower risk, or stronger growth elsewhere. Here are five stocks repeatedly cited as alternatives worth considering instead.

1. Nvidia (NVDA)

While SpaceX’s valuation is based on moonshot bets, Nvidia is the dominant player in artificial intelligence infrastructure. It trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of just 16 and grew its revenue by 85% in the first quarter to $81.6 billion. Its adjusted quarterly profits of $45.5 billion were nearly 2.5 times SpaceX’s entire 2025 revenue.

That comparison underscores the core argument bulls make for Nvidia over SpaceX: Nvidia is already generating the kind of cash flow that SpaceX’s AI ambitions remain years away from matching, all while trading at a multiple analysts consider reasonable relative to its growth.

2. Amazon (AMZN)

Amazon offers investors a comparable blend of established AI infrastructure and direct competition with SpaceX’s own satellite ambitions. While SpaceX is trying to become a leading AI company, Amazon already is one. Its Amazon Web Services is seeing accelerating revenue growth, and its custom chip business gives it a cost edge.

The company also has its own space ambitions, looking to challenge SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service with its own offerings, while the acquisition of Globalstar gave it important spectrum and direct-to-device capabilities. One analyst argued Amazon “is a great company with two proven and growing businesses” that “should be worth much more than SpaceX’s moonshot bets.”

3. Alphabet (GOOGL)

Alphabet’s case rests on a similar logic: a company with already-proven AI infrastructure, plus its own under-the-radar space project. While SpaceX is trying to become a leading AI company, Alphabet is already the most complete one. Its Gemini model is a top-tier foundation model, while its Tensor Processing Units give it a significant advantage by reducing training and inference costs.

Notably, Alphabet isn’t ignoring space either. It actually owns a large stake in SpaceX, and its Project Suncatcher is developing a constellation of solar-powered satellites powered by TPUs and free-space optical links to perform machine learning in space. The company believes the cost of a space-based data center could become comparable to a land-based one by the mid-2030s.

4. Rocket Lab (RKLB)

For investors who specifically want direct exposure to the launch and space-infrastructure business SpaceX dominates, analysts point to Rocket Lab as a far cheaper way to participate in the same trend. Rocket Lab is a space stock with huge potential at a fraction of its market capitalization. It’s pulling in record revenue, with $200 million in the first quarter alone, up more than 63% year over year, and has a backlog of $2.2 billion.

Rocket Lab’s highly anticipated medium-lift reusable rocket, the Neutron, is slated for its debut late this year. It will immediately scale up Rocket Lab’s payload capacity to roughly 13,000 kilograms, allowing it to compete directly for the high-margin national security and deep-space missions currently monopolized by SpaceX. The company has already locked in a five-launch deal for the Neutron before it even leaves the pad.

5. Redwire (RDW)

For investors seeking a “picks and shovels” approach to the space economy rather than a bet on any single launch provider, several analysts have pointed to Redwire as an appealing option. One closely followed view calls Redwire the best SpaceX alternative, and its product explains why. It builds the space-grade solar arrays that power satellites and spacecraft in orbit. That hardware is hard to copy, so even SpaceX would likely source it rather than build it. So Redwire grows by supplying the sector, not by competing.

Redwire’s first-quarter revenue rose 58% year-over-year to $97 million, with gross margin expanding to 26.6% from 14.7% a year prior, and the company reported a record backlog of $498.1 million. On a positive note, Redwire trades at 7 times trailing sales, the lowest valuation cited among comparable space stocks — though it’s worth noting the company is still losing money, posting first-quarter earnings of negative $0.40 per share that missed expectations, with a large portion of that loss tied to equity-based compensation.

The Bull Case for SpaceX, for Balance

Not every analyst agrees the alternatives are clearly superior. SpaceX’s business model carries genuine offsetting strengths: Starlink already gives the company a large recurring revenue base, while Starship can help lower launch costs. The xAI merger gives SpaceX its own AI products, including Grok. Colossus is SpaceX’s large AI data center system, giving the company a way to sell computing capacity to AI customers such as Anthropic. SpaceX has multiple growth engines and may be less affected by weakness in any one business line than a single-focus competitor would be.

SpaceX’s AI infrastructure business is also gaining real momentum through outside partnerships. The company has entered into a cloud services agreement with Alphabet, under which Google will pay $920 million per month from October 2026 to June 2029 for access to AI compute capacity. Anthropic has also agreed to lease the full computing power of SpaceX’s Colossus 1 data center.

The Case Against

Skeptics counter that SpaceX’s valuation still requires near-flawless execution to justify. Elon Musk has predicted $1 trillion in revenue by 2030, but he has a long history of overly optimistic forecasts, and the chances of the company coming anywhere close to that number are slim. There are major technical hurdles that need to be overcome to have data centers in space, and no one can be certain this is a good business, let alone one that is right around the corner.

SpaceX also carries substantial financial risk regardless of its strategic positioning. Its AI business is still losing money. SpaceX’s business model is also capital-intensive, with capital expenditures reaching $20.7 billion in 2025 and $10.1 billion in the first quarter of 2026 alone.

The Bottom Line

There is no single consensus answer on whether SpaceX or one of these alternatives represents the smarter investment, and the dispersion in analyst opinion reflects genuine, substantive disagreement about how to value a company straddling rocketry, satellite connectivity, and unproven orbital AI ambitions simultaneously. Some analysts favor established mega-cap technology names like Nvidia, Amazon, or Alphabet for their proven cash flow and lower relative valuations. Others favor smaller, more direct space-sector plays like Rocket Lab or Redwire that offer cheaper entry points into the same secular growth trend SpaceX represents, without SpaceX’s premium price tag.

As with any investment decision, particularly involving newly public or rapidly evolving sectors like commercial space and AI infrastructure, it’s worth doing your own research, weighing your personal risk tolerance and time horizon, and consulting a qualified financial advisor before deciding where to put your money. This overview is intended to summarize the competing perspectives currently circulating among market analysts, not to tell you what to buy or sell.