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Adam Dodd, co-founder of wealth technology app Freetrade, is stepping down as CEO.

Freetrade

LONDON — The boss of U.K. stock trading service Freetrade is stepping down and leaving the company with immediate effect, the company told CNBC exclusively Monday.

Adam Dodd, who co-founded the company with business partners Davide Fioranell and Viktor Nebehaj in 2016, will be replaced by Nebehaj, currently Freetrade’s chief marketing officer, as CEO, pending customary regulatory approvals.

Dodd remains the largest individual shareholder in Freetrade, owning a roughly 12% stake, according to company filings. He won’t be involved in the day-to-day operations of the company from now, however a Freetrade spokesperson said he’ll continue to support the company’s evolution from the “outside.”

‘We almost died so many times it’s hard to count’

Dodd felt it was the right decision to leave the company and have Nebehaj take the reins as it enters the next stage of its growth trajectory, which includes plans to push out new products including bonds and mutual funds, tax wrappers, and its web platform, as well as grow its core profitable U.K. userbase.

The Freetrade logo on a smartphone screen.

Rafael Henrique | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

“When reflecting on the journey from idea to over a million users with billions in assets, it’s getting through the tough times you remember the most,” Dodd said in comments shared with CNBC. “We almost died so many times it’s hard to count.”

“Now, after putting up our first profitable quarter and with the business on a strong sustainable footing, it’s time to hang up my skates. Freetrade is default alive and ready to take on the incumbent platforms in the UK with self-sustaining growth,” Dodd said.

Dodd added: “I’m very happy to say Viktor will be stepping up to take over the helm as CEO. I’ll be doing everything I can to support him and the company from the board. As for me I’m looking forward to getting to know my kids better, annoying my wife on the farm, and finally getting my pilot license.”

Nebehaj, Freetrade’s incoming CEO, applauded Dodds’ eight-year run as CEO and said that “it’s natural that different stages of a company’s growth require different leaders.”

“With our first profitable quarter behind us, I’m excited about the size of the opportunity ahead,” Nebehaj said in a statement. “Our talented and high-quality team is building the right product for our customers.”

Perry Blacher, Freetrade’s board chairman, said that Nebehaj “is ideally placed to lead Freetrade from strength to strength.”

Wild few years

Dodds’ departure follows a wild ride for the company in recent years. Dodds took Freetrade from a scrappy startup in the early days seeking to disrupt the world of wealth management, to a 500-person company with over 1.4 million users.

In 2020, Freetrade was onboarding thousands of users a day as retail trading activity boomed in the wake of the GameStop stock-trading saga, which saw a community of hardcore fans of the U.S. video game retailer drive up the price of the company’s share price.

More recently, it’s been forced to tighten its belt as the reality of a gloomier macroeconomic environment set in. In 2022, Freetrade announced measures to lay off 15% of its workforce as sought to push toward profitability.

The following year, Freetrade raised £2.3 million ($2.9 million) in a crowdfunding round on Crowdcube at a valuation of £225 million — a 65% discount to its earlier £650 million valuation. Freetrade at the time blamed a “different market environment” plagued by higher interest rates and inflation.

More recently, the firm has had news to cheer about. Freetrade reported its first-ever quarter of profit in the three months through March, according to unaudited financial statements shared with CNBC in April. Preliminary revenues hit £6.7 million for the quarter.

Freetrade still generated an annual loss of £8.3 million in 2023, down from the £28.8 million loss it racked up the year prior, while revenues climbed 45% to £21.6 million in the same timeframe.

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Firefly Aerospace shares jump 15% on strong revenues, boosted guidance

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Firefly Aerospace shares jump 15% on strong revenues, boosted guidance

Jason Kim, chief executive officer of Firefly Aerospace, center, during the company’s initial public offering at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, US, on Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025.

Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Firefly Aerospace‘s stock surged 15% on Wednesday after the space technology company issued better-than-expected third-quarter results and lifted its guidance.

Revenues in the third quarter jumped nearly 38% to $30.8 million from $22.4 million in the year-ago period and nearly doubled from the previous quarter.

Firefly’s net loss totaled $140.4 million, or $1.50 per share. The company said net loss included costs tied to its IPO, foreign exchange and executive severance

The company also lifted its outlook for the year, saying it now expects revenues to range between $150 million and $158 million. That’s up from previous guidance in the range of $133 million and $145 million.

This is Firefly’s second quarterly report as a public company. Last quarter, shares slumped after it posted a bigger loss and lower revenues than analysts were expecting.

The Cedar Park, Texas, company went public on the Nasdaq in August during a period of heightened enthusiasm toward space technology. The U.S. government and NASA have leaned on more contracts with companies like Firefly and Elon Musk‘s SpaceX to support moon missions.

But shares of Firefly have lost 70% of their value since their opening day close, and the company’s market capitalization has plummeted from about $8.5 billion to about $2.7 billion on Wednesday.

In September, Firefly shares sank after a rocket exploded during a ground test at the company’s Texas facility, days after receiving clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration over a separate incident. Firefly has since put “corrective measures” in place, the company said on Wednesday. Shares dropped 35% in September and are down 24% this month.

Firefly in July won a nearly $177 million contract with NASA for an upcoming moon mission, and in October, it announced its acquisition of defense tech firm SciTec to boost its national security portfolio.

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Cisco’s stock jumps on earnings beat, strong guidance and $1.3 billion in AI orders

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Cisco's stock jumps on earnings beat, strong guidance and .3 billion in AI orders

Chuck Robbins, Cisco CEO, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box outside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 22, 2025.

Gerry Miller | CNBC

Cisco reported better-than-expected profit and revenue for its fiscal first quarter on Wednesday. The stock rose more than 7% in extended trading.

Here’s how the company did in comparison with consensus estimates from LSEG:

  • Earnings per share: $1 adjusted vs. 98 cents expected
  • Revenue: $14.88 billion vs. $14.77 billion expected

Revenue increased 8% from $13.84 billion in the same period a year earlier, Cisco said in a statement. Net income climbed to $2.86 billion, or 72 cents per share, from $2.71 billion, or 68 cents per share, a year ago.

It’s the fourth straight quarter of growth for Cisco following a stretch of four consecutive year-over-year revenue declines, as the company contended with economic uncertainty and delayed spending from government agencies.

Cisco’s networking business, its biggest unit, saw sales climb 15% to $7.77 billion. Analysts were expecting revenue for that segment of $7.47 billion, according to StreetAccount.

Most of the growth in data center spending is focused on artificial intelligence, as companies bolster their investments in servers packed with graphics processing units, primarily from Nvidia. Cisco is trying to tie itself more closely to the AI boom, and last month introduced a new Ethernet switch based on Nvidia silicon.

Cisco said that AI infrastructure orders from “hyperscaler customers” reached $1.3 billion, “reflecting a significant acceleration in growth.”

“Our relevance in AI continues to build,” CFO Mark Patterson said in the press release. “We have a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar campus refresh opportunity starting to ramp, with strong demand for our refreshed networking products.” 

For the fiscal second quarter, Cisco said it expects revenue of $15 billion to $15.2 billion, topping the $14.6 billion average estimate, according to LSEG. Adjusted earnings will be $1.01 to $1.03 per share, exceeding the 99-cent average estimate.

Revenue for the full fiscal year will be between $60.2 billion and $61 billion, with earnings per share of $4.08 to $4.14, Cisco said. Analysts expect sales of $59.7 billion and EPS of $4.04.

While networking is growing and performing better than expected, Cisco’s other two main segments saw revenue declines and missed Wall Street’s expectations.

Sales in the company’s security unit fell 2% from a year earlier to $1.98 billion, missing the average estimate of $2.16 billion, according to StreetAccount. And collaboration sales slipped 3% to $1.06 billion, trailing the $1.09 billion average estimate.

Cisco shares are up 25% this year as of Wednesday’s close, topping the 21% gain for the Nasdaq.

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Defense startup Govini founder Eric Gillespie charged in child sex sting

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Defense startup Govini founder Eric Gillespie charged in child sex sting

Mug shot of Eric Gillespie, Govini Founder and Chairman.

Courtesy: Pennsylvania Attorney General

The founder of Virginia-based defense startup Govini was arrested on charges of attempting to solicit a pre-teen girl for sexual contact in Pennsylvania, authorities said Monday.

The founder, Eric Gillespie, 57, was charged with four felonies, including multiple counts of unlawful contact with a minor, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.

Gillespie, who lives in Pittsburgh, was denied bail by the judge, citing flight risk and concerns over public safety.

His company has a $900-million U.S. government contract and multiple deals with the Defense Department.

Govini, which last month announced it had passed $100 million in annual recurring revenue and is considered a prominent “unicorn” in the defense technology space, is a key partner in the U.S. Army’s Next Generation Command Control program.

Pentagon officials told CNBC they are looking into the arrest and possible security issues.

Gillespie lists himself as executive chairman of the company on his LinkedIn page.

Gillespie was considered an expert in transparency in government and was appointed to the Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee by the Obama Administration in 2014.

The White House has referred all security clearance questions to the Department of Defense.

An agent posed as an adult on an online chat platform that the AG’s office said was often utilized by offenders who try to arrange meetings with children, and engaged in a conversation with Gillespie.

The AG’s office said Gillespie then made attempts to arrange a meeting with who he believed was a pre-teenage girl in Lebanon County, which is located near Hershey, Pennsylvania. Gillespie also alluded to methods he used to contact children, and other evidence was found.

Govini did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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The state attorney general’s office would not comment on questions about electronic devices seized during the sting. The AG’s office is asking the public to come forward with any other information on the case.

Govini, along with Anduril Industries, Palantir, Striveworks, Instant Connect Enterprise, Research Innovations, Inc., Microsoft and Lockheed Martin are also a part of the $99.6 million U.S. Army’s Next Generation Command and Control program.

NGC2 is a program for the U.S. Army to transform command and control operations by ensuring commanders have access to critical real-time data and infrastructure in areas where communications may be disrupted.

According to the company, Govini’s suite of AI-enabled applications is used by every department of the U.S. military and other federal agencies. The access to sensitive information is vast.

The software analyzes supply chains and critical details of companies being considered by the U.S. government for acquisition, enabling the U.S. military to make informed decisions.

In a recent Bain Capital press release announcing a $150m investment of Govini, Scott Kirk, Partner at Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, said, “We’re thrilled to support Govini’s next phase of growth as it continues to revolutionize how the U.S. government acquires and deploys the capabilities that keep us safe.”

Bain has not responded to CNBC’s multiple emails for comment.

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