Most of the ‘Sweet 16’ Stocks Have Dominated. They Might Do It Again in 2025.

/ / Technology /

By Philip van Doorn This group was first identified by Jefferies in September 2020 and included Nvidia long before the company’s growth explosion began Investors, analysts and the financial media enjoy coming up with new nicknames or acronyms for groups of dominant stocks. But the “Sweet 16” – identified by analysts at Jefferies in September 2020 and unchanged since then – is worth a closer look in light of the group’s contribution to the U.S. stock market’s overall performance over the past five years and how much most members of the group are expected to increase revenue during 2025. One of the most recent names for a group of dominant stocks is “BATMMAAN.” This group is made up of Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) and the “Magnificent Seven”: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Tesla Inc. (TSLA), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Meta Platforms Inc. (META), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) and Nvidia Corp. (NVDA). Read: […]

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Apple Executive Leaves Indonesia Without Securing Deal to Lift iPhone 16 Sales Ban

/ / Technology /

Apple’s (AAPL) Vice President of Global Affairs Nick Amman has left Indonesia without securing a resolution to the country’s iPhone 16 sales ban, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. Despite Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s earlier approval of Apple’s $1 billion investment proposal, Minister for Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita reportedly maintained the ban during discussions this week. Kartasasmita reportedly insisted that Apple comply with local manufacturing requirements for smartphones and tablets. Apple’s investment plan included establishing AirTag production facilities on Batam Island and funding technology academies to advance local coding and technical skills. According to the report, while Amman returned to the US, Apple’s negotiation team remained in Jakarta, continuing efforts to address the stalemate.

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Tesla Directors to Pay Back up to $919 Million to Settle Overpayment Claims

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Tesla (TSLA) directors received court approval for a settlement of up to $919 million to resolve claims they overpaid themselves, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing an attorney and a shareholder. The settlement requires board members, including Chair Robyn Denholm, to return about $277 million in cash and $459 million in stock options, and to relinquish stock options worth $184 million, the report said. Other directors named in the case included James Murdoch and Oracle (ORCL) co-founder Lawrence Ellison. The Delaware judge also granted law firms that brought the case $176 million in fees and costs, the report said. The directors did not admit wrongdoing, Reuters added.

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Nvidia Stock Had a Bright Start to 2025. Why Investors Face a Fresh Fear.

/ / Technology /

By George Glover and Adam Clark Nvidia could soon face tighter restrictions on sales to China, according to a report. The stock slid 1.1% to $138.54 after the closing bell Wednesday. Stock markets were closed Thursday for a national day of mourning for former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Nvidia shares climbed 4.3% over the first five trading days of 2025. According to Dow Jones Market Data, the stock rose 6.9% over the first five days of 2023 and 5.5% over the same period in 2024. It went on to rack up triple-digit gains in both of those years as the artificial-intelligence craze drove up demand for its products and led to its profit surging. The dip late Wednesday came after a report said the Biden administration plans to impose a final round of chip export restrictions before leaving office. The regulations, which could be issued on Friday, would create three

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Costco Powers Past Wall Street Expectations, Boasts Double-Digit E-Commerce Gains

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ:COST) reaffirmed its retail dominance, reporting an impressive 9.8% growth in December U.S. core sales. This result exceeded Wall Street’s 5.2% estimate and topped JPMorgan’s optimistic 6.7% forecast. JPMorgan analyst Christopher Horvers credited Costco’s results to “market share gains, a shorter season, and a bit better consumer” working in tandem. E-commerce surged 35.7% year-over-year, partly thanks to Black Friday sales booked in December due to a holiday calendar shift. Meanwhile, international operations weren’t far behind, with core comps climbing 10.3% in Canada and 9.8% across other regions. “No other major retailer has succeeded in every country it entered,” Horvers noted, underscoring Costco’s unmatched global consistency. Read Also: Here’s How Much $1000 Invested In Costco Wholesale 10 Years Ago Would Be Worth Today High-Income Costco Customers While the shorter holiday season helped December’s numbers, JPMorgan’s Horvers pointed to a broader trend: improving consumer spending among higher-income shoppers. “We believe

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How Facebook Helps EBay in a Billion Ways

/ / Technology /

Emily Dattilo The recent team-up with Meta Platforms could mean growth for eBay, Citi analysts argued. On Wednesday, eBay announced some of its listings can now be found on Meta’s Facebook Marketplace, and the stock soared 9.9% on the news. “While eBay listings will be shown on Facebook Marketplace, the entire process (from product inquiries to transaction and payment) will be handled by eBay,” analysts led by Ygal Arounian wrote in a Wednesday note. “We expect the channel expansion into Facebook Marketplace should significantly expand the audience and reach for eBay sellers’ listings.” They rate eBay stock at Buy with a price target of $75. It’s difficult to pinpoint a gross-merchandise-value estimate for Facebook Marketplace since the majority of its transactions are done off the platform, the analysts noted. But the platform has over 1 billion monthly visitors, while eBay had only 133 million active buyers as of the third

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UnitedHealth Shareholders Call for Report to Evaluate Risks of Healthcare Denials

/ / Health Care /

UnitedHealth Group (UNH) shareholders have proposed that the health insurance company report on “public health-related costs and macroeconomic risks” caused by practices that “limit or delay access to healthcare.” The shareholder proposal said the report should evaluate how the company’s practices “impact access to healthcare and patient outcomes.” It said the report should include how often authorization requirements or denials of coverage have led to a delay or abandonment of medical treatment, as well as serious adverse events for patients as a result. “UNH has been in the media and legislative spotlight for some time given its market dominance, aggressive marketing of Medicare Advantage and questionable use of AI algorithms to deny care to patients,” said Timnit Ghermay of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. “Our proposal suggests some introspection by UNH that will help the company and all its stakeholders thrive.”

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Microsoft Plans Layoffs

/ / Technology /

Microsoft (MSFT) plans to reduce less than 1% of its 228,000 employees in the next few months, The Information reported Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The layoffs will reportedly be based on employee performance and span multiple divisions. Microsoft said in a statement to MT Newswires it is “planning terminations related to performance across the company, and that when people leave for performance reasons, the company typically backfills the roles.” A Microsoft spokesman added, “At Microsoft we focus on high performance talent. We are always working on helping people learn and grow. When people are not performing, we take the appropriate action.”

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AMD Stock Falls After Downgrade. Why It’s Trailing in the AI Chips Race.

/ / Technology /

By Brian Swint Advanced Micro Devices, stock was falling in premarket trading Wednesday after it caught a downgrade. The semiconductor maker that competes with Nvidia and Intel, is not keeping up in the race to produce chips for artificial intelligence. Strategists at HSBC led by Frank Lee lowered their price target on the shares to $110 from $200 and cut the rating to Reduce from Buy. After noting the stock’s decline in the past three months, Lee said it could drop further. The company’s road map for producing AI graphics processors “is less competitive than we previously thought,” the analysts said in a note Wednesday. While Nvidia is still clearly the leader among AI chip makers, AMD, Broadcom, and Marvell Technology are also competing for market share as Big Tech firms such as Google-parent Alphabet and Facebook-owner Meta Platforms ramp up investment. AMD stock slid 2.3% to $124.54 in premarket

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Exxon Mobil Signals Lower Q4 Earnings. Here’s What Analysts Are Saying.

/ / Energy /

Exxon Mobil profits will likely miss fourth-quarter-earnings estimates by close to 20%, one analyst argued as he trimmed his numbers. While Exxon Mobil expects changes in gas prices to improve earnings by up to $400 million, the global energy company anticipates losses in other segments, according to a regulatory form the company filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mizuho analyst Nitin Kumar noted that a weakness in upstream liquids pricing, energy products margins, and chemicals margins “appear to be weighing on results.” Exxon expects lower liquids prices to reduce upstream earnings by $500 million to $900 million from the third quarter. Exxon reported net income of $8.6 billion in the third quarter, with $6.2 billion attributed to upstream activity. The midpoint of Exxon’s implied fourth-quarter earnings-per-share range of $1.03 to $1.88 is 18% below Mizuho’s prior estimate of $1.79, and 17% below Wall Street’s consensus of $1.76, Kumar

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EBay Stock Is Top S&P 500 Performer. What Meta Platforms Has to Do With That.

/ / Technology /

Shares of eBay were trading sharply higher after the online marketplace said some of its listings can now be found on Meta Platforms’ Facebook Marketplace. “This week kicks off our collaboration, with a pilot of select eBay listings appearing on Facebook Marketplace in the US, Germany, and France,” eBay said in a statement Wednesday. The announcement arrived after Meta last year was fined EUR797.72 million by the European Commission for breaching EU antitrust rules by tying Facebook Marketplace to Facebook and “by imposing unfair trading conditions on other online classified ads service providers.” EBay stock gained 11% to $70.32 in trading Wednesday, and was on track for its largest daily percentage increase since Feb. 1, 2018, according to Dow Jones Market Data. It also the best performer Wednesday in the S&P 500. Meta shares fell 0.7% to $613.54.

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Elon Musk Was Right About Self-Driving Cars. Just Ask Jensen Huang.

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

The autonomous- vehicle “revolution has arrived” and the “robotics era is just around the corner,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said this week. He sounded a lot like Elon Musk — a vindication for the Tesla CEO. In his keynote address at the CES trade show in Las Vegas on Monday night, Huang outlined a number of amazing — and sometimes hard to understand — advancements in artificial intelligence. He spent a lot of time talking about self-driving cars and robots — two killer applications made possible by AI. Three things are bringing self-driving cars to the masses, the Nvidia chief said: AI models capable of driving the cars, AI training simulations that use real and created scenarios to train the models, and powerful AI computers inside vehicles capable of running the ever-improving driving models. That is the same way Musk has been explaining Tesla’s self-driving push for years. Sometimes, investors

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