Morningstar, Inc. - February 16, 2026
Should Higher Earners Still Make 401(k) Catch‑Up Contributions?
Plus: Why Alts Manager Stocks Are Getting Hit Hard, Why REIT...
 Morning DigestAmy Arnott Even without the upfront tax break, Roth 401(k) catch‑ups may offer long‑term tax advantages. 
ADVERTISEMENT  Editor's Picks  After a strong reading on jobs data this week, economists expect the Federal Reserve to stay on the sidelines. Rachel Schlueter  Core CPI rose at a 2.5% annual rate. Lauren Solberg  Plus: Equal-weighted indexes’ time in the sun, Q4 GDP, and what to watch as big retailers report earnings. Tom Lauricella  Software stocks and the funds that own them get lacerated. Russel Kinnel  Jitters about private credit markets are among the reasons that Blackstone, Apollo, and others are seeing their stocks post big declines. Greggory Warren  Plus, 4 Gold- and Silver-rated REIT ETFs from Vanguard, Schwab, and more. Daniel Sotiroff, Ivanna Hampton Investing Insights These companies from various corners of the globe are well positioned for the future. Margaret Giles These stock picks stand to benefit most from developing artificial intelligence technologies in 2026. Tori Brovet, Margaret Giles These 12 undervalued communication-services stocks look attractive today. Tori Brovet Index funds are passive investments. They track an index with the aim of replicating that index’s performance minus expenses. Active funds, meanwhile, are led by managers who choose particular securities to outperform an index. However, some index funds are better than others. Tori Brovet Vanguard dominates the list of best-performing corporate bond funds. Gabe Alpert Why we think these stocks are picks today, and how investors can gain emerging-market exposure with one US stock. David Sekera, Susan Dziubinski, Jess Bebel The December personal income report is releasing, plus Walmart earnings. Rachel Schlueter Recent Earnings New Stock Analyst Reports Rivian's (RIVN) fourth-quarter results reflected the US electric vehicle tax credit expiration, as lower deliveries weighed on profit. Rivian is preparing to begin manufacturing its new lower-priced midsize sport utility vehicle under the R2 platform. We expect US electric vehicle sales will decline in 2026 due to the tax credit expiration, but Rivian's outlook is in line with our view for roughly 50% deliveries growth. Management said the R2 production ramp-up would weigh on profits to begin the year, but it expects positive gross profit in the automotive segment in 2027 as the higher volume of R2 vehicles reduces unit production costs. New Fund Analyst Reports Royce Small-Cap’s (RYPFX) solid managers and their sober, bottom-up approaches give it a shot at competitive long-term results. Seasoned managers run independent slices of this strategy. Five managers who manage other Royce Investment Partners funds—Steven McBoyle, Lauren Romeo, and Andrew Palen of Royce Premier, Jay Kaplan of Royce Small-Cap Value, and Miles Lewis of Royce Small-Cap Total Return—each pick up to 65 stocks here. Firm co-chief investment officer Francis Gannon works with and allocates assets among the managers but selects no holdings. There are no neophytes here; the team averages more than 16 years with Royce and nearly 30 in the industry. The Tools You Need to Invest Like an Analyst Stay connected:
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