Business
Samsung Officially Announces Galaxy Unpacked
Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra is poised for a blockbuster launch just weeks away, building on the S25’s success with rumored AI upgrades and camera leaps. As of February 15, 2026, pre-order buzz intensifies ahead of the confirmed Unpacked event.

Unpacked Event Confirmed
Samsung officially announced Galaxy Unpacked for February 25, 2026, in San Francisco, streaming live at 10 a.m. PT on YouTube and Samsung.com. Invites highlight “elevated experiences,” teasing the S26 series.
Industry insiders like Evan Blass confirm the date as “100% correct,” aligning with Samsung’s post-MWC strategy to dominate early 2026 flagships. Pre-orders typically follow immediately, with carriers ramping up.
Release Timeline Locked
Phones hit shelves around March 11, 2026, per leaks—two weeks post-announcement, landing on a Thursday for maximal weekend sales. Samsung avoids the March 13 Friday superstition in some markets.
This matches the S25 pattern: Unpacked to retail in 14 days. Global rollout prioritizes U.S., Korea, Europe; Asia-Pacific follows by March 20. Delays unlikely given supply chain readiness.
Pricing Expectations Steady
Base S26 Ultra starts at $1,299 for 256GB, matching S25 Ultra—no hike despite inflation, thanks to optimized production. 512GB at $1,419; 1TB at $1,659.
Rumors of a slight drop fizzled; Samsung holds premium pricing amid competition from Pixel 11 and iPhone 18. Trade-ins slash $600-900 off, per past promos. Carriers bundle free storage upgrades.
Storage and Color Options
12GB RAM across trims: 256/512GB/1TB UFS 4.1—no microSD, but cloud integration via One UI 8.5. Colors: Titanium Black, Silverblue, WhiteSilver, PinkGold; online exclusives like Jade Green.
Leaks show slimmer 7.9mm titanium frame at 214g, IP68-rated. Gorilla Glass Victus 3 with anti-reflective coating boosts outdoor visibility.
Processor Powerhouse
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 “for Galaxy”—overclocked 3nm chip with Adreno 830 GPU—powers U.S./global Ultra models. Exynos 2600 hits S26/S26+ in select regions for 20% efficiency gains.
Benchmarks leak 15-20% faster than S25’s Snapdragon 8 Elite, excelling in AI tasks like real-time translation and photo editing. Vapor chamber cooling handles gaming marathons.
Display Dominance
6.9-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X at 120Hz peaks at 2,600 nits—biggest S Ultra yet. Always-on LTPO tech saves battery; Privacy Display mode thwarts side glances.
Slimmer bezels, HDR10+ certified, eye comfort certification. Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor upgraded for wet-finger reliability.
Camera Array Upgraded
200MP main ISOCELL HP2 sensor leads quad setup: 50MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x tele, 50MP 5x periscope—zoom to 100x Space. 12MP selfie with autofocus.
AI enhancements: Nightography 3.0, 8K 60fps video, generative edit suite. Periscope hits 5x optical without size bump, rivaling Hasselblad-tuned flagships.
Battery and Charging Boost
5,000mAh silicon-carbon battery promises two-day life; 65W wired Super Fast Charging (full in 55 mins), 45W wireless, reverse standard. No 100W jump yet.
S26 base gets 4,300mAh (+300mAh); S26+ holds 4,900mAh. Seven-year OS updates to Android 23 confirmed.
Galaxy AI Evolution
One UI 8.5 on Android 16 debuts Circle to Search 2.0, Live Translate Pro, Sketch to Image. Ultra-exclusive AI Pro tools for video b-roll generation.
Cross-device continuity with Galaxy Watch 8, Buds 4. Privacy-focused on-device processing via NPU.
Pre-Order Deals Heating Up
Samsung.com offers $50-100 instant trade-in credit now; full promos post-Unpacked: up to $1,000 off with old Galaxy/iPhone. Free Galaxy Watch 8 or Buds 4 Pro bundled.
AT&T/Verizon/T-Mobile tease 0% financing, double storage. Best Buy matches $200 gift card. Korea’s e-vouchers hit RM150 value.
Carrier Promotions Detail
| Carrier | Trade-In Max | Freebies | Financing |
|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T | $1,000 | Watch 8 | 0% 36 mo |
| Verizon | $900 | Buds 4 Pro | 0% 36 mo |
| T-Mobile | $830 | Ring 2-pack | Unlimited + |
| Best Buy | $700 | $200 GC | 24 mo |
Design Refresh Subtle
Z Fold 7-inspired camera island, flat sides, S Pen slot retained. Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, UWB 2.0. No satellite SOS yet.
Competition Context
Beats Pixel 11 Pro’s Tensor G6 in multi-camera; iPhone 18 lags on zoom/foldables. OnePlus 14 cheaper at $899 but skips S Pen/AI depth.
Global Rollout Map
U.S./Korea: March 11. Europe/UK: March 13. India/SEA: March 20. China via partners. Inventory tight for 1TB.
Why Buy Ultra?
Pro-grade cameras, S Pen productivity, seven-year support make it 2026’s top Android. Early deals offset price amid tariff talks.
Business
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Wall Street Brunch: Walmart Weighs In As Q4 GDP Hits (undefined:WMT)
tupungato/iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Listen below or on the go via Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Walmart features in a holiday-shortened week with 57 S&P 500 reports. (0:17) Economists expect Q4 GDP growth near 2.8%. (1:10) Supreme Court could rule soon on Trump tariffs. (1:37)
The following is an abridged transcript:
It’s a holiday-shortened week for Wall Street, with markets closed Monday for Presidents’ Day — officially Washington’s Birthday, and observed as such by the NYSE.
But in the four trading days, there’s still plenty on the calendar, with 57 S&P 500 (SP500) companies reporting results.
Walmart (WMT) is the marquee name. The retail giant is expected to report fiscal Q4 EPS of $0.73 on revenue of $188.54B when it reports Thursday. Same-store sales are forecast to rise about 4.2%. Walmart also joined the $1T market-cap club last week.
Seeking Alpha analyst Grassroots Trading says Walmart is aggressively integrating AI — including “Sparky” — to drive efficiency and profitability, narrowing the gap with Amazon (AMZN). But they rate the stock a Strong Sell, arguing the valuation looks extreme, with limited margin of safety if multiples revert.
Also on the earnings calendar:
Palo Alto Networks (PANW) and Medtronic (MDT) report Tuesday, followed by DoorDash (DASH) and Occidental (OXY) on Wednesday.
On the economic front, the first look at Q4 GDP is due Friday, with economists expecting 2.8% annualized growth.
Wells Fargo says the underlying fundamentals still look solid — but estimates growth could run closer to 1.6% if you factor in the government shutdown’s drag on headline activity.
Also due Friday are the December income and spending figures, which include the core PCE price index — the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. Core PCE is forecast to tick up to 3% year over year.
In Washington, a Supreme Court ruling on President Trump’s tariffs could come as soon as Friday. The court has flagged three opinion days: Feb. 20, Feb. 24, and Feb. 25.
Prediction markets indicate SCOUTS will rule against the tariffs. Kalshi implies about a 27% chance the court rules in favor, while Polymarket is around 26% as of today.
In the news this weekend, Nvidia (NVDA) says CEO Jensen Huang won’t attend the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi “due to unforeseen circumstances.” But Nvidia said it remains “deeply committed” to the summit and to India’s rapidly advancing AI ecosystem.
The event runs Feb. 16 through Feb. 20, and is expected to draw heads of state — including French President Emmanuel Macron — along with top tech leaders such as Sundar Pichai of Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) and Sam Altman of OpenAI (OPENAI).
For income investors, Chevron (CVX) goes ex-dividend Tuesday, paying out March 10.
ConocoPhillips (COP) and Hasbro (HAS) go ex-dividend Wednesday — ConocoPhillips pays out March 2, and Hasbro pays March 4.
And Microsoft (MSFT) goes ex-dividend Thursday, with a March 12 payout date.
And in the Wall Street Research Corner, Goldman Sachs has launched a software pair-trade basket — going long on names it sees as more insulated from AI disruption, and short on those it sees as more vulnerable.
On the long side are names such as Cloudflare (NET), CrowdStrike (CRWD), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Oracle (ORCL), and Microsoft (MSFT).
On the short side, Goldman flagged Monday.com (MNDY), Salesforce (CRM), DocuSign (DOCU), Accenture (ACN) and Duolingo (DUOL).
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