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Stock of the Week
The Best Stock to Buy Now

Cabot Stock of the Week Issue: May 20, 2024

The market is at all-time highs, and so are many of our Cabot Stock of the Week stocks. Sure, there are potential landmines out there – inflation, the Fed, this Wednesday’s Nvidia (NVDA) earnings report if it fails to meet lofty expectations, etc. – but right now, Wall Street is buying, so we will too. Today, we add one of the market’s best growth stocks so far this year. It’s been sitting in Carl Delfeld’s Cabot Explorer portfolio since late last year – he has a huge gain on it already – and we were reluctant to add it to the Stock of the Week portfolio until it pulled back a bit. Now it’s done so – the stock peaked in mid-March – but it’s building momentum again. It’s one of the best AI plays not named Nvidia or Microsoft.

Details inside.

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Note: Due to the Memorial Day holiday, next week’s Cabot Stock of the Week issue will be published on Tuesday, May 28. Enjoy the long weekend!

The market is at all-time highs and so are many of our Cabot Stock of the Week stocks. Sure, there are potential landmines out there – inflation, the Fed, this Wednesday’s Nvidia (NVDA) earnings report if it fails to meet lofty expectations, major wars in Gaza and Ukraine, etc. – but right now, Wall Street is buying, so we will too. Growth stocks have mostly been on the sidelines the last few months as more defensive areas – gold, utilities, financials – have led the charge. Now, they’re starting to play catch-up.

With that in mind, today we add one of the market’s best growth stocks so far this year. It’s been sitting in Carl Delfeld’s Cabot Explorer portfolio since late last year – he has a huge gain on it already – and we were reluctant to add it to the Stock of the Week portfolio until it pulled back a bit. Now it’s done so – the stock peaked in mid-March – but is building momentum again. It’s yet another major AI player not named Nvidia, so you may want to wait on starting new positions until after Nvidia reports on Wednesday. Regardless, this large-cap company appears to have a long runway for future success.

Here’s Carl with the details.

Super Micro Computer (SMCI)

Nvidia is by far the most talked about and sought-after play on artificial intelligence (AI).

The next quarterly results for Nvidia are due this Wednesday after the close. Nvidia stock analysts polled by FactSet predict adjusted profit of $5.22 a share, up 474% year over year, with revenue up 241% to $24.5 billion.

This is impressive, as is Nvidia’s stock rising 214% in the last year and 87% so far in 2024.

But another stock recommended in my Cabot Explorer advisory late last year is up 511% in the last year and 218% so far in 2024.

This is Super Micro Computer (SMCI), commonly known as Super Micro; it manufactures enterprise computer server hardware for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data storage and telecommunications.

Founded in 1993, Silicon Valley-based Super Micro’s business includes turning Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs) into ready-to-use computer servers for clients.

Some analysts project that the AI chip market will go from $30 billion in 2023 to a $45 billion market in 2024, then grow to a stunning $400 billion market by 2027. About half of those chips will be in AI servers, which means Super Micro will have a lot of room to grow if it executes well. Super Micro has also developed proprietary liquid cooling systems that will be needed in more servers going forward in the AI age.

Revenue has received a boost from service providers investing in systems for generative artificial intelligence. The San Jose, California-based company works closely with AI chip providers including Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia.

Super Micro has raised its full-year guidance to a range of $10 billion to $11 billion from the prior range of $9.5 billion to $10.5 billion. At the midpoint, this indicates a year-over-year revenue jump of 48% from fiscal 2023’s top line of $7.12 billion.

That points toward an acceleration over the 37% revenue growth Super Micro delivered in the previous fiscal year. Super Micro also raised its global capacity to 5,000 server racks per month from the prior level of 4,000.

Barclays estimates that the company’s prior capacity of 4,000 racks a month could support annual revenue of $12 billion to $15 billion. So, a 25% increase in capacity means that Super Micro’s annual revenue potential should have ideally increased to a range of $15 billion to $19 billion. Moreover, the new facility that it is building in Malaysia could take its annual revenue capacity to more than $20 billion.

The company also has a highly motivated founder and CEO. According to a recent proxy report, Charles Liang owns 14.3% of the company and plenty of options with a strike price of $450 a share.

In its recent quarter, Super Micro’s revenue was up 200% year over year to $3.9 billion and net income jumped to $400 million.

There are risks out there. Super Micro’s stock has already had a great run and competitors are seeking to knock them off their dominant leadership position. Second, the company is dependent on Nvidia’s continued strong growth and is developing a relationship with Advanced Micro Devices to mitigate this risk.

For its current fiscal year, which ends in June, Super Micro is on pace to deliver 53% topline growth, ranging between $11 billion and $15 billion, while the more conservative expectation is 40% earnings-per-share growth, or $16.50 per share.

It is still early, but next fiscal year’s projections are for about $21 – $24 billion of revenue for another 60%-plus surge.

The consensus on Wall Street projects that Super Micro revenue will rise by 122% to $20.6 billion in 2024, so expectations are high.

SMCI stock has been on a tear this year. Given the growth, it’s possible the run is just getting started.

smci.png

SMCIRevenue and Earnings
Forward P/E: 24.6 Qtrly RevQtrly Rev GrowthQtrly EPSQtrly EPS Growth
Trailing P/E: 49.4 (bil) (vs yr-ago-qtr)($)(vs yr-ago-qtr)
Profit Margin (latest qtr) 8.87%Latest quarter3.85200%6.65308%
Debt Ratio: 470%One quarter ago3.66103%5.5971%
Dividend: N/ATwo quarters ago2.1214%3.430%
Dividend Yield: N/AThree quarters ago2.1834%3.5134%

Current Recommendations

StockDate Bought

Price Bought

Price 5/20/24

Profit

Rating

Alamos Gold (AGI)4/23/24

15

17

15%

Buy

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE)1/9/24

128

124

-3%

Hold

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (AEO)10/31/23

17

23

35%

Buy

Aviva plc (AVVIY)6/21/23

10

13

26%

Buy

Blackstone Inc. (BX)8/1/23

105

126

19%

Buy

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO)8/8/23

882

1410

60%

Buy

Cava Group (CAVA)4/16/24

63

80

27%

Buy

Core & Main (CNM)4/30/24

57

61

7%

Buy

CrowdStrike (CRWD)9/5/23

163

346

112%

Hold

DraftKings (DKNG)8/15/23

29

44

54%

Buy

Eli Lilly and Company (LLY)3/21/23

331

783

136%

Buy

GoDaddy (GDDY)5/7/24

130

137

6%

Buy

Green Thumb Industries Inc. (GTBIF)1/3/24

11

13

15%

Buy

Honda Motor Co. (HMC)4/9/24

37

34

-9%

Buy

International Business Machines (IBM)4/2/24

--

--

--%

Sold

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG)3/26/24

395

399

1%

Buy

Main Street Capital Corp. (MAIN)3/19/24

46

49

7%

Buy

Microsoft (MSFT)3/7/23

256

425

66%

Buy

Netflix, Inc. (NFLX)2/27/24

599

634

6%

Buy

Novo Nordisk (NVO)12/27/22

67

133

99%

Buy

Nutanix (NTNX)10/10/23

36

72

100%

Buy

PayPal (PYPL)2/6/24

63

65

3%

Sell

PulteGroup (PHM)12/5/23

91

120

32%

Buy

Qualcomm, Inc. (QCOM)2/13/24

150

199

33%

Buy

Sea Limited (SE)3/5/24

55

73

33%

Buy

Super Micro Computer (SMCI)NEW

--

--%

Buy

Tesla (TSLA)12/29/11

2

174

9590%

Hold

Tripadvisor (TRIP)1/17/24

20

18

-7%

Sell

Uber Technologies, Inc. (UBER)2/14/23

34

65

91%

Hold

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH)5/14/24

512

521

2%

Buy

Changes Since Last Week:
PayPal (PYPL) Moves from Hold to Sell
Tripadvisor (TRIP) Moves from Buy to Sell

Nine of our holdings – roughly a third of our Stock of the Week portfolio – are trading at either all-time or multi-year highs. Several of our stocks have doubled, or more. So, our few laggards stick out like a sore thumb. Today, we’re selling two of them as part of our ongoing mission to get this portfolio down to a more manageable 25 stocks or less (these two sells, plus the addition of SMCI, leave us with 27 stocks). PayPal (PYPL) and Tripadvisor (TRIP) have been far from disasters and didn’t really lose us money in the aggregate. But momentum has turned against them both, and in this market, that just won’t cut it.

Virtually everything else in the portfolio is acting well. Here’s what’s happening with all of them.

Updates

Alamos Gold Inc. (AGI), originally recommended by Tyler Laundon in his Cabot Early Opportunities advisory, spiked above 17 – its highest point in more than a decade! Gold prices surging back above $2,400 an ounce had something to do with the latest move, as did the company’s first-quarter earnings, as Tyler wrote last week: “Alamos Gold (AGI) surpassed Q1 expectations, producing 135,700 ounces and selling 132,849 ounces, which brought in $277.6 million (+10.4%) in revenue and EPS of $0.13. Management reaffirmed full-year guidance, the price of gold has remained strong and AGI shares have been stable.” BUY

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (ARE), originally recommended by Tom Hutchinson in the Safe Income Tier of his Cabot Dividend Investor advisory, had a nice week, jumping from 120 to 123 on no news. In his latest update, Tom wrote, “This one-of-a-kind life science property REIT tends to bounce around with the current interest rate narrative in the near term. That’s been a good thing this month. The REIT also reported strong earnings earlier this month that beat expectations. Adjusted funds from operations grew at 7.3% over last year’s quarter and the company raised the quarterly dividend by 5%. Occupancy and the rate of acquisitions reflected a solid business, and the dividend hike showed confidence. ARE is a great income stock selling at the low end of historical valuations while the company is consistently growing revenues and profits from its niche properties.” HOLD

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (AEO), originally recommended by Mike Cintolo in Cabot Top Ten Trader, keeps holding in the 23-24 range, with 25 acting as overhead resistance in the last month-plus. The recent dip in consumer sentiment/confidence may also be limiting the stock somewhat. Still, we have a 35% gain in just over six months. And earnings are due out May 29, which could snap AEO shares out of their current slumber. BUY

Aviva plc (AVVIY), originally recommended by Bruce Kaser in Cabot Value Investor, is having a very good May, recovering nearly all of its April losses. After bottoming at 11.44 in mid-April, the stock is up more than a dollar. The number to keep an eye on is 12.7, AVVIY’s high point in late March. A move above that level would be quite bullish. Shares of this U.K.-based life insurance and investment management firm still have 12% upside to our 14 price target. The 6.6% dividend yield makes it even more attractive. BUY

Blackstone Inc. (BX), originally recommended by Mike Cintolo in Cabot Top Ten Trader, tacked on another couple points, rising from 124 to 126 as the bull market recovery in May has been a boon for this Bull Market Stock (Mike’s term). As long as the bull market remains intact, this alternative investment management giant will remain in our portfolio. BUY

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO), originally recommended by Tom Hutchinson in Cabot Dividend Investor, was up 5% this past week to touch new all-time highs! A new AI product is sending shares higher today – the company announced the launch of new Ethernet adapters intended to resolve bottlenecks in data centers running artificial intelligence applications. The 400G PCIe Gen 5.0 Ethernet adapters will “revolutionize the data center ecosystem,” the company claims. Whether or not that’s true, the new adapters at least add to the narrative that Broadcom is emerging as an AI leader, and its stock has been rewarded accordingly, more than doubling in the last year. We now have a 60% gain on it in nine months. BUY

Cava Group (CAVA), originally recommended by Mike Cintolo in Cabot Growth Investor, just keeps rising, this week jumping from 76 to 79 – another new all-time high! Here’s what Mike had to say about it: “CAVA is part of what’s suddenly become a super-strong restaurant sector, with many younger cookie-cutter plays heading higher... Cava still has earnings coming up (May 28), which is always a risk, but there’s no doubt the stock’s support near the 50-day line during the market dip and quick rip back to new highs is a good thing. Fundamentally, the firm just opened a new production and packaging facility in Virginia that can make the restaurant’s dips, spreads and other offerings—along with its first facility, the company now has the capacity to support at least 750 stores (up from 325 as of three weeks ago), and as these operations get busy, margins should improve further. The stock is as volatile as can be, but we added a bit more to our stake last week (bought an extra 3% position) and are sitting tight. If you don’t own any, you can start small here or on dips, though, again, earnings will be key.” BUY

Core & Main (CNM), originally recommended by Mike Cintolo in Cabot Top Ten Trader, also inched to new all-time highs, moving up from 59 to 60. There was no news. There’s nothing exciting about this boring maker of pipes and valves for things like wastewater and storm drains, but it’s a solid infrastructure play with plenty of momentum. BUY

CrowdStrike (CRWD), originally recommended by Mike Cintolo in Cabot Growth Investor, has also pushed to new all-time highs, advancing 8% since we last wrote. In his latest update, Mike wrote, “CRWD has been a lot like the market, not making any huge waves but gradually improving its positioning—so much so that it notched all-time closing highs this week! Granted, the relative performance (RP) line isn’t free and clear yet and earnings are still upcoming (June 4), which will be vital, but so far, everything we’ve thought going back months seems to be on track: CRWD quacks like a liquid growth leader, with rapid, reliable growth that should play out for a long time to come, bolstered by a more threatening cyber landscape and a best-in-class offering that’s being tied in with many big players (such as last week’s announcement that the firm expanded its partnership with Google Cloud). Given the improving evidence for the stock, we’ll restore our Buy rating, though you might consider keeping new positions on the small side with earnings (June 4) still to come.” Good advice, with one caveat: If you bought early after our September recommendation and your position has now doubled, I suggest booking some profits by selling anywhere from a quarter to a third of your original position. For everyone else, we’ll keep our rating at Hold. HOLD

DraftKings (DKNG), originally recommended by Mike Cintolo in Cabot Growth Investor, keeps bouncing around in the 41-44 range in the wake of earnings. In his latest update, Mike wrote, “DKNG’s story hasn’t changed in recent weeks, and the numbers have actually gotten stronger, with management hiking its 2024 estimates after Q1 topped expectations. Even better is the fact that business is truly firing on all cylinders (active user count and revenue per user were equally responsible for Q1’s 53% revenue hike), and the top brass is keeping costs contained despite fears of another turf war following ESPNBet’s launch late last year—in fact, more than half of this year’s revenue increase is expected to fall to the bottom line. That said, the stock itself is OK but not fantastic—back above its 50-day line but no higher than it was in mid-February. Of course, that seems to be the stock’s character (two steps forward, one step back), so we’re being patient, but would focus new buying on names that are under stronger accumulation.” Keeping at Buy for a potential breakout (shares are at the high end of their recent range), but there are stronger stocks in this portfolio at the moment. BUY

Eli Lilly and Company (LLY), originally recommended by Tom Hutchinson in the Dividend Growth Tier of his Cabot Dividend Investor advisory, is up 3% since our last issue and has been flirting with its March highs. Its recent earnings report has been acting as a tailwind, as Tom noted in his update last week: “The pharmaceutical company stock jumped more than 6% after reporting earnings. Although the company missed slightly on revenues, earnings per share were much better than expected and, even more importantly, Lilly significantly raised guidance for this year. The main reason is that its weight-loss drug revenues obliterated forecasts with $517.4 million in revenue for the quarter versus an expected $373 million. The company is also aggressively expanding production for future quarters and raised its 2024 revenue projections by $2 billion. The weight-loss drug is a monster and looks like a mega blockbuster and the Alzheimer’s drug should get the FDA nod in the next few months.” With a 135% gain on the stock since adding it to the portfolio 14 months ago, LLY has been our single best performer the last couple years. Similar to our CRWD advice, if you have not yet booked profits by selling a few shares (a quarter to a third of your original position), I recommend doing so now and letting the rest ride. BUY

GoDaddy Inc. (GDDY), originally recommended by Tyler Laundon in Cabot Early Opportunities, was up from 133 to 136 – a new all-time high! The stock has been on a tear in the last six months, advancing nearly 50%. Here’s Tyler on why: “GoDaddy (GDDY) delivered another solid quarter and remains a behind-the-scenes AI play given its role helping companies and creators build and maintain websites. The new AI-powered Airo solution is off to a good start and represents the next potential growth engine for the company.” BUY

Green Thumb Industries Inc. (GTBIF), originally recommended by Michael Brush in Cabot Cannabis Investor, keeps holding steady in the high 12s/low 13s, which is a tad disappointing after the Department of Justice announced plans to move forward with cannabis rescheduling last Thursday. The long-anticipated ruling, which would reclassify marijuana from a Class I drug (i.e., most dangerous, in the same category as heroin, acid, etc.) to a Class III drug (not very harmful), hasn’t moved the needle much for cannabis stocks yet, in part because, as Michael noted in an alert to subscribers late last week, “There will now be a 60-day comment period on the proposed rule, which suggests a near-term lull in progress on the rescheduling catalyst.” So, GTBIF and other cannabis names could be in the same range for the next few weeks. You can buy it now if you haven’t already, but I’d start small. BUY

Honda Motor Co. (HMC), originally recommended by yours truly in the Growth & Income Portfolio of Cabot Value Investor, was flat this past week, and has had a rather disappointing reaction to strong earnings earlier this month. The Japanese automaker sold 3 million hybrid cars in Q1, up from 2.3 million in the same quarter a year ago, helping fuel a 77% jump in operating profits and a 21% increase in total sales. The company is using its excess profits to ramp up stock buybacks, and just made an $11 billion investment in a new EV and EV battery plant in Canada should help both with hybrids and electric vehicles. Add it all up, and there’s a lot to be encouraged about, and I’m betting investors will soon catch on to the story here. BUY

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), originally recommended by Tyler Laundon in his Cabot Early Opportunities advisory, had a good week, up nearly 5% as it threatens to top its previous 2024 high (400) from early March. There was no news. The maker of the da Vinci robotic surgical system is coming off a strong earnings report in late April and received approval for its new da Vinci 5 system in March. Though full-scale launch won’t come until possibly next year, it’s a potential game changer for the company, and investors have taken notice, pushing ISRG shares up 31% in the last six months. BUY

Main Street Capital Corp. (MAIN), originally recommended by Tom Hutchinson in the High Yield Tier of his Cabot Dividend Investor advisory, was flat this week and has yet to get back up off the mat after reporting perfectly fine earnings. Tom has the details: “This Business Development Company reported stellar earnings last week that handily beat estimates. It paid a regular monthly dividend of $0.72 per share in the second quarter, marking a 6.7% increase year over year, as well as a $0.30 supplemental dividend in the quarter. But the stock has pulled back a couple of percent since the report. Perhaps there is some selling on the good news. MAIN has also shown resilience in tough markets. The safe and high yield pays dividends every single month with a strong possibility of supplemental dividends over the course of the year as well.” BUY

Microsoft (MSFT), originally recommended by Tyler Laundon in Cabot Early Opportunities, continued its May recovery, advancing from 414 to 424, close to its March closing high of 429. In his last update, Tyler noted, “Microsoft (MSFT) hasn’t made a new high since late March but remains a rock in our portfolio. With a gain of 55% since I added it last February the stock has roughly doubled the return of the broad market. One of the major takeaways from the most recent earnings report is that Azure growth could accelerate over the next four quarters. That would mark a major change from the modest contraction some analysts expected. It’s one of the easiest ways to get exposure to the AI megatrend.” We actually have an even bigger gain than Tyler – 65% - since adding MSFT last March. This is a long-term holding for any portfolio. BUY

Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), originally recommended by Tyler Laundon in Cabot Early Opportunities, is acting similarly to MSFT, steadily recovering from an April dip and clawing its back toward early-spring highs. The latest earnings report, while good, acted as a temporary speedbump for shares, as Tyler wrote in his latest update: “Netflix (NFLX) had a very poor reaction to the company’s Q1 earnings report in mid-April, but over the last month the stock has bounced right back to where it was pre-reporting. That might be partly because the selloff was simply overdone (as has been the case with many this reporting season), but also because Netflix remains the clearest winner in streaming right now. Also, the surprise announcement that management will stop disclosing subscriber numbers doesn’t seem so bad after digesting that (a) the change won’t take place until next year, and (b) as different subscriber tiers and advertising plans add nuance to the business model a straight number of subscribers type of analysis becomes less meaningful. Of course, this change won’t matter so long as the company does well (which I fully expect).” BUY

Novo Nordisk (NVO), originally recommended by Carl Delfeld in Cabot Explorer, has broken out of its 122 to 129 range, if ever so slightly, bouncing to 132 as of this writing. The latest news, according to Carl, is “a study found Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster obesity drug cut patients’ risk of heart attacks and strokes irrespective of how much they weighed. This could broaden and deepen the market for Novo’s products such as Wegovy.” NVO and LLY are core holdings in our portfolio and have been two of our best performers. They will remain in the portfolio as long as the weight-loss drug boom continues. BUY

Nutanix (NTNX), originally recommended by Mike Cintolo in Cabot Top Ten Trader, was up another 9% to reach new all-time highs above 71. In his latest update, Mike wrote, “Maybe it’s because the story and product line can be a bit of an ice cream headache (hyperconverged infrastructure doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue), but Nutanix isn’t talked about much. Still, that doesn’t bother us, as the stock continues to perform well, nosing to new price and relative performance (RP) highs this week. Like a bunch of growth names, the firm still has earnings coming up (the quarter didn’t finish until the end of April; the report is due May 29), but the stock’s evidence remains excellent, and there doesn’t look to be much standing in the way of many quarters of solid sales, earnings, recurring revenue and cash flow growth as it lands and expands deals with more big players. We’ll stay on Buy, though as with everything else, a near-term wobble wouldn’t shock us.” Like LLY and NVO, NTNX has now roughly doubled since we added it to the portfolio a mere seven months ago. Book profits on a few shares if you have not already done so. For those who haven’t yet bought, it’s still a Buy, but I’d start small ahead of the earnings report. BUY

PayPal (PYPL), originally recommended by Carl Delfeld in his Cabot Explorer advisory, keeps chopping around aimlessly, and it’s time to say goodbye to it. While it’s the largest player in the massive ($1 trillion-plus) digital payments market, and shares are trading at just a fraction of their 2021 highs, the stock just hasn’t performed, which makes it stick out like a sore thumb against the rest of our crowded portfolio. Let’s get out now with a modest gain. Perhaps we’ll revisit PYPL somewhere down the road, once the stock starts attracting some real buyers again. MOVE FROM HOLD TO SELL

PulteGroup, Inc. (PHM), originally recommended by Mike Cintolo in Cabot Growth Investor, was up from 116 to 119 – yet another new all-time high! The stock has been on a roll of late. Here’s Mike on why: “PHM’s correction ended after the firm’s quarterly report, which easily surpassed estimates, again displaying the firm’s earnings power even in a higher mortgage rate world—and giving investors hope that its elevated earnings can go much higher if and when rates come down. That latter scenario looks to be on track thanks to this week’s inflation reading, which drove rates lower and helped PHM notch new price highs yesterday. Expect continued news-driven movements (often based on economic readings or Fed speeches that might affect rates), but the path of least resistance is up.” BUY

Qualcomm, Inc. (QCOM), originally recommended by Tom Hutchinson in the Dividend Growth Tier of his Cabot Dividend Investor advisory, has pushed to new all-time highs after advancing 53% in the last six months. Shares of this income-generating AI play have truly been on a roll in the last month, as Tom noted in his latest update: “QCOM is up over 19% since late April. The mobile device chip king reported earnings that beat estimates and the company raised earnings guidance for 2024. The market was thrilled, and QCOM has risen since the report to a brand-new 52-week high. The earnings growth was expected as a still somewhat weak smartphone market is getting better. But the enthusiasm is mostly about the rapid approach of AI-enabled smartphones and PCs. One analyst contends that an AI-driven super cycle for smartphones is coming next year. Qualcomm is at the leading edge of chips that enable AI for smartphones and PCs and should benefit mightily if such a cycle comes to fruition.” We now have a 32% gain on the stock in just over three months. BUY

Sea Limited (SE), originally recommended by Carl Delfeld in his Cabot Explorer advisory, got a big bump from earnings, rising 12.5% on better-than-expected revenue growth. The Singapore-based internet services conglomerate reported encouraging results in its Shopee e-commerce wing – the largest of its three businesses – with revenue up 33%. All told, the company’s sales improved 22.8% year over year. SE is a play on Southeast Asian economic growth, and the stock was formerly a 10-bagger for Carl and his subscribers in 2019-2021. Shares nose-dived from there (from 357 to as low as 35, gulp), but have clearly rediscovered their footing, up 79% year to date. Plenty more potential upside ahead. BUY

Tesla (TSLA), originally recommended by Mike Cintolo in Cabot Top Ten Trader, keeps hovering in its newfound comfort zone in the 170s. The lack of recovery has been frustrating. But there hasn’t been a ton of good news to move the needle, aside from Elon Musk securing a contract to put Tesla’s autonomous driving technology in Chinese cars. So, we await a catalyst, which might not come until the company rights the ship on its retreating sales and profit margins. On the bright side, it’s possible a low in the stock (142) was put in about a month ago. Keeping at Hold until TSLA can rediscover its mojo. HOLD

Tripadvisor (TRIP), originally recommended by Mike Cintolo in Cabot Top Ten Trader, imploded on earnings two weeks ago, falling from 25 to 18, and hasn’t recovered, still trading at 18. We gave the stock some rope to see if it could bounce back, and thus far it hasn’t, which could mean that the damage done by some of the numbers in the report (operating loss up to $15 million from $14 million year over year; Tripadvisor-branded hotel revenue down 5%, etc.) has spooked investors. I like the idea of having a play on the post-Covid travel recovery, but perhaps TRIP is the wrong play, at least at the moment. So, let’s sell and make room for another travel play somewhere down the road. MOVE FROM BUY TO SELL

UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH), originally recommended by Tom Hutchinson in the Dividend Growth Tier of his Cabot Dividend Investor advisory, had a solid debut, up 2% in its first week in our portfolio. Here’s what Tom had to say about it: “Things have been good since earnings put fears about the hacking to rest. UnitedHealth reported earnings last month that soundly beat expectations with an 8.6% revenue rise and a better than 10% increase in adjusted earnings from last year’s quarter. The company also issued strong guidance. UnitedHealth appears to have absorbed the costs while maintaining strong growth in the quarter and future quarters. With recent troubles behind it, the company has solid and defensive earnings and is well-positioned going forward.” BUY

Uber Technologies (UBER), originally recommended by Mike Cintolo in Cabot Growth Investor, kept holding at 65, so perhaps it’s finally found bottom after falling steadily from 81 in March. In his latest update, Mike wrote, “UBER has been the weak link in the portfolio, with the market, worries about Tesla’s Robotaxi unveiling in August and the Q1 report (solid numbers but guidance was a bit soft) all keeping the buyers on the sideline. Our patience isn’t unlimited here, and by a couple of metrics (20% decline from the highs; shares are approaching their 40-week line, now at 61 and rising, which is also near the prior major peak in 2021), buyers should show up soon if all’s well. Deep down, we continue to believe that business remains excellent, with booming free cash flow (something like 67 cents per share in Q1 alone) likely to re-attract big investors once this selling is over, while the stock’s big breakout last November should portend a larger advance. We may trim our position further if the stock languishes, but right here we’ll grit our teeth and sit tight.” Given our big gains to date, so will we. HOLD

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email me at chris@cabotwealth.com.

Here, too, is the latest episode of Cabot Street Check, the weekly podcast I host with my colleague Brad Simmerman.


The next Cabot Stock of the Week issue will be published on May 28, 2024.


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Chris Preston is Cabot Wealth Network’s Vice President of Content and Chief Analyst of Cabot Stock of the Week and Cabot Value Investor .