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👉 Week in Review — Too Long; Didn’t Read:
Key Earnings Announcements:
Nvidia is expecting $78B in Q1 revenue (excluding China).
Alani Nu added $370M to Celsius’ top-line revenue.
Zeta Global finally achieved GAAP profitability.
Investor Events / Global Affairs:
The Supreme Leader of Iran has been eliminated.
There’s more uncertainty surrounding tariffs.
Shares of Novo Nordisk sank after slashing prices.
Economic Updates:
Producer prices continue to rise.
Jobless claims held steady.
Consumer confidence ticked up.
👉 Portfolio Updates
No major portfolio updates to share, although after this weekend’s news cycle I’m very grateful I started deploying net new capital into energy and international ETFs at the beginning of February. Oil futures aren’t live for several more hours but if this tokenized oil fund is remotely correct, we’re going to see USO hit $100 / share sooner than we might think. We’re also seeing news of major oil companies suspending oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Roughly $50K of my portfolio is invested into energy via XLE, USO, MLPI, AMPL, OXY, PSX, OIH, and XOM. Only time will tell if this was a good move or not.
Remember, there are more markets that just the US stock market.
When signs of exhaustion (NVDA beating earnings but still dropping -5%, SPX + NDX trading sideways for months, etc.) begin to creep in, take a beat and wait to see what direction things are headed. I noticed these trends in late 2025 / early 2026 and shared several weeks ago my intention to start deploying net new capital into energy and international ETFs.
While VOO and QQQ are down -0.48% and -0.29%, respectively, since I started buying energy and international — this subsection of my portfolio is up +1.53%. That’s 2% of alpha in a month while retail-favorite stocks like EOSE and AI ETFs like IVES are down -40% and -10%, respectively.
Also excited to see our potash trade, IPI, up +10% throughout the month of February.
👉 Best and Worst ETF Performers of the Week
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👉 Key Earnings Announcements:
Nvidia is expecting $78B in Q1 revenue (excluding China), Alani Nu added $370M to Celsius’ top-line revenue, and Zeta Global finally achieved GAAP profitability.
Nvidia (NVDA)
Key Metrics
Revenue: $68.1 billion, an increase of +73% YoY
Operating Income: $44.3 billion, an increase of +84% YoY
Profits: $43.0 billion, an increase of +94% YoY
Earnings Release Callout
“Computing demand is growing exponentially — the agentic AI inflection point has arrived. Enterprise adoption of agents is skyrocketing. Our customers are racing to invest in AI compute — the factories powering the AI industrial revolution and their future growth."
My Takeaway
The company posted top-line growth of +73%, fueled almost entirely by the insatiable appetite for its Data Center products as the world races to build the infrastructure for artificial intelligence. Operating income climbed +84% to $44.3 billion, and profits nearly doubled to $43.0 billion. Achieving a 75% gross margin while navigating the complex rollout of a brand-new architecture (Blackwell) proves that Nvidia possesses pricing power rarely seen in hardware manufacturing.
The Data Center segment is the entire story. Raking in $62.3 billion, this division is benefiting not just from compute sales, but from a massive 263% explosion in Networking revenue as customers buy the "pipes" needed to connect these massive AI factories. Sovereign AI has also emerged as a massive new growth vector, bringing in over $30 billion for the year as nations realize that localized AI compute is a matter of national security.
The company’s supply-related commitments spiked from $50 billion to over $95 billion in a single quarter. This is the ultimate leading indicator as Nvidia is writing massive checks to TSMC and its supply chain partners because they already have the locked-in demand from hyperscalers to justify it. Free cash flow was nearly $35 billion during the quarter.
Huang argued that the AI industry is shifting from training models to deploying autonomous agents that do work, which requires an exponential increase in inference compute. This directly addresses the bear case that demand might slow down once the initial AI models are trained. The company guided to $78 billion in revenue next quarter on 75% gross margins.
So incredibly long NVDA it’s not even funny — especially after what just happened between the Department of War and Anthropic.
Celsius Holdings (CELH)
Key Metrics
Revenue: $721.6 million, an increase of +117% YoY
Operating Income: $26.1 million, compared to -$18.5 million last year
Profits: $24.7 million, compared to -$18.9M last year
Earnings Release Callout
“One of the reasons we feel good about the progress is that we delivered full-year record revenue of $2.5 billion, reflecting our disciplined approach to growth and the material scale we've accomplished. We are focused on the fundamentals that drive that outcome, staying disciplined with SKU productivity... and elevating market execution with Pepsi and our retail partners."
My Takeaway
Celsius’ M&A strategy is paying off. The company crushed revenue estimates with a +117% increase in top-line growth, catalyzed by the massive success of their recently acquired Alani Nu and Rockstar Energy brands.
Alani Nu pulled in a record $370 million in Q4 sales alone, benefiting immediately from being plugged into the PepsiCo distribution network. Celsius now commands a 20% share of the U.S. energy drink market, and management noted that they have already secured a 25% increase in retail shelf space, with another 17% increase expected as stores complete their seasonal resets.
Celsius repaid nearly $198 million in debt during the quarter and repurchased $40 million of its own stock. Their CEO emphasized that 2025 was a year of building "material scale," and 2026 will be about extracting value from that scale. The primary focus is now on SKU productivity, promotional efficiency, and leveraging the Pepsi partnership to dominate the "better-for-you" energy drink category.
Looking ahead, Celsius is poised to dominate the market. Assuming they’re able to expand their gross margins back above 50%, this company is has a very bright future.
Long CELH.
Zeta Global (ZETA)
Key Metrics
Revenue: $394.6 million, an increase of +25% YoY
Operating Income: $18.0 million, an increase of +158% YoY
Profits: $6.5 million, compared to $15.2 million last year
Earnings Release Callout
"We delivered our 18th consecutive beat-and-raise quarter. This consistent performance is not the result of a single product cycle or an easy comparison. It reflects the compounding power of our system: proprietary data that improves with every customer interaction, intelligence that sharpens with every decision, and now Athena by Zeta—an interface that lowers the barriers to enterprise-wide adoption."
My Takeaway
Zeta Global delivered a stellar Q4 report that shifted the narrative from "high-growth cash burner" to “sustainably profitable enterprise software company.”
The company achieved its 18th consecutive beat-and-raise quarter, crushing top-line estimates with a +25% revenue surge to nearly $395 million. Most importantly, Zeta finally crossed into GAAP profitability, a milestone that completely invalidates the core bearish thesis regarding its stock-based compensation load and margin profile. While revenue grew 25%, Adjusted EBITDA outpaced it with 35% growth, reaching $95.1 million at a 24.1% margin.
Diving into the business highlights, Net Revenue Retention hit a record 120% — indicating that once large brands plug into the Zeta ecosystem, they aggressively increase their spend. Customers spending over $1M+ per year on the platform grew +24% YoY. Additionally, the number of customers adopting multiple use cases rose by over +80% during the quarter.
Free Cash Flow for the quarter spiked 76% to nearly $56 million, bringing the full-year total to $165 million. This allowed the company to repurchase $120 million of their stock through 2025 while easily funding acquisitions. Management stated the company is seeing early, enthusiastic adoption of "Athena," its new AI interface, which is driving significant ROI for clients and acting as a powerful wedge to win RFPs against legacy marketing clouds.
Looking ahead, the company guided to $1.75B in revenue (+35%) — excluding any potential upside from its Athena AI product.
Long ZETA.
👉 Investor Events / Global Affairs:
The Supreme Leader of Iran has been eliminated, there’s more uncertainty surrounding tariffs, and shares of Novo Nordisk sank after slashing prices.
Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei Is Dead
Source: Reuters
The U.S. and Israel launched coordinated missile strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and targeting key military infrastructure in an effort to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Iran quickly retaliated with missile and drone attacks across the Middle East, hitting or threatening U.S. bases and Gulf nations including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. Tehran has declared national mourning, and a temporary leadership council is expected to govern as questions swirl around succession.
Energy markets are on edge. Oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has largely paused, Brent crude is pushing toward $80, and OPEC+ has signaled a modest production increase to offset potential supply shocks. Airlines across the Gulf have suspended flights, and several major airports have been disrupted.
For markets, the key risk is escalation. Oil, defense stocks, and safe-haven assets are likely to see volatility, while broader global growth expectations could weaken if energy prices spike. The situation remains fluid, and investors are bracing for headline-driven swings as geopolitical risk moves front and center.
“Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever hit before. THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE! Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Trump's Section 122 Tariff Takes Effect — With More Uncertainty Ahead
Sources: Reuters | Kenny Holston | pool
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