Key Points

• IBM provides AI exposure with a 0.70 beta, offering a calmer ride than rocket ships like Nvidia or Microsoft.

• Big Blue's free cash flow rose about 55% over three years despite modest revenue growth.

• The stock is down in the last month and last quarter and sits well below its 52‑week high, which creates a tempting setup for new money.

• 10 stocks we like better than International Business Machines ›

I get it. The ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) boom gives you a dopamine rush from market darlings like Nvidia and Microsoft. The recent financial results are gorgeous, the AI growth narratives are grand, and the valuation multiples are...aspirational. Microsoft stock trades at 52 times free cash flow, and Nvidia's reading on the same ratio is 58. Their price-to-sales valuations are double-digit figures.

But if you want AI exposure that won't have you checking stock futures at 3 a.m., you should consider something deeply unfashionable instead. I'm talking about IBM (NYSE: IBM).

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Yes, the Big Blue IBM. The one your grandparents think still sells mainframes and punch cards. Under the hood, it's now a hybrid-cloud-and-software company with an enterprise-AI services segment that gets paid to make other people's AI actually work. Sure, IBM still sells mainframes, but even these heavy-duty data crunchers come with integrated AI systems nowadays.

In the long run, for all the romance with shiny new things and high-octane growth stories, the stock market tends to reward cash flow that shows up on time. And in the rapidly evolving AI market, IBM is a cash flow machine.

The calmer way to play AI

Let's run a few more numbers. As of Aug. 22, IBM's beta value stands at 0.70. That means IBM typically moves roughly two-thirds as much as the market, directionally.

It's a pretty calm investment. A low beta is not a bug -- it's a feature. You're trading some upside optionality for a smoother ride with fewer sudden price drops.

Valuation is the second sanity check. IBM's shares trade at 18 times free cash flow and 3.5 times trailing sales. In AI land, that's pretty austere. These modest valuation ratios suggest you're paying a fair, not fanciful, price for IBM's proven cash generation.

Meanwhile, the dividend yield is 2.8%. That's actually on the low side for IBM, whose yield averaged 4.3% over the last five years. At the same time, it's far above the S&P 500 index's average yield of 1.2% and light-years ahead of Microsoft or Nvidia -- their yields stop at 0.7% and 0.02%, respectively.

Not a rocket ship, but a cash machine

"But growth!" you say. "IBM's slow-burning cash generation is boring!"

Right -- Big Blue isn't a hypergrowth story. Trailing sales are up by 7.3% over the last three years -- in total, not per year. IBM can't keep up with Microsoft's 42% revenue growth over the period, not to mention Nvidia's booming 399% top-line increase.

The counterpoint is cash profit. IBM's free cash flow surged 55% higher in this three-year period, driven by a great long-term strategy. Red Hat is the hybrid-cloud foundation on which IBM's cloud-centered AI strategy is constructed. Software subscriptions sit on top of that robust base, and consulting services glue the whole plan together. IBM lives in the boring but profitable pick-and-shovel part of the AI build-out.

WatsonX adoption is picking up the pace

IBM's customers have been testing its WatsonX AI services for a couple of years now, preparing to install enterprise-friendly AI services for the long haul. These pre-adoption tests are converting into solid long-term contracts nowadays.

You can see this trend in IBM's financial reports, and investors are taking notice. That's why the dividend yield is so low: IBM's stock has gained 22% in the last year, or 25% if you account for dividends with the total-return metric.

If you want a near-term trading angle, the ticker tape has actually done you a favor recently. IBM is down by high single digits over the past month and past quarter, nearly 19% below its 52-week high. That's not a full-on retreat, but it is a better entry point than chasing the lofty valuations of Nvidia and Microsoft.

Risks? Sure. IBM's debt leverage is substantial. And if the market decides that every AI-adjacent stock must be priced like an accelerator chip monopoly, IBM won't excite anybody.

But suppose the valuation multiples of highfliers continue to compress, as they have been doing in recent quarters. In that case, investors tend to rediscover IBM-like stocks with strong cash flows, rich dividends, and low beta values. This cash machine makes risk-weary investors feel safe, the way people rediscover umbrellas in the rain.

IBM belongs in a balanced AI portfolio

I'm not telling you to sell Nvidia or Microsoft. They are great companies with tremendous business growth, and they might even deserve their trillion-dollar valuations in the long run. I'm just suggesting solid portfolio construction over exciting narratives. Keep your rocket stocks; add a reliable ballast.

IBM gives you sticky enterprise AI exposure with a lower-volatility profile, a reasonable multiple, and generous cash returns while you wait.

Should you invest $1,000 in International Business Machines right now?

Before you buy stock in International Business Machines, 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 International Business Machines 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 $649,657!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,090,993!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,057% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 185% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

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*Stock Advisor returns as of August 18, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in International Business Machines and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends International Business Machines, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool 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.

Key Points

• Ethereum jumped about 13% after Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole comments hinted at possible rate relief in September.

• Lower interest rates generally lift risk assets because cheaper capital encourages more speculative trades.

• Investors should expect turbulence, but Ethereum has a bright long-term future.

• 10 stocks we like better than Ethereum ›

Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) skyrocketed on Friday. As soon as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggested that interest rates might come down in 2025, Ethereum's price took off on a rocket ride. The coin was up 13% at 2:24 p.m. ET, reaching prices not seen since November 2021.

Powell's hinted rate cuts sent Ethereum higher

Lower interest rates on federal debt papers often inspire strong returns for investors in high-risk assets. If it's easy to find cheap capital, it's easier to risk some money on more speculative trades. Ethereum has seen plenty of these effects play out in 2025, mostly the reverse version with crypto prices going down amid a slower rate-cut policy.

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But this was the bullish version of the rate-cut effect. Powell didn't actually lower federal interest rates in Friday's speech at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, but he suggested that September's Federal Reserve meeting "may warrant" the first interest rate reduction since last December.

The mere suggestion that rates might come down was enough to boost Ethereum's swooning price chart.

Can Ethereum maintain this momentum?

Ethereum ended 2024 near a multiyear high but backed down as much as 63% from that peak by mid-April 2025. The cryptocurrency is quite sensitive to macroeconomic changes and quite volatile in general, with a beta value of 4.7 today. That means Ethereum tends to move in the same direction as the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) stock market index, but 4.7 times faster in either direction. By comparison, Bitcoin's beta is a calmer (but still elevated) 2.8.

Will Ethereum maintain its momentum from here? It's hard to say because there are many moving pieces to this puzzle. Will the Fed actually lower rates in September, or will spiking inflation force a different decision? Can the recent trend of companies adding Ethereum to their balance sheets pick up speed? Are consumers around the world ready to embrace Ethereum-based solutions for decentralized finance and blockchain-powered games?

The answers to some of these questions probably won't be favorable to Ethereum investors this year. However, I expect this cryptocurrency to disconnect from its tight macro trend reliance over time and become more valuable in the long run. So whether the Jackson Hole spike has legs or not, I'm a happy long-term investor in Ethereum coins. Just fasten your digital seat belts, because there may be some turbulence in the months ahead.

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

Before you buy stock in Ethereum, 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 Ethereum 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 $650,499!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,072,543!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,045% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 182% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

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*Stock Advisor returns as of August 18, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

On August 13, 2025, Director Inder M. Singh sold 50,480 net shares of IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) in a derivative-related transaction where he exercised the same number of options and proceeded to then sell the shares in an open-market transaction.

Transaction summary

Metric	Value
Shares traded	50,480
Transaction value	$2.2 million
Post-transaction shares	5,513
Post-transaction value	$227,191 (as of Aug. 13, 2025)
1-year performance	463.7%

Transaction value is based on the SEC Form 4 reported price ($43.02); post-transaction value reflects the reported position value after the transaction ($227,190.73). No GAAP or non-GAAP designation is specified for these values.

Key questions

How significant was this sale relative to prior holdings?
After this transaction, Singh retained just 5,513 shares, representing a 90.15% reduction from the pre-transaction level of 55,993 shares as of August 13, 2025.

What does this activity indicate about capacity and remaining insider exposure?
Given the cumulative effect of recent transactions -- selling net 87,570 shares since June 18, 2025 -- the remaining holding now represents 0.002% of shares outstanding as of August 13, 2025, according to SEC Form 4 data. The current low share count constrains the scale of any future transactions.

How does the timing align with recent market performance?
The transaction followed a twelve-month period during which IonQ shares rose nearly 464% in one year. The reported sales were executed at $43.02 per share on August 13, 2025, while the stock closed at $41.21 that day and at $40.23 as of August 18, 2025.

Company overview

Metric	Value
Market capitalization	$12.2 billion
Revenue (TTM)	$52.37 million
Net income (TTM)	($463.58 million)
1-year price change	463.7%

* 1-year price change calculated using August 13, 2025, as the reference date.

Company snapshot

• IonQ develops and commercializes general-purpose quantum computing systems, providing access to quantum computers with 20 qubits via major cloud platforms including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, as well as through its proprietary cloud service.
• Generates revenue by providing access to quantum computers through both pay-per-use and subscription models, leveraging partnerships with leading cloud providers.
• Serves enterprise clients, academic institutions, and research organizations seeking to leverage quantum computing for advanced problem-solving and innovation.

IonQ operates at the forefront of quantum computing, delivering scalable quantum hardware and cloud access to a diverse set of customers. The company leverages strategic partnerships with leading cloud providers to broaden its reach and accelerate the adoption of quantum solutions. IonQ's focus on advancing quantum technology positions it as a key player in the emerging quantum computing industry.

Foolish take

Most insider sales involve the conversion of stock options into ordinary shares, which are then sold like any other stock. These transactions are usually pre-planned, with the trading schedule reported beforehand in the company's proxy filings.

This trade report is no different. Inder Singh has been an IonQ director since 2021, accepting the role of lead independent director earlier this year. With executive-level experience from cable giant Comcast and microchip architecture specialist Arm Holdings, Singh adds valuable business and technology expertise to the boardroom.

80% of Singh's annual compensation consists of restricted stock awards. He can access this income source by selling shares on the open market. So investors shouldn't see this stock sale as an IonQ director backing out of his stock holdings due to concerns out the business, or stock valuation, or anything else. Singh is simply converting some of his stock awards into cash, as many business insiders do on a regular basis.

At the same time, Singh is getting an extraordinary cash value out of these shares, since IonQ's stock soared to lofty heights at the end of 2024. The stock still commands a price-to-sales ratio of 162, even though quantum computing systems are many years away from doing useful work and fueling IonQ's business operations.

Glossary

Insider transaction: A trade of company stock by an executive, director, or other person with access to material nonpublic information.
Net sold: The total number of shares sold minus any shares bought during a specific transaction or period.
Derivative-related transaction: A trade involving financial instruments like options, whose value depends on the price of an underlying asset.
Option exercise: The act of using the right to buy or sell shares at a set price under an options contract.
Open-market sale: Selling shares through public stock exchanges rather than in private or pre-arranged transactions.
SEC Form 4: A regulatory filing disclosing insider trades of company securities by officers, directors, or significant shareholders.
Option-based compensation: Employee or executive pay that includes the right to purchase company stock at a predetermined price.
Equity exposure: The degree to which an investor or insider is affected by changes in the value of company stock.
Shares outstanding: The total number of a company's shares that are currently held by all shareholders.
Qubit: The basic unit of quantum information, used in quantum computing, analogous to a bit in classical computing.
Cloud platform: An online service providing access to computing resources, software, or hardware over the internet.
TTM: The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.

Where to invest $1,000 right now

When our analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,045%* — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 182% for the S&P 500.

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*Stock Advisor returns as of August 18, 2025

Anders Bylund has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Comcast. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• Krispy Kreme's stock is down 73% from its annual highs, now trading at a bargain-bin valuation.

• A promising McDonald's delivery deal turned out to be much too expensive on a nationwide scale.

• 10 stocks we like better than Krispy Kreme ›

Doughnut vendor Krispy Kreme (NASDAQ: DNUT) used to be hot. Now it's a cautionary tale. As of Aug. 20, the stock has dropped 73% from its yearly peak. It trades at 0.4 times trailing sales and 0.9 times the company's book value.

These ratios are typical of companies in deep financial trouble. But how did Krispy Kreme get to this desperate situation?

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It turns out that a potentially awesome partnership backfired. Even the final act of shutting down that deal left Krispy Kreme scrambling to fight the massive infrastructure costs that came along with it. At this point, Krispy Kreme investors might wish the company had never agreed to that costly McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) contract.

What happened to the McDonald's deal?

Krispy Kreme started shipping doughnuts to McDonald's restaurants in October, 2022. The limited test run in Louisville, Kentucky, saw decent results, inspiring a larger-scale implementation in 2024.

But the nationwide rollout was never completed, as Krispy Kreme pulled the plug on this project in the second quarter of 2025. Management noted that the doughnut delivery program was too expensive on a networkwide scale. Furthermore, it will take several quarters to unwind the attempts to build an effective production and delivery network in support of the McDonald's deal.

What's next for Krispy Kreme?

As a result, Krispy Kreme is reviewing its entire logistics setup in search of more cost-effective solutions. The company is ending hundreds of underperforming delivery contracts, though more than half of the shuttered deals will be replaced with higher-volume routes by the end of 2025.

That may sound like an empty promise, but the partners for these new routes include giant household names such as Walmart, Costco, and Kroger. As long as Krispy Kreme can focus these operations on the most profitable delivery routes, the company might be poised for a long-term turnaround.

But that's a pretty speculative forecast. For now, Krispy Kreme investors are simply disappointed in the failed McDonald's experiment and its financial aftermath.

Should you invest $1,000 in Krispy Kreme right now?

Before you buy stock in Krispy Kreme, 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 Krispy Kreme 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 $654,624!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,075,117!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,049% — 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.

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*Stock Advisor returns as of August 18, 2025

Anders Bylund has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF generally tracks Bitcoin’s price, so investor returns should be similar to holding the coin after fees.

• The ETF introduces extra risks because third parties such as Coinbase and BlackRock hold and manage the coins.

• At the same time, the ETF structure adds regulatory safety and other benefits.

• 10 stocks we like better than iShares Bitcoin Trust ›

Whatever Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) does over the next five years, iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (NASDAQ: IBIT) will follow almost exactly the same pattern.

2030 is basically an eternity away when you're dealing with the volatile cryptocurrency market. Nobody knows exactly what's coming up, and there will almost certainly be both bullish and bearish surprises along the way. That being said, let me sketch up the most likely scenario for the iShares Bitcoin ETF over this period.

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Why I expect Bitcoin to rise

First and foremost, I do expect Bitcoin prices to rise in the long run.

The original cryptocurrency has proved its worth as a reliable tool for long-term wealth storage. The strictly limited supply should boost Bitcoin prices over time, assuming that demand for this digital coin increases. That's almost a foregone conclusion at this point, given the U.S. government's embrace of Bitcoin ownership and the emergence of Bitcoin-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The Bitcoin community must stave off challenges from newer cryptocurrencies, including hard forks such as Bitcoin Cash (CRYPTO: BCH) and Bitcoin SV (CRYPTO: BSV). It should also trade in its encryption algorithm for a solution that's resistant against quantum computer decryption attacks, perhaps not right away but certainly in the next decade.

As long as Bitcoin can dodge these risks, it has a strong first-mover advantage as people, governments, and companies continue to embrace cryptocurrencies. Rising interest in Web3 solutions and decentralized finance apps will accelerate that trend. Again, there are real risks on the table but I strongly expect Bitcoin to gain value over time.

How closely does the iShares ETF follow Bitcoin?

ETFs are incredibly good at reflecting the returns of their underlying holdings. In this case, you can bet that the iShares Bitcoin ETF will follow Bitcoin's every move.

There is a modest sponsor fee of 0.25% per year, allowing iShares owner Blackrock (NYSE: BLK) to make some money from running this popular ETF. Even so, it's hard to tell the cryptocurrency apart from the ETF in long-term price charts. As of August 19, both have gained roughly 141% since the ETF was launched:

IBIT data by YCharts

The perks and catches of owning a Bitcoin ETF

So why bother buying spot-priced Bitcoin ETF shares instead of actual Bitcoins? Well, the ETF structure comes with a few benefits:

• ETFs add a layer of shareholder protection due to financial filing requirements and regulatory oversight.
• You can buy and sell them just like stocks, using an ordinary stock brokerage account.
• You can leave technical issues of Bitcoin ownership such as encryption key management and data security to the ETF manager.
• It's much easier to report ETF ownership when tax season rolls in.
• Priced at $113,600 per coin right now, most people don't buy entire Bitcoins. But if you insist on nice, round units of ownership, the iShares ETF's costs just $64.19 per share.

The iShares ETF isn't a free ride, of course. The benefits listed above should be considered alongside the risks and downsides involved in ETF ownership:

• The management fee may be small. Nevertheless, it's an extra cost that reduces your returns over time. These tiny nibbles can make a difference if you're holding the ETF for many years.
• There are several parts to the ETF structure such as the fund's management team and a Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: COIN) custodian account that holds the actual coins. Blackrock and Coinbase probably aren't going out of business any time soon, but investors felt the same way about Enron in 2001 and Lehman Brothers in 2008. The additional risk of multiple asset management teams is never quite zero.
• Owning actual Bitcoins lets you use them as a currency, participate in on-chain events like hard forks. The ETF doesn't confer these options and benefits to the shareholder.

The ETF should track Bitcoin, but mind the risks

This is a simplified overview, in the interest of not writing a literal book. There are many more wrinkles and quirks to consider. However, for most intents and purposes, owning the iShares Bitcoin ETF over the next five years should be just as good (or, less likely, just as bad) as holding actual Bitcoins. I highlighted earlier why I think that's a winning idea with a couple of serious risks and plenty of volatility expected ahead.

So the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF should post shareholder-friendly gains in the next five years, just like Bitcoin itself. The amount of upside remains to be seen, and opinions of Bitcoin's true value vary from nothing (Warren Buffett) to millions of dollars per coin (Michael Saylor, Cathie Wood). Most long-term investors should include a little bit of Bitcoin exposure in their portfolios, either directly or via ETFs.

Blackrock itself recommends limiting that exposure to 2% or less of the total portfolio value, and that advice comes from the largest Bitcoin ETF's sponsor firm. In other words, Bitcoin (and its ETFs) looks enticing in the long term but it's still a high-risk investment.

Should you invest $1,000 in iShares Bitcoin Trust right now?

Before you buy stock in iShares Bitcoin Trust, 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 iShares Bitcoin Trust 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 $654,624!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,075,117!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,049% — 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 August 18, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in Bitcoin and iShares Bitcoin Trust. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool recommends Coinbase Global. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• Nvidia has split its stock six times, most recently 10-for-1 in June 2024.

• The current stock price is well below previous split-launching highs.

• Long-term value for Nvidia investors comes from its leadership in AI, not stock splits.

• 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia ›

Semiconductor designer Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has split its stock six times so far, including a splashy 10-for-1 split in June 2024. The shares are climbing to new highs again with a market cap of $4.34 trillion.

Will Nvidia announce another split before the end of 2025? Let's have a look.

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Nvidia's business is booming

First and foremost, a stock split wouldn't make sense if the company were in financial trouble. That's a pretty academic concern here, though. As the leading supplier of high-performance artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators, Nvidia is enjoying a golden age.

Its trailing revenue has soared 354% higher over the last two years to $148.5 billion. Nvidia converted $72.1 billion of those beefy sales into free cash flow over the last year. That's up from $5.1 billion two years ago.

And many experts expect its booming business to stay strong for years. Rivals such as Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) and Cerebras have developed competitive AI chips, but Nvidia's solutions quickly emerged as an industry standard.

Surging data center construction around the world suggests that the market leader will see plenty of AI chip orders in the coming years. Ergo, Nvidia is doing quite all right, and some would argue that the stock is undervalued today.

Why Nvidia's next split isn't around the corner

A technical issue makes it clear that Nvidia won't execute the next stock split in 2025. These moves need approval, usually by a passing vote at the company's annual meeting of shareholders. That ship sailed on June 25.

Management could call a special meeting just to consider a stock split proposal, but honestly, it's not that big of a deal. Hold that thought -- I'll explain what I mean in a minute.

All right, but would it make any sense to lower the share price with another split someday soon? The stock is trading at nearly $180, having gained 46% since last year's big split.

But the stock soared all the way to $1,200 per share before Nvidia reorganized its stock offering in 2024. Before that, it cost a split-adjusted $740 around the time of the 4-for-1 split in July 2021.

A 46% gain is impressive, especially when starting from a market-cap launchpad worth $3 trillion. But it's a long way to go from $180 to $1,200, or even to the lower $740 range.

Judging by Nvidia's earlier split announcements, I'd be surprised to see another stock split in the next year or two. That's true even if the stock price keeps rising 46% per year.

NVDA data by YCharts.

Stock splits in 2025: More hype than wealth-building substance

As noted earlier, stock splits aren't a big deal. They used to be, when stocks had to be traded in round lots of 100 shares. But that requirement was scrapped in 2007, and most brokerages allow trading of fractional shares nowadays. The concept of hugely expensive round lots is nearly as outdated as stock quotes in fractions of a dollar (not seen since 2001), and the real-world value of stock splits disappeared when these changes were made.

Splits are still great headline fodder in 2025, and you can see them as the board of directors issuing a vote of confidence for future price gains. But the split itself neither boosts nor hurts the stock price or total market value. You're just cutting Nvidia's $4.34 trillion of shareholder value into a different number of equal shares: 10 shares worth $176 each is exactly the same as 40 shares priced at $44.

So don't worry too much about Nvidia's stock-splitting plans. It's not likely to happen soon, and it's not a game-changing event if it takes this accounting step. Just keep an eye on the evolving AI boom to make sure the chipmaker hangs on to its dominant market share.

That's where the real shareholder value comes from, after all.

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

Before you buy stock in Nvidia, 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 Nvidia 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 $624,823!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,064,820!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,019% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 178% 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 29, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• The iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) has attracted more assets than any other Ethereum ETF, with 42% of asset inflows in just the past month.

• BlackRock's backing provides institutional credibility and virtually unlimited financial resources behind the fund.

• Buying Ethereum through an ETF eliminates the need for crypto wallets, special exchanges, and fractional coin calculations.

• 10 stocks we like better than iShares Ethereum Trust - iShares Ethereum Trust ETF ›

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on the real-time price of Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) have been around for a year now. Since the funds were approved and launched in July 2024, Ethereum has gained 7% while the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) rose 18%. The leading ETFs have done a great job of tracking this performance precisely, even if the cryptocurrency has been lagging behind stocks recently.

But one ETF stands apart from the rest in many ways. If you're planning to enter the Ethereum market via an ETF, the iShares Ethereum Trust (NASDAQ: ETHA) should be at the top of your list. Apart from having the most assets under management (AUM) in its category, the iShares ETF also comes with low fees and a proven fund family.

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So if you have $500 to spend on a crypto investment today, here's why you should consider the iShares Ethereum Trust.

Is Ethereum a good investment?

Ethereum is often more volatile than the larger Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) cryptocurrency. For instance, the two crypto giants have both posted approximately 1,200% gains in the last five years, but Ethereum's path to this peak had many more peaks and valleys along the way. The S&P 500 is basically flatlining next to both, even in the midst of the generative artificial intelligence boom:

Ethereum Price data by YCharts

Now, Ethereum serves a very different purpose than Bitcoin. Instead of a fundamental wealth-holding tool, Ethereum's smart contracts help app developers manage financial tools and trends in a global blockchain ledger. So Ethereum's value doesn't spring from a scarce supply, but from real-world usage of the resulting programs.

That makes Ethereum a promising investment if you feel like the financial world could use a whole new set of basic tools. Ethereum-based apps can track ownership of physical assets, execute financial transactions automatically, or manage your digital wallet securely. The Ethereum ledger is readable anytime, from anywhere.

At the same time, its encryption effectively makes all of this transaction data immune to hacking and fraud attacks. On this platform, developers can build a wide variety of financial apps, mobile games, and so on.

So if you see a market for this sort of thing in the long run, Ethereum has led the blockchain-based app development space for years. It's the industry standard -- for good reason. And that should make Ethereum a solid investment over the years, as decentralized app development continues to gain traction.

Why buy via an Ethereum ETF?

Buying Ethereum directly often means setting up a new account with a different type of brokerage -- one that can handle cryptocurrency trades rather than stock transactions. You also need to get comfortable with a different type of transaction, where you're usually trading fractions of a digital coin rather than batches of full shares of a stock. Prices are always changing, and you have to figure out where to store your new Ethereum coins.

ETFs make the whole process much easier, assuming you already have a stock-trading brokerage account. These funds act just like stocks, with shares usually priced in a comfortable range. A few iShares Ethereum Trust shares at $27 apiece can be more comfortable than a single Ethereum coin at $3,640.

What makes the iShares ETF special?

As mentioned, the iShares fund is more popular and therefore more liquid than other Ethereum-based ETFs. This makes trading safer and easier, with more stable share prices and quicker transactions.

It's part of the world-famous iShares fund family, next to the even more popular iShares Bitcoin ETF (NASDAQ: IBIT) and the massive iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: IVV). Financial services giant BlackRock runs the show, giving investors the peace of mind that comes with essentially bottomless financial backing.

And like most of its iShares cousins, this one comes with a low fee ratio. At 0.25% per year, it's not exactly the cheapest Ethereum ETF to own, but it comes close to the lowest-cost Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust (NYSEMKT: ETH) at 0.15%. The BlackRock backing and world-class liquidity can make up for this small gap, and some Ethereum ETFs come with fee ratios as high as 2.5%.

The iShares Ethereum Trust is only pulling away from the competition, too. With 42% of AUM inflows over the last month, this fund added more AUM than any other Ethereum ETF has done year to date.

You should consider the iShares Ethereum Trust before any other fund in this category. It's a great place to put your next $500 (about 18 shares) of investable cash to work. Market makers broadly agree, judging by the dominant inflows of more funding.

Should you invest $1,000 in iShares Ethereum Trust - iShares Ethereum Trust ETF right now?

Before you buy stock in iShares Ethereum Trust - iShares Ethereum Trust ETF, 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 iShares Ethereum Trust - iShares Ethereum Trust ETF 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 21, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, iShares Bitcoin Trust, and iShares Ethereum Trust - iShares Ethereum Trust ETF. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• T-Mobile's Q2 results surpassed analyst expectations across the board.

• The wireless carrier is diversifying beyond mobile with fiber, satellite, and fixed wireless broadband services.

• The company's premium-class subscription plans have been popular with new subscribers in recent months.

• 10 stocks we like better than T-Mobile US ›

Shares of T-Mobile US (NASDAQ: TMUS) jumped as much as 7.6% higher on Thursday morning, following the release of strong second-quarter results. As of 1:20 p.m. ET, the stock cooled down slightly to a 6.5% price increase.

T-Mobile's popular premium plans

T-Mobile added 1.7 million postpaid net customers in the second quarter, led by a doubling of sign-ups for the premium-priced Experience Beyond plan. As a result, sales rose 6.9% year over year to $21.1 billion, just above the consensus analyst target at $21 billion. Earnings jumped from $2.49 to $2.84 per share, stumping the Street view of approximately $2.68.

Building the network of tomorrow

The company is posting industry-leading results while closing a couple of promising acquisitions.

T-Mobile added 97,000 fiber-optic broadband customers from Lumos in the second quarter, and the pending buyout of UScellular will boost the company's network from 9,000 to 12,000 sites on Aug. 1. Its fixed broadband offerings are expanding with Lumos fiber, the recently launched T-Satellite service, and a wider range of home network options based on wireless 4G and 5G services.

The magenta network is not sitting on its hands, but taking concrete action to stay on top of the American mobility market.

Should you invest $1,000 in T-Mobile US right now?

Before you buy stock in T-Mobile US, 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 T-Mobile US 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 $634,627!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,046,799!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,037% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 182% 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 21, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in T-Mobile US. The Motley Fool recommends T-Mobile US. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• Kraft Heinz, PepsiCo, and Comcast all offer dividend yields far above their long-term averages right now.

• Their stocks may be down, but this trio of fallen giants should get back up in the long run.

• All three companies face flat or declining sales, but continue to generate significant free cash flow.

• 10 stocks we like better than Kraft Heinz ›

The Nasdaq-100 index is home to some of the most exciting growth stocks on the market. It includes nine of the 10 largest stocks by market cap. All 10 are members of the trillion-dollar valuation club. At the same time, the Nasdaq-100 also holds some impressive dividend payers.

Generous dividend yields can be very shareholder-friendly -- if they are a conscious choice and supported by healthy cash profits. In other cases, dividend yields can soar as the same stock's market price goes down. Some investors see outsized yields as a shorthand sign of companies in big trouble.

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 »

So let's take a look at the three richest dividend policies in the Nasdaq-100, as of July 18. Do they belong to perfectly healthy businesses with excess cash to spend, or are they fallen giants with serious issues?

1. Kraft Heinz: 5.7% dividend yield

Food giant Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ: KHC) offers the most generous dividend yield in this index today, and it's not a close race.

Kraft Heinz always carried a lofty yield. It has averaged 4.6% over the last five years. But it also soared over the last 52 weeks due to slumping share prices.

The maker of your favorite ketchup, hot dogs, and processed cheese has seen top-line revenues stall in the last six quarters. Kraft Heinz is still a fantastic cash machine, converting 12% of its sales into free cash flow on a trailing basis. That's slightly above the 11% cash profit conversion the company saw six years ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic turned the consumer world upside down.

This stock honestly looks undervalued right now, trading at just 10.4 times free cash flow and 0.7 times book value. These valuation ratios are low, even in the conservative space of packaged food producers. The company is battling the same macroeconomic headwinds as everyone else, but with an unmatched portfolio of food brands by its side. I think it's a good idea to lock in this soaring dividend yield by picking up some Kraft Heinz shares on the cheap.

2. PepsiCo: 3.9% yield

I'm not leaving the food market quite yet. The next name on this list is PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP), the storied maker of soft drinks and snack foods.

This recent dividend boost is even sharper than Kraft Heinz's increase. PepsiCo's yield has averaged 2.9% since the summer of 2020, with a 34% uptick in the last year.

The company had some inventory management issues last year, and sales have been rather flat since the summer of 2023. I see a world-class consumer goods business struggling to meet its own lofty quality standards.

This situation looks a lot like the Kraft Heinz setup. Opportunistic investors would probably do well in the long run if they grabbed some PepsiCo shares in this extended price dip.

3. Comcast: 3.8% yield

Then there's entertainment powerhouse Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), also providing dividend yields well above its long-term averages.

It's another tale of plunging share prices resulting in rich dividend yields. And once again, I wouldn't say that Comcast is in financial trouble.

The new Epic Universe theme park at Comcast's Universal Orlando resort, opened in late May, should breathe new life into the underperforming theme parks division. The Universal movie studio segment recently scored big hits like Jurassic World: Rebirth and the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon. Meanwhile, Comcast's massive connectivity and platforms division provides a robust cash-generating base from which the company can launch more ambitious growth initiatives.

I don't mean to repeat myself, but Comcast could also be a great buy at this low point. Sure, the entertainment market is changing at light speed, but the Universal brand is putting up a real fight.

Should you invest $1,000 in Kraft Heinz right now?

Before you buy stock in Kraft Heinz, 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 Kraft Heinz 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 $652,133!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,056,790!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% 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 15, 2025

Anders Bylund has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Comcast and Kraft Heinz. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• Gamblers chase quick, game-changing returns, but investors build wealth slowly through compound growth over time.

• Investing means buying actual ownership in companies.

• The line between risky investments and safe gambling bets might blur, but ownership makes all the difference.

• 10 stocks we like better than S&P 500 Index ›

Investing looks like a sophisticated form of gambling. However, there are huge differences between these two types of risk-taking behavior. If you're doing it right, long-term investing and short-term gambles are a world apart.

Gambling vs. investing: A quick primer

Here are some of the main similarities and differences between gambling and investing. I promise to keep it quick:

• Gamblers and investors put real money into someone else's performance. Both take on a certain amount of risk in hopes of a positive return.
• In gambling, you're usually looking for a big gain -- very quickly. The promise of game-changing returns on your bet inspires the gambler to accept higher risks and more uncertain outcomes.
• Classic investing is all about building a financial return over a long time. Even a small annual gain can have wealth-building effects if you repeat the small increase many times. The mathematical magic of compound returns means that next year's gains will build upon the returns of every year before it.
• Most importantly, gambling usually involves games of chance or unpredictable sporting events. Investors contribute money to support a business, cryptocurrency, or other valuable asset, expecting that asset to gain value over time.

The line between gambling and investing is blurred when you're looking at pretty safe bets (for example, "Will Florida see rain in August?") or risky business models (like, "Let's buy crypto with borrowed money!"). Even then, stocks represent actual ownership of the thing you're investing in, while gamblers stay on the sidelines, no matter how many poker chips and betting slips they are holding.

That's what makes the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) different from a roulette wheel with 500 slots. Investors benefit from the earnest business efforts of other people, while gamblers just put down their money and hope for the best. It's not the same thing at all.

Should you invest $1,000 in S&P 500 Index right now?

Before you buy stock in S&P 500 Index, 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 S&P 500 Index 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 $680,559!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,005,670!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,053% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% 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 15, 2025

Anders Bylund has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

April Walker, Director at Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:OLED), acquired 342 shares valued at $53,926.56 through a grant or award, as reported in a Form 4 filed on July 2, 2025.

Transaction summary

Metric	Value
Shares Traded	342
Transaction Value	$53,927 (rounded from $53,926.56, as reported in SEC Form 4 filed July 2, 2025)
Post-Transaction Shares	684
Post-Transaction Value	$107,853 as of July 2, 2025
Price vs. MA50	4.94% above the 50-day moving average as of July 10, 2025
YTD Performance	(28.12%) 1-year change on a calendar year basis

Key questions

How does this transaction compare to April Walker's historical trading activity?
The trade size of 342 shares matches both the median and 75th percentile for April Walker, consistent with prior activity (median and 75th percentile trade size: 342 shares; trading frequency: 5.7 trades per year; most recent trade: 91 days ago).

What is the significance of the current stock price relative to key technical levels?
The transaction price of $157.68 is 4.94% above the 50-day moving average and 0.29% above the 200-day moving average, as of July 10, 2025.

How meaningful is the Director's ownership on an absolute basis?
Following the transaction reported on July 2, 2025, April Walker holds 684 shares, representing approximately 0.0014% of shares outstanding—a nominal ownership stake for a director.

What is the context of this transaction within the broader performance trend?
Year-to-date performance stands at (28.12%) as of July 10, 2025 (calendar year-to-date, based on the latest available closing price), reflecting significant underperformance, though insider equity awards have continued on a regular schedule.

Company overview

Metric	Value
Market capitalization	$7.38 billion
Trailing-twelve-month revenue	$648.70 million
Net income (TTM)	$229.67 million
Dividend yield	1.10%

Company snapshot

Universal Display develops and commercializes proprietary organic light-emitting diode (OLED) materials and technologies, supplying UniversalPHOLED materials to display and lighting manufacturers. The company generates revenue primarily through material sales, technology licensing, and contract research services related to OLED and advanced materials. It serves display and solid-state lighting manufacturers, with a focus on global electronics and display panel producers.

Universal Display Corporation is a leading innovator in OLED technology, leveraging a robust intellectual property portfolio with approximately 5,500 issued and pending patents worldwide. The company’s strategy centers on providing high-performance OLED materials and licensing its proprietary technologies to major display and lighting manufacturers. Its competitive edge lies in its deep R&D capabilities.

Foolish take

All of Universal Display's directors receive 342 shares per quarter, as part of their compensation packages. This was April Walker's second batch of share-based payments since joining the company's board of directors on January 1, 2025.

Walker's appointment filled an empty seat that was created when Universal Display expanded its board from 10 to 11 members. With more than three decades of executive experience in large-cap companies such as Microsoft and Salesforce, Walker brings a wealth of expertise in areas like cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI).

The stock awards are likely to build Walker's Universal Display exposure over time. Most of the company's directors seem content to amass their stock holdings slowly, currently at 342 shares per quarter, rarely selling any stock or making additional purchases.

As such, this transaction is simply an early instance of a long-term relationship. Investors could draw more substantial conclusions from the larger and more frequent trades performed by Universal Display executives, such as Chief Legal Officer Mauro Premutico and CEO Steven Abramson, but even there, most of the transactions are of the pre-planned variety.

In other words, insider transactions should neither worry nor inspire Universal Display investors at the moment. It's just business as usual.

Glossary

Form 4:A required SEC filing disclosing insider trades by company officers, directors, or major shareholders.
Insider trading: The buying or selling of a company’s stock by individuals with access to non-public, material information.
Grant or award: Shares or options given to employees or directors, often as part of compensation or incentive plans.
50-day moving average (MA50): The average closing price of a stock over the past 50 trading days, used to identify trends.
200-day moving average: The average closing price over the past 200 trading days, often used to assess long-term trends.
Ownership stake: The percentage of a company’s total shares held by an individual or entity.
Trailing-twelve-month (TTM): A financial metric calculated over the most recent 12 consecutive months.
Dividend yield: Annual dividend payments divided by the stock price, showing the income return on investment.
Intellectual property portfolio: A collection of patents, trademarks, and copyrights owned by a company, providing competitive advantages.
Technology licensing: Granting other companies the right to use proprietary technology in exchange for fees or royalties.
Material sales: Revenue generated from selling physical products or substances, such as specialized materials for manufacturing.
Contract research services: Research and development work performed for clients under formal agreements, often for a fee.

Where to invest $1,000 right now

When our analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,053%* — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500.

They just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 14, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in Universal Display. The Motley Fool recommends Universal Display. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• Costco stock has regularly outperformed the S&P 500 over three-year stretches.

• The company’s membership model and low prices help it thrive in all kinds of markets.

• The Kirkland store brand is another major driver of both value and loyalty.

• 10 stocks we like better than Costco Wholesale ›

Warehouse retailer Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) has been a fairly cyclical stock in the past. The stock chart often stays close to the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) index for a few years, followed by a couple of years with market-crushing returns. Taken together, this pattern has resulted in wealth-building shareholder returns over the long haul.

Where is Costco positioned in this cycle right now, and where should the stock go in the next three years? Let's take a look.

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 »

Costco keeps running circles around the S&P 500

First, let me state the obvious. Nobody knows exactly what the next three years will look like. There could be another pandemic around the next corner, or perhaps a new technology that makes the artificial intelligence and quantum computing booms look small. Historians can only look backward, and unpredictable events can unravel any forward-looking prediction I make -- bullish or bearish.

That being said, Costco has a long history of outperforming the market in a wide variety of economic situations. I compared the stock's total return to the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) index over a handful of three-year periods.

COST Total Return Level data by YCharts

Starting with a 109% 3-year Costco return against a 67% gain in the market index as of July 7, 2025, all of my sample comparisons made Costco look good.

That includes the inflation-burdened span from the end of 2022 to Dec 31, 2024. The COVID-19 crisis, starting from January 2020, showed a 63% Costco gain in three years while the S&P 500 rose 25%.

There was a close call from 2015 to 2018, with Costco lagging behind the market for most of that period -- but the warehouse retailer still came back to a 35% vs. 20% victory in a period characterized by the Brexit and a slower pace of Chinese economic growth.

I kept going with a few more samples, but the results were incredibly consistent. I'm sure there are counterexamples out there, especially if you look at spans based on mid-year dates instead of full calendar years, but the pattern is clear. Costco rarely underperforms the S&P 500 in any given three-year period.

How Costco's secret sauce keeps working

Past performance should never be seen as a guarantee of upcoming results. Always in motion, the future is. Even so, Costco keeps proving that the company can deliver strong results in different markets.

There are many reasons for Costco's resilience. For example:

• Low prices make Costco a popular shopping destination when budgets are tight.
• The membership model lets Costco sell goods with very low gross profit margins, leaving the heavy bottom-line lifting to those annual fees. That revenue stream is pretty much pure profit, with very predictable annual and quarterly volumes.
• The Kirkland store brand is more than just another cost-cutting supply chain adjustment. Costco puts in a lot of work to ensure that the Kirkland products are competitive with the best name-brand alternatives, and you won't see this brand in sections where the research and development team can't check all the right boxes. For example, co-founder Jim Sinegal turned down the idea of selling Costco-branded gas 8 times over several years. Now, the gas pumps account for a substantial portion of Costco's total sales.

That's just a handful of stabilizing qualities. Overall, Costco is an incredibly well-run business that can roll with lots of different punches. And that's why the stock keeps outperforming even the high-quality names of the S&P 500.

Why betting against Costco is usually a bad idea

Based on Costco's history of stellar and predictable returns, I'm confident that the stock should keep up with the market over the next three years as well. The business model is both flexible and robust -- a rare combination that spells success under most circumstances.

On the downside, Costco's top-notch business is no secret. You've seen the stock chart already, and shares are changing hands at the lofty valuation of 56 times earnings. I keep kicking myself for not picking up a few Costco shares years ago, when they were more affordable. Again, the stock price more than doubled since July 2022.

Chances are, there'll be more kicking to do in 2028 if I don't grab some Costco stock this summer. Truly great companies can be worth a premium price tag, and Costco belongs in this category.

Should you invest $1,000 in Costco Wholesale right now?

Before you buy stock in Costco Wholesale, 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 Costco Wholesale 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 $687,764!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $980,723!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 179% 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 7, 2025

Anders Bylund has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• MARA Holdings stock soared 17.3% this week after a strong June mining report.

• The mining volume was down 23% from May, but management still set bullish production targets for the full year.

Shares of MARA Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) soared 17.3% this week. The crypto-mining expert's stock rose 17.3% from last Friday's closing bell to the early market exit on Thursday, July 3, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Most of the price gain sprung from MARA's Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) mining report, covering results in the month of June.

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 »

Why block rewards matter to MARA Holdings' bottom line

The company formerly known as Marathon Holdings won 211 blocks in last month's Bitcoin mining sweepstakes.

For those unfamiliar with the process, the Bitcoin mining system awards a certain number of Bitcoins to the computer that completed the validation of each transaction data block.

The reward currently stands at 3.125 Bitcoins, handed out approximately every 10 minutes to the next lucky winner. It was halved in April 2024, and the next halving of rewards is scheduled for the spring of 2028. These inflation-shrinking events occur approximately every four years, on a schedule that is hardcoded in Bitcoin's operating software.

Since MARA runs the largest Bitcoin mining infrastructure in the world, the company handles the final data validation on a significant number of blocks. In June, MARA won 5.4% of all available Bitcoin mining rewards.

This tally was 23% below May's haul of 282 Bitcoin block awards. June is a 3% shorter month, and some of MARA's mining rigs were temporarily turned off due to weather-related events. Nevertheless, management set a year-end production target of 75 exahashes per second (a standard performance metric for Bitcoin mining operations). That's 40% above the 53 EH/s MARA generated at the end of 2024, and 31% more than the current rate of 57.4 EH/s.

Why investors are cheering MARA's growing Bitcoin stash

MARA held 47,940 Bitcoin by the end of June, second only to Michael Saylor's Strategy (formerly known as MicroStrategy) among public companies with reported Bitcoin holdings.

Investors are excited about MARA's rapid Bitcoin mining growth, which demonstrates an effective mining infrastructure as well as a deep commitment to the mining operations. If Bitcoin prices continue to grow over time, MARA should end up with a massive balance of Bitcoin-based assets. Today, MARA's Bitcoin holdings are worth roughly $5.47 billion -- more than 88% of MARA's total market capitalization.

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

Before you buy stock in Mara, 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 Mara 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 $692,914!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $963,866!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,049% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 179% 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 June 30, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in Bitcoin and Mara. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• The Dan Ives AI Revolution ETF limits the influence of mega-cap tech stocks, such as Nvidia and Microsoft.

• It still explores the exciting AI opportunity with 30 hand-picked stocks in that market.

• This nearly equal-weighted ETF could appeal to investors seeking more diversification in the AI sector.

The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution is shaking Wall Street to its very foundations. The "Magnificent Seven" group of market-defining AI stocks all rank among the 12 highest-valued securities on the market today. Together, this group accounts for 32.3% of the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) index's total score, and 61.9% of the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index.

These are the market darlings of this era, all trading at lofty valuations and perhaps headed toward a painful price correction someday soon. What if you're not comfortable giving so much weight to a risky bunch of recent market beaters? Remember, past performance does not guarantee that future returns will be similar.

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 »

Well-known analyst Dan Ives just launched a hand-vetted fund that provides targeted investments in the AI boom, but with lower influence from the handful of top-ranked giants. Let's see what's different about this exchange-traded fund (ETF), so you can decide whether it belongs in your portfolio.

This is not your average index fund

The Dan Ives Wedbush AI Revolution ETF (NYSEMKT: IVES) is technically an index fund, but the underlying index is a custom list that simply reflects the stock pick in Ives' top-30 AI stock-picking reports. It was launched just days before the related ETF. So the index formulation is just a technicality. The Wedbush analyst with a long research history and a penchant for colorful suits is really making these stock picks in a very direct sense.

At the same time, the index structure adds some academic rigidity to the ETF. New additions to the index (and ETF) are given a cap-based weight between 1% and 4% of the total portfolio, no exceptions. The index is rebalanced four times a year, on the third Fridays of March, June, September, and December. The hard caps of at least 1% but no more than 4% are reapplied at each of these events, making sure that no single stock ever represents a huge slice of the Dan Ives ETF.

The annual expense ratio is 0.75%, far above the leading S&P 500 index funds and comparable to many handpicked stock collections.

How the portfolio is balanced

On June 30, just 27 calendar days after the ETF's inception, the "Magnificent Seven" stocks added up to 32.6% of the Ives fund's value. That's actually a smidge higher than their combined slice of the S&P 500, but megacaps Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) hold significantly lighter weights in the Dan Ives portfolio.

Nineteen of the 30 components ran into the 4% top-end weighting cap at the latest rebalancing, making alternatives such as IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) just as important to the ETF's value as any of the Magnificent Seven.

Will slow and steady win the AI race?

No ETF can guarantee market-beating returns, and AI is a volatile field right now. I can't guarantee that Ives' selections will outperform the broader market in the long run, or that the nearly equal-weighted nature of this fund is a better idea than the market cap weightings seen in many other ETFs.

But if you're looking for a lower-risk approach to the exciting but risky AI market, the Dan Ives AI Revolution ETF might hit the spot. Its careful rebalancing policy sets this fund apart from most of its rivals. Ives' decades of market analysis experience should be worth something, too.

The fund is too young to do a deep dive into its market performance, but it's off to a strong start in its first month of operation. Only time will tell how this ETF will stack up in the long run, but its lower risk profile could be right for your portfolio. After all, it will hurt less to hold the Dan Ives ETF if a top stock like Nvidia or Microsoft takes a big tumble.

As always, do your own research before you buy anything -- but if you want a smarter, more diversified way to play the AI revolution, this ETF might just fit the bill.

Should you invest $1,000 in Wedbush Series Trust - Dan Ives Wedbush Ai Revolution ETF right now?

Before you buy stock in Wedbush Series Trust - Dan Ives Wedbush Ai Revolution ETF, 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 Wedbush Series Trust - Dan Ives Wedbush Ai Revolution ETF 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 $692,914!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $963,866!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,050% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 179% 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 June 30, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in International Business Machines and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, International Business Machines, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool 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.

The stock market has recovered from April's sudden dip. From the S&P 500 to the Nasdaq Composite, the market-defining indexes are reaching fresh all-time highs almost every day. As of June 27, those portfolios had gained 12.6% and 13.6%, respectively, over the last year.

As a result, some of the best artificial intelligence (AI) stocks are running a bit hot again. I'm keeping a close eye on SoundHound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN) and Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) at the moment. Their stocks look a bit pricey today, but I'm ready to pounce on them in the next market dip.

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 »

SoundHound AI's big promises -- and why I'm waiting for a sale

I've been a SoundHound AI fan for years, and I expect big things from this company in the long haul. Voice-control systems are gaining momentum in many different markets, from in-car controls and phone-based menu systems to drive-through windows and data center operations.

SoundHound AI has been fine-tuning its AI-based voice interpretation tools since smartphones were new and hot. These days, the company offers agentic AI, process automation, and real-time conversations. The client list includes many of your favorite consumer electronics and carmaker brands. Their long-term contracts are starting to kick in, converting SoundHound AI's billion-dollar order backlog into actual revenues.

Yet, I can't quite recommend this stock right now. SoundHound AI's shares posted artificial gains in a meme-stock moment in late 2024, and the peak prices are now long gone, but some lingering market effects remain. The stock is up 155% over the last 52 weeks, and it looked expensive at the start of that surge.

So, one of two things must happen before I smash SoundHound AI's buy button again.

• The company could earn its lofty valuation by publishing dramatically stronger financials. Again, the beefy order backlog should generate lots of business over the next several years, but the revenue conversion process has been slow so far.
• The stock could take another haircut. This could happen over time as the meme stock mania fades out or very quickly alongside a downturn in the broader stock market.

I don't mind waiting for SoundHound AI's business plan to gain traction. At the same time, this stock will be at the top of my list of buying ideas the next time every high-priced growth stock takes a big hit.

The art of waiting for a better price on Micron Technology

Micron enters this discussion from a different angle. The memory chip giant's stock often trades at rock-bottom valuations, but it has been skyrocketing since April's tariff-based market dip.

Mind you, the stock isn't exactly expensive even now. Micron's share price is up 95% from April's temporary market bottom, changing hands at a perfectly reasonable valuation of 22.8 times trailing earnings or 4.2 times sales.

So, why am I waiting for another market correction? Why not grab a few shares at today's stock price, which looks pretty fair in the first place?

Because I'm used to Micron trading at much lower valuation multiples. The company operates in a cyclical industry, tied to a mix of surprising and predictable shifts in the smartphone, data center, and PC markets. Micron investors have made a lot of money over the years by saving their buy-in cash for one of the seemingly inevitable downturns. That's the opposite of what's going on right now.

Yes, Micron benefits from the general AI boom, partly thanks to a close partnership with AI accelerator leader Nvidia. Every number-crunching Nvidia Blackwell card comes with several dozen gigabytes of Micron's most advanced high-bandwidth memory (HBM). This close connection to the explosive AI opportunity could lift Micron's stock even higher.

Call me a creature of habit; I'm just more comfortable waiting for the next price drop. Whether it springs from inflation fears or memory-chip price wars, you will almost certainly see one of those Micron buying windows open up in the next year or two. It's OK if I'm wrong, since my personal portfolio already holds a large helping of Micron stock. If I didn't have that advantage, I might consider buying a few shares at today's unusually high prices as well.

Your mileage may vary, of course. I'd still save most of my cash for a rainy day around Micron's Idaho headquarters.

Should you invest $1,000 in SoundHound AI right now?

Before you buy stock in SoundHound AI, 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 SoundHound AI 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 $713,547!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $966,931!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,062% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 177% 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 June 23, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in Micron Technology, Nvidia, and SoundHound AI. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

So you want to invest in the stock market, but you don't want to hand-pick specific stocks. Simply mirroring the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) market index can deliver fantastic results over the years, and you'll never lose a single night of sleep worrying about the rise or fall of any particular stock.

But you're working with a strictly limited budget of $500 this month, and the usual exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are a little bit too pricey. Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) traded at $549 per share on June 18. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: SPY) costs $597 per stub, and the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: IVV) goes one tiny step further to $599.

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 »

Sure, you can save up a bit more before buying these high-quality ETFs, or use the fractional share feature of your favorite stock brokerage to pick up 83% of an iShares or SPDR share for less than $500. But you actually have one more option. Meet the SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: SPLG) -- a fourth pure-play S&P 500 index fund that costs just $70 per share today.

How SPLG stacks up against the classics

This fund is exactly the same thing as one of the classic S&P 500 index ETFs. They hold the same 503 stocks, reflecting the components of the S&P 500 index. The weightings are identical. Their management fees are slightly different, with an annual expense ratio of 0.09% for the more famous S&P 500 ETF and 0.02% with the lower-priced Portfolio fund. But both offer the same performance as the underlying S&P 500 index, for all intents and purposes:

^SPX data by YCharts

The subtle differences that matter

The SPDR fund managers at State Street (NYSE: STT) agree that these funds are very similar. They underline the fact that the higher-priced fund happens to be the largest and most heavily traded ETF on the market, making it the obvious choice when you're looking for top-notch liquidity. The bid-ask spreads are also lower for this fund, as a direct effect of the unbeatable liquidity and higher price -- bid-ask gaps a couple of pennies apart make a bigger percentage-based difference to a lower-priced ETF.

With lower annual fees and higher price-spread trading costs, the Portfolio fund is arguably the superior choice for long-term holdings. On the other hand, the classic SPY ticker (or its VOO and IVV cousins) offers ever so slightly lower costs for more frequent trades. In other words, the ETF that's easier to trade with a smaller budget brings higher trading costs over time. It's the Sam Vimes "boots" theory of socio-economic unfairness at work.

But there are a couple of awesome upsides this time. State Street makes up for the less efficient economics by charging lower management fees. And the resulting differences are incredibly small.

Small budget, smart move

All things considered, I think the Portfolio fund is a winning concept for people with modest investment budgets. For example, my daughter recently opened her first brokerage account with a SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 position that fit her budget just right. Fractional shares weren't an option, and it's probably better to get started quickly rather than saving up for a more expensive ETF.

That position has already posted a double-digit percentage gain in less than three months, and she's off to a good start with a lifetime of intelligent money management.

The SPDR Portfolio ETF may not be the perfect fund for your portfolio, and many investors clearly prefer the higher-priced version. But you should know about it, just in case this lower-priced option ever meets your specific needs. Today, $500 won't quite buy you a full-priced S&P 500 index fund, but you can get 7 SPDR Portfolio shares with that budget.

Should you invest $1,000 in SPDR Series Trust - SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF right now?

Before you buy stock in SPDR Series Trust - SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF, 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 SPDR Series Trust - SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF 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 $659,171!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $891,722!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 995% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% 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 June 9, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in SPDR Series Trust-SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Good old Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is doing alright this year, trading 13% higher year-to-date on June 18. On the other hand, many altcoins are struggling. For example, the market-defining oracle coin Chainlink (CRYPTO: LINK) is down by 37% in 2025. Is Chainlink fading out for good, or could this be a great time to buy the falling coin?

Let's take a look.

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 »

Bitcoin is running away from Chainlink

Rising Bitcoin prices don't always translate into strong returns from other cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin's dominance of the total crypto market has been surging since November 2022, rising from 38% to 64% in that 30-month period.

Chainlink had a total market value of $3.8 billion on November 30, 2022. That was about 0.44% of the crypto market as a whole. The coin price is up by 78% since then, far behind Bitcoin's 537% price jump. Chainlink's footprint on the crypto market has shrunk to 0.26%.

Why Chainlink isn't just a weaker Bitcoin

So Chainlink has underperformed Bitcoin in recent years -- but why?

First and foremost, Bitcoin is becoming a fairly standard asset nowadays. It's a limited-inflation value carrier, comparable to gold in many ways. Its value is based on computing time and electric bills rather than physical gold bars, but the idea of a limited-supply accounting asset is easily understood. People are doing some very traditional things with Bitcoin now, like building corporate cash reserves and launching exchange-traded funds based on Bitcoin prices.

Chainlink is a different beast. It's harder to grasp how this coin creates value -- and value storage isn't its main purpose.

As an oracle coin, Chainlink's job is to collect and distribute data throughout the cryptocurrency ecosystem. You can use it to read the current market prices of various cryptocurrencies, stocks, and other assets. Chainlink can also track weather data, real estate prices, flight times, and more.

This data comes in handy for smart contracts, automating things in the blockchain-based cryptocurrency world. With Chainlink's real-world data feeds, you can set up Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) smart contracts to take action. Like, sell this non-fungible token when its price reaches $100, or transfer some Bitcoin to an emergency fund when the wind speed in Tampa hits 80 mph.

These are simple examples, and developers can take more sophisticated actions. The smart contracts can be written for Ethereum or Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) or Avalanche (CRYPTO: AVAX), just to name a few popular platforms. And the common denominator is Chainlink. Other oracles exist, but none come close to Chainlink's market reach.

So if you want to make a Web3 app, or a decentralized finance tool, or some other program that depends on smart contracts, you pretty much have to rely on Chainlink's data. And every data request generates a tiny fee, which is distributed to coin holders who support data security by staking their Chainlink coins.

Chainlink's value creation makes sense when you think about it, but it's not as simple or obvious as the Bitcoin model. That's why Chainlink's price chart has lagged behind Bitcoin's recently -- setting patient investors up for greater long-term gains. This oracle coin won't be misunderstood and underestimated forever.

Where Chainlink goes from here

Long story short, a Chainlink investment is a bet on smart contracts and the apps you can build around them. From tokenized real-world assets to blockchain-based digital wallets, Chainlink will build plenty of usage-based value as these next-generation financial management ideas go mainstream.

As such, I see a bright long-term future for Chainlink and its early investors. None of the catalysts I listed above have gained much traction yet, and Chainlink is waiting for the first killer app. It will probably never be a trillion-dollar asset, like Bitcoin is today, but there's plenty of room for wealth-building growth with much lower market caps.

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

Before you buy stock in Chainlink, 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 Chainlink 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 $659,171!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $891,722!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 995% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% 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 June 9, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in Bitcoin, Chainlink, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Avalanche, Bitcoin, Chainlink, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The best growth stocks are the ones you can just forget about. Buy them once and leave them alone. The road ahead may be bumpy, but these companies should be able to overcome their challenges in the long run. And since many investors don't have this unshakable long-term perspective, the stocks may be undervalued from time to time.

Here are some of these cruise-control growth stocks from my own portfolio. Some of them are cheap these days and others aren't, but I'd be happy to start brand new positions in all of them today. Except I can't, because I already own them and have no plans to sell my shares anytime soon.

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 »

Alphabet keeps reinventing itself

I bought my first Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) share in December 2010, when the company still was called Google. By June 17, 2025, those stubs have gained 1,065%. I'm not complaining.

If anything, I only wish I had picked up some Google stock even earlier. The trillion-dollar tech giant you see today was once a little upstart with advanced technology and big ambitions. The company's mission is still to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," and that's a goal without a time limit.

Alphabet is both very profitable and extremely flexible. That rare combination sets the company up for decades of continued business growth. The Alphabet you see in 2040 or 2050 may look very different from the online search and advertising specialist you've seen so far, and that's alright. This company does more than simply rolling with the market's punches -- Alphabet usually leads the charge into whatever new era comes next, such as high-powered smartphones and artificial intelligence (AI).

Fiverr's big growth dreams

Freelance services facilitator Fiverr International (NYSE: FVRR) is a different story. My first Fiverr share has fallen a hair-raising 87% since January 2021, and the best performer among five additions to my position is down by 27% in three years.

So the stock is struggling, but have you seen Fiverr's financial results? Here's a taste of its steady revenue growth and skyrocketing cash flows over the past three years:

FVRR Revenue (TTM) data by YCharts

Top-line sales increased by 24% over this period while free cash flows tripled. I keep coming back to this stock whenever I have fresh cash to invest, because it often looks undervalued.

Like Alphabet, Fiverr has a beefy long-term target. This company wants to "change how the world works together." The effort so far has focused on matching online freelancers with unfilled gigs. Fiverr is all about digital service delivery at this point, from translation and graphic design to music recordings and effective AI prompts.

The growth opportunity is enormous. With $405 million of total revenues in the last four quarters, Fiverr controls less than 0.2% of this addressable market. Most of today's freelancing is managed offline, via traditional channels such as personal contacts, phone networks, or printed ads. That doesn't sound like a sustainable future to me, giving Fiverr a fantastic growth opportunity.

I can't wait for my Fiverr investments to turn profitable, but I also can't complain about having this exciting stock available at low prices. Fiverr's stock trades at just 12 times free cash flows and 10.8 times forward earnings estimates today.

So I keep buying Fiverr stock while it's cheap. Setting up just a single purchase of this undervalued growth stock will serve you well over time.

Netflix's evolution pays off for patient investors

Here's another classic set-and-forget investment.

The oldest Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) shares in my portfolio today have gained 10,120% over the years. I picked them up at a discount during the Qwikster panic of 2011. The media-streaming veteran is often misunderstood by bearish investors, who often see it as a risky play on unproven business ideas. I see long-term opportunity and innovation in the same ideas.

The company that dominated video rentals and destroyed Blockbuster moved on to a lightweight digital streaming model, later buttressed with a costly but effective content production strategy. Netflix has embraced ad-supported subscriptions more recently, focusing on profitable growth for the first time. There's still a lot of world left to conquer out there, and Netflix is still trying brand new business tactics. Yes, the stock is setting new all-time highs on a regular basis and it rarely looks cheap. But it's also the gift that keeps on giving in the long haul.

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 $658,297!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $883,386!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 992% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% 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 June 9, 2025

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Anders Bylund has positions in Alphabet, Fiverr International, and Netflix. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Fiverr International, and Netflix. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The Nasdaq-100 market index holds a lot of volatile stocks. Some of its top performers seem overvalued today, while others seem to have room for further growth. The index as a whole rose 9.1% last month, outpacing the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) return of 6.3%.

But what about the other end of the spectrum? Let's take a quick look at the two worst performers on the Nasdaq-100 in May 2025.

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 »

Regeneron: Down 18% in May

Biotech giant Regeneron (NASDAQ: REGN) was on track for a quiet May, holding almost exactly steady with just a couple of days left in the month. A disappointing earnings report changed that story in a hurry, driving Regeneron's stock 18% lower on the last trading day in May.

Regeneron's first-quarter sales fell 4% year over year, while adjusted earnings per share dropped 14% lower.

This is one of the most affordable large-cap biotech stocks today, but arguably for good reasons. The stock is down 48% over the last year, so I understand if you want to buy the dip. Just remember that the company is facing unprecedented challenges right now, and a strong development pipeline doesn't always result in blockbuster products.

Copart: Down 15.6% in May

Online auto auction specialist Copart (NASDAQ: CPRT) also fell after reporting earnings in May. All the headline numbers were up year over year and roughly in line with analyst expectations, but market makers were looking for something more. Copart's stock trades at lofty valuation multiples such as 10.6 times sales and 33 times earnings. It doesn't take much of a miss to inspire a large price drop under these conditions.

Copart's stock is down 5% over the last year, but it remains a long-term winner with a market-beating three-year return and a stellar 1,030% gain over the last decade. Management argues that the company might benefit from tariff-based uncertainty, as expensive repair parts could result in more "total loss" insurance claims. If so, Copart's stock may be a great buy today -- but only time will tell how this theory works out.

Should you invest $1,000 in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals right now?

Before you buy stock in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, 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 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals 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 $655,255!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $888,780!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 999% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 174% 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 June 9, 2025

Anders Bylund has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Copart and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The Polkadot (CRYPTO: DOT) cryptocurrency is going through some pretty exciting changes these days. The Web3 Foundation's official crypto coin is becoming a distributed supercomputer, ready to provide a wide variety of apps and services. Yet, the coin price keeps falling.

Should you pick up a few Polkadot coins while they're available for less than $5 apiece? I think that's a good idea, and here's why.

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 »

Polkadot's big internet ambitions

First things first. Polkadot was designed to support a Web3 future. The social networks and paywalls of the Web2 world were unstoppable over the last 20 years. These days, a lot of web users are getting tired of this aging structure, looking around for new ideas. The Web3 idea is one alternative, bringing more personal freedom and giving content creators more control over their creations. In this system, gigantic hubs of advertising and social media connections are replaced by decentralized services. And Polkadot's app-building ecosystem provides a handy platform to get all the Web3 ideas done in the real world.

It's still a futuristic ideology with just a handful of early success stories. But in the long run, Web3 apps could take over your online community connections, your day-to-day financial management processes, and your favorite channels for text, video, and audio infotainment. The tools won't even run in the centrally managed cloud you know and love today, but in a new global network of blockchain-based systems. When tweaked just right, the crypto world's smart contracts can run any kind of program and perform all sorts of services. And that's what Polkadot is doing, with the help of many other cryptocurrency systems.

Meet JAM: The next big step in Polkadot's evolution

So far, Polkadot is mostly known for its ability to interact with other blockchain networks. This coin's smart contracts can tap into Bitcoin's (CRYPTO: BTC) monetary value storage, Ethereum's (CRYPTO: ETH) sophisticated contracts, and Chainlink's (CRYPTO: LINK) real-world data reports, just to name a few.

It's also known as a complicated and cumbersome system, but that's changing in 2025. Polkadot's central blockchain will soon be replaced by a more flexible and standards-based system known as JAM (the Joint-Accumulate Machine, if you're curious). This is actually a virtual machine in the blockchain universe. It can compile and run any code for bog-standard central processors, because it's a software-driven and full-featured RISC-V processor.

For example, Polkadot co-founder Gavin Wood has made it a habit to show off old-school computer games running on a test version of JAM. His personal laptop is good enough to make that work, but the full JAM upgrade will run on hundreds of server-class computers around the world. Imagine what this on-demand supercomputer can do for the Web3 vision.

Don't expect instant fireworks

JAM is coming up, probably in the second half of 2025. It won't cause an immediate frenzy in the Polkadot community, because it takes time for people to use new tools. Then the tools must create useful apps, which in turn need to find a target audience of actual users. So it's not a magic wand that will make Polkadot's developer community's dreams come true in a heartbeat, and it won't lift Polkadot's usage-based coin price right away.

But this is a much-needed step toward a true Web3 version of the online world. In the long run, I expect Web3 alternatives to disrupt the online experience as you know it today. Web2 leaders such as Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), Spotify (NYSE: SPOT), and TikTok will either join the Web3 revolution or put up roadblocks instead. I can't wait to see how true innovators like Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) will find their place in the Web3 era.

Take it easy out there, Polkadot investors

I could be wrong, of course. Web2 may stick around for another decade or two, as the current leaders focus on protecting the old social media world. Other cryptocurrencies can also support Web3-worthy apps, though they'll need to overcome Polkadot's built-in advantages first.

So I'm not betting the proverbial farm on Polkadot coins. I simply recommend any investor who agrees with the Web3 project's ideas to pick up a few Polkadot coins while they're cheap.

This cryptocurrency is only worth $6.6 billion today, which is a far cry from the trillion-dollar titans you see ruling today's Web2 structure. The coin price could multiply by 10 or 100 and still look small next to Meta and Alphabet. In short, Polkadot can be a big long-term winner even if it never matches the Magnificent 7 group's trillion-dollar market caps. I think that's worth a modest position in your long-term crypto portfolio.

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

Before you buy stock in Polkadot, 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 Polkadot 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 $657,871!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $875,479!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 998% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 174% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

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*Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025

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. Anders Bylund has positions in Alphabet, Bitcoin, Chainlink, Ethereum, Netflix, and Polkadot. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Bitcoin, Chainlink, Ethereum, Meta Platforms, Netflix, and Spotify Technology. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.