Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG, Financial) is an absolute monster of a health care stock. The company has returned over 600% over the past 10 years, easily dwarfing the 160% returns of the S&P 500 Index. Over the same period, the Health Care Select Sector ETF (XLV, Financial) returned 148%. Most of the growth in Intuitive Surgical was seen as hospitals, large medical institutions and integrated delivery networks such as Kaiser Permanente jumped onto the trend of using its robotic surgery systems at their hea ...

Financials sector earnings have been mixed so far. Decent numbers were reported by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM, Financial), while Bank of America Corp. (BAC, Financial), Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC, Financial) and Citigroup Inc. (C, Financial) dealt with their own issues. Overall, the financials sector is expected to report a 1.8% decline in operating profits compared to year-ago levels – that would be below the S&P 500's 2.1% earnings per share climb. Volatile interest rates, weak capital market activity and conc ...

On Jan. 2, Chevron Corp. (CVX, Financial) filed an 8K report with the SEC stating that it will record a non-cash impairment of between $3.5 billion and $4 billion for some of its U.S. upstream assets during the fourth quarter of 2023. However, despite this large impairment charge, the company plans to continue operating its California assets for the foreseeable future. The reasons given by the company to justify the impairment charge were "due to continuing regulatory challenges in the state that have resul ...

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT, Financial) recently briefly surpassed Apple Inc. (AAPL, Financial) as the highest-valued company in the world; it has very sound management focused on shareholder returns, which is elicited in the financial statements. Its largest contributor to growth will likely be artificial intelligence, which places it in direct competition with Alphabet's (GOOG, Financial) (GOOGL, Financial) Google as a peer with the most advanced capabilities in the industry. Particularly, both companies are fo ...

Much of 2023's performance was driven by the narratives of strength seen in the technology sector. More specifically, the conversations around quality and growth were almost always dominated by the Magnificent 7, leading to crowded trades in this cohort of stocks. However, many other stocks also saw their fundamentals improving for the better, leading to more pronounced performances elsewhere. Salesforce Inc. (CRM, Financial) is one example of a stock whose performance in 2023 might be eclipsed by the large ...

The last few years at Ford Motor Co. (F, Financial) have been riddled with a series of challenges, ranging from its grapples with mounting debt paired with negative free cash flows, to its grapples with volatile supply chains, high commodity costs and low equipment availability. As such, the stock faces a critical moment as it veers away from critical support. This calls for a closer examination of the timeline of events that got it here in order to better present the reasons why I believe the shares of the ...

The last few years at Ford Motor Co. (F, Financial) have been riddled with a series of challenges, ranging from its grapples with mounting debt paired with negative free cash flows, to its grapples with volatile supply chains, high commodity costs and low equipment availability. As such, the stock faces a critical moment as it veers away from critical support. This calls for a closer examination of the timeline of events that got it here in order to better present the reasons why I believe the shares of the ...

The consumer is in focus heading into 2024. There is no doubt that 2023 was surprisingly strong in terms of retail sales trends. Disinflation trends and lingering excess savings from the pandemic, along with now-positive real wages, are helpful. Some pundits assert that increased dependence on credit cards and a surprising jump in holiday buy now, pay later activity are warning signs. Also, total holiday spending came in on the weak side. I am slightly bullish on Procter & Gamble Co. (PG, Financial). I see ...

Nike Inc. (NKE, Financial), the renowned global sports apparel and footwear company, witnessed a significant drop of nearly 12% in its share price in a single trading day. This decline was attributed to the company's recent earnings results, which failed to meet consensus expectations. Since the end of September, Nike has enjoyed a strong performance, with its stock price climbing from $91 to $120.40. However, following this recent drop, the share price has settled at $108, with market expectations of furth ...

In 2023, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA, Financial) witnessed a 20% drop in its stock value, plummeting to about $73, a price echoing its 2014 post-IPO period. This decline has left investors in a quandary, weighing the merits of holding onto their shares or seeking tax-loss harvesting opportunities. However, the share price has factored in these challenges, reflecting China's broader economic and regulatory climate. As Alibaba strides forward, its strategic agility in the face of geopolitical and market ...