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Revolut has secured a $45 billion valuation in a share sale by employees, cementing the U.K. company's position as one of the world's most valuable fintech startups.

The latest valuation comes as the company behind the banking-like app favors the Nasdaq as its venue for a potential initial public offering (IPO), according to the .

Founded in 2015, Revolut was valued at $33 billion in 2021 and on Friday said existing investor Tiger Global and fellow hedge funds Coatue and D1 Capital Partners had invested in the employees' sale of stock.

"This secondary share sale allows current employees to capitalise on their contribution to Revolut's growth, while attracting a diverse mix of both new and existing investors," Revolut said.

Japan's SoftBank bought into the company in 2021. That funding round three years ago helped make Revolut the world's most valuable fintech startup after American digital payments giant Stripe, according to .

The company got a U.K. banking license in July, which allowed it to expand and take on the country's dominant banks by offering popular products such as mortgages. It already has a banking license in Lithuania, which gives it access to the European Union (EU), as well as Mexico.

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Not since the early days of COVID-19 have homebuilders started so few projects as they did in July.If homebuilders started projects all year long at the same rate they did in July, they’d begin building 1.24 million homes, down from 1.33 million in June, the Census Bureau said Friday. That was the slowest seasonally adjusted annual rate since May 2020 shortly after the pandemic began. According to surveys of homebuilders, the outlook for business this summer has been stifled by high mortgage rates, the result of the Federal Reserve’s campaign of interest rate hikes that began in 2022.

With rates hovering near 7% for most of the summer, buyers have struggled to afford monthly payments, and many would-be homeowners have dropped out of the market. Homebuying is especially daunting when comparing today’s high rates with the ultra-low interest offered during the pandemic.

That all could change, however: Mortgage rates dropped significantly earlier this month, and stayed relatively low at 6.49% last week, according to Freddie Mac. With rates having fallen, and the prospect of further declines on the horizon, the outlook for homebuilding is looking up.

“As mortgage rates begin to fall, many potential homebuyers will come off the sidelines and begin to look for new homes,” Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com, said in a press release. “For buyers looking to purchase a home, new construction may be more feasible than they expect after a year of increased new home completions and decreased levels of new home sales.”

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A lady grins from ear to ear after witnessing a man get a ‘reward’ for urinating by the roadside.

She said she just witnessed the sweetest thing. A man peeing by the roadside just got br¥shed into the gutter by a car. If you see the way she grinning from ear to ear.

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H&R Block (HRB) shares are soaring Friday, a day after the tax-prep firm reported higher-than-forecast fourth-quarter results.

H&R Block said revenue for the three months to June 30 edged higher to $1.06 billion from $1.03 billion a year ago, while net profit fell to $257.8 million from $302.3 million. Both beat consensus analysts' estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

After registering adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $4.14 on revenue of $3.61 billion in the 2024 fiscal year, the company sees fiscal 2025 adjusted EPS of $5.15 to $5.35 on revenue between $3.69 billion and $3.75 billion.

The company also said it would issue a quarterly dividend of 37.5 cents a share, a 17% increase, and a new share-buyback program of $1.5 billion.

"We continue to make progress, gain new insight, and translate this client success into value for shareholders, and are well positioned to build on this momentum in fiscal 2025 and beyond," Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jeff Jones said. 

H&R Block shares soared 18% soon after the opening bell Friday to $67.86. They are up almost 40% this year.

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