Top 50 Stocks

Get ready for the Nvidia circus

Get ready for the Nvidia circus

Can you hear the barkers yelling to the crowd? It’s Wall Street analysts rushing to raise their target prices for Nvidia (NVDA) ahead of next week’s quarterly earnings report. On February 21, after the close, Nvidia is expected to report earnings of $4.18 share, up from $0.65 a share in the quarter a year ago, on revenue of $20.5 billion. And even though the stock is up 47% for 2024 as of the February 15 close and up 219% for the last year, Wall Street analysts are rushing to increase their target price on the shares.

Special Report: 10 Penny Stock Home Runs Pick #5 VWDRY

Special Report: 10 Penny Stock Home Runs Pick #5 VWDRY

My 10 Penny Stock Homeruns Pick #5: Vestas Wind Systems (VWDRY).

Technically, the Vestas Wind Systems ADR (VWDRY) isn’t a penny stock. By the strict definition, a penny stock sells for $5 or less and the Vestas ADR closed on $9.06 today, February 14. But I included Vestas in my previous penny stock list back on July 11, 2022, even though the stock closed at $7.80 that day. With the company reporting a return to profitability for 2023 in its fourth quarter earnings report released today, I think Vestas has (finally) turned the corner. And, frankly, I just don’t want drop it from this list just as things get good again for the company and its investors. (Vestas is a member of my Jubak’s Picks Portfolio. The position is up 65.6% since initiation on March 4, 2019.) Tomorrow, February 15, I’ll also add Vestas to my long-term 50 Stocks Portfolio.

Special Report: 10 Penny Stock Home Runs–Pick #2 PILBF

Special Report: 10 Penny Stock Home Runs–Pick #2 PILBF

This one is very simple. When the price of lithium rebounds, high-quality low-cost lithium producers will see the revenue roll in. That’s why I’d got the world’s leading lithium-producer Albemarle (ALB) in my long-term 50 Stock Portfolio. But a smaller, high-quality, low-cost producer like Australia’s Pilbara Minerals will show gains even higher than Albemarle since the current price of $2.29 a share comes close to discounting the company’s survival.

Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Microsoft Shows Priced-to-Perfection Risks

Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Microsoft Shows Priced-to-Perfection Risks

Today’s video is Microsoft Shows Priced to Perfection Risks. This quarter, the company reported Tuesday,  Azure, its cloud services flagship, grew revenue by 30% last year. While a 30% growth rate would be a great for many companies, Wall Street and analysts were disappointed in this news from Microsoft. This is the “priced to perfection” problem. Although the company beat earnings estimates, beat revenue estimates, and showed 30% growth in a key part of the company, the stock went down. Maybe a $3 trillion market cap on Microsoft is a lot of weight to push up hill. We could see more of this during this earnings season as Amazon, Apple and Meta release their own reports. The “Magnificent Seven” that were responsible for most of the 24% gain in the S&P in 2023 are beginning to wobble. My hope was for more market leaders to emerge but that doesn’t seem to be happening. I don’t expect “wobble” to cause anything that terrible in the market, but a sideways move is likely as investors ponder their next move.

Visa beats but falls on guidance–that’s what “priced for perfection” means

Visa beats but falls on guidance–that’s what “priced for perfection” means

After the close yesterday, Visa (V) reported earnings of $2.41 a share (after adjusting for one-time items) for the December 2023 quarter. (That the company’s fiscal first quarter.) Analysts had been looking for $2.34 a share in adjusted earnings. Revenue grew 8.8% to $8.63 billion, again beating analyst forecasts for $8.55 billion in revenue. Visa said payments volume grew 8%, and that its processed transactions rose 9% in the period. And yet the stock was down $4.70 a share, or 1.72%, to $267.91 at the close today, Friday, January 26. Why?

ASML–and chip stocks in general–soar on equipment-maker’s big growth numbers

ASML–and chip stocks in general–soar on equipment-maker’s big growth numbers

Shares of ASML Holding (ASML) closed up 8.85% today after the company reported record orders for its chip-making equipment in the fourth quarter. ASML sales grew 12.5% year-over-year. And orders more than tripled from the third-quarter. I added shares of ASML Holding to my long-term 50 Stocks Portfolio on December 12, 2023. The position is up 17.6% since then as of the close on January 24.

ASML–and chip stocks in general–soar on equipment-maker’s big growth numbers

Taiwan Semiconductor results set the chip sector on fire

Shares in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) were up almost 10% yesterday after the company announced an unexpectedly strong return to growth. That has in turn pushed chip stocks higher across the sector. For example, shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which were already moving higher this week ahead of the news, hit a new record high today. The good news from semiconductor companies and the moves on their stock have also rallied the general market.

Special Report: 10 Great Growth Stocks that Are Getting Greater–today my 9th pick PANW

Special Report: 10 Great Growth Stocks that Are Getting Greater–today my 9th pick PANW

GREATER Growth Stock Pick #9: Palo Alto Networks (PANW). I’m not going to try to convince you that shares of cyber-security favorite Palo Alto Networks are a value stock. It trades at 166 times trialing 12-month earnings per share. And I’m not going to try to convince you that this is an undiscovered stock that’s going to sneak up on anyone. The shares was up 111% in 2023. (The stock has been a member of my long-term 50 Stocks Portfolio since July 17, 2019. In that time the position is up 296%.) But remember the point of this Special Report–I’m looking for great growth stocks, which aren’t cheap in this market by any means, with catalysts in the next year or two that will push growth higher. And here I think Palo Alto Systems rings the bell three times over.