CEO Watchlist: Week In Review (2/15/26)

TOP NEWS AFFECTING THE STOCK MARKET THIS WEEK:

Amazon Just Bought 2 New Mystery Stocks: What They Bought and Is There An Opportunity Here? (Source)

Stocks mentioned: $AMZN, $BETA, $AMPX, $ONDS, $AVAV, $IONQ, $VITL, $SMRT, $OWLT

Most people know Amazon (AMZN) as the retail giant that can deliver anything from toothpaste to cloud computing, but very few realize they also manage a high-stakes $3.5 billion public stock portfolio. While the world watches their every move on the Nasdaq, Amazon quietly uses its massive cash reserves to act like a strategic hedge fund, buying equity in the very stocks that power its future infrastructure. Every 3 months, Amazon provides a public update of this portfolio, revealing which companies they’ve bet on and which they’ve sold out of. Their new 13F filings just hit the tape this week, so today we are diving into exactly what changes they made to their secret stash of stocks, and specifically, the 2 new stock buys that we're interested in.

Just as Amazon built its own delivery vans to bypass the limitations of third-party carriers, it is now investing in the "next mile" of delivery: the air. This brings us to the first of their 2 new stock buys: Beta Technologies (BETA). The disclosure of BETA was actually very surprising due to its massive weighting in their portfolio. When it comes to Amazon's investments, they tend to keep the weightings very small, normally under 1%. That's why when we saw that BETA was intitiated at nearly 10% of their portfolio, it was important that we took this investment seriously. After doing some research on BETA, it makes a lot of sense why Amazon is taking such a large stake in them. BETA develops eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft, essentially "flying vans" that move cargo between distribution hubs with zero emissions and significantly lower maintenance costs than traditional planes. Needless to say, Amazon who is constantly trying to improve delivery times as well as modes of delivery, it is natrual they would expand to the sky. But it's not just Amazon who thinks this company has a lot of potential, as Wall Street analysts have given it a "STRONG BUY" rating. Analysts have estimates as high as $42/share, which implies over 140% upside from here, as you can see below:

Although BETA has a lot of potential, when we look at the aerospace sector, there are better names in our opinion. Personally we like making bets on the drone stocks which have recently fallen from their all time highs, such as Amprius Technologies (AMPX), Ondas Holdings (ONDS), and AeroVironment (AVAV). But again, this is just our personal opinion, and only time will tell which aerospace stocks will do best.

As for the 2nd stock that Amazon bought, it's quite a popular name with retail investors, and is widely considered the pure-play leader in quantum. The stock we're talking about is called IonQ (IONQ). Unlike BETA, Amazon took a measily 0.01% stake in IonQ, which tells us this isn't a serious position. More than likely, this is just a placeholder for them, and it's very possible we could see this name out of the portfolio within the next year. But if you are interested in quantum stocks, this is what we consider the pure-play leader, as we mentioned earlier. Just keep in mind, this stock is extremely expensive, but at least it's over 50% off from its all time highs. Also, it's nice to see that Wall Street analysts are giving IonQ price targets that are as high as $100/share, which implies close to 200% upside in the name from its current price of $34.11/share.

Now that we've covered both the stocks that Amazon added, they did also sell a few names:

Vital Farms (VITL): A total exit from the portfolio this week. While high-quality food remains a staple of the Whole Foods ecosystem, the 100% liquidation suggests a shift away from minority equity stakes in individual food producers in favor of core infrastructure.
SmartRent (SMRT): Another complete divestment. This exit indicates that Amazon is moving away from generalized "smart home" enterprise hardware investments to tighten its focus on the industrial "PropTech" that directly serves its massive fulfillment center network.
Owlet Inc (OWLT): A full sale of the remaining position. Similar to other recent exits, this move streamlines the portfolio by removing non-core consumer health gadgets, freeing up capital for the much larger $200 billion infrastructure push.

Ultimately, this portfolio update signals that Amazon is consoldiating the portfolio and focusing on companies that benefit their logistics side of delivery. As for us at CEO Watchlist, we gave you the names that we like better in the space, but again, only time will tell which investments will play out better.

Earnings Season: 3 Big-Name Stocks We Are Keeping Our Eyes On For This Week! (Source)

Stocks mentioned: $HOOD, $NET, $NBIS, $CDNS, $PANW, $MCO, $QQQ

We just wrapped up the 5th week of earnings season, and the market’s tone is clear: expectations are sky-high, and guidance is driving reactions more than headline numbers. We saw this play out with Robinhood (HOOD), which tumbled nearly 9% due to crypto underperforming, and in turn caused them to miss on revenue expectations. But there was more good than bad, because companies like Cloudflare (NET) and Nebius (NBIS) skyrocketed post earnings! Cloudflare surged over 14% on a strong outlook, while Nebius rallied over 9% on their impressive guidance, making for a very profitable week for the portfolios.

But now the focus shifts to Week 6, which could provide more clarity on semiconductors, cybersecurity, and credit markets. The 3 stocks reporting earnings this week that we are watching closely include:

Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) – We are watching for strong demand in AI chip design software. If they show a growing backlog of orders from big tech companies, we expect the stock to go up, but if they suggest that chip companies are slowing down their spending, we expect the stock to struggle. As of the close on Friday, the options market is pricing in a +/- 5.8% move on CDNS stock post-earnings.
Palo Alto Networks (PANW) – We are watching to see if businesses are still spending heavily on "platform" security. If they sign more large, all-in-one contracts, we expect the stock to go up, but if clients are cutting back on cybersecurity budgets, we expect the stock to go down. With the recent selloff in software stocks, we think this name has been sold off unfairly, and has a good chance of beating earnings. As of the close on Friday, the options market is pricing in an insane +/- 9.2% move on PANW stock post-earnings!
Moody’s (MCO) – Moody's was punished last week due to fears in software and their main competitor, SPGI, having a weaker than expected quarter. Something not a lot of people realize is that Moody's has very limited exposure to software, unlike SPGI. This gives Moody's an advantage when it comes to software disruption due to AI improvements. Personally, we like both MCO and SPGI, and as a long-term investor, we believe these are easy "buy and holds" that will outperform the market for many years to come, despite whatever the stock does this week. These 2 names are a duopoly in the space, and we don't see them ever being seriously disrupted. As of the close on Friday, the options market is pricing in a +/- 4.5% move on MCO stock post-earnings.

As we look at these upcoming reports, it’s important to recognize that the market hasn’t been easy for the average investor. A lot of non-Club Members that we hear from on a daily basis are struggling with understanding why their stocks are crashing, and why when they buy a stock is it pulling back almost immediately, but when they sell a stock it seems to jump up right after they sell. These are some of the most common struggles that we see with investors before they join the CEO Watchlist Investment Club, and is why so many people have been losing money over the past few weeks. While the crowd was struggling, we were executing trades, such as the one you see below, that made over 157% profit in just 3 days using Nasdaq (QQQ) put options, proving that you can thrive even when the market is bleeding red:

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Stock Spotlight: Thermon Group (Source)

Stocks mentioned: $THR, $INTC, $TSM, $MU, $NVDA, $NVT

While investors obsess over AI chips and software, very few are paying attention to the industrial backbone that keeps those facilities running. Every semiconductor fab, EV plant, LNG terminal, and AI data center depends on complex temperature control systems to function safely. If a single pipe freezes or overheats, production can shut down instantly, costing millions per day. As the U.S. ramps up semiconductor onshoring and hyperscalers expand AI infrastructure, one small-cap company sits quietly at the center of this buildout: Thermon Group (THR).

Thermon is a global leader in industrial process heating and electric heat tracing systems. In simple terms, it ensures that critical piping, chemicals, liquids, and materials stay at precise temperatures inside massive industrial facilities. Its systems prevent freezing, regulate high heat environments, and maintain safe operating conditions across semiconductor fabs, battery plants, EV factories, refineries, and data centers. These are not optional systems. They are mission critical infrastructure. Once Thermon’s products are installed, customers rarely switch providers because reliability is everything. A failure can shut down an entire plant.

The timing here is what makes this opportunity compelling. The U.S. is investing hundreds of billions into domestic semiconductor manufacturing from companies like Intel (INTC), Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), and Micron (MU). At the same time, AI data centers powered by Nvidia (NVDA) GPUs require sophisticated liquid cooling loops, chilled water systems, and thermal regulation. Thermon does not make the chips, but it provides the thermal backbone that allows those facilities to operate 24/7. As industrial reshoring, electrification, and AI infrastructure accelerate together, Thermon is levered to all three trends simultaneously.

What makes this setup even more interesting is the market structure. In the engineered heat tracing market, Thermon and nVent Electric (NVT) essentially control the majority of global share, creating what is close to a duopoly. Despite this strong competitive position, Thermon remains a much smaller $1-2 billion company compared to nVent’s significantly larger market cap. Yet Thermon continues to execute, recently delivering strong earnings results with a major EPS and revenue beat while raising guidance. The business is showing real operational momentum.

From a valuation standpoint, Thermon still trades like a niche cyclical industrial despite being tied to some of the biggest capex themes of the decade. At roughly 24x forward earnings, it still sits slightly below many industrial peers that trade in the mid to high 20s. If growth accelerates from single digits into sustained double digit territory as fab and data center projects ramp, the stock could see meaningful multiple expansion.

Of course, this is still a small cap name. Execution matters. If growth fails to materialize or industrial demand slows, the stock could underperform. That is why position sizing and risk management are key with opportunities like this. But when you step back, Thermon represents the type of overlooked infrastructure enabler the market often rediscovers late in the cycle. It's not a flashy headline stock, but it's strategically positioned to benefiting from structural shifts in U.S. manufacturing, AI infrastructure, and electrification. When these themes play out over years, not weeks, small-cap infrastructure players can surprise investors in a big way.

INSIDER STOCK TRADES FROM THE WEEK:

1. Anteris Technologies (AVR) - L1 Capital, hedge fund, bought roughly $28,700,000 worth of AVR at $5.75/share on Jan. 22, 2026, but it wasn't reported to the public until Feb. 9, 2026. (Source)

2. Reddit (RDDT) - Sarah Farrell, board member, bought roughly $7,500,000 of RDDT for an average price of $148.16/share between Feb. 10-11, 2026, but it wasn't reported to the public until Feb. 12, 2026. (Source)

3. KKR & Co (KKR) - Timothy Barakett, board member, bought roughly $5,200,000 of KKR at a price of $104.93/share on Feb. 9, 2026, but it wasn't reported to the public united Feb. 11, 2026. (Source)

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