NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: GETY) (“Getty Images”) and Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE: SSTK) announced today that the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has concluded its review of the companies’ proposed merger of equals and the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act has expired, without conditions. “We are very pleased with the DOJ’s decision in recognizing the merits of this transaction,” said Craig Peters, CEO, Getty Images. “With to ...

Core Viewpoint - During turbulent market conditions, investors often seek dividend-yielding stocks, which typically have high free cash flows and provide substantial dividends to shareholders [1]. Group 1: Market Trends - Investors are increasingly turning to dividend-yielding stocks as a strategy during market uncertainty [1]. - High free cash flow companies are favored for their ability to reward shareholders with significant dividend payouts [1]. Group 2: Analyst Insights - The article highlights the ratings of the most accurate analysts for three high-yielding stocks in the communication services sector [2]. - The identified stocks include Shutterstock Inc (NYSE:SSTK), Omnicom Group Inc (NYSE:OMC), and Comcast Corp (NASDAQ:CMCSA) [3].

Core Viewpoint - During turbulent market conditions, investors often seek dividend-yielding stocks, which typically have high free cash flows and provide substantial dividends to shareholders [1]. Group 1: Investment Strategy - Dividend-yielding stocks are favored by investors in uncertain market environments [1]. - Companies with high free cash flows are more likely to offer significant dividend payouts [1]. Group 2: Analyst Ratings - The article mentions the availability of analyst ratings for high-yielding stocks in the communication services sector [2]. - Specific companies highlighted include Shutterstock Inc, Omnicom Group Inc, and Comcast Corp [3].

Group 1 - DHI Group reported quarterly earnings of $0.09 per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.08 per share, and showing an increase from $0.07 per share a year ago, representing an earnings surprise of +20.00% [1] - The company achieved revenues of $31.38 million for the quarter ended December 2025, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.50%, although this is a decline from year-ago revenues of $34.78 million [2] - DHI Group has outperformed the S&P 500, with shares increasing about 9% since the beginning of the year compared to the S&P 500's gain of 1.1% [3] Group 2 - The company's earnings outlook is crucial for investors, as it includes current consensus earnings expectations for upcoming quarters and any recent changes to these expectations [4] - The trend of estimate revisions for DHI Group was mixed prior to the earnings release, resulting in a Zacks Rank 3 (Hold), indicating expected performance in line with the market [6] - Current consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming quarter is $0.05 on revenues of $29.47 million, and for the current fiscal year, it is $0.26 on revenues of $120.03 million [7] Group 3 - The Internet - Content industry, to which DHI Group belongs, is currently ranked in the top 22% of over 250 Zacks industries, suggesting a favorable outlook for stocks within this sector [8] - Another company in the same industry, Shutterstock, is expected to report quarterly earnings of $1.05 per share, reflecting a year-over-year change of +56.7%, with revenues projected at $252.62 million, up 0.9% from the previous year [9]

Company Overview - Opera Limited's shares increased by 13.5% to close at $14.1, following a period of 12.7% loss over the past four weeks, indicating a significant rebound in stock performance [1] - The company is benefiting from its products, including Opera Neon and Agentic AI, along with an expansion of Minipay Wallet and raised financial guidance [1] Earnings Expectations - Opera Limited is expected to report quarterly earnings of $0.33 per share, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 3.1% [2] - Revenue projections for the upcoming quarter stand at $165 million, which is a 13.2% increase compared to the same quarter last year [2] Stock Performance Insights - The consensus EPS estimate for Opera has remained unchanged over the last 30 days, suggesting that stock price movements may not sustain without trends in earnings estimate revisions [3] - The stock currently holds a Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold), indicating a neutral outlook [3] Industry Context - Opera Limited is part of the Zacks Internet - Content industry, which includes other companies like Shutterstock [3] - Shutterstock's consensus EPS estimate for its upcoming report is $1.05, representing a significant year-over-year increase of 56.7%, and it currently holds a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy) [4]

Core Insights - During market turbulence, investors often seek dividend-yielding stocks, which typically have high free cash flows and offer substantial dividends [1] Group 1: Analyst Ratings and Price Targets - Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) has a dividend yield of 6.90%. Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne maintained an Equal-Weight rating and reduced the price target from $48 to $47, with an accuracy rate of 73% [6] - JP Morgan analyst Sebastiano Petti maintained a Neutral rating for Verizon and lowered the price target from $49 to $47, with an accuracy rate of 54% [6] - Shutterstock Inc (NYSE:SSTK) has a dividend yield of 6.98%. Needham analyst Bernie McTernan maintained a Buy rating and cut the price target from $30 to $25, with an accuracy rate of 67% [6] - JMP Securities analyst Andrew Boone maintained a Market Perform rating for Shutterstock, with an accuracy rate of 76% [6] - Sirius XM Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI) has a dividend yield of 5.22%. Rosenblatt analyst Barton Crockett maintained a Neutral rating with a price target of $23, having an accuracy rate of 67% [6] - Barrington Research analyst Patrick Sholl maintained an Outperform rating for SiriusXM with a price target of $28, with an accuracy rate of 56% [6] Group 2: Recent News - Verizon Business and Kodiak AI reached a commercial agreement to enhance Verizon's connectivity and IoT capabilities for Kodiak's driverless trucking solutions [6] - Shutterstock reported mixed quarterly results on Nov. 5 [6] - SiriusXM appointed Zac Coughlin as chief financial officer on Nov. 18 [6]

Core Viewpoint - Shutterstock is positioned as a high-income opportunity within the growing AI sector, despite recent stock price declines and challenges in its older content segment [3][4][14]. Financial Performance - The company has a market capitalization of approximately $718.8 million, with 35.5 million shares outstanding, and offers an annual dividend of $1.29 per share, resulting in a yield of 6.37% [1]. - The stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 6.87x, significantly lower than the sector average of 15.01x, indicating that investors are discounting future earnings [2]. - In Q3 2025, revenue increased to $260.1 million from $250.6 million, while net income decreased to $13.4 million from $17.6 million, and diluted EPS fell from 0.50 to 0.37 due to higher costs [6]. - Adjusted net income declined from $46.4 million to $36.4 million, and adjusted EPS fell from 1.31 to 0.99, indicating margin compression [7]. AI Integration and Growth Strategy - Shutterstock is enhancing its offerings by integrating AI tools and services, allowing customers to create content more efficiently [3][8]. - The company is transitioning from being a data supplier to a partner in model design, training, and evaluation, providing tailored content and insights [8]. - The global AI market is projected to grow from nearly $260 billion in 2025 to over $1.2 trillion by 2030, highlighting the potential for Shutterstock's growth in this sector [5]. Analyst Perspectives - Analysts project a growth rate of 14.94% for the full year 2025, with expected earnings of $3 per share, up from $2.61 in 2024 [11]. - Consensus among analysts is neutral, with a "Hold" rating and an average price target of $27.57, suggesting about 30% upside from the current price [12]. Conclusion - Despite trading at a steep discount and facing challenges, Shutterstock is seen as a misunderstood income play in a growing AI environment, with potential for gradual returns driven by its high dividend yield and ongoing investments in AI [13][14].

Group 1 - The article discusses the recent challenges faced by Getty Images, particularly after missing Q1 EPS and in the context of the merger approval between Shutterstock and Getty Images [1] - The author has a long history of investment analysis, focusing on identifying underappreciated companies that can return value to investors [1] Group 2 - The article does not provide any specific financial data or performance metrics related to Getty Images or Shutterstock [2][3]

Core Insights - Getty Images reported third quarter results that met expectations, with top-line growth flattening due to challenging year-over-year comparisons against a strong event calendar from the previous year [2] - The company finalized strategic partnerships to integrate its content into emerging AI platforms, which are expected to create new revenue streams aligned with its traditional business [2] - The company remains confident in its value proposition and is focused on disciplined execution against its 2025 outlook [2] Financial Performance - Revenue for Q3 2025 was $240.0 million, a slight decrease of 0.2% year-over-year and 2.0% on a currency-neutral basis [6] - Creative revenue increased by 8.4% year-over-year to $144.9 million, while editorial revenue decreased by 3.7% to $89.3 million [6] - Annual subscription revenue grew to 58.4% of total revenue, up from 52.4% in Q3 2024 [6] - Net income for Q3 2025 was $21.6 million, compared to a net loss of $2.5 million in Q3 2024, resulting in a net income margin of 9.0% [6][15] - Adjusted EBITDA was $78.7 million, down 2.4% year-over-year, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 32.8% [6][15] Liquidity and Balance Sheet - The company had an ending cash balance of $109.5 million as of September 30, 2025, down from $121.2 million at the end of 2024 [6][35] - Total debt was $1.38 billion, which included $539.9 million in senior secured notes and $543.6 million in term loans [15] - The company has $150.0 million available through its revolver, resulting in total available liquidity of $259.5 million [7] Key Performance Indicators - Total purchasing customers decreased by 2.3% year-over-year to 703,000, while active annual subscribers increased by 1.7% to 304,000 [10] - Paid download volume decreased by 1.3% to 93 million, and the annual subscriber revenue retention rate fell to 90.3% [10] Financial Outlook - The updated revenue guidance for 2025 is between $942 million and $951 million, reflecting a year-over-year growth of 0.3% to 1.2% [14] - Adjusted EBITDA guidance for 2025 is set between $291 million and $293 million, indicating a year-over-year decline of 3.0% to 2.3% [16] Merger and Legal Developments - Getty Images is in the process of merging with Shutterstock, with the transaction expected to close in 2026, pending regulatory approvals [19] - The company recently won a trademark infringement case against Stability AI, establishing a precedent for copyright claims related to AI-generated outputs [21][22]

Group 1: OpenAI and Nvidia Partnership - OpenAI has signed a seven-year deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS) valued at $38 billion to access hundreds of thousands of Nvidia GPUs, with potential expansion to tens of millions of CPUs for scaling workloads [6][7] - The partnership is described by OpenAI as a "declaration of adulthood," marking a shift from its previous exclusive relationship with Microsoft [7] - The deal aims to enhance the performance and reliability of AI infrastructure, benefiting millions of ChatGPT users [7] Group 2: Nvidia Valuation and Market Impact - Loop Capital has set a new price target of $350 for Nvidia, up from $250, which would imply a market capitalization of $8.5 trillion [8] - Analyst Ananda Baruah anticipates a surge in GPU shipments for Nvidia over the next 12 to 15 months, supported by its GB200 NVL72 racks [8] Group 3: Kimberly-Clark Acquires Kenvue - Kimberly-Clark is acquiring Kenvue in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $48.7 billion, with Kenvue's shares rising nearly 20% following the announcement [9][10] - The acquisition price of $21.01 per share represents a 46% premium over Kenvue's closing price prior to the announcement, although Kimberly-Clark's stock has since declined by over 10% [11] - Kimberly-Clark CEO Mike Hsu will lead the combined company as chairman and CEO [11] Group 4: Other Notable Market Movements - The UK Competition and Markets Authority has referred the merger between Getty Images and Shutterstock for a Phase 2 investigation, causing Shutterstock's shares to drop by more than 10% [12] - MongoDB's stock is rallying after announcing a new CEO and positive Q3 guidance [12] - Data center company IREN has secured a $9.7 billion contract with Microsoft for AI cloud services, leading to a significant stock rally [13] - Beyond Meat is experiencing a decline due to a delay in releasing Q3 results related to asset impairment [14] - The technology sector has seen a notable uptick in short covering, with Info Tech emerging as the most net bought sector for the first time in three weeks [15]