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Below is Validea's guru fundamental report for MICROSOFT CORP (MSFT). Of the 22 guru strategies we follow, MSFT rates highest using our Patient Investor model based on the published strategy of Warren Buffett. This strategy seeks out firms with long-term, predictable profitabili

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Building a stock portfolio is like building a house. Combining the right parts results in a beautiful home, but neglecting a key feature can undermine the whole structure. Let's explore three stocks and see how they can play a role in building a perfect $25,000 portfolio.

Not all artificial intelligence companies will add value to shareholders long term, but these companies have a great chance to do just that. In this video, Travis Hoium covers five great AI stocks and tells why they're positioned for success.

Are the extra hot summer days leaving you too exhausted to spend your hard-earned money on nighttime entertainment? If you've got an extra $200 that you don't need to pay bills or cover unforeseen emergencies, there are a couple of growth stocks that you want to consider.

You might think that Warren Buffett and tech stocks simply don't go together. Buffett has famously avoided buying stocks that aren't in his wheelhouse. In some cases, he has invested in tech stocks -- but only because of the influence of other Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) (NY

Chip makers continue to face headwinds in certain end markets, mainly the PC market. Nonetheless, investors are upbeat about several chip stocks due to the demand induced by the growing interest in generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications. We used TipRanks’ Stock Comparison Tool to place Intel ( NASDAQ:INTC ), Advanced Micro Devices ( NASDAQ:AMD ), and Qualcomm ( NASDAQ:QCOM ) against each other to find the most attractive chip stock as per Wall Street analysts.    Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Chip giant Intel impressed investors last month with its better-than-anticipated Q2 2023 results and third-quarter outlook. The company’s Q2 2023 revenue fell 15% year-over-year to $12.9 billion. Despite a continued decline in revenue, the company returned to GAAP profitability after two consecutive quarters of losses.    Intel’s cost reduction efforts helped it improve its Q2 2023 bottom line. The company expects to generate $3 billion in cost savings this year. While Intel said that cloud companies are focusing more on getting graphics processors for their AI applications instead of Intel’s central processors, it is confident that in the longer term AI will expand the total addressable market for its server CPUs.    What is the Target Price for Intel Stock? On July 28, Truist Financial analyst William Stein increased his price target for Intel to $37 from $32 and reiterated a Hold rating on the stock. The analyst noted that the company reported its second consecutive "good quarter" with its commentary around manufacturing process improvements, new products, and cost-cutting all seen as constructive. Nonetheless, Stein cautioned that two quarters are still a "fragile trend," and he sees the company’s total addressable market for the company’s X86 to remain challenged over the long term. Wall Street is sidelined on INTC, with a Hold consensus rating based on five Buys, 19 Holds, and six Sells. The average price target of $36.07 implies 2.7% upside. Shares have risen 33% so far in 2023.   Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) Advanced Micro Devices’ Q2 2023 results beat analysts’ estimates, even as revenue declined 18% due to persistent weakness in the PC market. Revenue from the data center segment declined 11% year-over-year but was up 2% sequentially. The growth compared to the first quarter was a result of the accelerated adoption of Intel 4th Gen EPYC CPU, with revenue nearly doubling sequentially due to robust demand in the cloud market. During the Q2 earnings call, AMD CEO Lisa Su said that 30 new AMD instances were launched in the cloud in the second quarter, with multiple Genoa processor instances announced by Amazon’s ( NASDAQ:AMZN ) Amazon Web Services, Alibaba ( NYSE:BABA ), Microsoft ( NASDAQ:MSFT ), and Oracle ( NYSE:ORCL ). Overall, the company expects its EPYC revenue to grow by a double-digit percentage sequentially in Q3 2023, driven by the robust demand for the 4th Gen EPYC CPU. While AMD’s Q3 2023 revenue guidance fell short of expectations, it remains confident about the road ahead. With regard to the opportunities in generative AI, the company said that customer interest in its MI300A and MI300X GPUs is very high. AMD sees a multibillion-dollar growth opportunity in AI across cloud, edge, and other endpoints. For instance, in the data center space alone, AMD expects the market for AI accelerators to reach over $150 billion by 2027.   Is AMD a Buy, Sell, or Hold? Following the Q2 print, Citigroup analyst Christopher Danely upgraded his rating on AMD to Buy from Hold on August 2 and increased the price target to $136 from $120. Danely had earlier thought that AMD’s AI products would be margin dilutive and investors would be concerned about the stock’s expensive valuation. However, the analyst admitted that he was “wrong on both counts." Wall Street’s Strong Buy consensus rating on AMD stock is based on 25 Buys and six Holds. The average price target of $142.38 implies nearly 23% upside. Shares have rallied 79% year-to-date. Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Qualcomm’s fiscal third-quarter earnings surpassed the Street’s expectations, but Q3 revenue and a weak outlook for the fiscal fourth quarter disappointed investors. The company’s high exposure to the slumping handset market adversely impacted its Q3 FY23 revenue, which declined 23% year-over-year to $8.5 billion.   Moreover, Qualcomm expects Q4 FY23 revenue in the range of $8.1 billion to $8.9 billion, reflecting a year-over-year decline in the range of about 22% to 29% due to macroeconomic pressures, weak mobile devices market, and channel inventory drawdown. Looking ahead, the company believes that it is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the upcoming on-device Gen AI opportunity. The company claims that its AI technology is highly differentiated, backed by high-performance, low-power heterogeneous computing across its central processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU), and neural processing unit (NPU) offerings. What is the Forecast for Qualcomm Stock? On August 3, Deutsche Bank analyst Ross Seymore downgraded Qualcomm from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target to $120 from $130. The analyst contended that the continued headwinds that the company is facing in the Handset segment raise concerns that the issues are not just cyclical but structural as well.  In contrast, Piper Sandler analyst Harsh Kumar reiterated a Buy rating on QCOM and said that the company does not seem to be losing market share but is just stuck in a tough handset market. With 13 Buys and five Holds, Wall Street has a Moderate Buy consensus rating on Qualcomm. The average price target of $136.75 implies 12.6% upside. Shares have risen 10.5% so far in 2023. Conclusion Wall Street is highly bullish on Advanced Micro Devices and sees higher upside potential in the stock compared to Intel and Qualcomm. Aside from analysts, hedge funds are also optimistic about the stock and increased their holdings in AMD by 430,000 shares last quarter. As per TipRanks’ Hedge Fund Trading Activity Tool, the Hedge Fund Confidence Signal is Positive on AMD.   Disclosure

Cybersecurity shares often outperform other tech stocks during economic downturns because companies won't lower their digital defenses just to save a few dollars. It might become harder to gain new customers as companies rein in their spending, but top players will usually bounce

When it comes to technology stocks, much of 2023 has been dominated by chatter around artificial intelligence (AI). And when it comes to AI, one of the most scrutinized companies is Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL), which made some sizable investments in the technology ear

In this podcast, Motley Fool senior analyst Tim Beyers and host Dylan Lewis discuss:

After enduring its worst plunge since 2008, the stock market has staged an extraordinary recovery in 2023, with each of the major market indexes soaring more than 20% from their recent lows -- and the year is far from over. This has caused some Wall Street pundits to announce the

Retirement accounts and the 401(k) have become somewhat synonymous. By far the most popular type of retirement account is the 401(k), with close to 35% of working-age people (age 15 to 64) having one or an equivalent like a 403(b). The percentage is even higher for adults when yo

The JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF’s ( NYSEARCA:JEPI) combination of high yield and monthly payments has quickly made it one of the market’s most popular ETFs. Investors who like JEPI’s style now have another high-yield competitor to consider -- the NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF ( BATS:SPYI) , which also pays on a monthly basis and yields 10.7%. Let’s take a closer look at this intriguing new option for high-yield investors.  What is SPYI ETF's Strategy? Launched in August of 2022, SPYI is still a relatively small ETF from NEOS with just $218 million in assets under management (AUM) that employs a similar strategy to the much larger JEPI.  NEOS says that SPYI “seeks to generate high monthly income in a tax efficient manner with the potential for equity appreciation in rising markets.” NEOS essentially seeks to fully replicate the S&P 500 ( SPX ) and generates its high yield by receiving the dividend payments from its S&P 500 holdings, and then adds to this yield with the distributions generated by its selling of S&P 500 covered call options, which generates a premium. NEOS also touts that the SPYI ETF is tax-efficient in that it uses "SPX index options classified as section 1256 contracts (60% long term/40% short term)." Lastly, NEOS also highlights the fact that its strategy may lead to lower volatility in a "mildly bullish or mildly bearish environment." Is There a Tradeoff? This strategy certainly helps to juice yield, but as with anything in life, there is always a tradeoff. While SPYI mentions the potential for equity appreciation in rising markets, selling covered calls caps this upside at a certain point because if the price of the underlying stock rises beyond the strike price, that's additional upside that SPYI investors miss out on. You can see this play out in real time with the results of SPYI, JEPI, and other similar ETFs. So far, SPYI has generated a great 17% return year to date (as of the end of the most recent month), but the broader market (represented here by the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF ( NYSEARCA:VOO) was actually up an even better 20.6% over the same time frame. Similarly, JEPI also trails VOO with a return of 7.3% year-to-date. SPYI is less than a year old, so it's hard to judge how its strategy will perform over time. However, using JEPI as a reasonable proxy for it, this strategy has also trailed the market over a three-year time frame with a total return of 11.5% versus a 13.7% return for VOO. JEPI is fairly new itself, but using another "S&P 500 covered call ETF" to look at this strategy over time for comparison's sake, we can see that the Global X S&P 500 Covered Call ETF ( NYSEARCA:XYLD) has trailed VOO over the past five and 10 years, with total annualized returns of 4.7% over the past five years and 7.0% over the past 10 years versus far superior returns of 12.2% and 12.6% over the past five and 10 years, respectively, for VOO. None of this is to say that SPYI is a bad ETF or that covered-call ETFs are bad, and these are still pretty solid returns, but it simply illustrates the fact that they have historically tended to leave upside on the table versus simply investing in the broader market. SPYI's Holdings SPYI offers investors ample diversification. It holds 506 stocks, and its top 10 holdings account for 30.7% of its assets. Below, you can take a look at SPYI’s top 10 holdings using TipRanks’ holdings tool.  Because SPYI invests in the S&P 500, its holdings are fairly similar to that of the S&P 500 index itself. Apple ( NASDAQ:AAPL ) is the fund’s largest holding with a 7.6% weighting, followed by the other 'magnificent seven' tech stocks that have led the market to new heights in 2023 -- Microsoft ( NASDAQ:MSFT ), Amazon ( NASDAQ:AMZN ), Nvidia ( NASDAQ:NVDA ), Alphabet ( NASDAQ:GOOG ) ( NASDAQ:GOOGL ), Tesla ( NASDAQ:TSLA ), and Meta Platforms ( NASDAQ:META ).   Overall, this is a very strong group of holdings with some great Smart Scores to boot. The  Smart Score is a proprietary quantitative stock scoring system created by TipRanks. It gives stocks a score from 1 to 10 based on eight market key factors. A score of 8 or above is equivalent to an Outperform rating. As you can see, six of SPYI's top 10 holdings feature Outperform-equivalent Smart Scores of 8 or above. SPYI itself boasts a strong ETF Smart Score of 8. Is SPYI Stock a Buy, According to Analysts? Turning to Wall Street, SPYI has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, as 59.08% of analyst ratings are Buys, 35.42% are Holds, and 5.5% are Sells. At $55.90, the average SPYI stock price target implies 13.2% upside potential. SPYI Has High Fees One clear downside of SPYI is its high fees. SPYI has an expense ratio of 0.68%, which is pretty high. This is a fairly complex strategy, so it is understandably going to be more expensive than a basic index ETF. However, the problem for SPYI is that it is also considerably more expensive than JEPI, which runs a very similar strategy and charges an expense ratio of just 0.35%, essentially half of what SPYI charges.  In year one, a JEPI investor investing $10,000 into the ETF would pay $35 in fees, while an SPYI investor investing the same amount would pay $68. The differences can really add up over the years. Over the course of a three-year investment, assuming that each ETF returns 5% per year and that the fees remain the same as they are now, the JEPI investor would pay $113 in fees, while the SPYI investor would pay $218, which is a meaningful difference to returns over time. Keep in mind that this gap would also grow further over the years. Investor Takeaway SPYI has a lot of positive attributes, but there are also a lot of considerations investors need to make before considering an investment in this high-yield fund. On the plus side, SPYI’s double-digit yield is hard to beat, and its monthly payout schedule is appealing to dividend investors.  On the downside, on a more general level, SPYI’s strategy of selling call options leaves some upside on the table as the market rallies since selling calls caps this upside. On a more specific level, if investors are okay with this tradeoff and still want to invest in SPYI, the question then becomes a matter of SPYI versus JEPI. Both ETFs are appealing, but JEPI has a far lower expense ratio, so an SPYI investor would pay considerably more in fees over time (unless the fee gets lower as the fund gets larger, which is a possibility). So an interested investor would need to weigh investing in SPYI against investing in JEPI. However, I can also see the nascent and much smaller SPYI carving out a niche for itself and serving as a viable investment for investors who love JEPI and its strategy and want to diversify away from it with a similar ETF that would give them another stream of dividend income on a different schedule.  Disclosure

Wall Street closed lower on Friday after a report of slowing U.S. labor market growth, and all three major indexes posted weekly losses as investors braced for more possible downside surprises a day after disappointing earnings from Apple.

InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips

A U.S. judge hearing the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit accusing Google of unlawfully maintaining monopolies in the internet search market let stand key claims made by the federal government.

Wall Street fell on Friday after a report of slowing U.S. labor market growth, and all three major indexes posted weekly losses as investors braced for more possible downside surprises a day after disappointing earnings from Apple.

The AI ambitions of Apple ( NASDAQ:AAPL ) have been relatively muted compared to its peers in the FAANG basket. Undoubtedly, the $3 trillion tech titan isn't just standing at the starting line of the AI race. The firm began its sprint a long time ago, even though many investors and analysts may not be aware of its current standing in the race. Undoubtedly, it's easy to conclude that Apple is neglecting the growth potential of cutting-edge generative AI technologies like Large Language Models (LLMs). Though Apple has not been nearly as vocal at its conference calls as the other tech titans, it's a mistake not to consider the longer-term monetization potential of AI. As Apple continues investing in the AI we can't see (think the consumer-friendly AI-driven features we take for granted), I think shares of the iPhone maker could have more AI upside relative to its FAANG rivals, most notably Microsoft ( NASDAQ:MSFT ). As such, I'm staying bullish on AAPL stock. Apple Beats on Q3 EPS, Sheds a Little More Light on AI Prospects Apple revealed a decent third quarter after market close yesterday, beating modest analyst expectations on the bottom line while matching revenue estimates of $81.8 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) came in at $1.26, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20. Despite the beat, the most common headline I saw was that Apple revenues slipped for the third-straight quarter. Indeed, investors didn't seem too enthused by the numbers, as shares are currently lower today following the results. I believe the major headline that should have grabbed investors' attention is the strong growth in Services, up 8%, and the insightful commentary on AI from Apple's CEO, Tim Cook. During the earnings call, Cook stated that Apple has been working on AI, including generative AI, for many years. Indeed, this is pretty unsurprising commentary from Apple's top boss, who's probably been hounded to shed more detail on the company's longer-term AI plans. Though Cook didn't say anything game-changing or shocking about Apple's AI ambitions, I do respect that he doesn't appear to be trying to build up any AI hype, at least not to the magnitude of some of the other tech companies out there that can't seem to go a few sentences without mentioning generative AI. "We're going to continue investing and innovating and responsibly advancing our products with these technologies to help enrich people's lives," said Cook. The key words here are "responsibility advancing." Enriching People's Lives Ought to Come Before the Maximization of Profit This isn't the first time we heard Cook mention the goal of enriching people's lives, and it probably won't be the last. Indeed, it's not hard to imagine companies may be getting a tad ahead of their skis when it comes to generative AI and LLMs. While AI can enrich people's lives, there's also the danger it could do some harm. Indeed, OpenAI's ChatGPT and even Microsoft's Bing AI have been called out for "hallucinating," or in Lehman terms, just making stuff up! Undeniably, LLMs like ChatGPT are definitely a work in progress, and there's a lot of reputational risk on the line by putting a consumer-facing AI product out there. While Microsoft may be comfortable taking such risks to be an early mover in the AI race, Apple does not seem to be, at least not yet. As AI regulations and potential downsides arise, I'd look for Apple to be more comfortable making a bigger splash into the uncertain AI waters. Until then, expect the company to keep tabs on the state of the emerging technology as it looks to incorporate various aspects to "enrich people's lives." At the end of the day, Apple seems to be playing the long game with AI, putting people first rather than profits. Moving forward, I expect the company to do more of the same. The latest iOS update may not have AppleGPT, but it does have AI technologies (think the iOS 17's AI-powered Auto-Correct) to help improve numerous aspects of the user experience. Is Apple Stock a Buy, According to Analysts? On TipRanks, AAPL stock comes in as a Strong Buy. Out of 31 analyst ratings, there have been 23 Buys and eight Hold recommendations assigned by analysts in the past three months. The  average Apple stock price target is $206.80, implying upside potential of 13.35%. Analyst price targets range from a low of $150.00 per share to a high of $240.00 per share. Indeed, some may view 13.35% as a modest return for the year ahead. Apple shares are trading on the expensive side of their historical range (the stock's averaged a 25.5 times trailing price-to-earnings multiple over the last five years) at 31 times trailing price-to-earnings. Still, I expect price target hikes to come in as more analysts re-evaluate Apple's longer-term potential in AI. The Bottom Line An AI-powered Auto-Correct feature may be a heck of a lot less ambitious than a ChatGPT rival. However, there's no shame in releasing safe, responsible AI-based technologies before taking chances with a massive GPT-powered Siri update before it's polished enough not to "hallucinate" or do something that could potentially hurt its consumers. The way I see it, getting into the pool from the shallow end is far less risky than the deep end if you're not sure what lies beneath the water. Although it may not seem like it, Apple's a long-term AI winner, albeit a quiet one, for now! Disclosure

ValueAct Capital is reordering its management team and promoting long-time partner Robert Hale to co-chief executive alongside Mason Morfit as the investment firm focuses more heavily on Japan and wants to simplify its own organization.