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.

Key Points

• Home Depot is a blue chip dividend stock long-term investors can count on.

• Nucor, UnitedHealth, and Alphabet have become too cheap to ignore.

• Criteo is a hidden-gem growth stock packed with upside potential.

The second half of the year is a great time for folks to review what companies they are invested in, why they are invested in them, and to update their watch lists with exciting stocks to buy.

However, some investors may be hesitant to put new capital to work in the market given the rapid recovery over the last few months. The S&P 500 is up more than 20% from its April lows, putting pressure on companies to deliver on expectations.

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 »

When valuations are high, it's even more important that investors focus on quality companies that have what it takes to deliver strong returns without everything having to go right.

Here's why these Fool.com contributors believe that Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Nucor (NYSE: NUE), UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL), and Criteo (NASDAQ: CRTO) stand out as top stocks to buy in July.

Spring for this retailer's cheap stock

Demitri Kalogeropoulos (Home Depot): Home Depot stock has become cheaper relative to the market over the past year, and that fact should have investors feeling excited about adding the retailer to their portfolios. Sure, the home improvement giant's business hasn't been performing as well as it did through the pandemic and its immediate aftermath. Comparable-store sales (comps) in the most recent quarter were essentially flat due to a sluggish housing market. Consumers are trading down to less ambitious home improvement projects, too.

Yet customer traffic through early May was positive, rising 2% to help overall revenue improve by 9%. Those figures bode well for the chain's crucial spring selling season, when homeowners tend to spend aggressively on outdoor projects.

"We feel great about our store readiness and product assortment as spring continues to break across the country," CEO Ted Decker told investors in late May. Executives at the time affirmed their fiscal year outlook that calls for comps growth of about 1%, combined with a drop in profit margin to 13% of sales.

That decline would still keep Home Depot ahead of rival Lowe's on profitability. And cash flow remains strong enough for the chain to continue repurchasing shares and paying a robust dividend while investing in the business. The dividend yield is at 2.4%, compared to Lowe's 2%, giving investors another reason to prefer the market leader in this niche.

It could be some time before Home Depot's sales gains accelerate to above 5% again, while operating margin returns to its prior level of just over 14%. But patient investors can hold this sturdy stock while waiting for that rebound, collecting those generous dividend checks along the way.

A turnaround story in the making?

Neha Chamaria (Nucor): After I recommended Nucor in February, the stock sank to a 52-week low in April but has bounced back dramatically -- almost 33% since. Although I am a long-term investor and do not track price movements in the short term, there's a reason I brought this up here. The thesis that I saw earlier this year is playing out for Nucor, meaning the time is ripe to buy the stock if you still haven't.

President Donald Trump imposed a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum imports on June 3, up from 25% he had proposed earlier, to curb the dumping of low-cost steel by other countries and boost the domestic steel industry. Nucor CEO Leon Topalian has publicly supported Trump's tariff policies and believes some, like steel tariffs, were long overdue. Soon after the tariff announcement, his company raised the prices of hot-rolled steel coils and issued encouraging guidance for its second quarter.

After muted first-quarter numbers, the company expects second-quarter earnings to rise considerably across all its segments: steel mills, steel products, and raw materials. Steel mills, also Nucor's largest segment, are expected to report the largest growth in earnings, driven by higher average selling prices.

Overall, the company expects to report earnings between $2.55 and $2.65 per share for the second quarter versus only $0.67 in the previous quarter. Although its second-quarter earnings could still be around 5% lower year over year, this could just be the beginning of an upward earnings and sales trend.

Shares have hugely underperformed the S&P 500 over the past year or so because of declining sales and profits. With demand and prices both picking up, this could be an inflection point for Nucor stock, making it a solid long-term buy at current prices.

A blue chip stock that's a bad-news buy

Keith Speights (UnitedHealth Group): Timing the market is next to impossible. But timing can sometimes be important when buying specific stocks. I don't think there has been a better time to invest in UnitedHealth Group in years.

To be sure, this healthcare stock faces numerous problems. UnitedHealth's Medicare Advantage costs have gotten so out of hand that the company was forced to first cut its full-year 2025 guidance and then later suspend the guidance altogether. This issue seems to have played a big role in the unexpected departure of former CEO Andrew Witty.

The Wall Street Journal's article about a Justice Department (DOJ) investigation into alleged criminal fraud by the company made matters worse. To add to the healthcare giant's misery, President Trump threatened to eliminate pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs). UnitedHealth's Optum Rx ranks as the nation's third-largest PBM.

Why buy UnitedHealth Group stock amid all of this doom and gloom? Its business prospects are significantly better than its valuation reflects. After plunging more than 50%, shares trade at only 13.3 times forward earnings. But most of the headwinds the company faces should eventually wane.

For example, management expects to return to growth next year. I think that makes sense. The solution to higher-than-anticipated Medicare Advantage costs is to boost premiums. While the company has to wait to implement its higher premiums, you can bet they're coming.

Witty was replaced by former longtime CEO Stephen Hemsley, and the company should again be in good shape under his leadership. I suspect Hemsley will direct the company to issue new full-year guidance as soon as possible, which should bolster investors' confidence.

What about the DOJ investigation? It hasn't been confirmed yet. And President Trump's threats to cut out the PBM middleman? That's much easier said than done.

The bottom line is that I believe UnitedHealth Group stock is way oversold right now. This blue chip is a great bad-news buy in July.

A standout in the "Magnificent Seven"

Daniel Foelber (Alphabet): Google parent Alphabet rebounded in lockstep with the broader market last week. But it's still a compelling buy in July.

As many megacap growth stocks have compounded in value, some investors are questioning whether there's still room for these stocks to run or if valuations could limit returns. Alphabet doesn't have that problem.

The stock is so attractively priced that it is cheaper than the S&P 500 on a forward price-to-earnings basis. Whereas the rest of the "Magnificent Seven" are more expensive than the S&P 500 based on this key metric. Meaning that investors don't have the same lofty earnings expectations for Alphabet as they do for companies like Nvidia, Microsoft, or even Apple (even though Apple is growing slower than Alphabet).

To be fair, getting too bogged down by valuations has been a historically bad idea for many of today's top companies. Measuring Microsoft for its legacy software suite alone would have drastically undervalued its now huge cloud computing segment.

Amazon used to be an online bookstore turned e-commerce giant. Similarly, its cloud computing segment, Amazon Web Services, is arguably more valuable than the rest of the company combined. Nvidia used to make most of its money from selling graphics processing units (GPUs) and other solutions for gaming and visualization customers. But today, GPU demand for data centers is the company's bread and butter.

Since no one has a crystal ball, investors have to make calculated bets based on where they think a company could be headed. Looking at Alphabet, I think the company has fairly low risk for its upside potential. Part of that reasoning is that its existing assets are drastically undervalued, and investors aren't giving the company much credit for the upside potential of self-driving through Waymo, the company's quantum computing investments, or its artificial intelligence tool Gemini.

Add it all up, and Alphabet stands out as an effective way to get exposure to many different end markets at a good value.

This ad-tech expert's stock is way too cheap in July

Anders Bylund (Criteo): Sometimes I wonder what it takes to impress Wall Street's market makers. Digital advertising expert Criteo has consistently stumped analysts since the spring of 2023, but the stock is down by 39% in 2025 at the time of this writing.

I get where the market skepticism is coming from. Criteo's top-line sales have been rather slow in recent quarters. The macroeconomic backdrop isn't ideal for big-ticket marketing campaigns, since consumers are holding on to their money with an iron grip.

But the company has tightened up its operations in this uncertain economy. In May's first-quarter report, adjusted earnings rose 38% year over year while free cash flow soared from breakeven to $45 million. For a sense of scale, that's 10% of its revenue in the same quarter.

So Criteo is a cash machine when it counts, and the lessons learned in these hard times should result in solid profit gains when the economy turns sweeter.

Meanwhile, the stock is priced for absolute disaster. Shares are changing hands at 9.8 times earnings and 5.7 times free cash flow, as if the company were losing money by the truckload. The stock price is entirely inappropriate for a very profitable specialist in a temporarily downtrodden industry.

I'm tempted to double down on my Criteo holdings in July, and I highly recommend that you consider this overlooked stock while it's cheap.

Should you invest $1,000 in Home Depot right now?

Before you buy stock in Home Depot, 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 Home Depot 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 $697,627!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $939,655!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,045% — 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 June 30, 2025

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Anders Bylund has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Criteo, Nvidia, and UnitedHealth Group. Daniel Foelber has positions in Nvidia. Demitri Kalogeropoulos has positions in Amazon, Apple, and Home Depot. Keith Speights has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Lowe's Companies, and Microsoft. Neha Chamaria has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Home Depot, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Criteo, Lowe's Companies, and UnitedHealth Group and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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.

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. 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.

At first glance, Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU) looks like a terrible investment. Earnings are negative. Sales are rising, but much more slowly than they were four years ago. The stock trades at an unaffordable valuation of 125 times forward earnings estimates. After a long-forgotten price spike in the pandemic lockdown era, Roku's stock fell hard and then traded sideways over the last three years.

But if you look a bit closer, you should see a healthy long-term growth story in play. Roku targets a huge global market, following in the footsteps of proven winners, and the stock doesn't appear expensive at all from other perspectives.

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 »

It's actually one of my favorite stocks to buy in 2025, and Roku should be a helpful addition to long-term portfolios.

Breaking down common concerns about Roku stock

Let me deconstruct the scary qualities I mentioned above.

Negative earnings

Roku's red-ink earnings are at least partly a voluntary choice. The company treats its streaming hardware as a marketing tool, selling Roku sticks and TV sets below the manufacturing and distribution costs. This user-growth tactic is especially unprofitable in Roku's highest-volume sales periods. The holiday quarter of 2024, for example, nearly quadrupled the devices segment's negative gross margin from 7.6% in the third quarter to 28.6% in the fourth.

In other words, Roku is running its business with unprofitable profit margins to maximize its market reach and user growth. Furthermore, I'm talking about generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), which is the standard accounting method used for calculating taxes. Roku often posts negative GAAP earnings that result in tax refunds rather than expenses.

At the same time, free cash flows tend to land on the positive side with modest cash profits. That's just efficient accounting powered by stock-based compensation and amortization of Roku's media-streaming content library.

Slowing sales growth

Roku's year-over-year sales growth has averaged 14.7% over the last two years. That's a sharp retreat from 40.9% in the three years before that. But don't forget that the extreme growth was driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lots of people turned to digital media during the lockdown period, resulting in a unique business spike for companies like Roku and Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX). The pandemic also happened to take place just months after Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) launched the Disney+ streaming service, inspiring a torrent of copycat service launches. Long story short, there may never be a media market like the one in 2020-2021 again. Holding on to nearly half of that nitro-boosted growth rate in recent years is actually really good.

Sky-high valuation

Let me point back to the voluntary GAAP losses. Roku isn't trying to generate huge taxable profits at this time, which makes price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios largely unusable. Even the forward-looking version of this common metric relies on Roku's guidance targets filtered through Wall Street's analysis. If anything, the analyst community's projections are more optimistic than Roku's official targets. Management expects a $30 million GAAP loss in fiscal year 2025, which would work out to another "not applicable" P/E ratio.

If you look at other valuation metrics, Roku starts to look like a bargain. Trading at 2.6 times trailing sales, the stock is comparable to slow-growth giants such as Caterpillar or Unilever. Roku also seems undervalued, if you base your analysis on its robust balance sheet, with a price-to-book ratio of 4.4 and a price-to-cash multiple of 4.9.

The stock seems stuck

I'll admit that Roku's stalled stock chart can be frustrating. Share prices are down 17% over the last three years, missing out on 44% growth in the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) market index. Roku's sales are up 45% over this period, while free cash flow rose by 66%. When will the big payoff come, rewarding patient shareholders for Roku's quiet success?

That's OK, though. Keeping stock prices low just gives investors more time to build those Roku positions. I have bought Roku more often than any other stock since the spring of 2022, and I might not be done adding shares yet. Whenever I have spare cash ready for investments, Roku pops up as a top idea. That remains true in June 2025. So, let the chart slouch lower. Affordable buy-in prices can set you up for tremendous long-term returns.

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

Before you buy stock in Roku, 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 Roku 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 $669,517!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $868,615!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 792% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 173% 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 2, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in Netflix, Roku, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Netflix, Roku, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool recommends Unilever. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Shares of freight service veteran UPS (NYSE: UPS) are diving these days. The stock is down 24% in the last six months, building on a longer downturn that started in the inflation panic of 2022.

The steep price drop brought two investor-friendly qualities to UPS. First, this world-class company is hanging out in Wall Street's bargain bin at the moment. Second, the same stock price pressure drove UPS' dividend yield to record-breaking levels.

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 »

Read on to see why you should consider buying some UPS stock on the cheap in June 2025, locking in a great purchase price and a fantastic dividend payout.

UPS is stumbling in 2025 (but not falling flat)

It's fair to say that UPS has experienced some financial trouble recently. The pandemic e-commerce boom faded out. The inflation crisis accelerated the package-shipping slowdown. More recently, trade tensions between Washington and Beijing pose new threats to the shipping industry. UPS thrives on high consumer confidence and healthy global trade trends. The company suffers when those market qualities are headed in the wrong direction, as they are in 2025.

So yes, UPS is having some trouble. However, it is well equipped to handle these challenges.

Can UPS keep those juicy dividends coming?

Even in a painful downswing, UPS remains a very profitable business. The company generated $5.9 billion of net income over the last four quarters, converting 92% of the paper profits into free cash flows.

UPS spent all of the cash profits on dividend checks. That's hardly ideal, and the company doesn't have much room for dividend increases in this economy. At the same time, UPS has $5.1 billion in cash reserves and a rock-solid credit rating. The dividend looks safe from cash-preserving cuts in the foreseeable future.

Why UPS is shrinking its Amazon deliveries

And UPS isn't resting on its laurels. The company plans to boost its profitability over the next year by taking on a smaller number of low-margin shipments. The long-standing partnership with Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is the main target for this cost-cutting effort, with shipments under the contract halving by the summer of 2026. The move will let UPS close 73 shipping centers and reduce its annual operating time by 25 million hours.

"Amazon is our largest customer but it's not our most profitable customer," CEO Carol Tom said in January's fourth-quarter earnings call. "Our contract with Amazon came up this year. And so we said it's time to step back for a moment and reassess our relationship. Because if we take no action, it will likely result in diminishing returns."

In other words, UPS is taking action to solidify its bottom-line profits. The helpful moves it makes in this challenging economy should translate into stronger earnings in the next macroeconomic upswing.

The long-term case for owning UPS

Investing is a marathon, not a sprint. UPS stock is cheap right now for short-sighted reasons. The company should thrive in the long run, equipped with a world-class shipment system and a proactive management team. By focusing on more profitable services, UPS could get back to generous dividend increases in 2026 and beyond.

And in the meantime, the dividend yield stands at an eye-popping 6.7%. It's nearly an all-time record for UPS, and one of the 10 most lucrative yields found in the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) index. Furthermore, UPS shares are valued at just 14.3 times trailing earnings and 0.9 times sales. These multiples are about half of their long-term averages and nearly equal to the all-time lows seen in the subprime mortgage meltdown of 2008.

Taken together, the rich dividend yield and affordable stock price add up to a great long-term investment. The UPS shares you buy in this temporary dip can help you build wealth in the long run.

Should you invest $1,000 in United Parcel Service right now?

Before you buy stock in United Parcel Service, 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 United Parcel Service 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 $669,517!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $868,615!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 792% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% 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 2, 2025

John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Anders Bylund has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and United Parcel Service. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Memory chip giant Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) is back to its cyclical habits. One might think that the artificial intelligence (AI) boom would send Micron's business results and stock returns skyward these days, but the real AI effect isn't quite that simple.

As of June 3, Micron's total return stands 33% below last summer's all-time highs. Is this a wide-open buying window or the start of a multiyear downswing?

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 »

Here's what I think about Micron in June 2025.

Why Micron isn't flying high in 2025

Micron isn't the only AI-oriented tech stock to take a drastic haircut over the last year. It's almost scary how tightly Micron's stock performance has matched the total returns of Dell Technologies, ASML Holding, and Applied Materials recently:

MU Total Return Level data by YCharts

For the record, AI-centric market darling Nvidia gained 25% over the same period, while the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) market index rose by 14%. So the sinking tide didn't capsize every boat, but it did weigh on most AI-focused computing hardware experts not named Nvidia.

Micron did play a part in its own downfall, of course. Sales soared in the first half of 2024, but slowed down more recently. Mind you, many businesses would celebrate a 38% year-over-year revenue jump, like the one Micron reported in March, but that's a significant slowdown from 93% two quarters earlier.

Micron's profits followed similar trend lines, which explains why investors lost patience with the stock. And of course, the proposed tariffs may undermine Micron's sales and profits. Nobody knows how the bubbling trade tensions will play out yet.

Why Micron isn't sweating the slowdown

But here's the thing: Micron is well equipped to handle a bit of a slowdown. If anything, the company's in-house chip factories should be able to stockpile memory chips until its largest customers are ready to place large orders again.

On top of that, Micron offers market-leading technology. Its next generation of power-efficient data center memory will hit the market in 2026, offering a 60% memory bandwidth increase and even lower power consumption than the current top-of-the-line products. These high-bandwidth chips are a part of Nvidia's latest and greatest AI accelerator cards, so Micron benefits in a very direct way from Nvidia's success.

Is Micron's stock just taking a breather?

So Micron remains a top-notch provider of crucial hardware in the generative AI revolution. A short-term slowdown in the order book is not the end of the line.

Meanwhile, Micron's stock is trading at just 9.4 times forward earnings estimates. Analysts expect the company's profits to surge in 2025, and for good reason. Yet the market makers out there have not yet accounted for this upcoming bottom-line explosion in their share price calculations.

The AI boom makes a real difference to Micron's business prospects, and sales of those low-power but high-performance data center chips should rise from $1 billion last year to "multibillion dollars" in 2025. This surge should also be good for Micron's profit margins, since I'm talking about high-end chips with lucrative unit prices.

The speed bump simply gives long-term investors another chance to buy Micron shares on the cheap. The long-term returns won't be smooth, but Micron tends to build wealth over its sweeping business cycles. I highly recommend holding a few Micron shares for the long haul.

Should you invest $1,000 in Micron Technology right now?

Before you buy stock in Micron Technology, 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 Micron Technology 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 $668,538!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $869,841!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 789% — 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 2, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in Micron Technology and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends ASML, Applied Materials, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Sunny days and summertime festivities are on the horizon for June. But there's no guarantee the clouds overhanging the broader market will dissipate.

Instead of trying to guess what the stock market will do in the short term, a better approach is to invest in companies with strong underlying investment theses that have the staying power to endure economic cycles.

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 »

Here's why these Fool.com contributors see Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Shopify (NASDAQ: SHOP), Cava Group (NYSE: CAVA), ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), and Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) as five top stocks to buy in June.

Apple's pricing power will be put to the test

Daniel Foelber (Apple): There are 30 components in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI), and the worst-performing year to date is health insurance giant UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) -- which crashed due to cost pressures, regulatory scrutiny, suspended guidance, and another major leadership change. However, it's the second-worst performing Dow stock that is piquing my interest in June -- Apple.

Apple is down 22% year to date at the time of this writing -- making it the worst-performing "Magnificent Seven" stock. I think the sell-off is an excellent opportunity for long-term investors.

The simplest reason to buy Apple is if you think it can pass along a decent amount of tariff-related cost pressures. The latest update at the time of this writing is a 25% tariff on smartphones made outside the U.S. And since Apple assembles the vast majority of iPhones in China, the tariff could directly impact its bottom line.

Given higher labor costs and manufacturing challenges, moving production to the U.S. isn't a viable option. So, the million-dollar questions are how long tariffs will last and if Apple can pass along some of its higher costs to consumers.

A major catalyst that could drive iPhone demand even if prices go up is the upgrade cycle. Apple releases new iPhones every September. Most consumers aren't upgrading every year, but rather, waiting until they need to upgrade or the features appeal to them.

The upcoming iPhone 17 could have far more artificial intelligence (AI) features than the iPhone 16 -- which could attract buyers even with a higher price tag. Investors will learn more about Apple's technological advancements at its Worldwide Developers Conference from June 9 to 13.

Also, in Apple's favor, its pricing has stayed consistent for years. The base price of a new iPhone hasn't changed since 2017 as the company has preferred to keep prices low to get consumers involved in its ecosystem to support growth in its services segment. Apple's product growth has been weak in recent years, but the services segment has flourished, led by Apple TV+, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and more.

Given tariff woes, it's easy to be sour on Apple stock right now. But the glass-half-full outlook on the company is that if tariffs do persist, at least they are coming during a time when Apple is expected to make by far its most innovative iPhone ever.

All told, long-term investors looking for an industry-leading company to buy in June should consider scooping up shares of Apple.

A growing e-commerce platform giant

Demitri Kalogeropoulos (Shopify): Shopify stock returns are roughly flat so far in 2025, but there are brighter days ahead for owners of this e-commerce services giant. The company just wrapped up a stellar Q1 period, as sales growth landed at 27%. Sure, that was a modest slowdown from the prior period's 31% increase, but it still marked the eighth consecutive quarter of growth of at least 25%.

Merchants are finding plenty of value in Shopify's expanding suite of services, even through the latest disruptive tariff-fueled trade disruptions. Merchant solutions revenue jumped 29%, helping lift sales growth above the company's 23% increase in gross sales volumes. "We built Shopify for times like these," company president Harvey Finklestien said in a press release. "We handle the complexity so merchants can focus on their customers."

Shopify is having no trouble converting those market share gains into rising profits, either. Operating income more than doubled to $203 million, and the company achieved a 15% free cash flow margin, up from 12% a year ago.

Concerns over more trade disruptions have likely kept a lid on the stock price following that positive Q1 earnings report in early May. But the company still expects 2025 growth to be in the mid-20s percentage range year over year. Shopify affirmed its initial aggressive outlook for free cash flow, too, although management sees a slightly slower profit increase (in the low-teens percentage rate) ahead for the year.

Investors can look past that minor profit downgrade and focus on Shopify's broader growth story that involves more merchants signing up for more services and booking more transactions on its platform. Success here should make the stock a great one to add to your portfolio in June, with the aim of holding it for the long term.

A Mediterranean feast for growth investors

Anders Bylund (Cava Group): Shares of Cava Group are down more than 40% in the last six months. That doesn't exactly make it a cheap stock, since Cava trades at 69 times earnings and 9.2 times sales even now.

But the Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant chain is growing quickly while reporting profits, and also widening its profit margins over time. That's a lucrative combo that deserves a premium stock price.

Cava's success hasn't gone unnoticed, despite the plunging stock chart. Two-thirds of analysts who follow this stock have issued a "buy" or "overweight" rating, and Wall Street's average target price is 44% above Thursday's closing price.

The company has a habit of absolutely crushing each quarter's analyst estimates across the board, including a huge surprise in May's first-quarter report. The average analyst expected earnings of just $0.02 per share on revenues in the neighborhood of $281 million. Instead, Cava reported earnings of $0.22 per share and $332 million in top-line sales.

A report like that would normally boost Cava's stock, but the market reaction was negative. Management noted that same-store sales growth could slow down in the second half of 2025, since the unpredictable economy is weighing down consumer spending. Cava's healthy salad bowls and pita wraps are on the pricey side, making the chain a vendor of everyday luxuries. This strategy could make Cava vulnerable to shifts in consumer confidence, especially when paired with the stock's lofty valuation.

So you won't find the stock in Wall Street's bargain basement today, but it did move down from the high-end valuation penthouse it inhabited a few months ago. If you like your investments fresh and flavorful, Cava's combination of healthy growth and expanding profits could be a recipe for long-term portfolio success.

42 dividend raises, with more coming up

Neha Chamaria (ExxonMobil): With renewables on the rise, people often believe the oil and gas industry isn't where to bet on anymore. While the global demand for energy overall is only expected to grow, driven by developing countries, ExxonMobil is in a sweet spot. It is working hard to bring down its break-even oil price significantly to stay relevant in the long run. At the same time, it is developing new low-carbon products and solutions.

It believes these new businesses could have potential addressable markets worth $400 billion by 2030 and over $2.3 trillion by 2050. Biofuels, carbon capture and storage, and low-carbon hydrogen are just some of the new products ExxonMobil is focused on.

Overall, ExxonMobil wants to produce "more profitable barrels and more profitable products" and is also cutting costs aggressively. The oil and gas giant believes a better product mix and its cost-reduction efforts combined could add nearly $20 billion in incremental earnings and $30 billion in operating cash flows by 2030.

In short, ExxonMobil is already charting a growth path to 2030 without compromising on capital discipline. It wants to generate big cash flows and maintain a strong balance sheet even through oil market down cycles, and ensure it can continue to reward shareholders with a sustainable and growing dividend on top of opportunistic share buybacks.

ExxonMobil has already proven its mettle when it comes to shareholder returns. It has increased its dividend each year for the past 42 consecutive years. Even without dividends, the stock has more than doubled shareholder returns in the past five years. With ExxonMobil stock now trading almost 20% off its all-time highs, it is one of the top S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) stocks to buy now and hold.

Ready to rebound

Keith Speights (Energy Transfer): I'm not worried in the least that Energy Transfer LP's unit price is down year to date. This pullback presents a great opportunity to buy the midstream energy stock in June.

Energy Transfer's business continues to rock along. The limited partnership (LP) set a new record for interstate natural gas transportation volume in the first quarter of 2025. Its crude oil transportation volume jumped 10% year over year in Q1. Natural gas liquid (NGL) transportation volumes rose 4%, with NGL exports increasing 5%.

The LP's growth prospects remain solid. Energy Transfer commissioned the first of eight natural gas-powered electric generation facilities in Texas earlier this year. It plans to partner with MidOcean Energy to build a new LNG facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a new growth driver, with Energy Transfer agreeing to provide natural gas to Cloudburst Data Centers' AI data centers.

The Trump administration's tariffs shouldn't affect Energy Transfer much. All of the company's 130,000-plus miles of pipeline are in the U.S. Energy Transfer has already secured most of the steel to be used in phase 1 of its Hugh Brinson pipeline project. Co-CEO Marshall "Mackie" McCrea said in the Q1 earnings call that management doesn't "expect to see any major challenges, if any challenges at all, selling out our terminal every month, the rest of this year."

Even if Energy Transfer's unit price doesn't move much, investors will still make money thanks to the LP's generous distributions. The midstream leader's forward distribution yield currently tops 7.3%. Energy Transfer plans to increase its distribution by 3% to 5% each year.

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

Before you buy stock in Apple, 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 Apple 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 $651,049!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $828,224!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 979% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% 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 2, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in UnitedHealth Group. Daniel Foelber has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Demitri Kalogeropoulos has positions in Apple and Shopify. Keith Speights has positions in Apple, Energy Transfer, and ExxonMobil. Neha Chamaria has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple and Shopify. The Motley Fool recommends Cava Group and UnitedHealth Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Shares of Box (NYSE: BOX) surged as much as 19.7% higher on Wednesday, peaking around 1:30 p.m. ET. The cloud-based data storage and content management veteran reported robust first-quarter fiscal-year 2026 results on Tuesday evening. By 3:10 p.m. ET, the stock was up about 18% from the previous day's close.

Foreign exchange, taxes, and shrinking earnings

Box's Q1 2026 sales rose 4% year over year to $276.3 million. Adjusted earnings fell from $0.39 to $0.30 per diluted share, including a $0.01 headwind from changing foreign currency exchange rates. Your average Wall Street analyst would have settled for earnings near $0.26 per share on revenue in the neighborhood of $275.1 million.

Looking ahead, Box's management projects second-quarter revenue of approximately $290 million with roughly $0.30 of adjusted earnings per share. These numbers will compare to $270 million and $0.44 per share, respectively, in the year-ago period.

Box's next big leap: Feeding the robots

Non-cash tax charges are weighing on Box's bottom-line results this year. The company recently turned profitable and is now recognizing $248 million of deferred tax credits, little by little. This item reduced Box's first-quarter adjusted earnings by $0.12 per share.

The company recently unveiled a brand-new artificial intelligence (AI) platform that will help enterprise-scale clients feed data to their AI agents. Box's stock is trading at an all-time high today, boosted by a promising AI strategy and five straight quarters of analyst-stumping financial results. Even so, Box shares trade at a fairly modest valuation. In that context, today's significant price jump looks reasonable.

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

Before you buy stock in Box, 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 Box 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 $653,389!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $830,492!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 982% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% 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 May 19, 2025

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

The tech sector has been a market-beating beast in recent years. Tech-heavy exchange-traded funds (ETFs) like the Vanguard Information Technology ETF (NYSEMKT: VGT) and the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) have delivered annual returns of more than 21% over the last three years. Broad market trackers like the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) only gained 15.5% per year over the same period. Yes, that's a fantastic return from a historic perspective, but the tech sector offered even stronger gains.

The technology boom has been driven by artificial intelligence (AI) news, starting with the public release of ChatGPT in November 2022. Many leaders in the AI market have soared sky-high, adding fuel to the tech sector's market performance fires, but also making those market darlings a bit expensive.

Fortunately, the market-moving forces left a few top-notch companies behind. I still see several tech stocks with a combination of bright business prospects and modest stock prices. Let's check out a couple of underappreciated bargain-bin tech stocks. This dynamic duo looks ready for a fresh bull run.

1. Criteo

Digital advertising has been a troubled sector since the first signs of an inflation crisis in 2021. Paris-based commerce media specialist Criteo (NASDAQ: CRTO) provides purchase-inspiring ad services to global brands. This focus placed the Parisian company in the epicenter of the inflation-based slowdown -- why invest in lavish marketing campaigns when consumers are pinching pennies and tightening belts?

Criteo's revenues have indeed slumped since then, and so has the stock price. You know what's surging in recent quarters, though? That would be Criteo's free cash flows:

CRTO Free Cash Flow data by YCharts

The cash profits took a temporary dip, but came back stronger, with trailing cash flows reaching an all-time high in May's Q1 2025 report. But Criteo's stock price is down more than 30% in the last quarter, and the shares are trading at the bargain-bin valuation of 11.3 times earnings and 6.6 times free cash flow.

I'm not saying the digital ad market is roaring back to life in the spring of 2025. The political climate may result in another inflation spike, and advertisers are already reducing their ad-spot spending right now. Hence, Criteo's undervalued stock may see more volatility and weakness in the coming months. However, I think the market makers have underestimated Criteo's ability to turn cash profits in a soft market.

The Criteo shares you buy at a discount in this downswing should return to more reasonable valuation ratios someday. At the same time, the company's robust cash generation makes it less vulnerable to short-term financial challenges. You can buy Criteo stock with confidence while it's cheap. This one is poised for great long-term returns, and patience is the greatest Wall Street virtue of them all.

2. Hewlett Packard Enterprise

My next recommendation is more of a household name. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) has been around (in some form) since 1939. As the data center and cloud computing operator of the old HP business, HP Enterprise (aka HPE) plays a serious part in the AI boom.

Indeed, seven out of the 10 most powerful supercomputers today were built by HP Enterprise. Only Chinese rival Lenovo has more systems in the top 500 than HP Enterprise, and nobody can match the total number-crunching performance of this company's ultra-powerful systems. Any company or organization that needs a top-performance system for their AI training and operations is likely to check out HP Enterprise's catalog first.

So I'm talking about an AI powerhouse here. Yet, the stock price has dropped 16% lower year to date while smaller system builders Super Micro Computers (NASDAQ: SMCI) and Dell (NYSE: DELL) are up by 41% and down by just 1%, respectively. Trading at 8.9 times earnings and 14.3 times free cash flow, HP Enterprise looks downright cheap next to these challengers.

HP Enterprise's stock could double or triple in price and still be affordable next to Supermicro or Dell. This could be a great value play on the hardware side of the AI boom.

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

Before you buy stock in Criteo, 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 Criteo 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 $653,389!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $830,492!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 982% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% 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 May 19, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in Criteo, Vanguard Information Technology ETF, and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool recommends Criteo. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Shares of Domo (NASDAQ: DOMO) absolutely soared on Thursday. The stock had gained 30.5% at 1:30 p.m. ET, driven by a robust earnings report.

Domo's Q1 2026 report by the numbers

The cloud-based software specialist reported $80.1 million of top-line revenue in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, unchanged from the year-ago period. Further down the income statement, Domo saw an adjusted net loss of $0.09 per share. That's a strong improvement from a net loss of $0.33 per share. The average Wall Street analyst had expected a larger loss of roughly $0.11 per share.

Beyond the usual headline numbers, Domo expanded its subscription-based list of unfilled orders by 24% year over year. Most of the new business appears to be of a long-term nature. The unfilled orders are expected to convert into actual revenues at a much faster rate in calendar year 2026 and beyond.

How to start a Domo position today

Domo CEO Josh James highlighted the company's innovative approach to a dynamic technology market. "Our Q1 momentum is proof positive that our strategy is fueling powerful, innovative solutions for our customers," he said in a prepared statement. "We're not just keeping pace in the fast-moving world of data and AI -- we're leading the charge."

Looking ahead, Domo's management expects second-quarter and full-year sales to remain comparable to the results of fiscal year 2025. In other words, there's a big pot of future revenues brewing behind the scenes, and investors need to be patient with a gradual process of generating revenues.

As such, the stock may be prone to volatility in the next few quarters. If you want to pounce on this stock before it gets too expensive, I suggest splitting that investment in at least three parts. That's a time-honored method to build a fresh stock position without worrying too much about short-term price changes.

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

Before you buy stock in Domo, 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 Domo 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 $644,254!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $807,814!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 962% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 169% 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 May 19, 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.

2025 has been an eventful year on Wall Street. The market has been making wild moves in response to unpredictable events. Many market watchers expect a downturn, a recession, and/or another bear market to emerge any day now. Then again, they've already been looking for these negative outcomes for several months.

There was a sharp drop in early April, but it didn't really stick. Whether you call the current situation a bear market or not, it's certainly a period of huge volatility.

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 »

I understand if you've sworn off investing altogether amid these shifting economic conditions However, I've been putting more spare cash to work than usual in recent months -- and I plan to continue doing so. Let me explain why I'm an unusually active stock investor in this fickle market. By the time I'm done, you just might want to join me.

Timing the market is an impossible game

Nobody knows what the stock market will do tomorrow, or next week, or next year.

There are surprises around every corner. Nobody expected the COVID-19 pandemic. The artificial intelligence (AI) surge was another surprise. The shocking dot-com boom was followed by an equally unexpected crash. I could go on and on.

The point is, real-world events have profound and unpredictable effects on the stock market. Some shocks beget golden eras for specific industries. Others can lay a muffling blanket over the whole economy.

So I don't trust anyone who says they know what the market will do over a specific period. Even master investor Warren Buffett can't forecast Wall Street's next moves.

"Let me be clear on one point: I can't predict the short-term movements of the stock market," Buffett said in a 2008 New York Times article. "I haven't the faintest idea as to whether stocks will be higher or lower a month or a year from now."

If Buffett doesn't know, I don't stand a chance of getting it right. It's not for me to forecast when the next market downturn will start, or how deep it might go. Trying to time my stock purchases for the absolute bottom of a potential trough is a bad idea.

Time in the market is a winning strategy

That 2008 Buffett article didn't end on that gloomy note, of course. He went on to describe his contrarian investment style, and his focus on holding great stocks for a long time.

"Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful," he wrote. Yeah, you've heard that bit before. "Bad news is an investor's best friend. It lets you buy a slice of America's future at a marked-down price."

In the long run, great companies will make patient shareholders happy. If you're not comfortable with picking the best stocks in a crowded market, a diversified mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) will do the same job.

For example, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) will never beat the market. However, it will help you build up your wealth if you invest in it steadily over many years and decades.

So I won't nail the perfect time to buy -- but at least I'm trying

Math is a wonderful science. I'm particularly thrilled about the power of compound growth.

Earning annual returns of 10% on your investments for a decade won't just double your money, because you're not just experiencing those 10% gains on your portfolio's original value. In the second year, you'll also see a 10% gain on the first year's gains, and so on in every year that follows. The benefits really start to rack up over time. In this basic example, If you started with a $1,000 investment, after 10 years, your investment would be worth $2,594.

Longer investment periods will continue to boost the overall returns. Add another decade to that $1,000 thought experiment with perfect annual returns of 10%, and you'd have $6,727 at the end. Going to 30 years results in a $17,449 result.

In reality, your gains won't be smooth. You'll go through down years like 2022 and fantastic periods like 2024. Adding more cash to your portfolio is a great idea when the market is booming. Yet as Warren Buffett suggests, you can get more value for your investing dollar when stock charts are trending down.

What I'm buying in 2025

That's why I don't mind buying stocks and exchange-traded funds in this nerve-wracking economy. My most recent buys have included the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF and the more aggressive Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth (NASDAQ: VONG) ETF. Among my hand-picked stock buys in recent weeks, you'll find a few shares of retail giant Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and media-streaming pioneer Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU). These are some of my best investment ideas right now.

It feels easy to find undervalued stocks right now. I've only shared a few of my 2025 purchases here. Most of them have posted negative returns in the early going, and that's fine. I might just keep buying them at better and better starting prices.

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

Before you buy stock in Vanguard 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 Vanguard 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 $617,181!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $719,371!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 909% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 163% 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 May 5, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in Roku, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, Vanguard Scottsdale Funds-Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF, and Walmart. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Roku, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.