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Beyond beverages, Ball's containers package everyday personal care, cooking, and cleaning products. Chances are high that you — and millions of consumers worldwide — purchase goods packaged in Ball Corp cans on a weekly basis.

Ball Corp is entering an encouraging operational phase driven by improving cash flow and a refreshed management team seemingly intent on more disciplined capital allocation and leverage reduction. That's important because it's worth noting that Ball Corp's debt is not yet rated investment grade by Moody's or S&P. However, management's credit-focused commitments and capital discipline offer a clear roadmap toward potentially improving their balance-sheet, which in turn could result in upgrades from rating agencies which would modestly lower borrowing costs and potentially dampen equity volatility. 

BALL YTD

Looking ahead, FY2027 estimates suggest a free cash flow yield of more than 4%. Forward PE is a modest 14x adjusted EPS of $4.52. The street anticipates modest top-line expansion tracking general economic growth, coupled with expanding YoY operating margins and net income.

Ball Corp is scheduled to report earnings during the first week of August. While earnings reports naturally introduce event risk, historically Ball's earnings-related-moves have been fairly modest — as one might expect given the industries they serve don't tend to exhibit massive short-term swings in demand. BALL typically moves only in the mid single-digits on earnings release days and even one month post earnings the average historical move is less than 8%.

This muted volatility regime provides an ideal setup for premium sellers seeking high probability of profit.

The trade: Cash-secured put income strategy

For investors comfortable taking delivery of a quality consumer-staples packaging leader at a discount, selling out-of-the-money puts offers an advantageous risk/reward profile. Selling the August $60 Puts would collect $1.20 per contract. This yields a standstill rate of return of ~2% premium relative to the $60 strike, creating a net breakeven of $58.80 per share, or ~24% annualized.

By selling the August $60 put, options traders capture rich implied volatility ahead of August earnings while capitalizing on Ball Corp's robust cash flows, debt reduction discipline, and favorable historical post-earnings price stability. One caveat, selling that put will tie up a great deal of margin in your account.

Trade breakdown:

• Sell August 60 Strike Put for $1.20
• Max Gain: $120
• Max Loss: $5,880
• Skill Level: Advanced

Designed to replace a traditional TV, the PX4 Pro can throw an image ranging from 80 to 200 inches from just inches away from the wall.

It uses a triple-laser light engine that Hisense says covers 118% of the BT.2020 color space, while pumping out 3,500 ANSI lumens, combined with a 7-level adjustable Iris lens and 6500:1 contrast ratio, so it should even perform well during the daytime.

A enhance shadow detail, preserve subtle gradation, and keep bright scenes balanced—even with ambient light in the room.

The projector also features Hisense's CineBlack Pro system, pairing a seven-level adjustable iris with a claimed 6,500:1 contrast ratio to improve black levels and preserve detail in darker scenes.

As you’d expect at this price range, the home theater credentials are strong; the PX4 Pro supports Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and IMAX Enhanced content, while its built-in speaker system has been tuned by French audio experts Devialet.

It runs the Hisense VIDAA smart TV platform, found on its smart TV ranges, which gives you access to all the usual streaming apps without the need for an external device.

Gaming features are pretty strong with Hisense calling the PX4 Pro the world’s first ultra short throw laser projector to get FreeSync Premium certification, which should mean smoother gameplay with reduced screen tearing and lower latency on displays of up to 200 inches.

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As mentioned, at $3,999.99 the PX4 Pro sits firmly at the premium end of the projector market, taking on rivals from the likes of Samsung, LG and Epson in the increasingly competitive ultra short throw category.

The Hisense PX4 Pro is available now from Hisense, Best Buy and Amazon in the US. %!s()

In a statement issued to IGN, GSC Game World said the company's owner, Max Krippa, funded the majority of the development budget. GSC Game World did not detail the nature of the company's deal with Microsoft for exclusivity, how much money it received as part of the deal, nor confirm Stalker 2's development budget.

Here's the statement in full:

ORIGINAL STORY: The founder of Stalker 2 developer GSC Game World has said the game turned a profit before it even came out thanks to the money Microsoft paid for Xbox exclusivity.

In an interview with YouTuber OLDboi, GSC Game World founder Sergiy Grygorovych said that Microsoft was so impressed by the number of views the debut Stalker 2 trailer received, that it soon got in touch with the Ukraine company to negotiate terms for exclusivity.

“We took more than the cost of Stalker 2,” Grygorovych, who has since left GSC Game World to make a new game with a new studio, said. “It paid for itself before the first day.” IGN has asked GSC Game World for comment.

Xbox was heavily involved with Stalker 2, which was made amid Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It snapped up timed console exclusivity and a day-one launch on Xbox Game Pass, while also helping to produce and market the game, as well as a making-of documentary.

After a series of understandable delays, Stalker 2 launched on PC and Xbox Series X and S in November 2024, as well as on Game Pass. It was released on PlayStation 5 a year later, in November 2025. Stalker 2 was originally due out much earlier, in Q4 2021, as per documents revealed in 2021.

Stalker 2 was a sales success, hitting 1 million copies in two days. It has so far surpassed 6 million players. Cost of Hope, the first major story expansion for Stalker 2, launched in the summer.

Grygorovych did not say how much money Microsoft paid for the exclusivity, nor how much Stalker 2 cost to develop. But his comments do shine a light on Microsoft’s gaming philosophy when it was building up its content portfolio to help boost interest in Game Pass.

Indeed, developers have over the years praised Microsoft for cutting generous deals for Game Pass and exclusivity, with some saying they helped reduce risk and keep studios afloat.

Now, amid new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s “reset” of Microsoft’s gaming business, the future of Game Pass is unclear. Microsoft cut 1,600 staff from Xbox earlier this month, with another 1,600 to go this financial year. Sharma has pulled Call of Duty out of Game Pass as a day-one launch title, and is doubling down on Xbox’s biggest franchises, such as Fallout. Four studios are confirmed to be leaving Microsoft ownership, with another on its way. Sharma has called it the most “significant” restructure in Xbox history, insisting Microsoft’s gaming business “is not healthy.”

Speaking on MinnMax, Mike Brown, who was creative director on the hugely successful Forza Horizon 5 before leaving developer Playground to found his own studio, Maverick Games, which is set to release an open world racer of his own called Clutch, said this week that Game Pass had failed to hit enough subscribers to justify Microsoft’s huge spending on content acquisition. This includes the eye-watering $69 billion Microsoft splashed out on Call of Duty developer Activision Blizzard.

“I think it's really sad and I think it's really, really unfortunate,” Brown began. “They've honestly invested a fortune in the concept of Game Pass as a service, which led to loads of teams being acquired, loads of games being funded, loads of people getting jobs, all with a vision of getting regular games landing in this service for players. I think the reality is not enough people have subscribed to it at the prices that they needed to pay in order to make that business viable.

“And, that’s actually just really sad. Because we're now going to see studios getting shut down or spun off, and loads of people are going to lose their jobs, and that is honestly just a result of a well-meaning, player-focused concept of Xbox Game Pass not quite landing.”

Brown went on to defend Microsoft and Game Pass, praising the concept of the subscription service and the games that would otherwise not have been made were it not to have existed.

Xbox Games Series Tier List

Xbox Games Series Tier List

“It’s just a real shame,” he continued. “And as much as people point fingers and call different people within Xbox the villain of the piece, the concept of Game Pass was good. Like, it's a good idea. Let's have a subscription, make it affordable, try and get games to more people. We'll have a really diverse selection of games on there. We'll get a load of studios involved. We'll make some games that probably couldn't exist otherwise. And if more people had subscribed, that makes enough money and it works, and all of those studios go on and those games get made again and those teams will make other games. Unfortunately, it didn’t.

“I don’t know the number it needed to hit was, but it never reached the number that would make a $70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard make financial sense. It’s really unfortunate. We don’t know what the future is just yet, but it is a reshaping of the business around that, after the first concept didn’t quite land.”

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected]. %!s()