2024 could be dubbed the year of artificial intelligence (AI), as the latest advances involving generative AI made their way into mainstream usage and AI-associated stocks helped power the market to new heights. Some of the biggest AI winners have been in the semiconductor sector, where AI chips provide the computing power needed to train large language models and run AI inference.That said, spending on AI infrastructure looks like it will only ramp up in 2025, with Microsoft recently announcing it would sp ...

Company Performance - Sea Limited experienced a significant turnaround in 2024, with its stock gaining over 160% and becoming the best performer in the portfolio [3] - The company's revenue growth accelerated to 30% year-over-year in Q3 2024, compared to just under 5% in 2023 [4] - Sea Limited achieved a net profit of $153 million in Q3 2024, a substantial improvement from a $144 million loss in Q3 2023 [8] E-commerce Business - Shopee, the e-commerce platform, generated positive adjusted EBITDA for the first time ever [5] - Gross merchandise volume increased by 25% year-over-year, and the take rate improved by 160 basis points, leading to a 45% growth in e-commerce revenue [5] Digital Financial Services - Sea Money's loan portfolio grew by 70% year-over-year to $4.6 billion, with revenue increasing by 38% [6] - The company added 4 million new borrowers, and the percentage of non-performing loans declined [6] Gaming Business - Garena's daily active users exceeded 100 million, growing by 25% year-over-year, with quarterly active users reaching over 628 million [7] - The Free Fire game became the most downloaded game globally, and bookings grew by 25% year-over-year [7] - Garena remains the largest profit driver, accounting for 65% of Sea's operating income [7] Growth Potential - Sea Limited trades at less than four times trailing-12-month sales, indicating potential undervaluation compared to historical multiples [9] - The company's logistics network is improving, which could drive higher order volumes on the e-commerce platform [9] - Sea AI Lab (SAIL) is focused on developing AI technologies to enhance existing businesses and create new opportunities, particularly in e-commerce and gaming [10] - The company has a gross margin of 36% and an adjusted EBITDA margin of about 12%, with potential for significant expansion as it continues to grow [11][12]

Tesla's Historical Performance - Tesla, founded in 2003, launched its first freestanding charging stations in 2012 and reported its first profitable quarter in 2013 [2] - In 2015, Tesla introduced solar energy products, marking a significant expansion of its business model [2] - A $1,000 investment in Tesla at the beginning of 2015 would have grown to $27,615 by 2025, representing an average annual gain of around 39%, significantly outperforming the S&P 500's average annual gain of 12% [3] Tesla's Market Position and Valuation - Tesla is currently valued at $1.3 trillion and is part of the "Magnificent Seven" stocks, alongside Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia [4] - Tesla's forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is 110, well above its five-year average of 77, indicating a rich valuation [6] - The company's growth has been slowing, which could impact its future performance [6] Tesla's Stock Volatility and Future Outlook - Tesla shares have shown significant volatility, with a 50% increase over the past year but only a 2.49% average growth over the past three years [5] - Over the past five years, Tesla's stock has averaged a 67.6% growth, highlighting its strong performance in recent years [5] - The future performance of Tesla stock in 2025 and beyond remains uncertain, requiring careful consideration for potential investors [5]

Investors piled into artificial intelligence (AI) stocks last year, which helped all three benchmarks advance in the double digits. The S&P 500, the Nasdaq, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 23%, 28%, and 12%, respectively.And the top performers in all three indexes were companies heavily involved in AI, including chip designer Nvidia (NVDA -3.00%) and software company Palantir Technologies. They scored the biggest wins in the Dow Average and the S&P 500, respectively.Why have AI stocks been so p ...

After 43+ years working for one investment research company or another, I finally retired. So now, I’m completely independent. And for the first time on Seeking Alpha, I won’t be working based on anybody else’s product agenda. I have only one goal now… to give you the best actionable investment insights I can.I have long specialized in rules/factor-based equity investing strategies. But I’m different from others who share such backgrounds. I don’t serve the numbers. Instead, the numbers serve me… to inspire ...

Nvidia (NVDA -3.00%) was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI -1.63%) in November 2024. So, technically, it was only in the index for a small portion of the year. But it was still, by far, the best-performing Dow stock in 2024 with a 171.2% return, walloping second-place Walmart's 71.9% gain and third-place American Express' 58.4%.Nvidia stock went up a mind-numbing 818.9% between 2023 and 2024, which may lead some investors to question how much further it can run before its valuation gets stretc ...

Financial Performance - The company achieved four consecutive quarters of accelerating revenue growth and maintained profitability, which was a priority announced the previous year [1] - US commercial revenue, including AIP, grew 54% year-over-year and 13% sequentially, with customer count increasing by 77% [2] - The remaining deal value (backlog) surged 73%, indicating continued growth potential [2] - In Q3, revenue grew 30% year-over-year to $726 million, with EPS surging 100% to $0.06 [10] Stock Performance and Valuation - The stock price soared 340% in 2024, making it the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 and the third-best in the Nasdaq-100 [5] - The stock trades at 158 times forward earnings and 41 times forward sales, though traditional valuation metrics may not fully capture the value of high-growth stocks [3] - Using the forward PEG ratio, the stock is undervalued with a multiple of 0.37 [8] Strategic Moves and Market Positioning - The company achieved four consecutive quarters of GAAP profitability, securing its admission to the S&P 500 in September [7] - Management shifted the stock from the NYSE to the Nasdaq, leading to inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 and greater institutional ownership [11] - Boot camp sessions paired customers with developers to create AI solutions in as little as five days, contributing to recent success [10] AI and Data Mining Impact - Surging demand for the Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) fueled the company's results, enabling practical AI applications for data-driven decision-making [6] - The excitement around AI's potential contributed to the stock's epic run, alongside robust performance and strategic management moves [9]

Almost everyone knows Apple (AAPL -2.41%). Many millions of us have the company's devices in our pockets, handbags, or desktops, and many millions send Apple lots of money every year. Indeed, in Apple's last fiscal year, it raked in $391 billion in revenue. Better still, it kept fully 24% of that, more than $90 billion, as net income. So it won't surprise you that Apple is among the largest companies in the world. It's actually the biggest company in the world, with a recent market value of $3.68 trillion, ...

These investor-favorite stocks have been profitable for shareholders and still have a long runway ahead.The S&P 500 is in the throes of a bull market that's been running riot for more than two years now. The rally is currently taking a breather, but most experts believe there's still upside ahead. One of the biggest contributors to Wall Street's bullish sentiment has been the advent of artificial intelligence (AI).Advances in AI are causing a paradigm shift across a variety of industries, which has been a k ...

Microsoft's AI Investment - Microsoft plans to invest approximately $80 billion in fiscal 2025 to build AI-enabled data centers, marking a significant increase from the $56 billion spent last fiscal year, which was a 44% increase [1] - The company views AI as a transformative technology comparable to electricity, with the next four years being crucial for laying the foundation for America's economic success [1] Nvidia's Market Position and Growth - Nvidia's stock has gained over 850% in the past two years and is currently priced at roughly 32 times next year's expected sales, indicating a reasonable valuation despite its rapid growth [2] - The company dominates the data center GPU market with a 98% market share in 2023, and its leadership position is expected to remain unchallenged in the near future [4] - Nvidia's GPUs, originally developed for gaming, are now essential for AI applications, with demand for its high-end AI processors exceeding supply [3][4] Nvidia's Financial Performance - Nvidia achieved record revenue of $35 billion in its fiscal 2025 third quarter, a 94% year-over-year increase and a 17% sequential increase [5] - Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) surged 103% to $0.81 in the same quarter, reflecting strong profitability despite slowing growth rates [5] Nvidia's Future Prospects - The company's Hopper AI processor has been highly successful, and the recently released Blackwell chip is expected to generate even more sales, with production already sold out for the next 12 months [6] - Despite the end of triple-digit growth, Nvidia is believed to have a long runway ahead due to its industry-leading technology and the increasing adoption of AI [6] Tech Giants' AI Spending - Alphabet plans to spend about $51 billion on capex in 2024, with substantial increases expected in 2025 to support AI development [8] - Amazon is projected to spend $75 billion on capex in 2024, with the majority allocated to its cloud unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS), driven by generative AI [8] - Meta Platforms is on track to spend roughly $39 billion in 2024, with significant capital expenditure growth expected in 2025 to support AI research and product development [8] Nvidia's Customer Base - Nvidia's four biggest customers, responsible for 40% of its revenue, include Microsoft (15%), Meta Platforms (13%), Amazon (6.2%), and Alphabet (5.8%) [10][11] - These companies have clearly stated their plans to ramp up capex spending, primarily to support cloud computing and AI, with Nvidia being the principal beneficiary due to its dominance in the data center GPU market [9][10]