CEO Watchlist: Week In Review (11/2/25)

The Biggest Names in the Stock Market Just Reported Earnings and the 5 Stocks We're Watching This Week... (Source)

Stocks mentioned: $AMZN, $GOOG, $MSFT, $AAPL, $META, $CIFR, $PLTR, $AMD, $UBER, $HOOD, $HIMS, $SHOP, $ETN, $TEM, $AXON, $APP, $ARM, $IONQ, $VST, $DDOG, $DKNG, $OPEN

This earnings season just reshaped the landscape for Big Tech. The idea that “AI lifts all boats” was crushed this week as results from Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), and Meta (META) exposed a clear divide between those building efficient AI infrastructure and those burning cash to keep up. Investors are finally separating real execution from hype, and that’s creating opportunity for those willing to act before the market fully re-prices these leaders. The big picture: the next trillion-dollar opportunity isn’t AI itself, it’s the infrastructure that powers it. Data centers, chips, and cloud networks are the real battleground, and the companies that scale these efficiently will dominate. But as this week showed, not everyone is doing it equally well.

Amazon’s results were the strongest sign yet, proving that the company has not fallen behind in the cloud wars. The company delivered a double beat, and Amazon's cloud (AWS) grew 20% versus the 18.5% expected, which led to the stock rallying over 12% on Friday. The reason this is so important is because many analysts and investors didn't want to touch Amazon stock due to them believing their cloud was slowing down. For the past 3 months, since their last earnings report, we have been telling our Investment Club members that all the data points to Amazon growing their cloud and that these concerns were overblown. We even shared our research in the Investment Club, explaining that the reason Amazon's cloud was slower last quarter wasn't because they didn't have enough demand, rather they were limited by their supply. But we knew this wouldn't be a problem coming into this quarter because Amazon was launching their massive data center clusters, which would reaccelerate growth now that they could handle more capacity. As we showed to Club Members, in the image below, Amazon's first cloud cluster was going to come online in September, which would reflect in this past week's earnings report, and by October we could see their second cluster beginning operations. Based on the data, we projected Amazon to grow cloud by roughly 18.5-21.2%. That gave us a rough estimate of 19.9% growth for AWS and the actual result was 20%, so our data was pretty spot on. You can see in the image below that we've marked up the data for you that we shared with our Investment Club members. This was one of many pieces of data, but we knew that AWS would be the focus of Amazon's report, so this is what we focused on. We continue to hold the stock, and think it could easily reach $300/share.

Google and Microsoft also reported strong results, but the market’s reaction couldn’t have been more different. Google had a blowout quarter driven by strength across both ads and cloud, sending shares soaring as investors rewarded execution. Microsoft delivered solid results too. Their cloud (Azure) grew, but it was basically in line with estimates, which disappointed some investors. Personally, we think it was a great report, and that investors were expecting a little too much. In our view, both stocks remain high-conviction long-term plays. Apple was somewhere in the middle. The report was fine, with steady services growth and iPhone resilience, but nothing stood out. We remain neutral here until a new catalyst emerges.

Then there’s Meta (META), the outlier. Revenue was excellent, but the company reignited investor trauma by dramatically raising capital expenditures (how much they're spending). For context, Meta’s 2021/2022 meltdown came from runaway spending on the metaverse, a decision that caused the stock to drop over 70%, along with a few other factors. After many complaints from shareholders, Meta introduced their “Year of Efficiency,” in which they stopped spending as much, and instead focused on the core parts of the company. This is what allowed the stock to rally from under $100 per share to over $600 where it is today. Naturally, because of their history, it's looking like we're getting another 2021/2022 moment from Meta. This is why the stock fell over 10% on Thursday, despite great earnings. Some analysts argue that this CapEx cycle is different, that AI and infrastructure investments are long-term necessities, but investors are right to question whether Meta has truly learned from its past.

With the majority of major tech companies already having reported their earnings, we now look to the smaller names that are reporting earnings this week. The top 5 stocks on our radar are:

Cipher Mining (CIFR) – transitioning from crypto mining to “neo-cloud” data infrastructure, a make-or-break earnings report ahead. As we've explained in prior newsletters, our favorite stock in the space is Nebius, but Cipher is a close second. We expect the earnings report to create a lot of volatility in the stock on Monday when they report in the morning.
Palantir Technologies (PLTR) – continued momentum as government and AI contracts expand. One of the most hyped stocks in the entire market, and for good reason! Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, just said last week that this is one of the most important companies in the world. We really like this name, but valuation is definitely stretched. They report Monday after the close.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) – critical supplier for next-gen AI hardware; all eyes on margins. With their recent flurry of deals, this stock has risen from the ashes. Once known online as "Advanced Money Destroyer" this stock has turned around and proved itself to have a lot of potential. They report earnings Tuesday after the close.
Uber Technologies (UBER) – strong earnings expected from its profitable mobility and delivery arms. Uber has been partnering with everybody from Nvidia, Google, Volkswagen, and more. They report earnings on Tuesday before the open.
Robinhood Markets (HOOD) – upcoming report will show if retail trading momentum is truly back. The stock has rallied over 270% this year alone. They will need to put up phenomenal numbers if they don't want to see the markets taking some profits. They report earnings on Wednesday after the close.

Those are our top 5 that we are watching, but there are many others we are interested in, including: Hims and Hers Health (HIMS), Shopify (SHOP), Eaton (ETN), Tempus (TEM), Axon (AXON), Applovin (APP), ARM Holdings (ARM), IonQ (IONQ), Vistra (VST), DataDog (DDOG), DraftKings (DKNG), and Opendoor (OPEN). Naturally, this is going to be another busy week inside the Investment Club. If you're an Investment Club Member, make sure to have your alerts on, that way you can get direct notifications from our app, as we'll be reporting live on this all throughout the week. If you're not an Investment Club Member, and want to know how to spot the next Amazon before it runs up over 12% in a single day, now is the time to join! This is the last day we are offering our Halloween Sale, which grants you $200 OFF the Investment Club. [CLICK HERE] to grab your membership before our prices jump back up!

From Trade War To Tech Boom: Why This U.S.–China Deal Changes Everything for These 3 Semiconductor Stocks (Source)

Stocks mentioned: $LRCX, $KLAC, $NVDA

The narrative of US-China trade has often been framed as a zero-sum game of tariffs, export bans and supply-chain decoupling. Today that framing is incomplete, because a new agreement between the United States and the People’s Republic of China marks a pivot from confrontation toward selective reopening, and that shift matters for markets in an outsized way. For decades the story has been: the U.S. imposes tariffs, China retaliates, global supply chains scramble, and companies hedge away from China. Rare-earths, semiconductors, equipment and materials became geopolitical flash points. China controls roughly 70% of the world’s rare‐earth mining and about 90% of separation/processing. In response the U.S. imposed sweeping tariffs and export controls. Now, in the deal struck this past week between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, China agreed to pause its rare-earth export-licensing curbs for a year, and the U.S. trimmed back on their tariffs. A win-win for both sides!

The macro-thesis is simple but urgent: the bottleneck that has created volatility around semiconductor-equipment, chipmakers, and rare-earth stocks, has been China access. But now, that tension is easing. The new agreement has allowed investors to breathe a sigh of relief. We saw this as the market jumped up in overnight trading during this past week, when the news was announced. But not all investors were happy. U.S. domestic rare earth stocks had been on a tear over the past month, due to fears on trade with China. Once China announced that they would ease back on their rare earth policies, these stocks stood no chance. That's why we saw them fall so dramatically over the past week. On the other hand, companies that rely on China sales are positioned to unlock value. Here are three stocks that stand to benefit meaningfully from the shift:

Lam Research (LRCX): A major semiconductor‐equipment supplier with about 30-42 % of its revenue coming from China. With easing tensions in China, this is a clear beneficiary.
KLA Corp (KLAC): Another major semiconductor-equipment supplier with similar revenue exposure (roughly 40% of revenue from China) as LRCX. Acts as a duopoly with LRCX. Also, a clear beneficiary for similar reasons.
Nvidia (NVDA): Right now, Nvidia’s access to sell advanced chips to China is constrained by U.S. export controls. The trade deal signals an easing path so if things continue to improve, there's a high likelihood that they will have less regulations to ship their chips to China. This will naturally benefit their balance sheet, and improve stock price over time.

In each case the narrative is identical: improving relations with China = improving fundamentals for these companies and much lower risk. Of course the opposite case exists. One might argue the deal is only a temporary truce, not a comprehensive resolution. Tariffs remain elevated, export controls still in place, and geopolitical risk is alive. That means companies may mis‐price a full China re-integration and be disappointed. Valuations could be at risk if the peace unravels. Even so the market seems to be pricing in that the worst is behind us.

In conclusion, the U.S.-China trade reset we are observing is not simply about tariffs, it is about unlocking a long‐dormant access lever for major technology and equipment firms. The market’s overnight reaction (futures moving higher) and the rare‐earth stock sell‐off (supply fear easing) both confirm the shift. The companies listed above have the right exposure to that structural pivot. With the constraint of China access loosening, the growth runway and valuation upside are under-priced today and the change feels inevitable rather than speculative.

"Super Investor" Spotlight: Terry Smith (Source)

Stocks mentioned: $META, $MSFT, $SYK, $PM, $IDXX, $V, $ADP, $WAT, $GOOGL, $MAR

This week’s "Super Investor" Spotlight shines on Terry Smith, founder of Fundsmith LLP and one of the most consistent outperformers among global equity managers. For new readers, "Super Investors" are elite fund managers who manage billions of dollars and consistently generate returns that beat the market. Each quarter, they must file 13F reports, which publicly disclose their stock holdings and give everyday investors a rare chance to see how the best allocate their capital.

Terry Smith is often called the "English Warren Buffett" for good reason. Since founding Fundsmith in 2010, he’s delivered over 500% cumulative returns, more than doubling the S&P 500. His investing philosophy is simple but powerful: buy good companies, don’t overpay, and do nothing. In practice, that means focusing on high-quality businesses with durable competitive advantages, strong brands, and consistent cash flow generation. Smith’s portfolio rarely changes much, which speaks to his long-term conviction and discipline.

Here’s a breakdown of Terry Smith’s top 10 holdings and their rough portfolio weights based on his latest 13F filing:

Meta Platforms (META) – 11.4%
Microsoft (MSFT) – 10.7%
Stryker (SYK) – 8%
Philip Morris International (PM) – 7.2%
IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX) – 6.2%
Visa (V) – 6%
Automatic Data Processing (ADP) – 5.8%
Waters Corp (WAT) – 5.5%
Alphabet (GOOGL) – 5.2%
Marriott (MAR) – 5%

He also owns roughly 30 other stocks, but at smaller weightings in his portfolio. What stands out the most is Smith’s enduring commitment to quality and predictability. He owns companies that dominate their categories and consistently generate cash. Rather than chasing hot new sectors, he looks for durable businesses with strong pricing power.

We like Terry Smith because his strategy embodies the essence of long-term investing. His “buy good companies and hold them forever” approach is easy to understand yet difficult to execute with the same consistency. For retail investors, following his moves isn’t about copying every trade, it’s about learning to recognize excellence and letting compounding do the heavy lifting.

INSIDER STOCK TRADES FROM THE WEEK:

1. Amrize (AMRZ) - Philipp Jenisch, Chairman and CEO of AMRZ, bought roughly $5,800,000 of AMRZ stock at $52.64-52.88/share on Oct. 30, 2025, but it wasn't reported to the public until Oct. 31, 2025. (Source)

2. Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) - Haracio Rozanski, President and CEO, bought over $2,000,000 of BAH at $84.66/share on Oct. 30, 2025, but it wasn't reported to the public until Oct. 31, 2025. (Source)

3. Eastern Bankshares (EBC) - Robert Rivers, Executive Chairman, bought over $860,000 worth of EBC at $17.21/share on Oct. 28, 2025, but it was most recently reported to the public on Oct. 29, 2025. (Source)

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