Online Spending Growth - Online spending during the holiday season (Nov 1 to Dec 31) increased by 8.7% year-over-year, reaching $241.4 billion [1] - The growth was driven by increased demand rather than higher prices, as e-commerce prices have fallen for 27 consecutive months [2] - Deep discounts played a significant role, with a 1% drop in typical prices leading to a 1% increase in demand, resulting in an additional $2.25 billion in online spending [5] Retail Industry Performance - The strong e-commerce results are a positive sign for the retail industry, with major retailers like Walmart, Target, and Macy's set to report their fiscal Q4 results in late February [3] - Overall U.S. retail sales (excluding automotive) for the holiday season (Nov 1 to Dec 24) rose 3.8% year-over-year, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse [4] Consumer Behavior Trends - Consumers are adopting an "event-ized buying" pattern, waiting for sales events like Amazon Prime Day, President's Day, and Memorial Day to make nonessential purchases [6] - Shoppers tend to overindex their spending during specific moments when they perceive value, leading to growth spikes followed by periods of slower growth [7] Top Performing Categories - Electronics, apparel, and furniture/home goods were the top three categories, contributing to 54% of total online spending [8] - Groceries saw the highest year-over-year growth at nearly 13%, reaching $21.5 billion, followed by cosmetics at 12.2% growth to $7.7 billion [8] - Electronics had the highest discounts at 30.1%, followed by toys (28%), TVs (24.2%), and apparel (23.2%) [7]

While AI innovators were some of the biggest winners in 2024, these two companies were left behind.Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and the excitement around their potential drove the stock prices of some of the biggest companies in the world higher in 2024. But not every AI innovator was a big winner.Stock prices go up when financial results exceed forecasts, or at least when management's expectations are even better than investors' sentiment. One disappointing quarter or an underwhelming outlook f ...

Company Performance and Valuation - Adobe's shares fell by 13.8% in December due to poorly received Q4 earnings and guidance [1] - The company has strong financial metrics: 89% gross margin, 46.6% adjusted operating margin, 36.6% FCF margin, and 13% YoY growth in digital media ARR for 2024 [3] - Adobe generated nearly $7.9 billion in FCF in 2024 and trades at 24.6 times 2024 FCF, which is not considered expensive given its scalable business model [4] Earnings and Guidance - Adobe's 2025 guidance projects 11% growth in digital media ARR, which disappointed Wall Street analysts who expected more growth [5] - Analysts anticipated higher growth due to Adobe's increasing monetization of AI solutions integrated into its products [5] AI Strategy and Market Position - Adobe's AI solution, Firefly, is currently free to encourage adoption, with premium options available for a fee [6] - Some investors are disappointed with Adobe's approach to monetizing its AI applications, seeing it as a missed growth opportunity [6] - The company faces fierce competition in the creative space, and aggressive pricing of AI solutions could lead to subscriber loss [7] - There is a debate about whether AI tools could reduce the need for creative personnel at Adobe's key customers, potentially decreasing demand for its software [7]

Technical Analysis - Warren Buffett advises to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful [1] - The Relative Strength Index (RSI) measures momentum on a scale of zero to 100, with a stock considered oversold if the RSI reading falls below 30 [1] Adobe (ADBE) Stock Performance - Adobe shares entered oversold territory with an RSI reading of 29.4 on Monday [3] - The stock traded as low as $438.57 per share, compared to its 52-week low of $432.47 and high of $638.25 [3] - The last trade price was $442.73 [3] - The current RSI reading of the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is 40.9 [3] Investment Opportunity - A bullish investor could view Adobe's 29.4 RSI reading as a sign that recent heavy selling is exhausting itself, potentially indicating a buy-side entry point [3]

Investors have been focused on the technology sector for the better part of the past two years, with a particular interest in the new trends and themes happening in the world of artificial intelligence and developments in the next horizon of computing power. Within this trend, some popular stocks have performed very well through the past 12 months. However, not all rose with this higher tide. In other words, there are stocks that deserve the same merit that names like NVIDIA Co. NASDAQ: NVDA and even Palant ...

Yiannis Zourmpanos, founder of Yiazou IQ, an AI-driven stock research platform providing all-in-one stock reports. Experience: Previously worked at Deloitte and KPMG in external/internal auditing and consulting. Education: Chartered Certified Accountant, Fellow Member of ACCA Global, with BSc and MSc degrees from U.K. business schools. Investment Style: We focus on GARP/Value stocks—high-quality, reasonably priced businesses with strong moats and significant growth potential. We prioritize fundamentals and ...

One stock is on fire and at all-time highs. The other has tumbled 30% over the past year, woefully trailing the broader market. Both are table-pounding buys heading into the new year.I've seen a lot of headlines about how the stock market is expensive. That could be true, but the market consists of thousands of individual companies trading at various prices and valuations at any given time. Look hard enough, and there's always a deal somewhere.And no, you don't have to look in the market's trash heap to fin ...

We are in a unique spot in the overall economy, and thus so are sensitive, cyclical sectors such as the technology sector. As always, headwinds and tailwinds clash once again, sending investors and consumers into cautiousness andAn independent Singapore-based investor researching in trending sectors of macro markets such as Technology and Communication services.I greatly appreciate constructive feedback on how to improve my articles and theses so as to gain experience, understanding, and most importantly ad ...

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of ADBE either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any i ...

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