A star stock during the pandemic era wasn’t shining so brightly on Friday. On a media report that the current presidential administration is preparing to link a set of fatalities to Covid vaccines, BioNTech‘s (BNTX -7.26%) share price declined by 7% across that day’s trading session. The biotech company’s decline was particularly notable given the essentially flat-line performance of the S&P 500 index.

Negative accounts

That morning, The Washington Post published an article stating that healthcare officials in the Trump administration were aiming to link the deaths of 25 children to coronavirus vaccines. BioNTech is a co-developer of a top vaccine, Comirnaty, aimed at preventing the disease’s spread (its partner in the effort was U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer).

Citing four unnamed people “familiar with the situation,” this effort will be based on findings that were apparently filed with the federal government’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. The platform contains unverified accounts of experiences and events following the administration of jabs.

The newspaper added that the government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stresses that the system isn’t intended to determine if any vaccine injections result in fatalities. According to the CDC, such a judgement requires significant investigation by scientific and medical professionals.

Danger of reputational damage

The Post wrote that administration officials aim to present their findings next week to a CDC advisory panel. That panel is considering recommendations for new Covid vaccines.

BioNTech might be particularly exposed in such a move, as it is a much smaller company than its big U.S. partner Pfizer. If it becomes seen as a developer of a supposedly harmful product, its reputation could suffer irreparably.

Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Pfizer. The Motley Fool recommends BioNTech Se. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

An apparent takeover attempt being concocted by a peer was the main factor behind Warner Bros Discovery (WBD 28.91%) stock’s precipitous rise on Thursday. On a media report that the storied entertainment company is in play, investors piled into the stock in anticipation of a generous buyout offer. Warner soared almost 29% higher in price that trading session.

Hollywood megadeal in the works?

That afternoon, The Wall Street Journal published a story stating that Paramount Skydance is making preparations to submit a majority cash bid for Warner. This effort is apparently backed by the family of Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, which includes Oracle co-founder and executive chairman Larry Ellison and film producer Megan Ellison. It wasn’t immediately clear which family members might be involved in the bid.

The Journal, citing unnamed “people familiar with the situation,” wrote that Paramount Skydance’s play will be for the entirety of the sprawling Warner.

The business newspaper added that in preparing a bid, Paramount Skydance hopes to get the jump on big tech and entertainment conglomerates that might want to lay their hands on Warner assets.

If successful, a combination of Paramount Skydance and Warner would be earth-shaking for the entertainment industry. Combined, the two own a dizzying number of familiar entertainment properties, including cable/streaming channel HBO, superhero franchise base DC Studios, and Nickelodeon Movies.

The Journal did not speculate as to how much Paramount Skydance plans to offer for Warner; however, the amount must be substantial. The latter company’s market cap stood at over $40 billion after the run-up in the stock following the article’s publication.

Neither Paramount Skydance nor Warner has yet officially commented on the report.

Stay tuned for more!

Given David Ellison’s successful entry into Paramount Skydance last month, plus the considerable financial firepower he and his team can marshal, I’d say the Journal‘s report has a lot of credibility. I’d be cautious in approaching Warner’s stock now, however, as we have no indication of what the price tag might be.

Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Oracle and Warner Bros. Discovery. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Shares of Bloom Energy (BE 13.14%) rocketed 18.5% higher on Wednesday as of 12:35 p.m. ET.

There wasn’t any news specifically from Bloom today; however, last night’s bombshell guidance from Oracle (ORCL 35.14%) is likely boosting Bloom by association, given that Bloom inked an important data center partnership with Oracle in July.

Oracle announces AI hypergrowth, and it will need lots of energy

Bloom surged in July after it announced a landmark deal with Oracle on July 24. For reference, Bloom’s energy servers can transform natural gas or hydrogen into electricity without combustion, producing electricity from an abundant source like natural gas in a cleaner way to meet escalating electricity demand.

Bloom had served utilities and other power users in the past, but the July deal with Oracle was the first direct agreement with a cloud hyperscaler.

Therefore, when Oracle provided astonishing backlog growth in its cloud infrastructure (IaaS) business last night, that also improved the outlook for Bloom, which will likely play a role in providing electricity to those data centers. Oracle reported $455 billion in remaining performance obligation in its cloud IaaS business, up an astounding 359%. On the conference call with analysts, CEO Safra Catz noted she expects cloud infrastructure revenue to grow from $18 billion this year to a stunning $144 billion in fiscal 2030 — over just a matter of four years.

Needless to say, that much growth will require Oracle to build a lot more data centers, which will likely be served in part by Bloom’s energy servers.

Bloom looks expensive, but AI growth is off the charts

After today’s rally, Bloom trades at 76.5 times next year’s earnings estimates. That’s very expensive for a low-margin hardware business, but Oracle’s multiyear guide appears to have lifted the prospects for Bloom’s growth over the 2027-2030 time frame.

So while Bloom’s valuation makes it risky at these levels, its artificial intelligence (AI)-related growth story keeps getting better.

Billy Duberstein and/or his clients have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Oracle. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Earth observation satellite company Planet Labs (PL -9.32%) stock started out the week right as it soared nearly 48% after beating earnings Monday morning. It’s giving back some of those gains Tuesday, having fallen back 3.9% through 10:40 a.m. ET.

And that’s OK.

Planet Labs Q2 earnings

If you recall, Planet Labs reported $0.07 in losses yesterday but beat analyst forecasts for “adjusted” earnings, and for revenue according to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) as well. Revenue growth was strong at 20% year over year, and gross margins were exceptional, rising 5 full percentage points to 58%.

Best of all was Planet Labs’ announcement that it is firmly free-cash-flow positive, and sooner than Wall Street expected (if not quite as soon as Planet Labs promised before it came public via a special purpose acquisition company years ago).

What Planet Labs said, and what Planet Labs did

Back in 2021, Planet Labs made some predictions about where it would be today, in its fiscal 2026. Right about now, Planet Labs predicted, it would be earning 74% (non-GAAP) gross margins, growing revenue at a consistent rate north of 50% annually, and firmly free-cash-flow positive.

So far, only one of these predictions has come true, and only partially so: Free cash flow arrived a year later than predicted. Sales growth and profitability are both tracking lower than predicted — but as I said, that’s OK.

Why? Because Planet Labs stock costs less today than it did back at its IPO. Valued at $2.9 billion, on course for perhaps $100 million in FCF this year, and growing at 20%, the stock’s close enough to the mark that investors can once again seriously start looking at Planet Labs as a stock worth buying.

Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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SoundHound AI (SOUN 7.30%) is a popular AI pick because it’s relatively small and doing remarkably well, which could translate to massive upside over the next few years. This is an attractive combination, and some are wondering if buying it today could set investors up for life.

This is a tall task for any stock, but with massive tailwinds surrounding AI and its buildout, is SoundHound AI a viable candidate? Let’s find out.

SoundHound AI’s product is being rolled out worldwide

SoundHound AI does exactly what it sounds like: It combines AI technology with audio recognition. This isn’t a new concept; digital assistants like Siri and Alexa have been available for years. The problem is that these models leave a lot to be desired in terms of performance, but SoundHound AI far exceeds them.

SoundHound AI’s audio recognition technology incorporates generative AI and can potentially replace humans in various roles, such as taking drive-thru orders or assisting individuals with banking transactions over the phone. Another way SoundHound AI is gaining popularity is through its integration into automated digital assistants. While we haven’t seen this rollout in the U.S. yet, it’s becoming available in other parts of the world, such as Japan and Europe. Eventually, it will reach the U.S. and could continue to be a driving factor in SoundHound AI’s revenue stream.

With SoundHound AI having the potential to disrupt a ton of industries by automating human interactions, the sky is the limit for SoundHound AI’s stock. This has shown up in its revenue growth, as SoundHound AI delivered impressive quarters recently.

In Q2, SoundHound AI blew revenue expectations out of the water. It reported revenue growth of 217% to a company-record $42.7 million. This illustrates the small size of SoundHound AI’s business, as well as its rapid growth rate. As we start to see more practical deployments of SoundHound AI’s technology, this number could quickly expand, making it a must-own stock.

But has the market already priced in its success?

SoundHound AI isn’t a cheap stock

SoundHound AI is a long way from profitability, which is understandable given its rapid growth and the importance of the industry it is targeting. As a result, the best way to value the business is by using the price-to-sales (P/S) ratio. At 38 times sales, SoundHound AI is an expensive stock.

SOUN PS Ratio data by YCharts

Most software companies trade at a multiple of 10 to 20 times sales, so this represents a significant premium to pay. Then again, most companies aren’t tripling their revenue year over year, so SoundHound AI’s valuation makes more sense in that context. Management expects FY 2025’s revenue to be $169 million, which would value the stock at 31 times full-year estimated sales. That’s still expensive, but it aligns with some of the more premium-priced software stocks.

Essentially, the stock has priced in all of 2025’s growth, but the question is, what comes next? CFO Nitesh Sharan had some commentary on that:

The numbers we’re talking about this year will pale in comparison to the numbers we’ll talk about for next year and the year after that. And we’re certainly on that pathway. And I think historically, our growth organically of 50% plus, and now with other acquisitions going even double of that like that — that’s a pace that we anticipate for the foreseeable future.

A 50% growth rate for the foreseeable future is impressive and would certainly lead to a massive outperformer in the market. It also justifies SoundHound AI’s current price tag. Still, this growth rate and price tag don’t combine to create a stock that could set you up for life. It will likely be a successful investment if bought today, but there are still risks involved with the business. As a result, SoundHound AI makes for a smart addition to a portfolio, but with a proper weighting that adjusts for the risks of investing in a high-growth business.

Keithen Drury has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.