The stock market continues to bring surprises to investors. Most major indexes opened the new year at record highs, setting the momentum for the year ahead and entering bull market territory.
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By the end of January 2024, the S&P 500 had climbed toward its all-time high. Record high for 4 consecutive years, investors are riding high after explosive performance in consumer and technology stocks. Through most of the month, the S&P remained stable, rising approximately 2.17%.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq continues to underperform much of Wall Street.
At the end of January, Nasdaq rose 1.0%, large-cap stocks are doing better than small-cap stocks. The telecom sector remains a saving grace for the Nasdaq and investors, with telecom stocks up 4.4% during the month, making them the index's best-performing sector along with financials, which rose 3.1%.
In other places, wall street journal The Dow Jones Industrial Average started the year on a somewhat volatile note, but the index quickly recovered near the end of the year's first trading month. On January 22, the index rose 0.4%, or 138 points, to close above 38,000 for the first time.
Overall, Wall Street continues to soar on this momentum, keeping the fire out despite some economic headwinds and some hurt feelings that could hurt markets and leave investors in the cold. I hope it continues to burn.
Analysts are ready to dive back into the market and have rounded up some of the best value stocks that investors should add to their portfolios before the market really starts moving forward.
apple
There's a lot that can be said about Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) However, the company remains the market leader, largely due to the popularity of products such as the iPhone and Mac computers.
Although the company has gained significant market share in recent years due to technological advancements and product proliferation, there is still a lot of headroom left within the company.
First, Apple has received a lot of attention surrounding the Apple ecosystem, with consumers primarily using Apple devices for things like phones, computers, headsets and earphones, smart watches, and even banking.
The company aims to continue to improve the user experience with cutting-edge software and user interfaces, while generating record profits in most of its business segments, including Services, which recently posted record profits.
The company posted first quarter earnings It will be announced in early February for the 2024 financial year. The company's quarterly sales totaled $119.6 billion, an increase of 2% year over year. Elsewhere, diluted earnings per share increased 16% year-over-year to end the quarter at $2.18.
Apple's services, including iTunes, AppleCare, Apple Pay, and Licensing, generated a record $23.12 billion in Q1 2024. The Digital Content and Software segment continues to see positive growth driven by customer demand and advancements in software capabilities amidst intense competition. market.
Last year, AAPL stock rose nearly 25% over a 12-month period, and the stock was already up 2% in the first few trading weeks of 2024. There's one thing Apply continues to do right, if not a lot. It's about retaining customers, being proud of customer loyalty, and providing a comprehensive range of services, including a product lineup.
Advanced Micro Devices
In 2024, Advanced Micro Devices (Nasdaq: AMD) seek to stay ahead of the industry and gain traction in the race to innovate.
Consumer demand and industry competition always bring out the most competitive aspects of any company, and this probably worked primarily in AMD's favor last year.
The company is Q4 2023 Earnings Results. The company posted sales of $6.2 billion and a gross profit margin of 47%. Total operating income and net income for the reporting period were $342 million and $667 million, respectively.
Depending on who you ask, earnings per share were slightly lower than expected, ending Q4 2023 with EPS of $0.42 per share.
Now, when we look at our full-year results, there are many things to look forward to. Full-year 2023 ended with reported total revenues of $22.7 billion and gross margin of 46%. On a non-GAAP basis, earnings per share were approximately $2.65 and gross margin was approximately 50%.
AMD has received incredible support from its large customers, which has helped boost its revenue. Most of the company's business segments, including data services such as data centers, clients, gaming, and embedded technology, reported positive growth this year.
Elsewhere, the company wants to invest more in advances in the artificial intelligence sector, and has already partnered with major companies such as Microsoft in recent months to offer high-end AI-powered hardware engines. The company expects first quarter 2024 sales of approximately $5.4 billion and non-GAAP margin of approximately 52%.
microsoft
Microsoft (MSFT) has no intention of falling behind anytime soon, and Nvidia (NVDA); Amazon (AMZN), or Google (google).
Although the company continues to generate significant profits from its consumer and commercial product lines, its early days of doing business by selling computer software appear to be long gone.
Like its competitors, Microsoft is also currently in the AI business. The company has both the resources and know-how to develop cutting-edge and highly sophisticated AI-powered tools and software, and it is doing just that.
The company continues to pursue innovation in the field of artificial technology, with AI-powered Bing and Microsoft 365 Copilot making the most coveted headlines last year. Not only that, but the partnership with the ChatGPT creator has given OpenAI a significant advantage over its competitors.
Other divisions within Microsoft's Dynamic Products and Services division, such as cloud computing, also performed well, with the company reporting 21% revenue growth, and Dynamics 365 revenue growth of 27%. Increased.
But this success wasn't achieved without shedding fat. Last year, the company announced layoffs, including on its HoloLens team and his GitHub team. This has allowed the company to focus its attention and resources on services and product segments that are more focused on AI-powered features.
Financially, Microsoft Reporting second quarter 2024 earnings 62 billion, an increase of approximately 18%, or 16% at constant currency. Business segments such as Office Commercial Products and Office Consumer Products grew 15% and 5%, respectively.
Investors who managed to scoop up MSFT stock during the company's post-pandemic downturn have seen the stock soar about 55% last year. MSFT is up nearly 12% year-to-date, and many analysts expect the stock to continue at this pace for the rest of the year.
snowflake
And then there's Snowflake (snow) Cloud and data companies that integrate third-party applications to help businesses better understand their data. As with AI, data is probably the second biggest power for investors this year, and there are many reasons for investors to be excited about a data-driven future.
First of all, experts suggest that roughly 90% of all data currently available has been generated in the past two to three years. This just goes to show that there are seemingly endless opportunities for companies like Snowflake.
Additionally, Snowflake currently has approximately 9,000 commercial and enterprise customers. This is just a drop in the bucket considering there are nearly 300 million companies worldwide.
The limits to which Snowflake can scale are probably unknown, at least for now. But investors aren't sleeping on Snowflake. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK) owns more than $1.2 billion worth of SNOW stock as of last year. In addition to his Berkshire portfolio, Buffet owns a staggering 6.12 million shares of SNOW stock.
Once you start tracking the flow of money, you can understand why Omaha's Oman is desperate to own as much SNOW stock as possible for the rest of its future.for Third quarter of fiscal year 2024the company reported product revenue of $698 million, representing 34% year-over-year growth.
Outside of technology, the company reported a net revenue retention rate of 135% and continued to maintain performance obligations of $3.7 billion, representing a total year-over-year growth of 23%.
SNOW stock has nearly doubled in value over the past 12 months, with the stock's price performance increasing 15.39% since the beginning of the year. Analysts are positive that the rapid performance and long-term turnaround that SNOW can offer investors could bring a fresh look to the stock market in the coming months.
final thoughts
Looking around, there are countless new opportunities for investors to take advantage of the new bull market, and it's better to get a head start than hold out until stocks fall. While economic headwinds keep markets volatile and Wall Street is uncertain when the Federal Reserve will begin easing monetary policy in the coming months, investors are more concerned about the current strength of the bull market. We are using this to limit our losses. exposure to high-yield winners.
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Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. Please consult an investment professional before making any decisions.
Disclosure information: No positions in any securities are mentioned.
