Author: Cattolica Investment Club

April 1st, 2024 - The upsurge in demand for energy to power data centers, therefore the amount of the latter required to fuel the ongoing AI revolution could lead to a “golden era” for natural gas, according to executives. Managers’ belief, strongly supported by data, is that renewable energy sources and batteries won’t be enough to cope with the soaring energy needs, and that fossil fuels will still play a crucial role in the energy landscape. The energy issue is widely controversial since the US Government is still providing incentives to developers of clean energy with the aim of bringing the carbon emissions of the electricity grid to zero; but at the same time, it looks like those won’t be able to bear the AI growing needs in the future…

30th March, 2024 - In the rocky start of 2024, Tesla, the electric car giant, had a big drop. Its stock fell almost 30%, making it the worst in the S&P 500 index. This was very different from the larger market's good rise, with the S&P 500 going up by 10.2%, its best in a first quarter since 2019. Tesla had three main problems: not great predictions, more issues in the big Chinese market, and a series of controversial moves by the company's CEO, Elon Musk. At first, things seemed good for Tesla as it said it had record-breaking sales in Q4, with 485,000 cars, and met its year-end goal for 2023 with 1.8 million cars. But the good feelings from this were soon gone when the company said it…

29th March, 2024 - As we announced recently in our article on the 26th of March, Apple (AAPL) (Purchased 0.6 units @ $183.96) is struggling to keep its position in the Chinese market because of changes in the national macro environment and strong competition from Huawei. The Chinese networking and electronics company reported stellar results for 2023, registering its fastest growth in the last four years. Huawei struggled in recent years because of the U.S. government banning their products in 2019 after accusing the company of being a security risk. The company also suffered China’s strict regulation during the pandemic and the chip reserves crisis in 2021. In 2023 though, revenue rose 9.63% from a year earlier to 704.2 billion yuan ($97.48 billion), mostly thanks to the consumer segment, growing…

28th March, 2024 - The S&P 500 rose on Thursday registering its best first-quarter performance in five years, closing at 5,254.35 with a growth of 0.11%. The Dow Jones added 0.12% and finished at 39,807.37, while Nasdaq slipped 0.12% to end at 16,379.46. Reddit (RDDT) shares are plummeting after experiencing a rally stemming from the company’s IPO last week. Shares closed at $49.32, ending the week below their closing price on the first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange as they closed at $50.44 last thursday. Reddit shares began their downward spiral on wednesday, when they sank about 11% to $57.75 at market close, on that day Hedgeye Risk Management described the stock as “grossly overvalued”. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) did exceptionally well with its share price…

27 March, 2024 - H&M shares surged over 15% on Wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter results. The reason for this impressive increase is a significant profit increase and a raised operating margin target. H&M's operating profit was announced at 2.08 billion Swedish Krona (~$196 million), higher than analyst predictions of 1.43 billion Swedish Krona (~$134.6 million). Operating margin rose to 3.9% from 1.3% showing they are on their way to their 10% operating margin target. These results came despite the decreasing sales from 54.9 billion kronor to 53.7 billion kronor year on year. According to J.P. Morgan's Natasha Kaneva, despite a dip in oil prices on Wednesday, the reduction in Russia's output by 471,000 barrels per day in the second quarter could be sending Brent crude toward the…

March 26th, 2024 - Portfolio holding Apple (AAPL) (0.6 units purchased @183.96) is facing a series of difficulties in China  due to changes in the national macro environment and the fierce competition by Huawei, factors that  caused a 24% drop in iPhone sales in the first six weeks of 2024. The Cupertino based  company is trying to overcome this negative period, with a high probability that it will double down  on the chinese smartphone market. What underlines this objective the most is the latest Tim Cook’s  trip to China, during which he not only opened Apple’s newest flagship store in Shanghai and met key  suppliers, but also joined the China Development Forum in Beijing. In addition to this, the Chinese  minister of commerce Wang Wentao stated that Apple’s presence in…

March 26th, 2024 - Reddit, the beloved social media platform, made headlines with a staggering 30% jump in its shares following its recent IPO; Debuting at $34, the stock closed at an impressive $59.80 on Monday, reflecting investors' fervent interest. Together with existing investors, Reddit raised around $750 million in the offering, marking a significant milestone for the company's financial trajectory. What sets Reddit's IPO apart is its inclusive approach, allowing moderators and users, affectionately known as “Redditors”, to participate alongside institutional investors: this novel strategy echoes successful models employed by industry giants like Airbnb and Rivian, fostering a stronger sense of community ownership and democratizing the access to investment opportunities. Early investors, such as Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, saw their stakes in Reddit skyrocket: Altman's investment surged from…

23rd March, 2024 - This week saw an unprecedented rise in the IPO tech market, bringing to end a prolonged period of drought triggered by the public offering of Reddit and Astera Labs. The two companies, which patrolled the same world within the tech-investment space, represented the first known venture-backed tech flotation in the U.S. since September. Morgan Stanley emerged as the ultimate victor among other banks, landing the title lead position of both IPOs in the victory of dry spell which the bank had been experiencing. The revival follows after a period of stagnancy in the tech IPO market, with only 15 tech IPOs occurring in the past 2 years since 2021 which have proved to be bullish. The number of IPOs has been on the decline over the…

22nd March, 2024 - Despite beating revenue and profit analysts’ expectations, Nike stock fell nearly 7% after giving a soft outlook for the full year and announcing slowing sales in China. Going through the numbers, revenue rose by 0.3% to $12.43 billion, beating the estimated revenue of $12.28 billion, while EPS came in at 77 cents, surpassing again analysts’ estimates. An important turnaround for the company might be the Paris Olympics, in which the Oregon based firm has put a lot of trust and belief as it is going to launch several products and marketing campaigns around the event.  On Wednesday 21st, Reddit made a stellar debut after its initial public offering, soaring 48%. On Friday though, the social media company’s share price fell around 9%, cooling off, even though…