Core Viewpoint - Amazon.com Inc. is facing challenges due to a significant decline in free cash flow, primarily driven by increased capital expenditures related to artificial intelligence and cloud expansion, making it a difficult investment choice [1][2]. Financial Performance - Amazon's free cash flow is projected to decline sharply through 2025 and into early 2026, with specific quarterly figures indicating a drop from $25.9 billion in Q1 2025 to $11.2 billion in Q4 2025 [2]. - The company plans to increase capital expenditures to approximately $200 billion in 2026, representing a $70 billion year-over-year increase [2]. Market Position and Strategy - Jim Cramer has shifted his perspective on Amazon, previously defending it during a selloff, but now acknowledges that it has transitioned from being perceived as cheap to expensive for many investors [4]. - Cramer has identified Alphabet Inc. as a more attractive investment within the mega-cap tech sector due to its aggressive AI infrastructure initiatives [4]. Investment Metrics - Amazon's Benzinga Edge scorecard indicates a weak value score of 58.94, suggesting the stock is trading at a premium compared to peers [6]. - The company has a strong quality score of 71.7, reflecting robust financial health and profitability [6]. - However, Amazon's momentum score is weak at 14.69, indicating underperformance relative to the broader market [6].

Core Points - CoreWeave, Inc. is facing a class action lawsuit due to alleged violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the class period from March 28, 2025, to December 15, 2025 [1] - The lawsuit claims that CoreWeave and its executives made misleading statements regarding the company's ability to meet customer demand and the risks associated with reliance on a single third-party data center supplier [1] - Significant events leading to the lawsuit include a failed merger with Core Scientific, which caused a share price drop of over 6%, and a subsequent revenue guidance reduction that led to a further decline of more than 16% in share price [1] Company Overview - CoreWeave is positioned as an AI cloud computing company and had announced a deal worth up to $11.9 billion with OpenAI shortly before its IPO [1] - The company also attempted to acquire Core Scientific, a major player in digital infrastructure for high-performance computing, in an all-stock transaction [1] Allegations and Impact - The lawsuit alleges that CoreWeave overstated its service capabilities and downplayed the risks associated with its data center supplier, which were likely to negatively impact revenue [1] - On October 30, 2025, Core Scientific announced it did not have enough shareholder votes to approve the merger with CoreWeave, leading to a significant drop in CoreWeave's stock price [1] - Following a revenue guidance cut on November 10, 2025, due to delays from a third-party data center developer, CoreWeave's CEO acknowledged that multiple data centers were affected, resulting in a further stock price decline [1] - A December 15, 2025, article from The Wall Street Journal revealed more severe data center delivery issues than previously disclosed, causing an additional 3.4% drop in share price [1]

Amazon - Amazon is enhancing its competitive edge by rolling out an advanced version of Alexa and doubling its capital expenditures to $200 billion for AI data center infrastructure [4][5] - Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a significant profit driver, accounting for 56% of Amazon's operating profit in 2025, and the company aims to strengthen its capabilities in response to rising AI cloud competition [5][6] - The AI cloud services market is projected to reach $2 trillion by 2030, with Microsoft gaining market share from AWS, highlighting the need for Amazon to invest strategically [6] Home Depot - Home Depot's sales increased by 5.6% to $126.5 billion in the first nine months of 2025, but earnings fell by about 2% to $11.68 per share, with third-quarter results missing estimates [7][8] - CEO Ted Decker attributed the sales decline to storms in Q3 and ongoing pressures in the housing market, which are affecting consumer demand for home improvement [8] - The housing market is experiencing significant challenges, with a reported 8% drop in housing sales from December to January, leading to a "new housing crisis" that negatively impacts Home Depot's business [9]

Core Insights - Alphabet has emerged as the most profitable company in America, surpassing both Apple and Microsoft due to its growth opportunities and high profit margins [1] Group 1: Profitability and Growth - Alphabet's profitability is driven by its successful capitalizing on the AI boom, enhancing search engine results and online ad placements [1] - Google Cloud has become a significant growth catalyst, with Q4 revenue soaring by 48% year-over-year, largely due to AI enterprise demand [1] - The Gemini App, Alphabet's response to ChatGPT, has over 750 million monthly active users and potential for long-term profitability through subscription plans [1] Group 2: Investment and Market Position - Google Cloud took approximately 15 years to become profitable but is now a major source of earnings growth, allowing Alphabet to invest in smaller companies for future cash flow [1] - Alphabet's self-driving car initiative, Waymo, aims to compete with Uber in the ride-hailing market, showcasing its ability to quickly gain market share in new industries [1] - Alphabet's stock has outperformed other major tech stocks, with shares up over 60% in the past year and nearly tripling over the past five years [1]

Market Overview - U.S. markets experienced modest gains after a volatile trading week, influenced by mixed economic data, geopolitical events, and upcoming corporate earnings [2] - Major indexes, including the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq, ended higher following a Supreme Court ruling that invalidated former President Trump's tariff regime, which provided a relief bounce [2][3] - Despite the gains, traders remained cautious due to rising Treasury yields and underperformance of the Russell 2000 compared to large-cap stocks, indicating ongoing rotation out of risk assets [2] Tariff and Economic Sentiment - The Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling against broad tariffs imposed under emergency powers alleviated cost pressures for importers and positively impacted stocks related to consumer and industrial demand [3] - However, President Trump indicated plans to implement a new 10% global tariff under different trade laws, maintaining uncertainty around trade policy and its impact on market sentiment [3] - The backdrop of 1.4% GDP growth and persistent core inflation contributed to mixed macroeconomic signals, leading to cautious sentiment among traders [3] Upcoming Catalysts - Investors are preparing for significant upcoming events, including key technology earnings and economic indicators that may influence the Federal Reserve's policy outlook [4] - The focus on AI-related sector scrutiny is expected to play a crucial role in shaping market direction in the near term [4] Stock Highlights Bullish Sentiment - Jim Cramer expressed confidence that Microsoft will perform exceptionally well, noting the stock is currently 25% below its peak [5] - Rackspace saw a significant surge of 217% from its lows as it tested a key long-term trend barrier [5] - Small-cap stocks are showing signs of recovery, which is interpreted as a positive macroeconomic signal [5] Bearish Sentiment - Copart's stock declined following disappointing Q2 earnings results [5] - The "Magnificent 7" saw substantial losses, with the 10 richest individuals losing significant wealth in 2026 [5] - Palo Alto Networks experienced a drop in stock price, raising concerns among investors [5]

Amazon and Meta Platforms are two top growth stocks to own.When looking for stocks to hold for the next decade, you want market leaders with strong growth opportunities ahead that trade at reasonable valuations.Let's look at two growth stocks to buy and hold for the next decade. 1. AmazonAmazon (AMZN +2.59%) is the market share leader in both e-commerce and cloud computing. The company became the dominant player in e-commerce by aggressively building out its logistics network to become the largest in the wo ...

Core Viewpoint - Oracle is heavily investing in artificial intelligence (AI) and is positioned to benefit significantly if the AI market develops favorably [1] Group 1: Financial Performance - Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) revenue is growing at 66% year over year, with a backlog exceeding $523 billion due to substantial AI contracts with major companies like Meta Platforms, Nvidia, and OpenAI [2] - OCI is now the fastest-growing major cloud platform, surpassing Amazon Web Services and Microsoft's Azure [2] Group 2: Strategic Risks - Oracle is taking on tens of billions in debt and is contemplating selling profitable business units to finance the necessary data center buildout for AI customers [3] - The company's financial health could be jeopardized if the AI investments do not yield the expected results, potentially leading to a significant decline in stock value [4] Group 3: Market Outlook - A large portion of Oracle's backlog is reliant on OpenAI, which has financial commitments that far exceed its revenue and has a negative net income [6] - The current risk-reward profile for Oracle is viewed unfavorably, leading to skepticism about the stock's potential performance [6]

Last week, I published The Latest Thoughts From American Technology Companies On AI (2025 Q4). In it, I shared commentary in earnings conference calls for the fourth quarter of 2025, from the leaders of US-listed technology companies that I follow or have a vested interest in, on the topic of AI and how the technology could impact their industry and the business world writ large. A few more technology companies I’m watching hosted earnings conference calls for 2025’s fourth quarter after I prepared the arti ...

Group 1 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 against Trump's global tariffs, which were enacted under a federal law for national emergencies, leading to a proposed 10% global tariff for 150 days to replace the struck-down duties [1][10] - Major companies such as Alphabet, Amazon, and Apple saw stock increases of 3.7%, 2.6%, and 1.5% respectively, indicating a positive market reaction to the tariff ruling [2][10] - Shares of U.S. toymaker Hasbro, online furniture retailer Wayfair, and luxury furniture retailer RH gained between 0.5% and 2.3%, reflecting relief among companies affected by tariffs [3][10] Group 2 - The S&P 500 index rose 0.69% to 6,909.51 points, while the Nasdaq and Dow Jones increased by 0.90% to 22,886.07 points and 0.47% to 49,625.97 points respectively [5][6][10] - Nine of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, with communication services leading at a 2.65% increase, followed by a 1.27% gain in consumer discretionary [6][10] - The S&P 500 posted 34 new highs and 7 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 81 new highs and 153 new lows, indicating a mixed performance in the market [8][10] Group 3 - U.S. economic growth slowed more than expected in the fourth quarter, and inflation picked up in December, influencing market sentiment [7][10] - Concerns about AI technology's impact on various industries, including software and logistics, have led to stock volatility, exemplified by Akamai Technologies' 14% slump after a profit forecast below estimates [8][10] - Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 18.3 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 20.3 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions [9][10]

Core Viewpoint - Amazon has issued a strong rebuttal to a Financial Times report suggesting that its AI coding tools were responsible for outages in AWS, indicating that the disagreement may hinge on semantic interpretations and definitions of what constitutes an outage [1] Group 1 - Amazon's rebuttal emphasizes that the AI coding tools did not directly cause the AWS outages as reported [1] - The company suggests that the interpretation of the term "outage" is central to the dispute, implying that definitions may vary [1] - The response highlights Amazon's commitment to clarifying the situation and addressing any misconceptions regarding the performance of its AI tools [1]