Articles authored by blakeanderson
Project Stargate
Project Stargate was announced on January 21st, 2025. According to OpenAI, one of the partners in the project, Stargate aims to “invest $500 billion over the next four years building new AI infrastructure for OpenAI in the United States.”1 The newly created company will have its work cut out for it. Artificial Intelligence (AI) research …
Under the Hood: Technology Earnings Preview
Technology stocks find themselves at a pivotal crossroads ahead of this earnings season. Price action and fundamentals are beginning to send mixed signals. Active equity investors are likely to scrutinize both the quarter’s results and full-year outlook for the sector’s constituents to assess whether forward estimates are attainable. The technology sector, as proxied by XLK …
Innovations from CES 2025
The 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (“CES”) took place this past week. To say AI-focused products stole the spotlight would be an understatement – AI practically was the show. Leading the charge was Nvidia, with CEO Jensen Huang opening the conference to preview the company’s latest advancements. Other companies, such as Delta Airlines, displayed their AI …
Software AND Semiconductors
The age-old debate between technology investors was on prime display in 2024. While both the semiconductor and software industries had stellar performance in 2024 relative to broader market-cap weighted indices, it was a tale of two halves. I’m reminded, often, how debates, such as ‘software or semis,’ surface throughout markets, but may often be distracting. …
A Magnificent Year
2024 has seen continued outperformance from the ‘Magnificent 7’ group of stocks. Year to date through December 24th, an equal weight portfolio of these 7 stocks has returned 69.0% versus a gain of 26.5% for the S&P 500 (FactSet data). This year builds on years of outperformance for this group as an equal weight portfolio …
OpenAI’s Latest Releases
By Blake Anderson, CFA®, Senior Analyst, Investment OpenAI has recently expanded its suite of AI tools and adjusted its subscription offerings to cater to a diverse user base. The company, with a reported 500 million monthly active users, is taking bold steps to increase monetization of the company’s intelligence products while also adding capabilities. Their …
Under the Hood: Surging Software
The iShares Expanded Technology Software Sector ETF (trading under IGV) has recorded a quarter-to-date gain of +21.5% as of Thursday’s close (FactSet data). The software-focused ETF is trouncing other broader ETFs over this period. It’s a welcome relief for software and technology-focused investors compared to earlier in the year, with the ETF seeing a gain …
Berkshire Hathaway – The Newest Trillionaire
Berkshire Hathaway’s market capitalization stands at $1,032,347,000,000 (FactSet data) as of Tuesday’s close. It is the newest addition to one of the most exclusive clubs in the world – the Trillionaire Club. Notably, it is the only financial stock so far to gain entry to this club, whose membership is largely populated by technology-related stocks. …
Nvidia Delivers
Nvidia delivered quarterly results largely in line with expectations. Quarterly revenue of $35.1 billion exceeded the $33.15 billion high end of guidance, earnings per share (“EPS”) of $0.81 exceeded FactSet consensus estimate of $0.75, and guidance for next quarter’s revenue of $36.8 – $38.3 billion bracketed FactSet consensus estimate of $37.1 billion. Many of these …
A Roadblock Removed? Tesla’s Recent Run
Since news broke on June 12, 2024, that Tesla shareholders voted to reinstate CEO Elon Musk’s pay package, Tesla stock has returned +85.3% versus a gain of +10.3% for the broader S&P 500 (FactSet data, as of 11/12/2024 closing price). The investor base has clearly been catalyzed with recent events that includes the company’s ‘We, …