Latest news with #Magnificent7
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
One Apple Bear Just Threw in the Towel With This Upgrade. Is It Time to Buy AAPL Stock?
Apple (AAPL) stock has been a notable laggard in 2025, with the shares down approximately 16% year-to-date - significantly underperforming its Magnificent 7 tech peers amid concerns over iPhone sales and perceived artificial intelligence (AI) development delays. Today, though, Jefferies analysts led by Edison Lee upgraded AAPL to 'Hold' from 'Underperform,' based on expectations for a 'potential upside surprise' in third-quarter iPhone sales growth. However, while the brokerage firm raised its Q3 iPhone sales forecast to 49.4 million units, the analysts simultaneously cut forecasts for Apple's crucial September quarter by 11% to 46.3 million. Microsoft Stock Is Headed for $4 Trillion. Is It Too Late to Buy MSFT Here? Is UnitedHealth Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold for July 2025? Is Palantir Stock a Buy at New Record Highs? Tired of missing midday reversals? The FREE Barchart Brief newsletter keeps you in the know. Sign up now! AAPL stock is trading slightly higher this morning after closing Tuesday at a 6-week high, just above its upper Bollinger Band. Recent gains have been primarily driven by reports that Apple is considering partnerships with Anthropic or OpenAI to enhance Siri's capabilities, which would represent a significant strategic pivot from Apple's traditional in-house development approach. Apple's core business faces multiple headwinds, with reports today suggesting its efforts to diversify manufacturing efforts to India have encountered resistance from Beijing, with hundreds of Chinese engineers being recalled from iPhone factories. At the same time, production forecasts for the iPhone 17 are tracking approximately 9% below iPhone 16 levels, raising concerns about future growth prospects. Additionally, the implementation of new tariffs could potentially impact earnings by 7%, though Apple has committed to significant U.S. investment of $500 billion over four years. Despite these challenges, Apple's Services segment continues to demonstrate robust growth, boasting over 1 billion paid subscribers and achieving 11.6% year-over-year revenue growth to $26.65 billion in the latest quarter. However, this success coincides with increasing regulatory scrutiny, as evidenced by a federal judge's recent decision to allow an antitrust lawsuit targeting Apple's "walled garden" ecosystem to proceed. The company's high-margin revenue streams from Services could face pressure from regulatory interventions, particularly regarding App Store practices and its lucrative Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) search deal. The market's response to Apple's evolving AI strategy and its ability to navigate manufacturing challenges will likely determine near-term performance. Looking ahead, Apple's success will largely depend on its ability to execute its AI integration plans, maintain iPhone sales momentum, and effectively manage ongoing regulatory and trade policy challenges while sustaining its ecosystem advantages. The stock is rated a 'Moderate Buy' on Wall Street, but AAPL's premium valuation (at 29 times forward adjusted earnings) suggests there's no real discount to be had at current levels, despite the recent underperformance. While AAPL investors likely have no cause for immediate concern, there doesn't seem to be an immediate catalyst to buy shares at these levels, either. This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. On the date of publication, the editor had a position in: AAPL. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Sign in to access your portfolio
CNBC
19 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
Don't bet against mega cap techs, billions spent on AI will see returns next year: Morgan Stanley's Andrew Slimmon
Andrew Slimmon of Morgan Stanley Investment Management shares why he's bullish on the Magnificent 7, AI boom and financials.
Axios
2 days ago
- Business
- Axios
The market's first half broke from the AI trend
If stocks are up, they tend to keep going up. But the companies that drove the market higher in the first half of 2025 are not typical of bull markets. Why it matters: As investors confronted uncertainty, with a record number of companies mentioning the term on earnings calls, market leadership skewed more defensive than growth-oriented. That could indicate the current market highs are not on the strongest footing as the second half of the year kicks off. By the numbers: The best performing sectors in the first half of the year were industrials, communication services and financials. These are not the growth names that tend to rally in frothy environments. Tech was the fifth-best performing sector year to date, up just over 6.5%. Utilities — a sector that could be seen as defensive since consumers are more likely to pay their utility bills even amid economic slowdowns — outperformed big tech. Investor excitement about artificial intelligence "faded during the midst of the tariff selloff in March and April," according to a note from Clark Bellin, president and chief investment officer at Bellwether Wealth. Between the lines: Remember the Magnificent 7? The basket of tech stocks is up just 1.7% year to date (though it is up over 35% from its April low). Tech has still been outperforming the broader market since the April lows, and those gains are expected to continue, Bellin says. Yes, but: The shift in leadership away from tech could also be viewed as a positive for investors who worry about market breadth. Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide, calls the current rally "broad based" in a note that described the first half of the year as "tumultuous but resilient." What we're watching: Consumer discretionary stocks were the worst-performing sector for the first half of the year.
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Veteran analyst updates S&P 500 prediction after record rally
How high could stocks go? That's the question most investors are asking after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite have delivered mouth-watering gains since President Donald Trump paused reciprocal tariffs on April 9. The S&P 500 has marched 24% higher, without much of a pause, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite, which is weighted heavily toward the Magnificent 7, has climbed over 33%. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Those returns are impressive, especially considering that the S&P 500's average annual return since 1957 is about 10%, and the market was flirting with bear market territory only a little over two months ago. Stocks' rapid recovery isn't uncharted territory, though. The market has experienced sharp drops in the past, and how the S&P 500 performed after those declines may offer insight into how much gas for stocks may be left in the proverbial tank. Longtime veteran Wall Street analyst Sam Stovall, who has been navigating stocks for decades, recently offered thoughts on how the rest of the year may play out. There have been plenty of reasons to worry that stocks could tumble in 2025 amid a weakening economy, including: Sticky inflationDeclining GDP growthGrowing unemploymentLackluster confidence Inflation is down substantially from its 8% plus peak in 2022, but progress lately has been limited. The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index showed core inflation, excluding volatile energy and food prices, rose 2.7% in May. That was up from 2.6% in April and matched the rate from last September. Related: Morgan Stanley reboots stock market forecast after rally Many think the inflation picture will worsen in the coming months. Since February, President Trump has implemented 25% tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and autos, plus a 30% tariff on China and a 10% baseline tariff on all imports. Given that so much of what we buy, from clothing to electronics, is made overseas, many think businesses will pass along at least some of these higher costs to consumers this year. The prospect of higher prices isn't welcome news for already cash-strapped consumers and businesses, who may retrench spending, slowing our economy. There's already some evidence that economic activity is in trouble. First-quarter GDP declined 0.5%, and the World Bank estimates that full-year GDP in the U.S. will be just 1.4%, down from about 2.8% last year. The situation has led to an uptick in layoffs, which has increased the unemployment rate. Over 696,000 workers have been laid off through May, up 80% year over year, according to Challenger, Gray, & Christmas. The unemployment rate is 4.2%, up from its low of 3.4% in 2023. Risks that inflation reasserts itself and unemployment increases have taken a toll on consumer confidence. While confidence is better than in April, the Conference Board's Expectations Index is 69, handily lower than the 80 that often indicates a looming recession. Nevertheless, the stock market is forward looking, and since April, investors believe the worst of the risks are behind us and arguably got priced into stocks when they nose-dived this spring. Sam Stovall is a been-there-done-that Wall Street veteran analyst. He's built a long career analyzing the markets, including serving as managing director and chief investment strategist at S&P Global for over 27 years, before becoming chief investment strategist for CFRA, a major research firm. Related: Rare event could derail S&P 500 record-setting rally Stovall has a reputation for connecting the dots between the past and the present. He considered past sharp sell-offs and what happened after them and came away bullish. "The recent correction recovered all that was lost in only 80 calendar days, versus the traditional 236 days for all 25 corrections (declines of 10.5% to 19.9%) since WWII," said Stovall in a note to clients. "Investors shouldn't be too surprised by this speedy recovery, due to the swiftness of the initial selloff." The V-shaped recovery after the dramatic drop reflects a market that had become very oversold, very quickly. The baskets that have performed best since April's low have perhaps, unsurprisingly, been the groups that got hit the hardest. For example, the information technology sector, which comprises high flyers like Nvidia, is up 41% from the lows. The average return for the three worst-performing sectors - information technology, consumer discretionary, and communication services - is up 32%. More Wall Street Analysts: Analysts reboot Olive Garden parent's stock price targets as earnings loomAnalysts revamp forecast for Nvidia-backed AI stockIntuitive Surgical analyst raises eyebrows with new stock price target Those gains could continue, says Stovall, but he did offer a relatively tempered outlook for the third quarter. "The S&P 500 posted the weakest quarterly return, eking out only a 0.1% advance in Q3," said Stovall. "Five of its 11 sectors posted declines, led by communication services, consumer discretionary, energy, and materials." The third quarter's lackluster historical returns could mean it's a bit tougher sledding for stocks short term, but Stovall still thinks that stocks overall can deliver bigger returns through year's end. "Encouragingly, history indicates that quick drops to the -10% threshold typically result in a shorter and shallower total decline, followed by a more rapid recovery," said Stovall. "As a result, investors look forward to continued gains of between 6% and 10%, as was typically the case following declines of up to 20% since WWII, before slipping into a new decline of 5% or more; they just have to survive the traditionally challenging third quarter." Related: Analyst sends alarming message after S&P 500 hits all-time high The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Would Investing $10K in the Magnificent 7 Stocks in 2023 Have Made You Rich?
The Magnificent 7 stocks have made headlines in recent years for their eye-popping returns. In fact, taken as a whole, Amazon (AMZN), Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL), Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Meta Platforms (META), Microsoft (MSFT) and Tesla (TSLA) have been credited with propping up the entire market — and that's not much of an exaggeration. According to J.P. Morgan, those seven stocks alone contributed a whopping 55% of the S&P 500's entire return in 2024. But their outperformance was even greater in 2023, when they made up an incredible 63% of the S&P 500's return, helping them earn their 'magnificent' nickname. Read Next: Learn More: In a nutshell, if you had the foresight to invest in the Magnificent 7 stocks at the beginning of 2023, you would have done quite well. How well? Read on to see how this statistical performance translates into real dollars and cents. Closing price on Dec. 30, 2022: $87.70 Closing price on June 16, 2025: $176.77 Total percentage return: 101.6% Current value of $10,000 invested on Dec. 30, 2022: $20,160 Check Out: Closing price on Dec. 30, 2022: $84.00 Closing price on June 16, 2025: $216.10 Total percentage return: 157.3% Current value of $10,000 invested on Dec. 30, 2022: $25,730 Closing price on Dec. 30, 2022: $128.27 Closing price on June 16, 2025: $198.42 Total percentage return: 54.7% Current value of $10,000 invested on Dec. 30, 2022: $15,470 Closing price on Dec. 30, 2022: $14.60 Closing price on June 16, 2025: $144.69 Total percentage return: 891.0% Current value of $10,000 invested on Dec. 30, 2022: $99,100 Closing price on Dec. 30, 2022: $119.78 Closing price on June 16, 2025: $702.12 Total percentage return: 486.2% Current value of $10,000 invested on Dec. 30, 2022: $58,620 Closing price on Dec. 30, 2022: $235.04 Closing price on June 16, 2025: $479.14 Total percentage return: 103.9% Current value of $10,000 invested on Dec. 30, 2022: $20,390 Closing price on Dec. 30, 2022: $123.18 Closing price on June 16, 2025: $329.13 Total percentage return: 167.2% Current value of $10,000 invested on Dec. 30, 2022: $26,720 Total return in 2023: 76% Total return in 2024: 48% Year-to-date return in 2025 as of June 16: 0% Current value of $10,000 invested on Dec. 30, 2022: $26,048 As a whole, the Magnificent 7 stocks would have more than doubled your money over the past 2 1/2 years. Individual stocks within the Magnificent 7, however, would have multiplied your money exponentially. Nvidia, for example, single-handedly blew away the returns of both the S&P 500 and the other stocks within the Magnificent 7, returning a massive 891%. If you had invested $100,000 in Nvidia at the end of 2022, you'd be sitting on a nearly $1 million portfolio in just 2 1/2 years. The bottom line is that yes, investing any amount of money in the Magnificent 7 stocks at the start of 2023 would have earned you considerable gains. While some analysts are predicting more gains ahead, bear in mind that to earn these types of returns, you have to take on considerable risk. In 2022, for example, the Magnificent 7 stocks dropped 40% as a whole, with some of its individual components losing more than 65% of their value. As high reward comes with high risk, be sure that investing in the Magnificent 7 stocks matches up with your financial objectives and risk tolerance. Editor's note: All historical closing prices were adjusted for splits, dividends and capital gain distributions, and were sourced from Yahoo Finance. More From GOBankingRates Here's the Minimum Salary Required To Be Considered Upper Class in 2025 This article originally appeared on Would Investing $10K in the Magnificent 7 Stocks in 2023 Have Made You Rich? 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
