Maintaining Our Fair Value Estimates Across Ad-Driven Social Media Equities In Light of Long Term AI-Driven Chatbot Threats

Image: ChatGPT is taking the Internet by storm. A poem generated by the AI-driven chatbot in a matter of seconds about outperforming the stock market. Image Source: ChatGPT By Brian Nelson, CFA We weren’t just having fun when we tested a new chatbot asking it to write a poem about outperforming the market. In case you haven’t heard yet, making the rounds on social media is a new artificial intelligence [AI] tool called ChatGPT. The Internet is literally abuzz on the potential prospects of this chatbot phenomenon, and after trying it out for ourselves, we think it has the long-term potential to be the real deal. ChatGPT can do a lot of things. It can write poems pretending to be … Read more

Apple iPhone Supply Disruptions Not Likely to Hurt Markets with Overall Holiday Sales Reportedly Strong

Image: Holiday sales are expected to expand ~2.5% in 2022 over very strong growth in 2021 and 2020. Image Source: Adobe By Brian Nelson, CFA Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk and Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook seemingly have worked out a plan for Apple to keep advertising on the Twitter platform after what looked to be a temporary pause by the iPhone maker. Though the news is immaterial to our thesis on Apple in any respect, it was good to see the two tech giants work whatever differences they had out. Certainly, a fallout between Musk and Cook would not be a good thing for the tech sector and innovation, more broadly, as the two wield large influences across Silicon … Read more

Target’s Holiday Outlook Sends Mixed Messages; Big Sales Data Week Ahead

Image Source: Valuentum “Nearly all of the slowdown was driven by our discretionary categories, Apparel, Home and Hardlines, as our guests became increasingly cautious in their spending in those categories at both Target and throughout the industry more broadly. So far in the month of November, trends have been largely consistent with what we were seeing at the end of October, in terms of our comp trends, the mix of sales between frequency and discretionary businesses and the focus on promotions by our guests.” – Target’s 3Q Conference Call By Brian Nelson, CFA After Walmart (WMT) reported its third-quarter earnings November 15, “Walmart Is Back on Track; Markets Looking Healthier,” we thought things were looking a bit better across the … Read more

Walmart’s Business Update Likely Means U.S. Is In Recession, But Near-Term Weakness Is Already Baked Into Stock Market

Image Shown: Shares of Walmart Inc dropped sharply during afterhours trading on July 25 as the retailer sharply cut its adjusted operating income and EPS guidance for the current fiscal year as inflationary pressures are taking a sizable toll on its bottom-line. By Callum Turcan On July 25, Walmart Inc (WMT) issued a business update that saw the retailer sharply cut its adjusted operating income and EPS guidance for fiscal 2023 (period ended January 2023), while boosting its consolidated net sales guidance. The company also adjusted its guidance for the fiscal second quarter. Shares of WMT plummeted during afterhours trading on July 25 as investors began to price in concerns over the retailer’s deteriorating margins. We anticipated ongoing weakness in … Read more