CEO Watchlist: Week In Review (8/17/25)

TOP NEWS AFFECTING THE STOCK MARKET THIS WEEK:

Warren Buffett's Secret Stock Jumped Over 20% This Past Week Alone!!! (Source)

Stocks mentioned: $BRK.B, $UNH, $CVX, $STZ, $POOL, $NUE, $LEN

Last week in our newsletter, we flagged the growing rumors that Warren Buffett’s, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), was quietly accumulating shares of UnitedHealth Group ($UNH). At the time, this was an educated guess based on attractive valuations, it being an insurance stock that Buffett tends to gravitate towards historically, the fact that he owned UNH back in 2006, and finally all the insider/political/"Super Investor" buying activity over the past couple months. All of this led us to believe that UNH was the most likely candidate to be Buffett's secret stock he was buying. On Thursday, the truth came out: Buffett’s new undisclosed stock buy was indeed UNH. This confirmation is critical because it validates the signals we’ve been tracking for months within the CEO Watchlist Investment Club and sets the stage for what could be one of the highest-conviction healthcare investments of the next few years.

Why is this purchase so significant that the stock rallied 12% on Friday? The reason is because Buffett doesn’t make new bets lightly. Historically, his new positions start at 0.1% or less of Berkshire’s portfolio, but this time, his UNH purchase was over six times that size. That’s not a dabble, it’s a declaration that he's serious about building this position. UNH wasn’t just another line item alongside his other new buys like Chevron ($CVX), Constellation Brands ($STZ), Pool Corp ($POOL), Nucor ($NUE), and Lennar ($LEN). It was the headline move. And when Buffett makes a statement-sized position, investors should pay attention. Add to this the fact that UNH’s valuation has compressed dramatically, trading at levels not seen in years, and the setup looks eerily similar to past moments when Buffett quietly bought into cyclical lows.

What’s striking, and what virtually no one else in financial media has pointed out, is that this isn’t Buffett’s first time owning UnitedHealth. Like we mentioned in last week's newsletter, back in 2006, Buffett began building a UNH position that grew into nearly $300 million by 2008. He exited with a 379% gain in just two years. That playbook should sound familiar: identify a high-quality insurer trading at distressed valuations, scale in aggressively, and ride the rebound. If history rhymes, Buffett’s re-entry could mark the beginning of another massive upcycle for UNH. Given the stock is still down over 50% from its highs, there still seems to be a lot of room to run to the upside, even after its 12% pop on Friday. It also doesn't hurt that UNH pays you roughly a 3% dividend just to hold it in the meanwhile.

Skeptics will argue that healthcare faces enormous political risk: regulatory scrutiny, election-year uncertainty, and rising cost pressures could all weigh on margins. That’s valid. But UNH is not a speculative biotech, it’s a diversified healthcare giant with scale, infrastructure, and a balance sheet that gives it room to maneuver. Moreover, for the people that argue that UNH is facing a ton of political risk and regulatory issues, we would like to point those people to all the politicians, Republicans and Democrats, that have been buying this stock up alongside Buffett, CEO's, and all the other "Super Investors". It makes it really hard to ignore the bull case when every single major investor seems to be buying this stock while it's still down 50% from its highs. Markets are forward-looking, and the confluence of buyers suggests that the worst may already be priced in.

Here’s the final takeaway: Buffett’s UNH purchase isn’t just another trade, it’s a rare, high-conviction signal in a frothy market where real value is scarce. The stock’s swift 20% move in under a week demonstrates just how underpriced it was when we flagged it in last week's newsletter, and we continue to believe another 20% upside in the short to medium term is realistic. For patient investors, the parallels to Buffett’s 2006 entry are too strong to ignore. In a market searching for what’s next, UnitedHealth isn’t just a defensive healthcare play, it’s shaping up to be one of the few inevitable winners hiding in plain sight.

Warren Buffett wasn’t the only one ahead of the curve. When Buffett was secretly building his position in UnitedHealth, our Investment Club Members had already spotted the opportunity and many of them are celebrating incredible wins this past week because of it. That’s the power of being part of the CEO Watchlist Invesment Club, a community that gets early access to all of our research, stock watchlists, real-time stock portfolio updates, and our option/stock strategies. If you’re not inside the Club yet, you’re missing the chance to see these ideas before they hit the headlines. Don’t sit on the sidelines while others are cashing in. It's time to invest in yourself! CLICK HERE to claim your $200 OFF discount code, available today, and step inside the Investment Club before the next big move happens.
Earnings Season Week 6 Is Here! 3 Stocks We're Watching! (Source)

Stocks mentioned: $CRWV, $NBIS, $DE, $AMAT, $ASML, $LRCX, $KLAC, $PANW, $CRWD, $MSFT, $HD, $INTU
Another week of earnings is behind us and a few key names gave us some good insight into the overall market and where things could be headed. So, before we dive into the 3 stocks we're watching for this week, we need to first break down 3 key reports from last week, and how we’re interpreting the results:

CoreWeave (CRWV) - The AI infrastructure private-turned-public company, beat on both revenue and guidance in its second earnings report, but the stock still dropped over -9% due to a large miss on their EPS! Bulls see CoreWeave as a dominant arms dealer in the AI gold rush, but skeptics warn that sky-high compensation, capital intensity, and customer concentration make this a high-risk, high-reward bet. For us at CEO Watchlist, we personally prefer Nebius (NBIS) over Coreweave, which we've actually highlighted in our past newsletters, as far back as May 11, 2025, when the stock was just $30 per share. Just a couple months later, it has already rallied over 100% since then, to $71.62 per share. Even with this rally, we still prefer NBIS over CRWV as we believe NBIS has a much larger runway ahead of it, but it is definitely more risky here than when we flagged it back in May as it has ran so much since then. Unlike CRWV, NBIS reported a massive double beat and raised guideance on their earnings report showing that they had 625% growth year over year! This type of growth is unheard of. NBIS is still only a $17 billion company while CRWV is roughly a $50 billion company, so when you factor in that large gap between them, Nebius' growth and the fact that NBIS is drawing investments from people like Jeff Bezos, of Amazon, the potential is massive.

Deere & Co. (DE) - Beat expectations on both earnings and revenue, but the stock still dropped 7% as investors digested a worrying shift in fundamentals. Net income fell 26% year-over-year, and total sales dropped 9%, with the company blaming a $200 million tariff hit in the quarter and projecting up to $600 million in pre-tax tariff costs for the full fiscal year. Margins also compressed, and Deere trimmed the top end of its full-year profit forecast. While management struck a cautiously optimistic tone, pointing to potential tailwinds from trade deals and tax policy, analysts noted a more uncertain backdrop heading into 2026, particularly with softer commodity prices and delayed equipment demand. Bulls may point to early signs of strength in Europe and South America, but the near-term setup remains cloudy, and investors will need to be patient.

Applied Materials (AMAT) - They posted a solid beat on revenue and earnings, but shares fell over 10% as forward guidance came in light and macro headwinds took center stage. Since the company guided way below estimates from the analysts, we believe the stock drop is more than fair. When companies lower guidance, it's a big red flag for us because that tells us that there are issues in the future and the future dictates where the stock price is going. Other stocks in the semiconductor equipment sector also fell in sympathy due to AMAT's weak guidance. These stocks include: ASML (ASML), Lam Research (LRCX), and KLA Corp (KLAC). We personally like all 3 of these companies more than AMAT. If we had to pick which ones offer the best risk to reward in order of the best stock to own to the worst, it would be: 1. ASML 2. LRCX 3. KLAC and 4. AMAT.

Now, with last week’s results behind us, attention now shifts to the next wave of earnings, and the bar is high. Investors are looking for clarity, consistency, and signs of resilience across sectors. Here are the three names at the top of our watchlist this week:

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) – Reports Monday after the market closes. The cybersecurity firm is under pressure to justify its expensive valuation. With software stocks getting hit over the past couple weeks, it hasn't been easy on any of the cybersecurity names. We personally believe that many cybersecurity names have been unjustly sold off as part of this overall software sector sell-off. Cybersecurity is a necessity for many years to come and money will continue to flow heavily into this sector whether or not we get a recession. The main problem for PANW isn't the sector they are in, but rather the competition they are facing. With CrowdStrike (CRWD) setting a high bar and Microsoft (MSFT) being the legacy cybersecurity company in the space, PANW must show cloud momentum and enterprise renewals holding strong. If billings growth accelerates, the stock could break out. If not, then we could see even more downside.

Home Depot (HD) – Reports Tuesday morning, before the market opens. With U.S. housing locked in a supply crunch, HD’s performance could offer a proxy for consumer confidence in home improvement spending. If project activity remains resilient and margins stay intact, expect bullish sentiment to return to retail. But if guidance weakens, this could drag the sector lower.

Intuit (INTU) – Reports Thursday, after the market closes. This quarter hinges on early signs from the tax season and whether its AI-powered products are gaining traction. Investors will also look closely at QuickBooks growth to assess SMB health. A clean beat and upbeat forward commentary could push INTU to new highs. We like this stock and because it's a software company it has unjustly sold off similar to what we've seen with cybersecurity names the past couple weeks. As long as INTU puts up decent guideance, we can see this stock going higher.

Earnings season has been extremely volatile, with major companies beating expectations only to see their stocks punished over forward guidance and shifting fundamentals. That’s exactly why staying ahead of the upcoming reports is so critical. As Palo Alto Networks, Home Depot, and Intuit step into the spotlight this week, the results could set the tone for entire sectors ranging from retail to software. Whether these names deliver reassurance or raise new red flags, the coming days will give investors valuable clues about where the market is heading next. We’ll be watching every move and reporting it LIVE in our Investment Club, as well as, reporting any new stock buys we make based on the earnings that come out this week. For our Investment Club Members, pay attention to our "Stock Portfolio Updates" and "Option Portfolio Updates" channels, which you can CLICK HERE to log in and see every move we're making in real time.
Ask ChatGPT,
"Super Investor" Spotlight: David Tepper, The Billionaire of Appaloosa! (Source)

Stocks mentioned: $UNH, $TSM, $INTC, $RTX, $AMZN, $FXI, $BABA, $JD, $BIDU, $PDD, $WYNN, $LVS
This week we're doing a new style of article called the "Super Investor Spotlight". These articles will cover the top "Super Investors" in the world and the top stocks they are buying and selling! For those that don't know, "Super Investors" are famous investors who manage upwards of 100's of billion of dollars and tend to have outsized returns in their stock portfolios. Examples include legendary names like Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Bill Ackman, and Michael Burry. Every quarter these "Super Investors" report their stock buys and sells to the public. For those that don't know, there's 4 quarter per year (Q1/Q2/Q3/Q4), each representing 3 months out of the year. Q1 being January, February, March, and then I think you can figure out the pattern for Q2, Q3, and Q4. This week we want to discuss a very famous "Super Investor", The Billionaire of Appaloosa, David Tepper! Tepper, founder of Appaloosa Management, has yielded a shockingly large 36% annualized return over the past 20 years! What this means, in simple terms, is that his investments have made 36%, on average, every single year since 2005. I don't know about you, but it's not easy to get returns like that every single year! Yes, people may have a good year, here or there, but to do it for 20 years straight is extraordinary! For comparison, the S&P500 has done 10% annualized returns over the past 20 years, significantly less than if you just followed Tepper's investments. Needless to say, this is why we look at what Tepper is doing each quarter. Watching Tepper isn’t just curiosity; it’s a way to understand where conviction is flowing in real time.

Looking at Tepper’s Q2 activity, the signal becomes clear: he’s rotating capital toward both defensive growth and high-upside cyclical plays. His top buys reflect a barbell approach. On one side, dominant blue-chip growth stocks with pricing power and resilience, and on the other, opportunistic entries into beaten-up sectors that could rebound sharply. This dual strategy not only spreads risk but positions him to capture upside across multiple scenarios. Among all the changes in his portfolio, five new/expanded positions carry the most weight and reveal the core of his conviction for the coming quarters:

UnitedHealth Group (UNH) – Tepper’s biggest swing this quarter. He increased his position by an eye-popping 1,300%, making UNH nearly 12% of his entire portfolio, which is even more insane since it was less than 1% of his portfolio before this addition! That’s an increase of over $600 million of UNH stock! He bought the stock at an average price of $311.97 per share, which means if you buy UNH today, you'll be getting it at a cheaper price than the famous David Tepper paid for it because it closed on Friday at $304.01 per share. For context, Tepper historically likes to invest in tech companies and tends to avoid value stocks in sectors like healthcare. That's why, when Tepper makes a healthcare stock one of his top holdings, above some of the biggest tech names in the world, it’s not just conviction, it’s a signal.

Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) – Tepper more than tripled his stake here, up 279.63%, making it worth over $230 million today. His average entry was $226.49, so he's already up on the position. TSM is the beating heart of the global semiconductor supply chain, producing chips for Apple, Nvidia, and virtually every tech titan. Tepper’s aggressive ramp-up signals strong belief in semis not just as a trade, but as a structural growth engine.

Intel (INTC) – A fresh buy and a bold contrarian play. Tepper committed over $150 million, giving Intel nearly 3% portfolio weight at an average price of $22.40. While chip investors have chased Nvidia and AMD, Intel has been left behind, but Tepper is clearly betting on its turnaround in AI infrastructure and foundry services. Buying when sentiment is at rock bottom is classic Tepper. Tepper has good timing, since it was announced on Thursday, by Trump, that the U.S. is considering taking a stake in Intel, which caused shares to jump up almost 18% this past week alone.

RTX (RTX) – Another new name to Tepper's portfolio is RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies), a defense and aerospace powerhouse. With rising geopolitical tensions and surging defense budgets worldwide, this looks like Tepper securing exposure to a sector with strong tailwinds for years to come. He put more than $85 million into the stock at an average price of $146.02, seeing that the stock is at $154.09, he's been able to make a small profit on it, but the good thing is, if we want more defense exposure in our portfolios, this name isn't too far away from where Tepper bought it.

Amazon (AMZN) – Not a new position, but still significant. Tepper boosted his position by 7.57%, bringing Amazon to nearly 10% of his portfolio, over $600 million in stock! For someone who manages over $6 billion, it's a huge deal to put 10% of your capital into a single name. Between Amazon's cloud dominance (AWS), leadership in robotics, and relentless e-commerce growth, this remains one of Tepper’s highest-conviction long-term plays, as well as one of ours at CEO Watchlist.

While Tepper was aggressively buying into healthcare, tech, and defense stocks, he was just as decisive in cutting exposure elsewhere. One of the most striking signals from Tepper’s Q2 filing was his wholesale retreat from Chinese exposure. He didn’t just trim around the edges, he fully exited his position in the Large-Cap China ETF (FXI), along with reducing exposure to big names like Alibaba (BABA), JD Inc. (JD), and Baidu (BIDU). He also slashed more than half of his stake in Pinduoduo (PDD), which had previously been one of his higher-conviction Chinese bets, as this is the company that owns Temu. This isn’t the kind of move you make unless you’ve made a clear decision: Tepper is stepping away from the volatility, policy risk, and uneven growth outlook tied to Chinese equities.

The same theme showed up in what looked, at first, like a pullback from U.S. gambling/entertainment stocks, but the deeper story is that this too was a China divestiture in disguise. Tepper exited completely from Wynn Resorts (WYNN) and Las Vegas Sands (LVS), but both companies generate a majority of their revenue from Macau, the Chinese gambling hub. For LVS, that exposure is massive, about 63% of its 2024 revenue ($7.1B of $11.3B) came from Macau operations. Wynn isn’t far behind, with roughly 51% of its operating revenue tied to China. By selling out of these positions alongside his other Chinese holdings, Tepper is making it clear he’s de-risking from China at every level, not just Chinese tech stocks, but consumer and entertainment plays as well.

Taken together, Tepper’s Q2 moves tell a clear story: this is a master allocator shifting capital toward areas where he sees asymmetric risk-reward. By leaning heavily into healthcare, tech, and defense while trimming China-sensitive names, Tepper is positioning for both resilience and upside in a market that’s anything but certain. For everyday investors, the lesson is simple, watch where the smartest money is flowing, not just for stock tips, but for a window into how top-tier managers are reading the global landscape. With a 20-year track record of 36% annualized returns, Tepper has earned the benefit of the doubt. Following his playbook isn’t about copying every trade, but about understanding the logic behind them and right now his logic points to staying defensive while keeping exposure to long-term leaders.

If you like this new style of article we are doing, where we break down what "Super Investors" are buying and selling, then I highly recommend that you join the Investment Club today! You shouldn't just join because we break down dozens of "Super Investor" portfolios for our students, that way they can stay ahead of this information before it hits the headlines, but moreso because of all the other services we provide in the Investment Club. We do live trading with our students Monday through Friday, in real time, as well as hold conference calls with our Club Members every week to cover stocks that Politicians, CEOs, and "Super Investors" are buying. In addition, we share our personal stock and option portfolios so the Club Members can see exactly what we are buying and selling every single day. We have an entire vault of videos/quizzes to simplify teaching people about investing in the stock market, which is why everybody, even at a beginner level, can join the group and start picking this up on Day 1. What we share in this newsletter is just a small fraction of what we share with the CEO Watchlist Investment Club Members, so if you are ready to take that next step, then CLICK HERE to join the Investment Club today and because you are joining through our newsletter, we are granting you $200 OFF your subscription permanently for as long as you decide to stay with us. Don’t wait, CLICK HERE to claim your spot now and join the 1000's of others who have joined the CEO Watchlist Investment Club!

INSIDER TRADES FROM THE WEEK:

1. Bausch Health (BHC) - John Paulson, Director, bought ~$312,000,000 of BHC stock on August 14, 2025, and it was reported to the public later that same day. (Source)

2. Alkami Technology (ALKT) - General Atlantic, 10% owner of the company, bought ~$30,000,000 worth of ALKT stock between August 11-13, 2025, and it was most recently reported to the public on August 13, 2025. (Source)

3. Eli Lilly (LLY) - David Ricks, CEO, bought ~$1,000,000 of LLY stock on August 12, 2025, and it was reported to the public later that same day. (Source)

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