Finance
Here's the 'magical' moment Goldman Sachs sees for tech stocks
To get big tech stocks powering higher again, it will take the convergence of two factors, says Goldman Sachs’ veteran tech analyst Kash Rangan.
The magic formula is a steady dose of interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve combined with a burst of innovation that jumpstarts earnings growth in excess of 20%.
“We have to get the industry back from an 11% growth rate to 20%-30% and to do that, new innovation has to happen,” Rangan told Yahoo Finance at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Technology Conference on Monday.
Rangan — a bull on Microsoft (MSFT) and Salesforce (CRM) — says the tech sector must deliver on the AI front in areas like upselling customers and monetization.
“When you compound that innovation with lower rates, magic happens,” Rangan said.
Investor attention is squarely on the Fed as it nears its next monetary policy decision on Sept. 18.
The Fed has widely telegraphed its first rate cut in several years as it looks to stabilize an economy that’s beginning to slow.
“I wouldn’t rule out 50 basis points, but 25 basis points strikes me as more likely,” Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius told Yahoo Finance at the conference.
“I think there is a solid rationale for doing [a 50 basis point cut]. And the rationale is that five and three-eighths, five and a quarter to 5.5% is a really high fed funds rate. It’s the highest policy rate in the G10. It is despite the fact that the US has actually seen more progress on inflation than most G10 economies,” Hatzius added.
As for the other component, that may take a little more time — although signs of fresh innovation inside the AI growth story is beginning to surface.
Salesforce co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff told me in late August the company is on the cusp of releasing AI powered digital agents that can help businesses automate customer service. Salesforce will charge the usage by conversation, Benioff says.
Meantime, AMD (AMD) chair and CEO Dr. Lisa Su took the veil off a series of new AI chips through 2026 in an interview at the conference today.
“AI is a much larger cycle than I would have expected five years ago,” Su said.
To be sure, tech stocks could use a little magic right now.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has shed about 5% in September as investors take profits in hot AI trades amid fears of slowing economic growth. Investors have also been concerned about an AI spending slowdown, triggered in part by mixed second quarter earnings from chip powerhouse Nvidia (NVDA).
Nvidia is off by a whopping 11% month to date, with AMD down 7%.
“The recent performance [of Nvidia’s stock] hasn’t been great, but we do remain positive on the stock,” Goldman Sachs analyst Toshiya Hari told Yahoo Finance at the conference. “First of all, demand for accelerated computing continues to be really strong. We tend to spend quite a bit of time on the hyperscalers — the Amazons (AMZN), the Googles (GOOGL), the Microsofts (MSFT) of the world — but you are seeing a broadening in the demand profile into enterprise, even at the sovereign states.”
Three times each week, I field insight-filled conversations with the biggest names in business and markets on Opening Bid. Find more episodes on our video hub. Watch on your preferred streaming service. Or listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
In the below Opening Bid episode, State Street Global Markets head of equity research Marija Veitname makes her case for the AI sell-off being overdone.
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Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance’s Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn. Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations, or anything else? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.
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Digital payments are becoming an increasingly common part of everyday life in Uzbekistan, helping bring more consumers into the formal financial system and increasing demand for services beyond basic transactions.
According to a financial inclusion survey conducted by the Central Bank of Uzbekistan with support from the Asian Development Bank, 71.17% of respondents reported making or receiving at least one digital payment in 2025, compared with 39% in 2021.
The increase follows several years of policies aimed at expanding financial inclusion, encouraging electronic payments and introducing digital tools such as remote identification systems for banking customers.
Interviews conducted by Euronews on the sidelines of the Tashkent International Investment Forum (TIIF) suggest that the rapid adoption of digital payments is now beginning to influence wider parts of the financial sector, from lending and insurance to investment products and banking services for businesses.
Digital payments enter the mainstream
Industry executives point to a combination of demographic, technological and regulatory factors behind the growth of digital financial services.
Nikolay Seleznyov, co-founder of Uzum, a company active in e-commerce, digital payments and financial services, said the expansion is bringing more people into the banking system.
“More and more people are becoming bank customers. And this trend is irreversible.”
Oliver Hughes, chairman of TBC Uzbekistan, a digital bank operating through the TBC UZ and Payme applications, pointed to the country’s young population and widespread use of mobile technology as factors supporting the shift towards digital services.
The trend is also affecting established lenders. Dmitry Sapronov, deputy chairman of Ipoteka Bank, which became part of Hungary’s OTP Group in 2023, said customer demand for digital services has increased significantly in recent years, requiring banks to rethink how they deliver products and interact with clients.
Regulation and infrastructure
Executives said the growth of digital finance has been supported by both regulatory changes and investment in digital infrastructure.
The Central Bank and other institutions have introduced measures aimed at expanding financial inclusion and encouraging electronic payments, while digital identification systems have made it easier for consumers to access banking products remotely.
“The digital ID product was one of the biggest enablers here for all the players in the financial services industry,” Seleznyov said.
Anne Arundel County is preparing to launch a new finance and e-procurement system to modernize county operations and improve how businesses interact with local government.
The new platform, called Harbor, is scheduled to go live in July and will replace the County’s legacy procurement system with a centralized cloud-based platform built on Oracle Fusion Cloud.
County officials say the new system is designed to streamline procurement and financial processes while making it easier for both existing and prospective vendors to do business with the County.
From the press release:
“Harbor is a much-needed upgrade that will streamline services for our county agencies and those who do business with the county,” said Anne Arundel County Chief Administrative Officer Christine Anderson.
The platform will serve as a single portal for supplier registration, bid opportunities, invoicing, payment tracking, and contract management, consolidating what had previously been spread across multiple systems. County leaders say the transition is part of a broader effort to modernize operations, improve efficiency, and lower barriers for businesses seeking to compete for county contracts.
For counties, procurement modernization remains an important operational priority as local governments look to improve transparency, strengthen vendor engagement, and simplify access for businesses of all sizes. Anne Arundel County has encouraged interested suppliers to review training materials and registration information ahead of the July launch.
Finance
Quadient Recognized as a Leader in the 2026 SPARK Matrix for Accounts Receivable Applications
Quadient demonstrates continued innovation in AI-driven invoice-to-cash automation and unified finance operations
Paris
Quadient (Euronext Paris: QDT), a global automation platform powering secure and sustainable business connections, announced today it has been recognized for the fifth consecutive year as a Leader in the 2026 SPARK Matrix™ for Accounts Receivable Applications by technology analyst and advisory firm QKS Group. Quadient strengthened its position in the report year-over-year, with a notable improvement in Technology Excellence, reflecting continued innovation in its AI-driven invoice-to-cash solution.
According to QKS Group, Quadient’s leadership position highlights its evolution into a comprehensive, AI-powered platform that delivers strong predictive accuracy and straight-through processing. The analyst firm also emphasized the capability of Quadient’s solutions to unify accounts receivable (AR) and accounts payable (AP), offering finance leaders greater visibility and insights into their business finances to make faster, better decisions on working capital management.
Earlier this month, Quadient announced the release of its new cash dashboard capability for AR and AP that allows finance teams to bring together traditionally siloed data in a single view. An AI assistant summarizes key metrics and provides analysis that helps finance leaders accelerate cash on hand, improve forecasting, reduce risk and uncover opportunities to optimize working capital.
“Quadient has established a strong position in the 2026 Accounts Receivable Automation market through its focus on intelligent automation, cash flow optimization and integrated financial operations,” said Sanjeevi C R, associate vice president, Enterprise Research at QKS Group. “The platform’s evolution from predictive analytics to AI-driven autonomous collections execution represents a meaningful step forward in reducing manual effort across the invoice-to-cash cycle. What differentiates Quadient is its ability to combine collections management, cash application, and payment processing with a unified accounts receivable and accounts payable ecosystem, providing finance leaders with a more holistic view of working capital performance. By enabling greater automation, enhanced cash flow visibility, and more efficient receivables operations, Quadient continues to deliver measurable value for organizations seeking to modernize their financial processes and improve liquidity management.”
QKS Group highlighted the following key strengths for Quadient AR:
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