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Acquisitions Mergers

ALTI

AMZN

BKNG

NVDA

Barron's weekend stock picks highlight Nvidia's AI market leadership, AlTi Global's share drop post-M&A announcement, Booking Holdings' strong earnings but stock drop, Rivian's double downgrade due to EV demand concerns, and Amazon's Dow 30 inclusion potentially leading to underperformance. Nvidia, AlTi Global, Booking Holdings, and Amazon are directly mentioned.

Portfolio Pulse from Justin Chan

February 24, 2024 | 5:11 pm

AAPL

AXP

BAC

BRK

CVX

OXY

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reported a 28% increase in Q4 operating earnings, driven by its insurance businesses. Annual operating earnings rose 21.06% to $37.350 billion. The company's investments are heavily concentrated in American Express, Apple, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, and Chevron, with significant ownership in Occidental Petroleum. Berkshire used $2.2 billion for share repurchases in Q4, bringing the total to $9.2 billion for the year. The company's cash position reached a record $167.6 billion. Warren Buffet paid tribute to Charlie Munger, describing him as the 'architect' of Berkshire.

Portfolio Pulse from Nabaparna Bhattacharya

February 24, 2024 | 3:30 pm

KARS

LCID

NIO

PSNY

RIVN

TSLA

This week in the EV sector, bearish sentiment surrounded Tesla, with its stock underperforming due to a double miss in Q3 2023 earnings and price adjustments. Rivian and Lucid faced production challenges and disappointing earnings, while Ford paused F-150 Lightning shipments. Nio is testing humanoid robots for production efficiency, and Volvo plans to cut its stake in Polestar. The KraneShares Electric Vehicles ETF saw a slight decline.

Portfolio Pulse from Shanthi Rexaline

February 24, 2024 | 3:17 pm

AMZN

GOOG

MSFT

NVDA

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang, in an interview with Wired, acknowledged the intense competition in the AI industry from major tech companies like Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Alphabet Inc.'s Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), among others. Despite this, Huang remains confident in Nvidia's leadership in AI, highlighting its 70% market share and the company's potential to become the first semiconductor firm with a $2 trillion valuation. Huang's optimism is supported by Nvidia's strong position in AI supercomputers and its $1 billion annualized revenue run rate in software and services.

Portfolio Pulse from Rounak Jain

February 24, 2024 | 8:25 am

ARKK

NVDA

SARK

TARK

Nvidia (NVDA) experienced a historic surge, adding $273 billion in value in a single day, becoming the 4th largest company globally. This surge followed an earnings call where Nvidia beat revenue and earnings expectations, with optimistic forecasts for the next quarter. Cathie Wood of ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) sold her Nvidia shares in January 2023, believing Nvidia to be overvalued and preferring smaller AI stocks. Wood's current preferences include UiPath (PATH) and Twilio (TWLO). For bullish traders on ARKK, the AXS 2X Innovation ETF (TARK) offers double the daily return of ARKK, while the AXS Short Innovation Daily ETF (SARK) provides an option for bears, aiming for inverse performance of ARKK.

Portfolio Pulse from Johnny Rice

February 23, 2024 | 9:32 pm

ARKK

NVDA

PATH

TSLA

TWLO

Cathie Wood's Ark Invest sold its Nvidia (NVDA) shares too early, missing out on a potential $506.8 million profit as Nvidia's stock price surged. Despite this, Wood remains optimistic about AI's growth, highlighting Tesla (TSLA), UiPath (PATH), and Twilio (TWLO) as potential long-term winners. Nvidia remains part of several Ark ETFs, including ARKW, ARKG, ARKF, and ARKQ, albeit no longer in the flagship ARKK fund.

Portfolio Pulse from Chris Katje

February 23, 2024 | 9:30 pm

HNNA

Hennessy Advisors has acquired the CCM Core Impact Equity Fund, representing approximately $60 million in assets. This strategic move is expected to enhance Hennessy Advisors' offerings in the impact investing space.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

February 23, 2024 | 9:16 pm

ANSS

CDNS

INTC

SNPS

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) has seen a 70% increase in stock price over the past year but has dropped 14% in 2024. The company launched the world's first AI-focused systems foundry, announced a significant design win with Microsoft for the 18A process, and revealed collaborations with Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS), Cadence (NASDAQ:CDNS), Siemens, and Ansys (NASDAQ:ANSS). JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur maintains an Underweight rating on INTC with a $37 price target, citing that revenue scale from the foundry is several years away despite technological advancements and strategic partnerships.

Portfolio Pulse from Surbhi Jain

February 23, 2024 | 8:28 pm

AUB

Atlantic Union Bankshares has received all necessary regulatory approvals to proceed with its merger with American National Bankshares. This development is a critical step towards finalizing the merger, which is expected to enhance the combined entity's market presence and operational efficiencies.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

February 23, 2024 | 8:28 pm

ATI

PLL

SXC

ZEUS

Analyst Gregory Lewis downgraded Piedmont Lithium (PLL) to Neutral post Q4 and FY 2023 results, showing revenue growth and operational improvements. ATI Inc. (ATI) appoints Kimberly A. Fields as new CEO, aiming for significant revenue and EBITDA growth by 2027. SunCoke Energy (SXC) announces CEO Michael G. Rippey's retirement, with Katherine T. Gates succeeding him. Olympic Steel (ZEUS) reports a profitable year despite industry challenges, increasing its quarterly dividend.

Portfolio Pulse from Austin DeNoce

February 23, 2024 | 8:12 pm