Investment – Live Laugh Love Do http://livelaughlovedo.com A Super Fun Site Tue, 02 Dec 2025 06:52:27 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.1 Bullish Bet: Investment Manager Adds Booking Holdings http://livelaughlovedo.com/finance/bullish-bet-investment-manager-adds-booking-holdings-stock-worth-119-5-million-according-to-recent-filing/ http://livelaughlovedo.com/finance/bullish-bet-investment-manager-adds-booking-holdings-stock-worth-119-5-million-according-to-recent-filing/#respond Wed, 15 Oct 2025 16:27:51 +0000 http://livelaughlovedo.com/2025/10/15/bullish-bet-investment-manager-adds-booking-holdings-stock-worth-119-5-million-according-to-recent-filing/ [ad_1]

On October 14, 2025, CCLA Investment Management disclosed a new position in Booking Holdings (BKNG -2.31%), acquiring 22,166 shares valued at an estimated $119.52 million as of September 30, 2025.

What Happened

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission dated October 14, 2025, CCLA Investment Management disclosed a new stake in Booking Holdings. The fund acquired approximately 22,166 shares during the third quarter of 2025, with an estimated total value of $119.52 million based on average prices for the quarter ending September 30, 2025.

What Else to Know

This was a new position for CCLA Investment Management, representing 1.9% of the fund’s $6.25 billion in reportable U.S. equity AUM as of September 30, 2025, which places it outside the fund’s top five holdings.

Top five fund holdings after the filing:

  • NASDAQ: MSFT: $369.63 million (5.9% of AUM as of September 30, 2025)
  • NASDAQ: GOOGL: $345.87 million (5.5% of AUM as of September 30, 2025)
  • NASDAQ: AMZN: $268.96 million (4.3% of AUM as of September 30, 2025)
  • NASDAQ: AVGO: $207.92 million (3.3% of AUM as of September 30, 2025)
  • NYSE: V: $180.65 million (2.9% of AUM as of September 30, 2025)

As of October 13, 2025, shares of Booking Holdings were priced at $5,253.85, reflecting a one-year total return of 22.2%.

Company Overview

Metric Value
Revenue (TTM) $25.02 billion
Net income (TTM) $4.81 billion
Dividend yield 0.72%
Price (as of market close October 13, 2025) $5,253.85

Company Snapshot

Booking Holdings operates online travel and restaurant reservation platforms, including Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, Rentalcars.com, and OpenTable.

Its business model centers on connecting global consumers with accommodation, transportation, and dining options, as well as providing travel service providers and restaurants with online reach.

The company serves a broad international customer base, leveraging technology and a portfolio of brands to drive demand across multiple geographies and segments.

Booking Holdings is a leading global provider of online travel and restaurant reservation services. Its scale and diversified offerings contribute to a resilient business model.

Foolish Take

CCLA, a London-based investment manager, took a large new position in Booking Holdings stock worth nearly $120 million during the quarter ending on September 30, 2025. There are a few reasons why this is an institutional move that is worth noting for average investors.

First, Booking Holdings stock has been a consistent outperformer. Over the last five years, shares have advanced by 209%, equating to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25%. That compares quite favorably to the S&P 500, which has generated a 105% total return, or CAGR of 15%, over the same period.

Second, Booking’s key fundamentals remain strong. Total revenue over the last 12 months stands at $25 billion, up nearly 5x from its five-year low of $5.5 billion in 2021. Additionally, net income has skyrocketed, rising from $59 million in 2021 to $4.8 billion.

In short, the travel industry — and Booking Holdings in particular — are firing on all cylinders. The stock’s impressive returns are backed by equally impressive fundamentals — meaning that growth-seeking investors would be wise to keep an eye on this long-term outperforming stock.

Glossary

Position: The amount of a particular security or asset held by an investor or fund.

Assets under management (AUM): The total market value of investments managed by a fund or investment firm.

Reportable U.S. equity assets: U.S. stocks that a fund is required to disclose in regulatory filings.

Alpha: A measure of an investment’s performance compared to a benchmark, indicating value added by active management.

Total return: The investment’s price change plus all dividends and distributions, assuming those payouts are reinvested.

Filing: An official document submitted to a regulatory authority, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), disclosing financial or investment information.

Quarterly average price: The average market price of a security over a specific quarter.

TTM: The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.

Stake: The ownership interest or investment held in a company by an individual or institution.

Top five holdings: The five largest investments in a fund’s portfolio, ranked by market value.

Jake Lerch has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, and Visa. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Booking Holdings, Microsoft, and Visa. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Investment Company CCM Initiated a Position in AMD. Is the Stock a Buy? http://livelaughlovedo.com/finance/investment-company-ccm-initiated-a-position-in-amd-is-the-stock-a-buy/ http://livelaughlovedo.com/finance/investment-company-ccm-initiated-a-position-in-amd-is-the-stock-a-buy/#respond Sun, 12 Oct 2025 15:52:20 +0000 http://livelaughlovedo.com/2025/10/12/investment-company-ccm-initiated-a-position-in-amd-is-the-stock-a-buy/ [ad_1]

CCM Investment Advisers disclosed a new position in Advanced Micro Devices (AMD -7.78%) in its October 10, 2025 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The estimated $11.13 million purchase occurred in the third quarter of 2025.

What happened

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing dated October 10, 2025, CCM Investment Advisers established a new position in Advanced Micro Devices, purchasing 68,820 shares. The estimated transaction value was $11.13 million for the period ended September 30, 2025. The position represented 1.1% of the fund’s $1.02 billion in reportable U.S. equity assets.

What else to know

CCM Investment Advisers’ new AMD stake represents 1.1% of 13F assets, and is outside the fund’s top five positions.

The company’s top holdings after the filing as of September 30, 2025 are:

  • NASDAQ:NVDA: $40.55 million (4.0% of AUM)
  • NASDAQ:AVGO: $36.12 million (3.6% of AUM)
  • NASDAQ:GOOGL: $35.72 million (3.5% of AUM)
  • NASDAQ:MSFT: $33.70 million (3.3% of AUM)
  • NASDAQ:AAPL: $32.84 million (3.2% of AUM)

As of October 9, 2025, AMD shares were priced at $232.89, up 36.18% over the prior 12 months, outperforming the S&P 500 by 17.67 percentage points over the past year.

Advanced Micro Devices reported $29.6 billion in trailing 12-month revenue, and $2.8 billion in net income for the trailing 12 months ending June 28, 2025.

The company’s forward price-to-earnings ratio is 28.57, and its enterprise value to EBITDA multiple is 48.83 as of October 10, 2025.

Company Overview

Metric Value
Revenue (TTM) $29.60 billion
Net Income (TTM) $2.83 billion
Price (as of market close 2025-10-09) $232.89
One-Year Price Change 36.18%

Company Snapshot

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is a leading global semiconductor company specializing in high-performance computing and graphics solutions. The company’s strategy centers on innovation in CPUs, GPUs, and data center technology, targeting growth in the enterprise, cloud, and gaming sectors. AMD’s competitive edge is driven by its advanced product portfolio and strong relationships with major technology partners worldwide.

The company produces x86 microprocessors, discrete and integrated GPUs, server and embedded processors, and semi-custom system-on-chip (SoC) products for computing, graphics, data center, and gaming applications.

The AMD logo appears atop an office building.

IMAGE SOURCE: AMD.

AMD generates revenue primarily from the sale of processors and graphics products to OEMs, cloud service providers, system integrators, and independent distributors. It serves original equipment manufacturers, cloud service providers, system integrators, and online retailers in the global computing, data center, artificial intelligence, and gaming markets.

Foolish take

For CCM Investment Advisers to begin investing in AMD at this time is noteworthy because stocks in the artificial intelligence sector have been hot for some time now. Moreover, CCM already held shares in AI chip leader Nvidia, so why did it jump into AMD now?

The AI market went into overdrive in the third quarter of 2025 after Nvidia announced blockbuster deals with Intel and OpenAI. The British government also partnered with OpenAI in the quarter to expand AI infrastructure capacity in the country.

A rising tide lifts all boats, as the saying goes, so CCM could be anticipating AMD’s growth amidst this environment. In fact, AMD announced its own partnership with OpenAI on Oct. 6. The partnership involves the semiconductor giant providing a massive number of its products to the ChatGPT creator, and is projected to deliver billions of dollars in revenue to AMD over the coming years.

As a result, AMD shares soared to an all-time high exceeding $240 on Oct. 9. While the company is a good investment and the stock has pulled back from its record high, it’s worth waiting to see if the share price retreats further before deciding to buy.

Glossary

13F assets: The value of U.S. equity securities reported by institutional investment managers in quarterly SEC Form 13F filings.
Stake: The amount of ownership or shares an investor or fund holds in a particular company.
Top holdings: The largest investments by value within a fund’s portfolio.
AUM (Assets Under Management): The total market value of assets a fund or investment manager oversees on behalf of clients.
Outperforming: Achieving a higher return compared to a benchmark index or peer group over a specific period.
Trailing twelve months (TTM): The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.
Forward price-to-earnings ratio: A valuation metric comparing a company’s current share price to its projected future earnings per share.
Enterprise value to EBITDA multiple: A valuation ratio comparing a company’s total value to its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
System-on-Chip (SoC): An integrated circuit that combines multiple components, such as CPU, GPU, and memory, onto a single chip.
Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs): Companies that produce parts or equipment used in another company’s end products.
Cloud service providers: Companies offering computing resources, storage, or services over the internet to businesses or individuals.
Data center: A facility housing computer systems and associated components for storing, processing, and managing large amounts of data.

Robert Izquierdo has positions in Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Apple, Broadcom, Intel, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Apple, Intel, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft, short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft, and short November 2025 $21 puts on Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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What Is One of the Best Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks to Buy Now? http://livelaughlovedo.com/finance/what-is-one-of-the-best-artificial-intelligence-ai-stocks-to-buy-now/ http://livelaughlovedo.com/finance/what-is-one-of-the-best-artificial-intelligence-ai-stocks-to-buy-now/#respond Sun, 14 Sep 2025 14:59:49 +0000 http://livelaughlovedo.com/2025/09/14/what-is-one-of-the-best-artificial-intelligence-ai-stocks-to-buy-now/ [ad_1]

Key Points

  • Many AI stocks have been propped up solely by hype.

  • Alphabet operates in most phases of the AI pipeline.

  • It is one of the lowest-valued “Magnificent Seven” stocks.

Much of the tech and business world over the past couple of years has revolved around artificial intelligence (AI) and any company remotely dealing with the technology. It has made many AI stocks some of the best-performing stocks during that time, but it has also brought many AI companies into the light that are only there because of pure speculation and hype.

If you’re looking for a good AI stock to invest in that has stood the test of time, proven its ability to innovate, and has growth opportunities ahead of it, look no further than Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL).

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

Digital AI globe with network lines and icons representing industries like healthcare, travel, and finance.

Image source: Getty Images.

What makes Alphabet a great AI stock is that it has its hands in virtually all major phases of the technology:

  • Its AI research company, DeepMind, is responsible for critical breakthroughs that have pushed the entire AI field forward.
  • It has dozens of its own data centers, giving it more infrastructure control.
  • Its cloud platform, Google Cloud, allows it to train, deploy, and scale its AI models in-house (and its quantum computing advancements could make this faster and more efficient).
  • It has user-facing AI applications like Gemini, Flow, and Whisk.

Alphabet may not be the best in the market in all of these phases, but its significant presence in the AI pipeline allows it to capture value at every stage and rely less on other companies, unlike many of its competitors. The icing on the cake is that Alphabet seems to be undervalued compared to its other “Magnificent Seven” peers.

Should you invest $1,000 in Alphabet right now?

Before you buy stock in Alphabet, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Alphabet wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $640,916!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,090,012!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,052% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 188% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of September 8, 2025

Stefon Walters has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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After Figma’s red hot IPO, investors say these companies may be next to IPO http://livelaughlovedo.com/finance/after-figmas-red-hot-ipo-investors-say-these-companies-may-be-next-to-ipo/ http://livelaughlovedo.com/finance/after-figmas-red-hot-ipo-investors-say-these-companies-may-be-next-to-ipo/#respond Tue, 05 Aug 2025 04:31:21 +0000 http://livelaughlovedo.com/2025/08/05/after-figmas-red-hot-ipo-investors-say-these-companies-may-be-next-to-ipo/ [ad_1]

Figma’s sensational IPO last week resurrected longstanding debates about IPO pricing and first day pops—an unsurprising reaction to the newly listed stock’s 333% surge in its first days of trading. As investors dissect the offering (and as Figma’s stock settles back a bit, falling 27% on Monday), other key questions have emerged: Will Figma’s debut entice other startups to jump into the fray, bringing an end to the tech industry’s IPO drought? And if so, who’s next?

There’s a long list of late-stage VC-backed tech companies with strong customer bases that Wall Street investment bankers would love to take public. Many of these multi-billion dollar companies, including Databricks, Klarna, Stripe, and SpaceX, have been subjects of IPO speculation for years. And then of course, there’s the crop of richly valued AI startups, from OpenAI and Anthropic, to Elon Musk’s xAI. 

Those companies will likely continue to be in the spotlight, but in conversations I had with several investors following Figma’s debut, other names came up as more likely to IPO sooner including Canva, Revolut, Midjourney, Motive, and Anduril. 

“Having positive IPOs is a good signal for everybody,” says Kirsten Green, founder and managing partner at Forerunner Ventures, whose portfolio company Chime recently went public and experienced a 37% pop in stock price on its first day of trading. (Forerunner also has investments in public company Hims & Hers and late stage private companies including Oura.) “I believe we should revisit this idea: an IPO is the Series A of being in the public market–and having that really be a motivator to people’s willingness, and maybe even eagerness to go public.”  (As if on cue, HeartFlow, a medical technology company, filed an S-1 for its IPO at a $1.3 billion valuation on August 1).

Kyle Stanford, the director of research on US venture capital at PitchBook, notes that just 18 venture-backed companies have gone public through June 30 of this year. This, he says, is a factor of policy uncertainties that translate to funding headwinds as well as the overfunding that occurred in 2021 that continues to stymie venture capital. “Figma hopefully starts to break the dam, but it’s been a pretty slow quarter,” he says.

Though Figma, which makes design software, is profitable and has a strong set of integrated AI capabilities, these qualities are not essential to companies bound for IPO success, says Stanford. He says that investors would prefer companies to generate a minimum of $200 million in revenue that grows at high rates and prioritize positive free cash flow over profitability. Having an AI story is also “very important,” unless the company is very high growth and profitable by wide margins. 

Canva may be a most-compelling case since it’s a design company with similar fundamentals to that of Figma, said multiple investors I interviewed. Design collaboration company Canva has raised about $589 million over 18 rounds at a $32 billion valuation, higher than that of Figma’s at the time of its IPO. “Canva is a big winner when it comes to what happened yesterday with Figma,” says Jason Shuman, an investor at Primary Ventures. Shuman, who is not an investor in Canva, points to Canva’s $3 billion annual revenue and 35% year-over-year growth as signs of its business’ durability.

Others agree. “Canva—after looking at Figma, holy crap—they’re going to try to IPO as soon as possible,” says Felix Wang, Managing Director and Partner at Hedgeye Risk Management, who is not a Canva investor.  Canva, which was recently valued at $37 billion during a share buy back, did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

Wang and others note that the surge in Figma’s price is, in many ways, not actually driven by Figma. Rather, the market is at an all-time high, causing retail trader demand for companies new to market. “They don’t even know this company, but they know it’s a new company,” says Wang of retail traders investing in Figma. “They’re going to put some money into it, and then, more interestingly: they’re going to show it off on social media.”

As Figma is to Canva; NuBank is to Revolut, reasons Primary’s Shuman. He looks at fintech NuBank, which is up around 13% from its early 2025 IPO and thinks that Revolut, which has a very similar business model, could copycat. Revolut told Fortune in a statement: “our focus is not on if or when we IPO, but on continuing to expand the business, building new products, and providing better and cheaper services to serve our growing global customer base.” 

Another potential IPO candidate in the near-future is chipmaker Cerebras, says Primary’s Shuman, who invests in vertical AI, B2B, SMB and finance and defense companies but has no stake in Cerebras or Revolut. (Cerebras filed an S-1 in September 2024 but its IPO was delayed by regulators concerned about a $335 million investment by UAE-based G42. Now, it’s been cleared by regulators for a public market listing, but the company has held off on an IPO as it fundraises $1 billion, reports The Information.)

Many companies, including the largest and hottest private company OpenAI (which just nabbed a $300 billion valuation, per the New York Times), have significant incentives to remain private. This is because they can avoid public scrutiny that arises from disclosures required of public companies and have access to significant private capital for liquidity infusions that are often essential. 

Yet, the fact that behemoths like OpenAI, Stripe ($91 billion valuation) and SpaceX ($400 billion valuation) are private may even be a hidden cost for the public market. “I’m going to get philosophical,” says Forerunner’s Green. “Part of the public market was created so the broader population could participate in the economy and in the growth of the economy; it wasn’t meant to sit in a few people’s hands.”

One behemoth may be entering the stock market limelight. Anduril, the defense tech company that nabbed a $30.5 billion valuation on its Series G, has incentives to remain private due to the nature of its business. But Pitchbook’s Stanford predicts it to be the next tech IPO. In addition to Anduril’s CEO announcing it will “definitely” become publicly traded, its value proposition is core to Trump Administration priorities in security and defense, which could make it a hot pick for investors, Stanford reasons. 

“Other than that,” he says the list of potential IPO candidates these days is long: “There’s probably about 300 other companies that it could be.”

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Target: A Retail Giant at a Crossroads http://livelaughlovedo.com/finance/target-a-retail-giant-at-a-crossroads/ http://livelaughlovedo.com/finance/target-a-retail-giant-at-a-crossroads/#respond Mon, 28 Jul 2025 23:36:17 +0000 http://livelaughlovedo.com/2025/07/29/target-a-retail-giant-at-a-crossroads/ [ad_1]

Explore the exciting world of Target (NYSE: TGT) with our contributing expert analysts in this Motley Fool Scoreboard episode. Check out the video below to gain valuable insights into market trends and potential investment opportunities!
*Stock prices used were the prices of Jun. 18, 2025. The video was published on Jul. 28, 2025.

Should you invest $1,000 in Target right now?

Before you buy stock in Target, consider this:

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Target wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,063,471!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,041% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 28, 2025

Anand Chokkavelu, CFA has positions in Target. Lou Whiteman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Travis Hoium has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Target. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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3 Stocks That Could Turn $1,000 Into $5,000 by 2030 http://livelaughlovedo.com/finance/3-stocks-that-could-turn-1000-into-5000-by-2030/ http://livelaughlovedo.com/finance/3-stocks-that-could-turn-1000-into-5000-by-2030/#respond Thu, 24 Jul 2025 10:51:48 +0000 http://livelaughlovedo.com/2025/07/24/3-stocks-that-could-turn-1000-into-5000-by-2030/ [ad_1]

It may come as a surprise, but did you know that buying the right growth stocks can enable you to grow your wealth significantly over time? The key is in selecting companies that demonstrate solid growth and have a long runway to continue increasing their revenue, profits, and free cash flow. By holding these stocks over the years, you can multiply your wealth and build a valuable nest egg for your retirement.

Here are three stocks that could see their share prices increase significantly in the next five years.

Person drinking coffee.

Image source: Getty Images.

Garmin

Garmin (GRMN 1.88%) designs and manufactures a wide range of products for the automotive, aviation, marine, and outdoor recreation markets. The company saw strong demand for its innovative products, and posted higher revenue, net income, and free cash flow, as shown in the table below.

Metric 2022 2023 2024
Revenue $4.860 billion $5.228 billion $6.297 billion
Operating income $1.028 billion $1.092 billion $1.594 billion
Net income $973.585 million $1.290 billion $1.411 billion
Free cash flow $543.973 million $1.183 billion $1.239 billion

Data source: Garmin. Fiscal years end Dec. 31.

The business continued to report healthy growth in its top and bottom lines for the first quarter of 2025. Revenue rose 11.1% year over year to $1.54 billion, while operating income increased by almost 12% year over year to $332.8 million. Net income came in at $332.8 million, 20% higher than a year ago. Garmin also generated a positive free cash flow of $380.7 million for the quarter. It declared an annual cash dividend of $3.60, amounting to $0.90 per share per quarter. This level of dividend was 20% higher than the $3 annual cash dividend paid out in the prior year.

Garmin’s innovative new products look set to increase the company’s earnings and free cash flow. In April, the company debuted vivoactive 6, its newest health and fitness smartwatch. This product has up to 11 days of battery life, making it convenient for people to use of the watch’s myriad features to track their workouts and lifestyle. Later in the month, Garmin introduced Instinct 3-Tactical Edition, a new line of smartwatches made for extreme sports and rugged activities.

Management updated its 2025 guidance for revenue to come in at around $6.85 billion, representing a nearly 9% year-over-year increase. Garmin’s cutting-edge products and useful features should continue to endear it to new generations of customers, helping it continue its growth trajectory.

BlackLine

BlackLine (BL 0.16%) operates a cloud platform that allows organizations to streamline their financial operations, helping to improve accuracy and efficiency. The company is seeing steadily increasing demand for its services, and it reported higher revenue over the last three years. The business also broke even in 2023 and generated significantly higher free cash flow.

Metric 2022 2023 2024
Revenue $522.938 million $589.996 million $653.336 million
Operating income ($56.198 million) $14.348 million $18.536 million
Net income ($29.391 million) $52.833 million $161.174 million
Free cash flow $25.831 million $99.016 million $163.996 million

Data source: BlackLine. Fiscal years end Dec. 31.

For Q1 2025, BlackLine reported continued strong financial performance. Revenue rose 6% year over year to $166.9 million, while operating income more than doubled year over year to $3.6 million. However, net income fell by 44% year over year, mainly due to lower net interest income and a significantly higher tax bill. Free cash flow remained healthy at $32.6 million for the quarter. BlackLine’s remaining performance obligations increased by 11% year over year to $913.2 million.

The company continued demonstrating healthy growth, with the total number of customers increasing by 1% year over year to 4,455. More customers also migrated over to BlackLine’s new platform pricing model, bringing the total users to 393,892, an increase from 387,050 a year ago. Management expects 2025’s revenue to be in the range of $692 million to $705 million, with the midpoint of $698.5 million representing year-over-year growth of 6.9%.

BlackLine expanded its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities by embedding AI agents in every aspect of its financial workflow, ranging from recordkeeping to invoice-to-cash. This move enables its customers to make decisions faster and to obtain real-time insights. With the demand for digitalization staying strong and the company introducing useful innovations for its cloud platform, BlackLine looks set for continued growth.

Dutch Bros

Dutch Bros (BROS 0.14%) is a specialty coffee chain with 1,012 locations across 18 U.S. states as of March 31, 2025. The company has demonstrated strong growth over the years as it aggressively opened new stores. The business broke even in 2023 and became free cash flow positive by 2024.

Metric 2022 2023 2024
Revenue $739.012 million $965.776 million $1.281 billion
Operating income ($2.612 million) $46.222 million $106.093 million
Net income ($4.753 million) $1.718 million $35.258 million
Free cash flow ($127.997 million) ($88.542 million) $24.694 million

Data source: Dutch Bros. Fiscal years end Dec. 31.

Q1 2025 saw the company report yet another robust set of earnings. Revenue climbed 29% year over year to $355.2 million, while operating income rose 21.5% year over year to $31.1 million. Net income more than doubled year over year to $15.4 million. Dutch Bros ended Q1 2024 with 876 stores and saw its store count increase by 15.5% year over year to 1,012. Systemwide same-shop sales also grew 4.7% for the quarter, due to an increase in ticket size (3.4 percentage points) and the number of transactions (1.3 percentage points).

Dutch Bros intends to continue its expansion plan by opening at least 160 new shops this year. Revenue is projected to be around $1.565 billion for 2025, representing a year-over-year growth of 22.3%. Same-store sales growth is expected to be positive, in the range of 2% to 4%.

Management recently communicated its long-term growth plan during its Investor Day session, with a target of 2,029 shops by 2029. Annual revenue growth is expected to be in the range of around 20% per year, with shop contribution margin at around 30%. Dutch Bros estimates that its total addressable market is more than 7,000 shops nationwide, giving the business ample opportunity to continue growing its presence and increase its top and bottom lines.

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Could Buying Enterprise Products Partners Today Set You Up for Life? http://livelaughlovedo.com/finance/could-buying-enterprise-products-partners-today-set-you-up-for-life/ http://livelaughlovedo.com/finance/could-buying-enterprise-products-partners-today-set-you-up-for-life/#respond Tue, 24 Jun 2025 18:03:03 +0000 http://livelaughlovedo.com/2025/06/24/could-buying-enterprise-products-partners-today-set-you-up-for-life/ [ad_1]

One of the best ways to ensure an investment can reward you well for the rest of your life is to buy reliable, high-yield stocks. On that front, Enterprise Products Partners (EPD 0.81%) stands out. A well-above-market distribution yield of 6.8% is one reason for that, but so is the strength of the midstream master limited partnership’s (MLP’s) business and its impressive distribution history. Here’s what you need to know before buying.

What does Enterprise Products Partners do?

Enterprise Products Partners owns energy infrastructure, including pipelines, storage, processing, and transportation assets. It operates in what is generally referred to as the “midstream” segment of the overall energy sector. This is very important if you are looking to set yourself up with a reliable income stream for the rest of your life.

A road sign that reads retirement next exit with an arrow.

Image source: Getty Images.

The “upstream” is where oil and natural gas are produced. The “downstream” is where these commodities are processed. Financial results in both the upstream and the downstream are heavily influenced by often volatile commodity prices. The midstream, which basically connects the upstream to the downstream (and the rest of the world), isn’t. Midstream businesses generally charge fees for the use of their energy assets. So, demand for energy, which tends to be fairly robust through the economic cycle, is more important to financial results.

Basically, Enterprise Products Partners’ core business is designed to produce reliable cash flows. And those cash flows support the MLP’s lofty 6.8% distribution yield. That yield is likely to make up the lion’s share of an investor’s return over time, but that probably won’t be a problem for income-oriented investors.

How reliable is Enterprise Products Partners?

Enterprise Products Partners’ business is designed to generate reliable cash flows, but what does history say about its ability to set you up with a lifetime of reliable distributions? Well, a lot.

For starters, Enterprise has increased its distribution annually for 26 consecutive years. That notably includes increases during the coronavirus pandemic and the oil downturn in 2016, both times when it would have been easy to justify a distribution cut. In fact, peers did cut their distributions in both of those periods, including Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) in 2020 and Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) in 2016.

EPD Dividend Chart

EPD Dividend data by YCharts

If you are looking for a reliable income investment, Enterprise Products Partners stands out. But there’s more to like here than just the distribution streak. For example, Enterprise Products Partners has an investment-grade-rated balance sheet. The distribution is covered 1.7x by the MLP’s distributable cash flow. Essentially, there is a lot of room for adversity before a distribution cut would likely be on the table.

The distribution seems highly likely to keep growing, as well. The first reason is inherent to the midstream business. Increasing the fees charged along with inflation is the industry norm. Meanwhile, Enterprise has a long history of growing through capital investment projects, with a $7.6 billion capital plan currently in the works. On top of those two growth levers, Enterprise happens to be large enough to act as an industry consolidator. So, the occasional acquisition is a further growth driver to keep in mind, though acquisitions are impossible to predict.

Enterprise offers a compelling story for income investors

The one caveat here is that the world is increasingly using cleaner energy sources. However, the transition is likely to take decades, and it is far more likely that an all-of-the-above strategy (that includes carbon fuels) will be the final outcome. Don’t count Enterprise out because it deals with carbon energy. All in, if you are looking for an investment that can set you up with a lifetime of income, Enterprise Products Partners and its lofty 6.8% distribution yield should be on your shortlist today.

Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Kinder Morgan. The Motley Fool recommends Enterprise Products Partners. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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The Best Stocks to Invest $50,000 in Right Now http://livelaughlovedo.com/finance/the-best-stocks-to-invest-50000-in-right-now/ http://livelaughlovedo.com/finance/the-best-stocks-to-invest-50000-in-right-now/#respond Mon, 23 Jun 2025 05:50:55 +0000 http://livelaughlovedo.com/2025/06/23/the-best-stocks-to-invest-50000-in-right-now/ [ad_1]

If you have $50,000 to invest, you’re in a good position. That’s enough to make a significant difference for your retirement or whatever else you’re investing for.

With $50,000 to invest, you’ll likely want to find stocks that can deliver growth, but with relatively low risk. Luckily, there are a number of stocks available on the market that embody those characteristics. Keep reading to see two of them.

Person sitting against a couch, looking at a newspaper.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms (META -1.88%) may be the best example of a business that can burn through billions in cash on a side project, but is still overwhelmingly successful.

Meta has lost more than $60 billion on its metaverse and artificial intelligence (AI)-focused division, Reality Labs. But the success of its advertising business and the growth of its family of apps division has more than made up for it.

Over the last three years, the stock is up more than 300%. It’s fended off a threat from TikTok with its Reels. Meta’s AI tools are also helping the company better monetize its ad inventory and help its advertisers use AI for images and ad copy.

Meta effectively has a duopoly in digital advertising with Alphabet, but it’s outgrowing its large rival. In the first quarter, revenue jumped 16% to $42.3 billion, and Meta reported an operating profit of $17.5 billion, or an operating margin of 41%.

The company benefits from a dream business model where it sells ads on user-generated content, and has more than 3 billion daily active users across its apps, primarily including Facebook and Instagram.

Meta’s wide-moat advantage in digital advertising and social media isn’t likely to go anywhere, and the business should continue to experience solid growth as long as the economy is healthy.

Meta is also a top AI competitor. Meta AI’s chatbot now has nearly 1 billion users, giving it the biggest user base of any AI platform. The company’s deal with Scale AI should also accelerate its AI ambitions.

Finally, the stock trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 27, which looks like a great valuation for a company growing at its pace.

Overall, Meta combines solid growth, wide profit margins, a strong competitive advantage, and a good valuation, making it a great stock for a large investment. The company looks like a good bet to continue outperforming the market at relatively low risk.

2. Axon Enterprise

Axon Enterprise (AXON 0.79%) may not be a household name the way Meta is, but it similarly dominates its niche of law enforcement technology.

Axon makes Taser electrical weapons, body and dashboard cameras, and software systems that help law enforcement agencies make use of the data the cameras generate.

The complementary hardware and software products have created a strong moat for Axon, and its stock has gained more than 2,000% over the last decade.

These days, Axon is expanding beyond its traditional core in law enforcement into private sector businesses like packaged delivery companies. In fact, its biggest contract in 2024 was with a large logistics company, which demonstrates that there are applications for its camera systems beyond law enforcement.

The company also released a generative-AI product called Draft One, which writes first drafts of police reports based on camera footage. The product has been well-received by law enforcement as it’s saving valuable time, allowing officers to focus on more pressing matters.

Axon continues to deliver strong growth, with revenue up 31% to $604 million in the first quarter. It reported adjusted net income of $115 million, showing that it’s growing fast and has wide profit margins.

The company also raised its full-year revenue guidance from $2.55 billion to $2.65 billion to $2.6 billion to $2.7 billion, showing confidence in its growth the rest of the year.

With little direct competition across its product portfolio, Axon looks poised for more long-term tailwinds due to its innovation and growth in new markets like logistics.

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Jeremy Bowman has positions in Axon Enterprise and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Axon Enterprise, and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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