Stock Talk
Highlights from the Week
The big number: $167.6 billion
That’s how much cash Berkshire Hathaway is now sitting on. Despite having a huge amount of capital to deploy, Warren Buffett told investors he’s struggling to do deals because competition has pushed up prices for companies Berkshire has considered buying. That said, higher interest rates take some of the pressure off buying a business just for the sake of spending cash.
Stock in the spotlight: Intuitive Machines
The company behind this week’s historic moon landing saw its stock surge after the historic feat for a private spacecraft. And Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard told me in a television interview he would not be surprised to see the stock rally another 35% in the next year. While he cautioned that this is a new business for Wall Street to properly analyze, the moon landing was a great validation for the business.
By the way, how does the company make money? It charges for the payloads it carries.
Do I hear $4 trillion?
Nvidia once again wowed Wall Street with its incredible growth. Much was made of the chipmaker’s milestone market cap moment, with the company’s valuation touching $2 trillion.
But it was a prediction about two other companies with notable AI ambitions — Microsoft and Apple — which really caught my attention.
“I believe a year from now, we’re looking at a $4 trillion market cap for Microsoft, along with Apple, as they now bring AI to the strongest install base in the world,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told me in a television interview.
If you’re keeping score, that would suggest another $2.1 trillion in value between those two companies alone.
Stock picks of the week
A few investment ideas from some of my guests…
David Dietze, Peapack Private Wealth Management:
Devon Energy, Pfizer, and Realty Income.
David Burrows Chief Investment Officer, Barometer Capital:
Eli Lilly, Uber, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Progressive
Gil Lamothe, Canadian Western Bank:
Stantec, CP Kansas City, Boyd Group Service
Martin Pelletier, Trivest Wealth, Wellington-Altus Private Counsel:
Manulife, Suncor, Canadian Utilities, BCE