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Rubrik (RBRK) delivered strong upside for Q2 FY26 and raised full-year guidance. However, shares are pulling back today in a “sell-the-news” reaction after a 14% rally since last Friday.

• Subscription Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) rose 36% yr/yr to $1.25 bln, slightly below the prior quarter’s 38%, but still strong.
• Net new subscription ARR was $71 mln, driven by robust new customer acquisition and recurring expansion from existing accounts.
• The number of customers with $100,000+ in subscription ARR grew 27% yr/yr to 2,505, reflecting increased enterprise adoption.
• Subscription ARR contribution margin improved significantly to +9.4% from -8.2% a year ago.
• Key margin drivers included operating leverage, cost efficiencies, a one-time hosting credit, and debt refinancing.
• Non-GAAP EPS improved to $(0.03) from $(0.40) in the year-ago period, approaching breakeven.

Briefing.com Analyst Insight:

RBRK delivered solid Q2 results with strength across core metrics and a notable margin turnaround. Still, the stock is selling off after a big run-up, which suggests investors may have priced in much of the good news. While ARR growth and profitability trends are moving in the right direction, the quarter doesn’t quite erase broader concerns. RBRK remains in the early innings of proving it can scale efficiently over time. With strong demand for cyber resilience solutions, the fundamentals look promising, but this isn't necessarily a name to chase aggressively just yet.

Core & Main’s (CNM) stock is plunging after its 2Q26 earnings report, driven by a miss on Q2 revenue expectations and a cut to FY26 revenue guidance, which now sits below consensus estimates. The company encountered several headwinds: softness in single-family housing and residential lot development, which weakened especially in the Sunbelt; softer residential demand; and elevated operating costs from inflation, employee benefits, recent acquisition integration, and facility expenses. These factors weighed on results and forced management to revise their guidance, factoring in continued residential softness and higher costs into the outlook for the rest of the year.

• Despite these challenges, certain segments delivered notable strength. Growth was robust in treatment plant projects and fusible high-density polyethylene product lines, where CNM’s technical expertise and execution are winning share. The municipal market remained healthy thanks to funding for repair, replacement, and advanced metering infrastructure projects, while data center projects and large-scale regional contractor relationships are generating promise for future growth.
• Gross margin rose slightly, climbing 40 bps yr/yr to 26.8% in Q2. Improvements were fueled by the successful execution of private label and sourcing initiatives, as well as accretive contributions from recent acquisitions. These operational wins helped offset some of the volume and cost pressures, allowing the company to control pricing and maintain profitability even as sales growth slowed.
• This combination of 7% total sales growth and enhanced margins resulted in a Q2 EPS beat, with adjusted diluted EPS increasing 43% to $0.87. The EPS expansion reflects both higher net income and a lower share count following active share repurchase initiatives.

Briefing.com Analyst Insight:

While the stronger gross margins and EPS outperformance reveal the company’s discipline and operational strengths, these positives are being overwhelmed by the cautious tone on FY26 revenue guidance, which is driving the sharp selloff in shares. Investors are focused on the muted FY26 revenue outlook, which continues to be pressured by residential and cost headwinds, obscuring the underlying margin and earnings improvements.

Apple's (AAPL) "Awe Dropping" event at 1:00pm ET is poised to reinforce consumer excitement around its new products, especially the iPhone 17 lineup, while also potentially driving stock moves for key suppliers tied to component and technology updates.

• No surprises are expected in the iPhone 17 design, with focus on the ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air. Pricing strategy and feature tradeoffs vs. Pro models will be closely watched.
• Apple Watch and AirPods updates take a backseat to the iPhone but remain notable amid rising competition from Fitbit, Garmin, and others like Oura, as consumer focus on health and wellness intensifies.
• AI features may be mentioned, but significant advancements seem unlikely, with major Siri updates expected to arrive instead at the developer conference sometime next spring.
• Subtle moves in iPhone tier pricing could emerge amid higher costs and tariffs; consumer pushback is a risk and investor focus on demand elasticity in price-sensitive markets like China and India where local competitors pose stiff competition.

Briefing.com Analyst Insight

Apple shares often see heightened volatility around launches, with a tendency toward "buy the rumor, sell the news." With limited AI-driven excitement expected, the spotlight falls on iPhone 17 pricing, features, and global reception. While the event will likely underscore Apple's ecosystem strength; investors may need to wait for more transformative AI catalysts. Meanwhile, supplier stocks such as AVGO, CRUS, TSM, QCOM, SWKS, and QRVO could see notable moves depending on component updates, making the ripple effects of today's announcements just as important as Apple's own stock reaction.

Nebius Group (NBIS +44%) is surging after announcing a landmark AI infrastructure deal with Microsoft (MSFT), giving the Amsterdam-based company a major boost in visibility, scale, and future revenue. The announcement was first revealed in a 6-K filing, followed by a late-night press release — an unusual cadence that likely reflects the European time zone difference.

• Nebius builds full-stack infrastructure for AI, including proprietary compute, storage, managed services, and developer tools. It also operates side ventures in autonomous vehicles (Avride) and tech training (TripleTen), but AI infrastructure is the core business.
• Under the agreement, Microsoft will gain access to Nebius's GPU infrastructure capacity at a new data center in Vineland, NJ, delivered in tranches over a 5-year term.
• Total contract value is $17.4 bln through 2031, with potential to rise to $19.4 bln if Microsoft purchases additional services or capacity.
• This is a game-changing deal for a company that posted just $117.5 mln in 2024 revenue (+462% yr/yr).
• CEO Arkady Volozh said this is the "first of these contracts," suggesting more large-scale partnerships may be on the horizon. He emphasized the deal's strong economics and its strategic value for accelerating AI cloud growth in 2026 and beyond.
• Cap-ex will increase significantly, but Nebius plans to fund the buildout via deal-related cash flow and debt backed by the contract — aided by MSFT's strong credit profile.
• On its Q2 call, Nebius said it expects to secure 220 MW of connected power at its NJ and Finland sites by year-end. It also teased two new US greenfield site deals nearing completion.

Briefing.com Analyst Insight:
This Microsoft partnership is transformational for Nebius. Beyond the headline $17.4 bln value, the deal provides predictable, long-term revenue and validates its infrastructure at the highest level. It also puts the company squarely on the radar of US investors, many of whom likely hadn't heard of NBIS before today. Execution risk remains — this is a massive scale-up for a relatively small player — but the market opportunity is clear, and further deals could cement Nebius's status as a serious contender in the AI cloud race.

SailPoint (SAIL) posted better-than-expected 2Q26 results, topping both EPS and revenue forecasts, but shares are sharply lower after the report amid concerns over weaker forward guidance. Despite topping expectations, management's Q3 revenue outlook of $269–$271 mln came in well below analyst estimates, overshadowing the beat and shifting sentiment negative. Investor disappointment was amplified by heightened expectations following Okta's (OKTA) strong beat-and-raise Q2 report on August 27, making SAIL’s comparatively soft Q3 guidance even more discouraging.

• The underwhelming Q3 revenue guidance reflects a more cautious sales pipeline and lengthier deal cycles impacting near-term growth, according to management remarks during the call. While SAIL did modestly raise its FY26 EPS, revenue, and Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) forecasts, the upward revisions mainly captured spillover upside from a Q2 outperformance rather than improved underlying growth trends for the rest of the year.
• Looking closer at key recurring metrics, SAIL delivered a standout Q2 on the ARR front: total ARR surged by 28% yr/yr to $982 mln, easily surpassing its own guidance of $963–$967 mln. SaaS ARR jumped 37% to $623 mln, powered by increasing customer adoption of SAIL’s cloud identity solutions.
• The primary drivers behind this robust ARR and SaaS growth were strong new logo wins, expansion activity among existing enterprise customers, and accelerating migrations from legacy on-prem solutions to the company’s cloud-native platform.

Briefing.com Analyst Insight

SAIL’s Q2 execution was solid, and core ARR/SaaS trends remained healthy, fueled by strength among enterprise customers and SAIL's transition to a subscription-based model under Thomas Bravo's ownership prior to its IPO last February. However, the company’s cautious forward guidance proved a disappointment after the recent sector optimism, leading to a steep selloff as investors reset expectations for near-term growth.