Latest news with #AptusCapitalAdvisors
Axios
a day ago
- Automotive
- Axios
Musk has money, but Trump has power
Elon Musk might have hundreds of billions of dollars and a social media megaphone, but President Trump's power over the levers of government may put Musk's business empire at much more immediate risk. The big picture: Virtually everything Musk does has huge regulatory exposure, from cars to spaceflight to neural implants. In a government where norms are already out the window, it would take relatively little for Trump to bring the weight of regulatory burden to bear on Musk's enterprise. What they're saying: " You just have to understand that if you own Tesla, it will be difficult to sleep at night as investors can scrutinize it from a fundamental standpoint, but also a headline standpoint," said David Wagner, head of equities and portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors, in a commentary Friday. Zoom out: Trump, thus far, as has played the whole thing relatively cool, saying he doesn't really care if Elon turns on him. But he's also operating from a position of strength, as he clearly knows — thus, the threat on Truth Social to cancel all of Musk's government contracts. When YouGov polled more than 3,800 Americans on that question Thursday, those with an opinion supported ending Musk's contracts by a 2-1 margin. Friday morning, Trump had no hesitation about telling many of Washington's top political reporters he didn't care to speak to Musk — even amid reports Musk very much wanted to speak with him. How it works: There's a laundry list of ways Trump could squeeze Musk: Terminating contracts for space launches, Starlink Internet access and the like. Ending support for electric vehicle purchases, and the charging infrastructure to power those cars. More regulatory oversight of everything from Tesla's self-driving algorithms to Neuralink's implants. Further housecleaning of the loyalists seeded throughout the government, like the move to withdraw the NASA nominee who was a key Musk ally. The ultimate lever: Security clearances, a favorite Trump tool, and a question that has lingered around Musk for years. What to watch: How Musk's public position evolves in the coming days, given how incendiary his comments were Thursday and how much Trump appreciates deference.
CNBC
13-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Three Stock Lunch: Coinbase, First Solar and Nvidia
David Wagner, Aptus Capital Advisors portfolio manager and head of equities, joins 'Power Lunch' to discuss Wagner's investing take on three stocks: Coinbase, First Solar and Nvidia.
CNBC
13-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
AI powerhouse Nvidia to lead the 'idiosyncratic' growth area of the market, portfolio manager says
Shares of Coinbase and Nvidia are poised for further growth, according to David Wagner, Aptus Capital Advisors portfolio manager and head of equities. Wagner joined CNBC's " Power Lunch " on Monday to discuss those names, as well as one renewable energy play, that rallied during Tuesday's trading session. Coinbase Coinbase shares jumped 24% on Tuesday after S & P Global said the crypto exchange is getting added to the S & P 500 , putting the stock on pace for its best day in the market since the day after President Donald Trump's November election win. The addition to the benchmark index will take effect before trading on May 19. "This stock, it's not for everyone, but how can you ignore this monumental shift and appetite, not only in D.C., but across the institutional spectrum?" Wagner said. "The company has a 60% market share here in the U.S., which positions them perfectly for the institutionalization of crypto, which is going to lead to higher trading revenue." Shares of Coinbase have had a rocky 2025 as market volatility due to tariff policy changes has dampened investor appetite for riskier assets. Still, shares have popped more than 46% over the past month and are up 3% this year after the recent market surge. Bitcoin prices spiked last week and topped $100,000, driving enthusiasm towards crypto. "I understand that crypto, it's a very, very touchy subject, but this is probably one of the most simplistic ways to own this narrative, without really owning the underlying narrative," he added. Nvidia Wagner is sticking by Nvidia as the artificial intelligence growth story strengthens. He said he hopes the "scarcity growth premium might finally find its way back to Nvidia." Shares of Nvidia jumped 5.6% on Tuesday after CEO Jensen Huang announced that the company will sell over 18,000 of its latest AI chips to Saudi Arabian company Humain. Nvidia will deploy its GB300 Blackwell chips — which were announced earlier this year and are some of its most advanced chips. "I don't just like Nvidia. I love Nvidia. ... The news out of Saudi Arabia today just continues to show the resiliency that the company has from a growth perspective, not just domestically, but also internationally," Wagner said. "In a world of tariffs, everyone's expecting growth to slow down specifically in the consumer areas of the market, but you're also going to see growth slowing down internationally. So I think that this leaves this AI trade as the idiosyncratic area of growth moving forward," he added. Nvidia's recent comeback has put the chipmaker on track to close above a $3 trillion market cap for the first time since Feb. 28. First Solar First Solar was among the best performers in the S & P 500 on Tuesday, with a nearly 23% gain. The rally came after Wolfe Research upgraded the solar energy stock to outperform from peer perform, citing better clarity on the 45X federal tax credits for clean energy production. Wolfe expects First Solar will realize $10 billion from the tax credit. "It feels like this could be peak pessimism in the stock trading at 10 times earnings, which could create a floor for the stock as policies are probably not going to be any more punitive from a tax credit perspective. I do like the name," Wagner said, noting that First Solar is the largest solar panel manufacturer in the U.S. "If you're not optimistic about this space right now, I'm just not sure when you will be," he said. First Solar shares are up 8.7% year to date.
Perth Now
30-04-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Wall St slips as US economy contracts in first quarter
Wall Street's main indexes have dropped after data showed the economy contracted for the first time in three years in the first quarter, deepening concerns about the effects of US tariffs and the global trade war. Private payrolls growth also slowed more than expected in April, while the personal consumption expenditure index - the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge - rose slightly more than expected in March on an annual basis. Wednesday's reports join a series of data releases over the month that have pointed to an increasingly uncertain outlook for the US economy, as the fallout from the administration of US President Donald Trump's steep tariffs and erratic trade policy take effect. "Given the amount of damage that's been done to businesses (and) consumer confidence, we could just be getting started on seeing a continuation of these weaker numbers," said John Luke Tyner, portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors. US consumer spending jumped last month as households rushed to buy motor vehicles to avoid higher prices and shortages due to tariffs. Traders are now pricing in a full percentage point interest rate cut by the end of the year from the Fed. Caterpillar declined marginally, after gaining pre-market following its quarterly results. In early trading on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 699.90 points, or 1.73 per cent, to 39,827.72, the S&P 500 lost 113.47 points, or 2.04 per cent, to 5,447.36 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 449.75 points, or 2.58 per cent, to 17,011.57. All S&P 500 sectors were in the red, with consumer discretionary and information technology shares down 3.6 per cent and 2.3 per cent, respectively. The CBOE Volatility index, seen as Wall Street's fear gauge, was up 3.53 points at 27.69 - its highest in nearly a week. "Magnificent Seven" members Meta Platforms and Microsoft fell 2.0 per cent and 3.0 per cent ahead of their results, due after markets close, that investors are watching closely for clarity on the outlook for the tech sector and AI-focused investments. Fanning concerns about a pullback in investments into AI, Super Micro Computer cut its third-quarter forecasts due to delays in customer spending while Snapchat parent Snap said it would not provide a second-quarter financial forecast. Their shares fell more than 16 per cent each. Wall Street's indexes recouped some ground this month after a sharp slump following the April 2 "Liberation Day" tariff announcements, but are set for monthly declines. The S&P 500 is set to snap its best winning streak since November if losses hold through close. Wednesday also marks 100 days since Trump took office. Erratic changes in trade policies and uncertainty have roiled markets over that period, offsetting initial optimism over the administration's business-friendly policies. "If you were looking for a playbook on how to slow a healthy economy, (policy changes) seem like a good example," said Scott Helfstein, head of investment strategy at Global X. Among other stocks, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings tumbled 10 per cent after missing first-quarter earnings estimates. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 7.61-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 4.77-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 2 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 14 new highs and 57 new lows.
Observer
31-01-2025
- Business
- Observer
Apple's revenues up 4% despite slowing iPhone sales
SAN FRANCISCO — After Apple unveiled artificial intelligence features for iPhones last year, the company's stock soared in anticipation that the new abilities would provide a jolt to a stale business. But a boom in sales hasn't materialized. On Thursday, the tech giant said it sold $69.14 billion worth of iPhones in its most recent quarter, a 0.8% decrease from a year earlier and 3.5% below the quarterly sales record it reported in early 2022. The company's sales of apps and services, such as Apple Music and Apple TV+, were up, helping to offset the modest performance of its iPhone business. Apple's quarterly revenue increased 4% to $124.3 billion during the three months that ended in December. Its profit rose 7% to $36.33 billion, rebounding from the previous quarter when it paid a multibillion-dollar fine to European regulators. The results fell just short of Wall Street analysts' expectations for $124.38 billion in sales but exceeded projections of $35.62 billion in profit. The company said it expected revenue to rise in the current quarter, which ends in March. Shares rose 3.5% in after-hours trading because of the company's encouraging sales outlook. Despite heavily promoting its new AI technology, Apple released an iPhone in September without its signature selling point: an AI system called Apple Intelligence. The AI features became available about a month later in the United States and eventually expanded to other English-speaking countries. Apple hasn't yet released Apple Intelligence in China, its second-most important market, weakening the iPhone's appeal there. The company's share of smartphone sales in China fell 2.4 percentage points last year to 15.5%, according to Counterpoint Research, a market research firm. Apple, which plans to make its AI offering available in additional languages in April, said sales in China fell 11% to $18.51 billion. 'Markets where we rolled out Apple Intelligence performed better on a year-over-year basis than markets where we had not,' Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, said during a call with analysts. In countries where Apple Intelligence is available, some of the features have disappointed customers. This month, the company said it would disable its AI system for aggregating and summarizing news notifications because it was misrepresenting media reports. 'There was so much optimism that they had the golden egg with the iPhone 16, but fast forward to today, and it feels like the rug has been pulled out from under them,' said David Wagner, head of equity at Aptus Capital Advisors, an investment firm in Alabama. 'There's been a slower AI uptake.' In addition to trying to revitalize its iPhone business, Apple is confronting the possibility of fresh supply chain headaches. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose additional tariffs on goods from China, where Apple makes a majority of its iPhones, and on products shipped from countries, including Vietnam, where Apple had moved some of its manufacturing during the first Trump administration. Any levies would cut into Apple's profits or force it to raise prices. Cook has built a personal relationship with Trump over the years. He donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund and sat behind Trump at the inauguration alongside other tech leaders, including Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos. When asked during a call with analysts about what the new administration could mean for the company, Cook said, 'We are monitoring the situation and don't have anything more to add.' Services, which include the sales of apps, Apple TV+ ,and Apple Pay, continue to be the strongest-performing segment of Apple's business. The company is taking a cut of revenue from more than a billion subscriptions sold across iPhones and iPads. Sales of services in the quarter rose 14% to $26.34 billion. A large percentage of service revenue comes from Google, which pays to be the search engine on Apple devices. Last year, a federal judge ruled that Google is a monopolist for paying those fees, and the Justice Department has asked the court to remedy that by forcing it to stop. Apple, which wants to keep the $20 billion it collects annually from Google, sought to intervene in the case but was denied. Apple reported that sales rose for two of its other key products, the iPad and Mac, but fell for wearables such as the Apple Watch and AirPods. The company's total product revenue increased 1.6% to $97.96 billion. This article originally appeared in
