
BMO hikes S&P 500 target to 6,700 with benchmark on the cusp of a record high
The S & P 500 is close to its all-time high, and BMO thinks there are more gains to be made above that February level. Strategist Brian Belski hiked his S & P 500 year-end target to 6,700 — his original 2025 forecast — from 6,100. The new forecast signals upside of 10% from Tuesday's close. Belski highlighted two reasons for the target increase: "Markets are transitioning TO 'show me' FROM 'scare me'. We believe performance is broadening, reactions from daily rhetoric are calming, and actual corporate guidance will increase coming out of the 2Q earnings reporting period." "Facts over feelings WIN AGAIN. … The death of 'American Exceptionalism' was widely exaggerated and too vehemently applauded to hold any merit or duration … That is why the relative performance of other markets that so many investors have been chasing and applauding for emotional reasons [is] already beginning to wane." .SPX YTD mountain S & P 500 year to date The change came as stocks rallied Tuesday following a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, easing tensions in the Middle East. Week to date, the S & P 500 is up 2% and sits less than 1% below its record high set in February. Belski's target is now the highest among those included in the CNBC Market Strategist Survey . Technology is BMO's favorite sector going forward, with the firm recommending a 33% allocation to the space. Indeed, tech has been a leader in the market's rebound from the tariff scare. Since April 2, the day President Trump announced higher tariffs, the sector is up 18%. Already, the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 index made a fresh all-time high on Tuesday. Others on the Street echo Belski's market enthusiasm. "In my view, we hit new highs sooner rather than later," Mark Gibbens, founder and CIO of Gibbens Capital Management, told me during a phone call. "All things considered, assuming the economy still grows at a 2% clip, the consumer remains healthy, … there's a lot to look forward to in the back half of the year." On Tuesday, JPMorgan's trading desk told clients that it's "time to get bulled up again."
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Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Should You Buy Roku Stock After Its Partnership With Amazon?
Roku's recent partnership with Amazon makes the streaming specialist more attractive. Although it still faces some headwinds, Roku's long-term prospects remain bright. The stock doesn't look too expensive at current levels, either. 10 stocks we like better than Roku › On June 16, Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU) announced a partnership with Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) that will allow advertisers access to the streaming specialist's ecosystem through Amazon's advertising platform. This agreement represents a significant move forward for Roku. Although the stock has encountered some headwinds over the past year, this new development once again highlights why Roku stock is worth investing in for those focused on the long game. Let's dig deeper into this partnership between Roku and Amazon -- as well as the rest of the former's business -- to understand why. Amazon is a notable player in the connected TV (CTV) market. However, Roku continues to reign supreme -- it holds a leading market share in the U.S. Amazon's size advantage has not allowed it to take over the top spot, and it's now partnering with its longtime rival. Amazon and Roku will combine their respective audiences, comprising 80 million households and more than 80% of CTV accounts in the U.S., and grant advertisers exclusive access to this large ecosystem through Amazon's demand-side ad platform. This is a win for Roku too. Here's why. One significant long-term opportunity for the company is the continued switch from cable to streaming for viewers and advertisers. However, a highly fragmented CTV landscape presented advertisers with several challenges, including difficulties in reaching targeted audiences across various platforms and effectively managing ad frequency. Roku noted in a recent press release: Early tests of this integration have shown significant results. Advertisers using this new solution reached 40% more unique viewers with the same budget and reduced how often the same person saw an ad by nearly 30%, enabling advertisers to benefit from three times more value from their ad spend. In other words, advertisers should get greater returns from the same amount of spending. The deal helps address some pain points they had and helps sell even more companies on the benefits of pouring ad dollars into the kind of platform that Roku offers. It's worth highlighting again that this deal is valuable to every party involved, largely because of Roku's leading CTV ecosystem. It also points to the strength of its network effect. Since the value of Roku's platform only increases as its audience numbers grow, partnerships of this kind could become more common. Roku has encountered some issues in recent years. Its average revenue per user (ARPU) has stalled, while it remains unprofitable. Though the company no longer reports the ARPU metric, management previously attributed poor ARPU growth to the company's expansion efforts in markets outside the U.S., where it is focusing on scale first, rather than monetization. That's the same blueprint it followed in its more mature markets when it sometimes sold its namesake devices at a loss to onboard enough households within its ecosystem. Investors have seen the results of this strategy in the U.S., where Roku already holds a leading market share. This should give investors confidence that it can achieve similar results in other regions. What about the persistent red ink on the bottom line? Investors vastly prefer profitable companies, especially in this uncertain economic and geopolitical environment. But Roku is making strides in this department too. In the company's first quarter, revenue came in at $1.03 billion, up 16% year over year. The company's net loss per share was $0.19, an improvement from the $0.35 per share loss it reported in the prior-year quarter. Roku might not be consistently profitable, but the company is growing its top line at a good clip and making progress on the bottom line. And overall, the company is still in a great position to cash in on the massive long-term shift from cable to streaming. And here's one more thing that makes the stock attractive. Roku's forward price-to-sales ratio is 2.6 as of this writing. In a stock market at all-time highs and valuations reaching unsustainable levels, Roku's modest valuation is especially rare for a growth stock in a leading industry position. For this and all the other reasons, it's worth purchasing the company's shares. Before you buy stock in Roku, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Roku wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $713,547!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $966,931!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,062% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 177% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 23, 2025 John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Prosper Junior Bakiny has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Roku. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Should You Buy Roku Stock After Its Partnership With Amazon? was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data


CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
The record-breaking week in the stock market that could have gone very badly
It was another exciting week on Wall Street as the S & P 500 and Nasdaq each closed Friday at new record highs. Incredible as that was, this week could have easily gone another way. Last Saturday, the world learned that the U.S. had entered the Israel-Iran conflict, dropping several massive bunker busters on Fordo, Iran's underground nuclear facility buried under a mountain, and bombing two other sites, Isfahan and Natanz. While fear of further escalation and a prolonged war involving the U.S. was palpable last weekend, the market on Monday shrugged, betting on the notion that the conflict would not result in systemic risk or slow the U.S. economy and hamper corporate earnings much, if at all. As risky as any military action is given the potential to spiral out of control, they tend not to impact the market for long, unless signs appear that it will start impacting growth and inflation. That has not yet happened. We did see energy prices surge in the week before last Saturday's bombings, but they quickly came back down. West Texas Intermediate crude plunged on Monday and Tuesday. While rising modestly in each subsequent session, WTI plunged more than 11% for the week, breaking a three-week winning streak. The stock market took its cues from oil trading, which allowed for the S & P 500 and Nasdaq records and weekly gains of nearly 3.5% and more than 4%, respectively. Monday is the last day of June and Wall Street's second quarter. For the week ... S & P 500 week to date (WTD) up 3.44%; first positive week in three Month to date (MTD) up 4.42%; on pace for its second positive month in a row Quarter to date (QTD) up 10%; on pace for its best quarter since first quarter 2024 Nasdaq WTD up 4.25% MTD up 6%; on pace for its third positive month in a row QTD up 17.2%; best quarter since second quarter 2020 Energy represents a major input cost, often one of the largest, for just about every business in the world, so a sustained increase in energy prices would crunch profit margins or force price hikes in order to preserve them. At the same time, it represents a large unavoidable cost for consumers, whether they're trying to air condition their homes in the summer, heat their homes in the winter, or fill up their cars. Given these high priority needs, elevated energy costs end up cutting into discretionary budgets – meaning activities such as eating out or shopping would get cut back. The quick pairing back of those energy price increases this past week, however, means that analysts don't need to downwardly revise estimates for growth, inflation, or consumer spending – at least not yet. The full impact of President Donald Trump 's tariffs is still unclear, though they will almost certainly lead to higher prices for consumers. While the de-escalation of tensions in the Mideast, and subsequent pullback in energy prices, were certainly the most important factors supporting this week's market action, interest rate expectations were also in focus. Though several voting members of the Federal Reserve's policymaking committee, including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell , threw cold water on comments from Fed Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman that they were on board with a July rate cut, investors have nonetheless started to price in a higher likelihood that we see three Fed rate cuts by year-end, up from the odds of just two cuts only a week ago. That's according to the CME FedWatch Tool . Another important update that could influence interest rate decisions came Friday, with the release of the May personal income and spending report. Within that report, we find the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed's preferred measure of inflation. While headline PCE was in line with expectations, up 0.1% month over month and up 2.3% annually, the core rate was a bit hotter than expected, rising 0.2% month over month and 2.7% versus the year-ago period, both one-tenth of a percentage point above expectations. The warmer core reading, which excludes food and energy, is something to watch and cuts against the case for a July rate cut. Digging into the portfolio, we hosted our June Monthly Meeting this week, providing a rundown of all 30 holdings. Jim Cramer highlighted six rallying stocks that members may want to consider booking profits in, and five others that look like buys. We also answered key member questions and touched on all 10 names in our Bullpen, including Cisco Systems, which was added on Monday . The Bullpen is our watch list of stocks that could, under the right circumstances, join the Charitable Trust. During the June meeting, Jim was itching to buy Cisco and Boeing but decided to wait. Sticking with portfolio updates, Nvidia hit new all-time highs this past week as sentiment around artificial intelligence and data center demand continued to improve. Analysts at Loop Capital slapped a $250-per-share price target on the stock, highlighting the hyperscaler purchase intentions over the next few years, the compute intensity of reasoning models, and increased inference demand resulting from AI agent adoption. Already regaining the title of the most valuable U.S. public company at more than $3.8 trillion, Nvidia at $250 represents roughly 60% upside to Friday $157 close and a market cap of more than $6 trillion. Needless to say, Nvidia was our top performer for the week up more than 9.5%. Data center plays — Eaton, GE Vernova, and Broadcom are also expected to benefit from the AI strong demand. On Tuesday, analysts at Morgan Stanley raised their price target on GE Vernova, while analysts at HSBC upgraded Broadcom to a buy from a hold rating. Broadcom, Eaton , and GE Vernova were our next best stocks for the week. Goldman Sachs rounded out the week's top five as financial stocks got some incrementally positive news this week when the Fed, on Wednesday, proposed lowering capital requirements for large U.S banks that were implemented in the years following the 2008 financial crisis. The move would allow banks, including Club holdings Goldman and Wells Fargo , to lend more freely while making it easier for them to buy more U.S. government bonds. Amazon continues to be in the news as investors work to better understand the opportunity the company has in new areas like online grocery shopping, thanks to its massive logistics network and the implications of advancing it through generative AI, robotics and autonomous vehicles. In health care, shares of Eli Lilly advanced this week despite data released Monday on the company's experimental weight-loss drug, bimagrumab, which is designed to help patients preserve muscle mass. It failed to wow investors. Abbott Laboratories , meanwhile, got some positive news Tuesday when Health & Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that his department will encourage the use of wearable health devices. "My vision is every American is wearing a wearable within four years," RFK Jr. said at a House Energy and Commerce Committee meeting . The news may also bode well for devices like the Apple Watch, especially as more health-related sensors are built in. Speaking of Apple , we still believe it is an incredible company with the "greatest product in the world," as Jim put it , referring to the iPhone. However, we think the company would benefit from modifying its capital allocation plans , focusing less on the buyback and more on AI development, be it via internal R & D, paying up for top talent, or acquiring groundbreaking startups. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.


UPI
an hour ago
- UPI
Trump cancels U.S.-Canadian trade talks over tech taxes
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney meets with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House on May 6. Trump on Friday suspended trade talks due to Canada's new Digital Services Tax. File Photo by Francis Chung/UPI | License Photo June 28 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump cited potential Canadian taxes on U.S. tech companies as his reason for ending trade talks with Canada on Friday. The tech taxes on Amazon, Google, Meta and other U.S. tech firms are due on Monday, and Trump said it is a deal-breaker. "We have just been informed that Canada ... has just announced that they are putting a Digital Services Tax on our American technology companies," Trump said in a Truth Social post on Friday. He called the tax a "direct and blatant attack on our country" and accused Canada of "copying the European Union, which has done the same thing." "We are hereby terminating all discussions on trade with Canada, effective immediately," Trump said. His administration in the coming week will notify Canadian officials of the tariff that it will have to pay to do business in the United States, Trump added. Trump last week attended the G7 economic trade summit hosted by Canada and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and sought common ground on trade talks, The Washington Post reported. Officials at U.S. tech firms oppose the Canadian tax, the amount of which is based on the revenues generated by Canadians' use of e-commerce sites, social media and the sales of data. All tech companies that generate more than $14.59 million from such services would be subject to the new 3% Digital Services Tax. The tax is retroactive to 2022 and could cost U.S.-based tech firms up to $3 billion, NBC News reported. Upon learning of Trump halting trade talks, Canadian officials on Friday limited U.S. steel imports and placed a 50% surcharge on steel imports that surpass the quota. Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the surcharge will help to protect Canadian steel against what he called "unjust U.S. tariffs." He said the Canadian government is prepared to take additional actions, if necessary.