Tyler Crowe: Looking back at some of the stock market darlings of 2025, this is Motley Fool Money. Welcome to Motley Fool Money. My name's Tyler Crowe. Today, I'm joined by longtime contributors, Matt Frankel and Jon Quast. The end of the year is sneaking up on us pretty quick, and I don't know, there's some instinctual feel as investors to look back at the year as December rolls around and take stock, if you will, don't mind my pun of the stock market darlings of 2025. What did well? What worked, and what ...

Market Overview - The S&P 500 has historically increased about 10% annually on average, with a year-to-date gain of 17% in 2025, indicating a potential for above-average returns for the third consecutive year [1][2] - Historical data suggests that the stock market tends to rise two out of three years, implying a high probability of another strong year in 2026 [5][7] Investment Strategy - Investors are encouraged to maintain a long-term investment strategy, as the average bear market lasts only 15 months and is infrequent, while market downturns of 10% to 20% are short-lived [7] - The S&P 500 is statistically likely to increase in value in 2026, and even if a market crash occurs, it is expected to be brief, leading to a new bull market [7][14] Company Focus: Sandisk - Sandisk has been the top performer in 2025 so far, with a year-to-date increase of over 500%, and is expected to outperform the S&P 500 again in 2026 [9][10] - The company reported a 10% revenue increase for fiscal 2025, with a significant surge of 23% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2026, and management anticipates over 40% growth for Q2 [12][13] - Sandisk's memory products are crucial for data centers, with demand from major hyperscalers driving revenue and profit margins, suggesting a favorable operating environment for the foreseeable future [13]

Welcome back to Squawkbox. Five things to know ahead of the opening bell. The price for Warner Brothers Discovery, it could head higher.Bloomberg now reporting that both Netflix and Paramount Sky Dance have signaled they have the ability to raise their bids for the media giant. Separately, longtime media investor Mario Gabell telling Bloomberg he'll likely tender his clients. Warner Brothers Discovery Shares to Paramount in an effort to spark a bidding war for Warner.Meanwhile, computer memory maker Nvidia ...

Group 1 - Warner Brothers Discovery may see an increase in its share price as both Netflix and Paramount Sky Dance have indicated their capability to raise bids for the media company [1] - Longtime media investor Mario Gabelli is likely to tender his clients' shares of Warner Brothers Discovery to Paramount to initiate a bidding war [1] Group 2 - Nvidia supplier SK Hynix is considering a dual listing of its shares in the US alongside its current listing in South Korea, resulting in a nearly 4% increase in its shares [2] - Disney has nominated former Apple executive Jeff Williams to join its board, expanding the board to 11 members [2][3] - Eli Lilly plans to invest $6 billion in building a manufacturing plant in Alabama to boost production of its experimental anti-obesity pill and other drugs [3] Group 3 - European food delivery giant HelloFresh is evaluating strategic options, which may include partnerships in certain countries and capital allocation measures [4]

Market Performance - Shares in Europe and Asia advanced following a surge on Wall Street, driven by hopes that the Federal Reserve will soon cut interest rates [2] - The S&P 500 futures gained 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.2% [2] - In early European trading, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 both increased by 0.2%, while Britain's FTSE 100 edged up 0.1% [2] - The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 1.9%, while South Korea's Kospi gained 2.7%, supported by a 3.5% increase in Samsung Electronics [2] - The Russell 2000 index of the smallest U.S. stocks jumped 2.1%, indicating a strong performance among smaller companies [2] Economic Indicators - Mixed economic data has led traders to bet on an 83% probability that the Fed will cut rates in December [2] - U.S. retail sales in September were lower than expected, and consumer confidence worsened more than anticipated in November, suggesting the economy may need support from lower interest rates [2] - A report indicated that U.S. wholesale inflation was slightly worse than expected in September, although a closely tracked underlying trend showed improvement [2] Company-Specific Developments - Kioxia shares dropped 14.9% due to reports that Bain Capital plans to sell $2.3 billion of the company's shares [2] - Alibaba's shares fell 1.9% after reporting profits that fell short of forecasts, despite stronger-than-expected revenue for the latest quarter [2]

Group 1: Amazon - Amazon shares are currently priced at $234, with a market cap of $2.5 trillion, indicating ongoing growth potential despite perceptions of saturation [2][4] - The company reported $40.9 billion in third-quarter sales, with international e-commerce operations being less than half the size of its North American business, suggesting significant expansion opportunities [5] - Amazon has deployed its 1 millionth worker robot to enhance operational efficiency, and is utilizing generative AI to improve productivity and coordination [6][7] - The company holds a 15% to 19% stake in Antropic, a leading large language model developer, which is contractually obligated to use Amazon Web Services (AWS) for its infrastructure needs [7] Group 2: Micron Technology - Micron Technology's shares have increased by 193% year to date, driven by strong fundamentals and a low valuation, particularly in the context of generative AI [8][10] - The company is crucial for generative AI hardware, as its memory chips are essential for data storage and processing, complementing GPUs from companies like Nvidia [9] - Fiscal 2025 revenue is projected to increase by nearly 50% due to strong demand from data centers related to AI, with indications that this trend will continue [11] - Micron's forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is 15.5, significantly lower than the Nasdaq100 average of 26 and Nvidia's 28, suggesting it is undervalued relative to its growth potential [13]

Company Performance - Micron Technology's stock fell 2.8% despite reporting better-than-expected profit and revenue, indicating high market expectations as the stock had already gained 97.7% year-to-date [3] - Freeport-McMoRan's stock dropped 17% after the company revised its copper sales forecast down by 4% and gold sales by approximately 6% for the third quarter [4] - Lithium Americas' stock surged 95.8% following reports of potential U.S. government ownership stake in the company, which is developing a lithium project in Nevada with General Motors [4][5] Industry Trends - U.S. stock indexes experienced a slight decline after a significant rally, raising concerns about stock prices becoming too high if the Federal Reserve does not meet rate cut expectations [2] - Homebuilders saw gains as U.S. new home sales in August exceeded economists' forecasts, with Lennar rising 2% and PulteGroup and D.R. Horton both increasing by 0.7% [6]

Core Viewpoint - Micron Technology's stock is considered a buy despite a recent 7% decline, as the company exceeded earnings expectations in its fiscal Q2 2025 report [1][4]. Financial Performance - Micron reported a revenue increase of 38% year over year, reaching over $8 billion, but experienced a sequential decline of 7.6% from Q1 [2]. - Non-GAAP earnings were $1.56 per share, surpassing analyst expectations, while GAAP earnings were $1.41 per share, nearly doubling from $0.71 a year ago [2]. - Operating cash flow more than tripled compared to the previous year [2]. Cash Flow and Guidance - The company's free cash flow remains slightly negative at $75 million, but is showing signs of improvement [3]. - CEO Sanjay Mehrotra anticipates record quarterly revenue in fiscal Q3, driven by growth in DRAM and NAND demand across data center and consumer markets [4]. Future Projections - Micron forecasts Q3 sales of approximately $8.8 billion, with non-GAAP profit expected at $1.57 per share and GAAP earnings at $1.37 per share [5]. - These projections indicate that Micron is on track to exceed earnings expectations for the fifth consecutive quarter [5]. Valuation Perspective - The stock is currently valued at only 15 times analyst forecasts for the year, suggesting it is undervalued given its performance [6].