Knife River Corporation

BlackBerry Limited reported second-quarter fiscal 2027 earnings of $0.07 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.04 per share, sending its shares up 4.2%. Darden Restaurants posted first-quarter fiscal 2027 earnings of $2.05 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.06 per share, and its shares fell 3%. MGM Resorts International shares plummeted 11% after Barry Diller's People Incorporated withdrew its takeover bid for the casino chain. Knife River Corporation shares gained 1.9% on reports that activist investor Starboard Value had acquired a significant equity stake in the company.

Barry Diller's People withdrew its proposal to buy MGM Resorts International, sending the casino giant's shares down more than 9% in premarket trading. Diller said, "We didn't feel the mix was coming together in the way we had hoped," but expressed his faith in the company, in which he still holds 66.8 million shares. Darden Restaurants shed 6.6% after its fiscal first-quarter earnings of $2.05 per share came in line with estimates, while revenue of $3.20 billion fell just shy of the $3.21 billion expected from analysts polled by FactSet; the company also reaffirmed its full-year guidance. BlackBerry added 2% after reporting adjusted earnings of 7 cents per share, topping the 4 cents expected, on revenue of $163.3 million versus the $142.5 million consensus estimate. Meta slipped 2% following its nearly 12% move higher so far this week on optimism around its Muse AI agent, after CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced the company's $1,299 Meta VR Glasses and Muse Charm, its handheld device that works with Muse, late Wednesday. Knife River rose 5% following a Wall Street Journal report that activist investor Starboard Value has acquired a substantial equity interest in the construction materials and contracting services company, reportedly pushing for improved margins or a potential sale, while Everpure moved 6.7% higher on positive takeaways from its financial analyst meeting and preliminary 2028 guidance of $7 billion to $7.3 billion in revenue, topping the $6.19 billion anticipated from analysts polled by FactSet.

Activist investor Starboard Value has built a significant stake in Knife River and plans to push the construction company to explore a sale or improve its margins, The Wall Street Journal reported. Starboard reportedly believes the 2023 spinoff of Knife River from MDU Resources failed to improve the company's margins and wants it to commit to narrowing the gap between its EBITDA margins and those of its peers in the coming years. The activist also wants Knife River to evaluate strategic alternatives including a potential sale, arguing the business has a high barrier to entry and could be attractive to suitors. Shares of Knife River rose 5.3% post-market Wednesday on the report, after falling 7.8% in regular trading Wednesday when the company said in an investor presentation that headwinds including delayed jobs and higher fuel costs are expected to persist through the fiscal year. Construction stocks have underperformed the broader market year to date as the sector faces a pullback in residential and private commercial building.

Knife River Corp reported a 13% year-over-year revenue increase in the second quarter of 2026, driven by record backlog conversion and double-digit volume growth across all product lines. The company raised its full-year revenue guidance to $3.4 billion to $3.6 billion and reaffirmed adjusted EBITDA guidance of $520 million to $560 million, though it now expects results near the midpoint rather than the upper end. Adjusted EBITDA was flat year-over-year on an as-reported basis, impacted by approximately $24 million in external headwinds including higher diesel costs, project delays in Texas, Hawaii, and Alaska, and lower contracting services margins. Aggregate pricing rose 8% on a product mix-adjusted basis, and the company's self-help initiatives reduced variable operating costs in aggregates by 1% despite inflationary pressures. Backlog expanded to $1.2 billion, up about $50 million sequentially, reinforcing confidence in second-half performance.

EMCOR Group has returned 35.3% so far this year, outpacing the average 14.8% gain for the 88-stock Construction sector. The company holds a Zacks Rank of 2, or Buy, and its full-year consensus earnings estimate has risen 3.5% over the past 90 days. Within the Building Products - Heavy Construction industry, which has gained 37.4% year to date, EMCOR is slightly underperforming its eight-member peer group. Knife River, another Construction stock, has returned 18.6% this year and also carries a Zacks Rank of 2, with its current-year EPS estimate up 3.3% over three months.