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Globe and Mail
19 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Bitcoin's Market Cap Is Now Higher Than These 3 Tech Giants. Can It Still Soar Higher?
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has hit record levels in May as the bullishness around the top cryptocurrency remains strong. After sliding earlier this year, during the past three months, it has rallied by about 30%. With a market cap of more than $2.1 trillion (as of May 29), it is far and away the most valuable digital currency. Ethereum, with a market cap of around $320 billion, is a distant second place. The original crypto remains the default option for investors who want exposure to cryptocurrency. Some investors view it as a form of digital gold while others like it for its scarcity, or simply its overall popularity and its rising adoption. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » But while Bitcoin has soared in value, its market cap has also risen beyond those of many of the best blue chip companies. Is that a sign that it is overvalued and approaching a peak, or is there still room for the cryptocurrency to go even higher? Bitcoin has been a better investment than tech stocks Over the past five years, Bitcoin has generated far better returns for investors than the broad stock market. During that time frame, it has risen by more than 1,000%. The S&P 500, by comparison, has increased in value by only 91%. Even the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund, which gives investors focused exposure to tech stocks, is only up by 134%. The digital currency now has a market cap that equals or exceeds some of the world's most dominant companies: Amazon: $2.1 trillion Alphabet: $2.1 trillion Meta Platforms: $1.6 trillion Currently, the most valuable company in the world is Microsoft, with a market cap of $3.4 trillion. For Bitcoin to reach that level, it would need to rise by about 57% to roughly $168,000 per coin. Based on some analysts' forecasts, it will not only hit that level, but will dwarf it. How high could Bitcoin go? If your opinion is that in the long view, Bitcoin will change the world and revolutionize how payments are made, then your expectations could be sky high. Cathie Wood's firm Ark Invest projects that Bitcoin could hit $1.5 million by 2030, which would be a gain of nearly 1,300% from where it is today. MicroStrategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor is also incredibly optimistic about Bitcoin and believes that by 2045, the digital currency's price could top $13 million. Investors, however, should remember that those two are among the most bullish Bitcoin investors, and their price targets will always be incredibly optimistic. Take them with a grain of salt. When the crypto market is on an upswing, it's easy to be bullish and expect that Bitcoin will only keep rising in value. Is Bitcoin still a good investment today? With Bitcoin's market cap higher than some of the top companies in the world, investors should be thinking twice about whether the cryptocurrency has become inflated in value. I believe it has, and that a significant correction could be overdue. In a crypto world where there are thousands of coins to choose from and where Bitcoin really holds no sustainable competitive advantage over other cryptocurrencies in terms of use cases, I believe it has become grossly overvalued. Its big advantage today is that it is simply the most popular and recognizable coin, but that doesn't mean it will stay that way. Even if the crypto market as a whole may rise in value over time, that doesn't necessarily mean Bitcoin will. Newer and better coins could gain ground over time. I wouldn't buy Bitcoin now because it's a highly speculative asset to own, but if you're inclined to do so, I'd suggest allocating only a modest amount of your portfolio toward it in order to minimize your overall risk. Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now? Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $651,761!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $826,263!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is978% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to170%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 19, 2025 John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. David Jagielski has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
DeepSeek's R1 Update Boosts Coding Capabilities
SAN ANSELMO, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 27: In this photo illustration, the DeepSeek app is displayed on ... More an iPhone screen on January 27, 2025 in San Anselmo, California. Newly launched Chinese AI app DeepSeek has surged to number one in Apple's App Store and has triggered a sell-off of U.S. tech stocks over concerns that Chinese companies' AI advances could threaten the bottom line of tech giants in the United States and Europe. (Photo Illustration by) DeepSeek has rolled out an update to its R1 model, ushering in a new era of coding assistance at a much affordable cost. While users have yet to uncover every enhancement, the newly fortified programming capabilities stand out as potentially transformative. Novice and experienced programmers alike can now instruct DeepSeek to build simple, interactive video games and run them in Python. And for those without Python or Pygame installed locally, DeepSeek can translate its output into HTML5, enabling anyone to launch and test games directly in a web browser, no environment configuration required. This flexibility not only accelerates prototyping but also reduces technical barriers, making game development accessible to a wider spectrum of users. What sets DeepSeek apart from competing models such as Claude 3.7 Sonnet and GPT o3 is its cost structure. By offering these advanced coding features free of charge, DeepSeek positions itself as an ideal solution for educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and individual creators operating on tight budgets. Students and community groups that previously lacked the resources to subscribe to premium AI services can now explore interactive programming projects without financial constraints. Beyond game development, DeepSeek's enhanced coding engine can scaffold website building from scratch. Users can prompt DeepSeek to fetch and leverage publicly available datasets, say, a Github repository containing 19th-century British novels, and transform raw text into dynamic web applications. In a single workflow, DeepSeek can generate code that ingests the dataset, constructs word clouds, performs sentiment analysis, and displays interactive visualizations. Users can also engage in multiple rounds of prompts to ask DeepSeek to improve the website with more specificity. This end-to-end functionality has the potential to streamline data journalism, digital humanities research, and business intelligence initiatives, simplifying the tasks between data extraction and front-end development. The implications extend far beyond academic research and entertainment. From financial analysts automating statistical models to healthcare professionals building real-time dashboards, DeepSeek's zero-cost coding assistance lowers the threshold for data-driven decision-making. Organizations can explore prototyping analytics tools and spinning up web-based reports with higher efficiency. DeepSeek's R1 update, especially the enhanced coding skills, may help democratizing software creation. By integrating powerful code generation with an open-source model, DeepSeek opens an avenue for innovators to experiment, iterate, and launch applications at minimal cost.
Globe and Mail
16-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Is Palantir Stock a Buy at All-Time Highs?
Valued at a market cap of $300.5 billion, Palantir (PLTR) stock has been on an absolute tear since the start of 2023. The high-flying tech stock went public in October 2020 at $10 per share. Today, PLTR stock trades near $128, and shares are up more than 1,250% over just the past two years. Earlier this week, Palantir stock reached a new all-time high above $130 following a Bank of America upgrade and the company's first-ever insider purchase. The investment bank raised its price target on Palantir to $150 from $125, maintaining a 'Buy' rating. BofA analysts distinguished Palantir from competitors, noting the company enables clients to deploy AI-powered software that delivers specific outcomes, rather than offering the 'ChatGPT-wrappers' common among other AI solutions. The bank highlighted accelerating product launches and customer acquisition rates in Palantir's financial results. Moreover, Palantir could benefit from a recent executive order on defense acquisitions that may advantage firms with existing Pentagon contracts. Let's see if Palantir stock is still a good buy at all-time highs. Palantir Continues to Grow at a Steady Pace Palantir Technologies delivered exceptional results in Q1, with revenue surging 39% year-over-year to $883.9 million. The data analytics software company reported income from operations of $176 million, or $390.7 million on an adjusted basis. Palantir maintained strong profitability with gross profit reaching $710.9 million, indicating an 80% gross margin. When excluding stock-based compensation, gross margin stood at 82%, slightly below the 83% adjusted margin from the same period last year. Palantir ended Q1 with 769 customers, an increase of 39% from 554 customers in the year-ago period. Its top twenty customers averaged $70 million in revenue during the trailing 12 months, up 26% from $55.5 million in the prior-year period, demonstrating deepening relationships with key accounts. Government sector revenue grew 45% year-over-year, accounting for 55% of total revenue, while commercial revenue increased 33%, making up the remaining 45%. U.S. commercial customers showed strong momentum, with revenue jumping 71% to $255 million. Palantir's domestic business remains dominant, with U.S. customers accounting for 71% of total revenue in Q1. The company continues to invest in research and development, with expenses rising 23% year-over-year to support ongoing innovation in artificial intelligence capabilities. Sales and marketing expenses increased 22%, reflecting expanded go-to-market efforts. Palantir maintained a strong financial position with $5.4 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term U.S. Treasury securities as of March 31, 2025, with no outstanding debt. The company also has an additional $500 million in undrawn revolving commitments available. Is Palantir Stock Overvalued? Palantir's enviable run has meant that the tech stock trades at an extremely lofty valuation. Today, PLTR stock is priced at a forward price-to-earnings multiple of 220x compared to its 5-year average multiple of 126x. During the bear market of 2022, the tech stock was priced at a much lower price-earnings multiple of 33x. Out of the 23 analysts covering PLTR stock, three recommend 'Strong Buy,' 12 recommend 'Hold,' one recommends 'Moderate Sell,' and four recommend 'Strong Sell.' The average target price for Palantir stock is $93.89, significantly below the current trading price near $128.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock That Could Soar in the Second Half of 2025 and Beyond
Twilio stock has recovered impressively in the past month, and its rally seems here to stay. The company's focus on integrating AI tools into its cloud communications platform is paying off. Twilio's earnings growth rate is expected to pick up going forward, and its attractive valuation suggests that investors are getting a good deal right now. 10 stocks we like better than Twilio › The broader weakness in the stock market has weighed on shares of Twilio (NYSE: TWLO) so far this year, with the cloud communications specialist losing more than 4% of its value as of this writing. But the company's latest quarterly report has injected life into the stock. Twilio jumped more than 2% after releasing its first-quarter 2025 results on May 1. What's worth noting is that the stock has recovered 23% in the past month, and its solid quarterly results and guidance indicate that more upside could be in the cards. Let's look at the catalysts driving Twilio's growth and check why this tech stock is capable of heading higher in the second half of the year and beyond. Twilio reported a 12% year-over-year increase in revenue in Q1 to $1.17 billion. The company's earnings grew at a much faster pace of 42% from the year-ago period as customers adopted more of its AI-focused cloud communications tools, which led to an increase in spending by existing customers. This was evident from Twilio's dollar-based net expansion rate of 107% during the quarter, an improvement of five percentage points from the year-ago period. The dollar-based net expansion rate compares the revenue generated by Twilio's active customer accounts in a quarter to the revenue generated from those same accounts in the year-ago period. A reading of more than 100% in this metric suggests that Twilio's existing customer base is using more of its solutions or has increased the usage of existing solutions. That's not surprising, as Twilio is now offering AI-focused tools such as Conversation Relay that allow clients to integrate voice-enabled AI solutions into their customer service applications. Management points out that Conversation Relay can help clients build voice AI agents, as it offers more than 1,000 natural-sounding voices in 40 languages. The good part is that Twilio has started witnessing demand for its voice AI offerings, with one of its customers building a voice AI agent using the company's tools. Importantly, the size of the voice AI agents market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 35% over the next decade, so there is a good chance that Twilio's voice AI platform can attract more customers in the long run and drive stronger growth for the company. Twilio has a massive base of more than 335,000 active customer accounts. This number increased by 7% year over year in the previous quarter and suggests that the company has a tremendous opportunity to cross-sell its AI offerings and witness stronger revenue and earnings growth in the long run. So, it wasn't surprising to see Twilio boosting its full-year organic revenue growth guidance to a range of 7.5% to 8.5%, a small jump of 50 basis points at the midpoint. Even better, it is now expecting stronger growth in its non-GAAP operating income to $862.5 million, compared to the earlier estimate of $837.5 million. That would translate into a 38% jump from last year. Moreover, Twilio's top-line growth has been accelerating for the past five quarters, and the discussion above suggests that the trend could continue in the future as the adoption of its AI-focused tools improves. Twilio carries a 12-month median price target of $130 as per 30 analysts covering the stock, which points toward a 30% jump from current levels. However, there's a good chance that this cloud stock could do better than that. Analysts have bumped up their earnings expectations for 2025, and for the next couple of years. This is evident in the following chart. Assuming Twilio achieves $4.59 per share in earnings in 2025 and trades at 29 times earnings at the end of the year, in line with the tech-laden Nasdaq-100 index's earnings multiple (using it as a proxy for tech stocks), its stock price could hit $134. That would be a 30% jump from current levels. More upside cannot be ruled out, since Twilio seems to be in a position to further raise its guidance, thanks to the adoption of AI solutions in the cloud communications market. The chart above also suggests that Twilio's earnings growth is likely to accelerate over the next couple of years. That makes the stock a no-brainer buy right now, as it is trading at just 23 times forward earnings. Before you buy stock in Twilio, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Twilio wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $617,181!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $719,371!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 909% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 163% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 5, 2025 Harsh Chauhan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Twilio. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock That Could Soar in the Second Half of 2025 and Beyond was originally published by The Motley Fool
Globe and Mail
07-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Nvidia Investors Just Got Incredible News From AMD CEO Lisa Su
The accelerating adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) was largely credited with sparking the current bull market that has been running riot for more than two years. Over the past few months, however, investors have become increasingly concerned that the impact of tariffs and the potential for slowing adoption could stymie the rally that has lifted many AI stocks to new heights. Take Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), for example. In the company's fiscal 2025 fourth quarter (ended Jan. 26), Nvidia delivered revenue of $39.3 billion, which soared 78% year over year, while its earnings per share (EPS) of $0.89 soared 82%. While results of that magnitude would be enough to send most stocks soaring, Nvidia turned south and is down roughly 14% since the report was released. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » In the ensuing months, investors have been seeking assurances that AI adoption remains high. Enter Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) CEO Lisa Su, who just delivered incredible news for Nvidia investors. The death of AI has been greatly exaggerated AMD reported its first-quarter results after market close on Tuesday, and investors were pleasantly surprised. The chipmaker generated record revenue of $7.4 billion, up 36% year over year, while its adjusted EPS of $0.96 jumped 55%. To put those results in context, analysts' consensus estimates were calling for revenue of $7.12 billion and EPS of $0.93, so AMD cleared both hurdles with room to spare. The biggest contributor to the results was strength from AMD's data center segment, as revenue of $3.7 billion jumped 57% year over year. The client and gaming segment delivered revenue of $2.9 billion, up 28%. While client revenue of $2.3 billion rallied 68%, gaming revenue of $647 million remained in a secular slump, down 30%. The company also boasted an expanding gross margin of 50%, up 300 basis points from 47% in the prior year quarter, thanks to higher data center revenue and a favorable product mix. AMD also provided a robust outlook for the second quarter, forecasting revenue of $7.4 billion at the midpoint of its guidance, well ahead of the $7.24 billion predicted by analysts. Of the results, CEO Lisa Su said (emphasis mine), "We delivered an outstanding start to 2025 as year-over-year growth accelerated for the fourth consecutive quarter, driven by strength in our core businesses and expanding data center and AI momentum." That news bodes well for Nvidia. Broader implications Beyond the good news for AMD investors, the results have broader implications across the tech space. Over the past couple of years, the pace at which generative AI has evolved has been dizzying, adoption remains high, and the availability of the technology has never been greater. Recent commentary from every corner of big tech suggests the buildout of data centers needed to support the technology continues at a frantic pace. So, what does this have to do with Nvidia? The company is the leading provider of graphics processing units (GPUs) that speed AI through the ether. While estimates vary, Nvidia controlled as much as 98% of the data center GPU market over the past couple of years. While the competition has increased, the market continues to grow, making Nvidia the odds-on favorite to profit from this once-in-a-generation paradigm shift. The popular narrative in recent months has been that the adoption of AI is slowing, despite evidence to the contrary. Most experts suggest that AI will generate trillions of dollars over the coming five to 10 years, but estimates vary wildly. The generative AI market is expected to be worth $1.3 trillion by 2032, according to a report by Bloomberg Intelligence. McKinsey & Company is even more bullish, calculating that generative AI could add the equivalent of between $2.6 trillion and $4.4 trillion to the global economy over the coming decade. Not to be outdone, Big Four accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) values the potential contribution of generative AI to the global economy at $15.7 trillion by 2030. The twin takeaways from this exercise are that no one knows for sure how big generative AI will ultimately be, and the market opportunity is significant. Fears about the slowing adoption of AI, the uncertainty wrought by global tariffs, and a moratorium on sales to China have weighed heavily on Nvidia, with the stock down 16% (as of this writing) since the start of 2025. The falling stock price, combined with the company's accelerating profits, creates a compelling opportunity for investors, as Nvidia is selling for just 26 times forward earnings, an attractive price for a company at the heart of the AI revolution. Don't miss this second chance at a potentially lucrative opportunity Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you'll want to hear this. On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a 'Double Down' stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you're worried you've already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it's too late. And the numbers speak for themselves: Nvidia: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009, you'd have $295,164!* Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you'd have $37,708!* Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you'd have $611,589!* Right now, we're issuing 'Double Down' alerts for three incredible companies, available when you join Stock Advisor, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon. *Stock Advisor returns as of May 5, 2025
