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- 👉 Mid-Week Update: Nvidia Pump or Dump?
👉 Mid-Week Update: Nvidia Pump or Dump?
Your short work week...
Welcome to your new week.
Before we dive in — we’ve been asked a lot recently about our favorite resources + links. We do our best to get back to all of your messages, but below is a quick list for you if we are delayed!
Bookmark this email, or share it with your friends! We hope at least one of these will be a good resource for you!
Also wanted to quickly share that I have updated everything inside of the Portfolio Tracker — which includes Seeking Alpha Quant Ratings and Wall Street Price Targets. If you’re curious as to where Wall Street thinks these names might be headed over the next 12-18 months, be sure to dive into the Portfolio Tracker.
Key Earnings Announcements:
Everyone’s eyes are on Nvidia.
Monday (2/19): Presidents Day - Market Closed
Tuesday (2/20): Barclays, Home Depot, Medtronic, Palo Alto Networks, Realty Income, Walmart
Wednesday (2/21): Analog Devices, Dutch Bros, Etsy, Lucid Motor, Nvidia, Rivian, Synopsis, Vertiv, Wing Stop, Wix
Thursday (2/22): Block, Carvana, Fiverr, Intuit, Mercado Libre, Moderna, Newmont, Wayfair
Friday (2/23): Bloomin’ Brands, Lamar, Warner Bros. Discovery
What We’re Watching:
Nvidia’s last earnings report was highlighted by revenue that grew +206% YoY to $18.12 billion. Net income rocketed from $680 million to $9.24 billion. Analysts are expected $20 billion or higher for the revenue mark this time around…
Investor Events / Global Affairs:
Elon’s thinking more than a decade ahead, Capital One is trying to buy Discover, and Walmart will buy Vizio.
Elon’s Crazy Updates
The madness continues with tech innovations. First, Elon Musk stated recently that he expects roughly ONE BILLION humanoid robots on Earth by the 2040s.
If that isn’t crazy enough for you — he’s now announced that Neuralink has successfully implanted a chip on its first human patient + seen a recovery from them. The company uses a robot to surgically place a brain-computer interface implant in a region of the brain that controls the intention to move.
The goal is to enable people to control a computer cursor or a keyboard using their thoughts… which appears to be working…
"Progress is good, and the patient seems to have made a full recovery, with no ill effects that we are aware of. Patient is able to move a mouse around the screen by just thinking.”
Capital One Buying Discover?
The proposed merger between Capital One and Discover — valued at $35.3 billion — has sparked concern among lawmakers over its potential to increase credit card fees, reduce competition, and further squeeze consumers already facing high interest rates and record debt levels.
Senator Elizabeth Warren has publicly opposed the merger — citing threats to financial stability and competition. Others worry about the consolidation of the credit card market into the hands of a few large issuers.
The deal also faces scrutiny from federal regulators and industry watchdogs, emphasizing the need for it to benefit the public and address antitrust concerns amid an already concentrated credit card market.
“This marketplace that’s dominated by the big players is going to shrink a little bit more now.” — Matt Schulz, Chief Credit Card Analyst at LendingTree
Walmart Acquires Vizio
Walmart has announced its acquisition of TV manufacturer Vizio for $2.3 billion in cash — a strategic move aimed at enhancing its high-margin advertising business.
The purchase allows Walmart to leverage Vizio's SmartCast Operating System, which supports streaming of free ad-supported content, thereby expanding Walmart's advertising reach through its Walmart Connect media business.
This acquisition (reported alongside Walmart's Q4 earnings) highlights the retailer's effort to grow its profitable advertising segment — which saw a +22% increase in sales during the quarter.
Walmart's purchase of Vizio — a brand long sold in its stores and Sam's Club warehouses — positions the retailer to offer more innovative television and in-home entertainment experiences. Perhaps most importantly, it allows them to compete with Amazon’s (AMZN) advertising business a bit more aggressively.
Major Economic Events:
The Conference Board’s LEI and Existing Home Sales are in focus.
Monday (2/19): Presidents Day - No Updates
Tuesday (2/20): Leading Economic Index (LEI)
Wednesday (2/21): Fed Meeting Minutes from January
Thursday (2/22): Existing Home Sales, S&P Manufacturing PMI (flash), S&P Services PMI (flash)
Friday (2/23): N/A
What We’re Watching:
Released this morning…
“The U.S. LEI fell further in January, as weekly hours worked in manufacturing continued to decline and the yield spread remained negativ… While the declining LEI continues to signal headwinds to economic activity, for the first time in the past two years, six out of its ten components were positive contributors over the past six-month period (ending in January 2024). As a result, the leading index currently does not signal recession ahead. While no longer forecasting a recession in 2024, we do expect real GDP growth to slow to near zero percent over Q2 and Q3.”
— Justyna Zabinska-La Monica, Business Cycle Indicators at The Conference Board.
The last report on Existing Home Sales (in December) saw figures drop by -1.0% from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 3.78 million units. This marks the lowest level since August 2010 and was below the market's anticipated 3.82 million units.
If you’re starting your investing journey or are interested in buying T-bills yielding 5% or more, consider visiting Public.com.
Disclaimer: This is not financial advice or recommendation for any investment. The content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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