MONEY

There hasn’t been much of a reason for investors to be excited about Target (TGT 0.80%) stock this year. The company’s financials have been underwhelming, and with the business heavily dependent on discretionary spending for its growth, there hasn’t been much hope that things will get better anytime soon, given the state of the economy.

This year, the stock is down more than 30% as it has continued to hit new lows on the way down. But it offers a high-yielding dividend of 5.2% and with an incredibly low valuation, it could make for an intriguing contrarian play. With earnings coming up on Nov. 19, should you consider taking a chance on the retail stock before it posts its latest numbers? 

Image source: Getty Images.

Will the upcoming quarter be more of the same for Target?

To say things haven’t been going well for Target in recent years is an understatement. Sales have been sluggish and the company has been struggling to generate any kind of growth whatsoever. Consumers have been tightening up their budgets and spending less on discretionary purchases as concerns about tariffs and the economy as a whole have been affecting many retailers.

TGT Revenue (Quarterly YoY Growth) data by YCharts

In the company’s most recent quarter, which ended on Aug. 2, its net sales were down by a little less than 1%, totaling $25.2 billion. And what was even more problematic is that with expenses rising, Target’s net earnings fell by a whopping 22%, to $935 million.

The worry is that retailers haven’t felt the full impact of tariffs just yet, which could mean more bad news for Target’s business in the future. But in a way, that bearish outlook could work to the stock’s advantage.

Expectations appear low for Target

Target’s stock has been in a prolonged tailspin this year. And if the company doesn’t give investors much reason for optimism in its upcoming earnings report, it could be on track for an even worse year than in 2022, when the stock market crashed and its shares plummeted by 36%.

The retail stock trades at a lowly 10 times its trailing earnings, and even when factoring in analyst expectations, its forward price-to-earnings multiple is not much higher at 11. There’s plenty of bearishness priced into the stock, which could make it easier for Target not to disappoint investors; any bit of positive news could give this beaten-down stock some much-needed life.

The bar is definitely low given the discount Target trades at, and it hasn’t been this cheap in years.

I wouldn’t buy Target’s stock just yet

Target is a good long-term buy and I believe it can recover. But it’s also undergoing a change in CEO, macroeconomic conditions are far from ideal for its business, and there’s been a flurry of negativity around the stock this year. Given all those factors, I don’t see a reprieve coming just yet, as the economy is still on shaky ground and there’s little reason to expect a turnaround at this stage.

If you’re a long-term investor, you may want to consider taking a position in the stock, but only if you’re prepared for a turbulent ride and are willing to wait for at least a couple of years for economic conditions to improve.

The safer option is to wait and see what the company’s strategy looks like under its new CEO, Michael Fiddelke, who takes over in February and to reevaluate the stock at that point. With so much uncertainty around the business, there simply isn’t an overwhelming reason to buy shares of Target today. It could be a while before the business can turn things around, and in the meantime, there are better growth stocks to invest in.

“Any fool can reduce the cost of a car by making it worse and just deleting functionality.”

— Elon Musk, Tesla earnings call, October 2023

In an era where anything you say can and likely will be used against you at some point in time, that quote comes from none other than Tesla (TSLA 2.58%) CEO Elon Musk. This statement came back in 2023 while Musk was discussing removing vehicle cost. Almost exactly two years later, it’s looking pretty ironic as Tesla makes significant cost-cuts by removing features for its Model 3 and Model Y to introduce a new “standard” base vehicle model.

Was it the right move? Let’s look at the vehicle alterations, the value proposition, and the road ahead.

The game of pennies

As Tesla scrambles to pinch pennies from its existing Model 3 and Model Y to again create new standard models, it’s estimated the company slashed roughly $5,000 from its newly introduced lower-priced model trims. Some cost cuts seemed like no-brainers; others sparked debate over whether the company took too much value out, leaving consumers with a Tesla unworthy of its luxury brand image.

Perhaps the largest cut, in terms of estimated dollars saved, came from reducing the battery capacity by roughly 10%, which saved an estimated $1,500. Tesla also threw on new wheels that were 1 inch smaller and replaced frequency-selective dampers with passive shock absorbers for another $700. A less powerful motor reduced cost by roughly $600, and smaller moves such as no ventilated seats, fewer speakers, less ambient lighting, and no rear infotainment screen, among others, generated the rest of the cost savings. There were even some head-scratchers including the Model 3 retaining the panoramic glass roof, while the Model Y keeps the glass but covers it with a headliner.

Results and responses

After the notable cost-cutting and feature removals, the Model Y Standard now starts at $39,990 and $41,630 with shipping, roughly $5,000 less than the previous base trim. The Model 3 Standard is about $5,500 cheaper starting at $38,630 with shipping.

The initial response hasn’t been as inspiring as investors had hoped. “The most obvious change is the loss of the whipcrack response to the prod of the throttle,” Edmunds said while reviewing the Model Y base trim compared with the previous version. “The languid response now feels more like a Honda CR-V than a traditional Tesla.”

“You look at this new stripped-out Model Y and it’s like, God, look at all the penny-pinching,” said Ed Kim, chief analyst at AutoPacific, according to Automotive News. Ryan Shaw, with a YouTube channel focused on electric vehicles and Tesla, said the new base trim “might exist so that Tesla can get people to upgrade.” He continued, “They can say the car starts at this low price, but really want you to upgrade.”

What it all means

For investors, the cost reduction and feature alterations may bring more questions than answers. For only a $5,000 price difference, is the new Standard trim a better value to consumers, or is it just slightly cheaper giving a niche audience the lowest cost way to drive away in a Tesla vehicle? In other words, will a $5,000 price gap convince new consumers to try the brand, incrementally increasing the pool of Tesla buyers, or will it simply cannibalize sales and lower profit margins?

Only time will give investors the answers they desire, and we’re likely to hear more during Tesla’s third-quarter earnings results on Oct. 22. While this is a move Tesla needed to try, it’s unlikely to reverse the company’s recent global sales decline, which has seen global deliveries drop about 6% over the first three quarters of 2025, compared to the prior year.

Ultimately, investors and Tesla itself are in a bit of a soul-searching transition phase as the company attempts to evolve from primarily a vehicle manufacturer to a company focused on robotaxis, self-driving vehicles, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics. Tesla isn’t about to fade into obscurity, and its best days could still be down the road, but investors need to dust off their investing thesis and see if Tesla’s direction is still in alignment with theirs long-term. The world changes, companies change, and so too must your investment thesis at times.

Artificial intelligence (AI) represents a major opportunity for businesses across industries to develop products faster and cheaper than ever before. The race to gain a data-driven edge on the competition is fueling massive investment across the entire tech supply chain from data centers to software.

Many of the key players enabling this new industrial revolution are already valued at over $1 trillion market caps. But as governments and businesses continue to invest in this technology, there are two AI enablers that are still valued under $500 billion that could be worth buying today. Here’s why growing competition in AI could propel these companies into the trillion-dollar club.

1. Palantir Technologies

Palantir (PLTR 0.11%) started as a government contractor, providing AI-powered software for intelligence and counterterrorism efforts. But now its software is experiencing insatiable demand in the private sector. Companies are seeing significant cost savings, which means Palantir can benefit from companies scrambling to adopt AI solutions to remain competitive.

If one company in an industry uses Palantir to gain operating efficiencies, it creates a competitive advantage. This pushes more businesses to consider investing in Palantir’s platforms or risk falling behind. This can explain in part why Palantir’s U.S. commercial revenue has exploded this year, nearly doubling year over year in the second quarter.

Palantir closed its highest quarter yet of total contract-value bookings of $2.3 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 140%. It is signing bigger deals while also seeing existing customers continue to spend more, leading to a healthy 128% net-dollar retention rate.

Palantir is effectively a tool that improves a company’s profits. Its software is expensive relative to alternative software vendors, but Palantir still expects accelerating growth next quarter. This signals it has a competitive edge. Palantir’s ontology-based system creates a digital twin of a company’s operations, helping managers make sense of unorganized data for better decision making.

Importantly, Palantir is converting revenue into very high margins that are driving robust growth in earnings and free cash flow. This is one reason why the stock has performed so well and may continue to outperform Wall Street’s expectations.

For what it’s worth, widely followed tech analyst Dan Ives at Wedbush Securities sees Palantir stock hitting a market cap of $1 trillion in the next three years. Keep in mind, the stock trades at an expensive valuation, so market sentiment will play a role in how the stock performs in the near term. Given the potential for volatility in the share price, investors should plan on holding it for at least 10 years. Long term, the savings and efficiencies Palantir brings to other companies could make it one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Image source: Advanced Micro Devices.

2. Advanced Micro Devices

The companies providing the chips for AI continue to benefit from increasing competition among the leading model builders. OpenAI just announced a deal to deploy six gigawatts of chips, which amounts to hundreds of thousands, from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD -0.52%) over the next several years.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT is the most popular AI model with over 700 million weekly active users. But to meet growing demand, it has to expand its compute capacity to compete with rivals, including xAI’s Grok and Google Gemini, which also continue to invest in more infrastructure. This growing competition will benefit AMD.

OpenAI’s deal with AMD validates the capabilities of its upcoming pipeline of graphics processing units (GPUs). AMD’s data center business has not been growing as fast as Nvidia‘s, but it is expected to accelerate over the next year, and the deal with OpenAI is a catalyst.

While Nvidia’s GPUs have been widely used by data centers for powering large AI training loads, AMD’s chips have an advantage in handling small-to-medium-sized AI tasks. This is by design. AMD’s Instinct family of GPUs feature a high amount of memory bandwidth that makes them well suited for the AI inference market, which CEO Lisa Su believes is going to be much bigger than AI training.

OpenAI will deploy the first gigawatt of AMD Instinct MI450 GPUs in the second half of 2026. Analysts currently expect AMD’s revenue to grow 28% in 2025 before increasing by 26% in 2026, according to Yahoo! Finance. Earnings should grow even faster due to the high margins of data center GPUs.

The stock currently has a market cap of $350 billion. Assuming the stock continues to trade around the same price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple, AMD has a good chance to reach a $1 trillion market cap by 2030. Wall Street analysts expect earnings to grow at an annualized rate of 34%, which is enough to generate outstanding returns for investors.

U.S. credit card balances have surged in the past several years, from $787 billion in Q2 2021 to $1.2 trillion in Q2 2025. Though the pace of increases has slowed in 2025, average credit card interest rates still hover around 25%, leading to balances that swell faster than many can pay them down.

Image source: Getty Images.

Debt can happen at any age

There’s never a good time to get caught up in high-interest debt, but the situation is particularly critical when that debt prevents you from investing for retirement. Regardless of your current age, the last thing you want to do is give up aspects of your retirement because you can’t afford them.

Due to soaring inflation, retirees outspend their annual incomes by more than $4,000, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. With limited options to bridge that financial gap, more are turning to credit cards to cover everyday expenses. In fact, 41% of households headed by someone between the ages of 65 and 74 carry credit card debt. Few of these households likely expected to depend on credit cards as they planned for retirement.

But it’s not just those who’ve reached retirement age who depend on credit cards. Experian offers this overview of average credit card debt by age:

What credit card debt means to retirement

Let’s say you’re 55, part of Generation X, and owe $9,600 in credit card debt. If your cards carry an average annual percentage rate (APR) of 25% and you make monthly credit card payments totaling $300, it will take you 54 months to pay the cards off. Worse, you’ll spend $6,384 on interest.

Now, imagine that your credit card debt didn’t exist, and you invested that $6,384 instead. Assuming an average annual return of 7%, it would be worth $12,558 in 10 years, $17,614 in 15 years, and $24,704 in 20 years. That’s assuming you never contribute another penny to the investment. It may not be a fortune, but any money invested can be combined with Social Security and other sources of income to help you in retirement.

Whether you’re an experienced or beginner investor, freeing up the money currently spent on monthly credit card payments is one of the surest ways to bolster your retirement savings.

The trick is to get your credit card debt under control. Here are three ideas to get you started.

1. Look into a consolidation loan

Consider a personal loan with a lower interest rate than you’re paying on your credit cards (ideally, much lower). Use that loan to pay off your credit cards and then make regular monthly payments until the loan is paid off in full.

Again, let’s say you owe $9,600 in credit card debt. The personal loan you land has an APR of 11%. By making the same monthly payment of $300, the loan will be paid off in 39 months rather than the 54 months it would have taken to pay down the credit cards. Better yet, you’ll spend $1,815 in interest, saving you $4,569.

2. Take advantage of a pay-down option

Snowball and avalanche methods are two of the most popular ways to pay off existing debt. Here’s how they work:

• Snowball method: Prioritize paying off your smallest debt first while continuing to make minimum payments on your other debts. Once the smallest debt is paid off, move to the next smallest balance, adding the money you were putting toward the first debt to pay down the second debt at a faster clip. Once the second smallest debt is paid off, move on to the third smallest, and so on. With each debt you pay off, you have more money available to pay toward the next one, creating a snowball effect.
• Avalanche method: Prioritize paying off the debt with the highest interest rate (regardless of balance). Once the debt with the highest rate is paid off, move to the debt with the next highest interest rate, and so on. Like the snowball method, each debt you pay off gives you more money for the next debt.

3. Consider a debt management plan

Debt management plans (DMPs) consolidate your credit card debt into a single monthly payment. Typically offered through certified credit counseling agencies, DMP counselors work on your behalf to:

• Help you determine how much you can afford to pay each month.
• Negotiate with your creditors to adjust your repayment terms.
• Accept your monthly payment and distribute it to your creditors.

While DMPs may be an effective way to climb out of debt, they can initially hurt your credit score, so be sure you understand the pros and cons before entering a DMP agreement.

Credit card debt is not insurmountable, but it does take effort to conquer. The sooner you do that, the sooner you can make progress toward your ideal retirement. Whether that’s fishing every day, visiting your grandkids, or retiring to a beach in a foreign country, it’s your dream to build.

Even Warren Buffett, the greatest stock picker of all time, endorses low-cost, broad-market index funds and exchange-traded funds for most retail investors. This is because most investors don’t have the time to deeply research individual stocks, while broader-market indexes tend to win over time, with 8% to 10% long-term returns on average.

While large banks were the first to create index funds for their institutional clients, Vanguard was the first to offer diversified index funds to the public in 1976. Today, Vanguard is one of just a few major asset managers offering accessible, extremely low-cost index funds, costing investors just a handful of basis points in fees.

After the market’s strong recovery from April’s “Liberation Day” tariff fiasco, here’s the Vanguard fund I’d recommend today.

Buy the total market

Today, technology stocks, particularly around the AI buildout, have soared to very high valuations. Interestingly, some of the largest stocks in the world that have gone up the most, defying the law of large numbers, leaving large indexes like the Nasdaq-100 or even S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.53%) the most concentrated they’ve ever been in recent history.

Of course, there is a good reason why growth-oriented, large-cap technology stocks have soared over the past six months and even the last few years: artificial intelligence. The prospect of generative AI could very well lead to the next industrial revolution; meanwhile, only the largest, best-funded, most technically advanced companies likely have a chance to compete. Therefore, it’s no surprise the “Magnificent Seven” stocks only seem to be getting stronger.

That being said, valuation matters, and the widening gulf between the largest tech stocks and smaller stocks in other sectors is huge. Furthermore, once AI technology is honed and widely distributed, every business in every sector of the economy should be able to benefit from GenAI.

So while investors shouldn’t abandon AI tech stocks en masse, now would also be a good time to look at other types of stock in left-behind sectors. That makes this Vanguard ETF an excellent choice today.

Image source: Getty Images.

Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund

The Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTI 0.51%) is my recommendation for index investors looking to put money to work today. As the name implies, this index tracks the entire stock market, including large-, mid-, small-, and even micro-cap stocks — the entire investing universe in the U.S.

Of course, a broad-market index will also have high weightings of the large-cap tech stocks discussed. Yet while investing in the total market index fund will still give investors some exposure to the AI revolution, those stocks will have a smaller weight than other index funds, such as the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO 0.60%). For instance, in the VTI, the largest stock in the market, Nvidia, has a 6.5% weighting, whereas Nvidia sports a 7.8% weighting in the VOO, which tracks the S&P 500, and a 9.9% weighting in the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ 0.73%), which tracks the Nasdaq-100.

Meanwhile, the total market fund will give a larger weight to smaller stocks in other cheaper sectors of the economy, which may outperform if there is a rebalancing and reversion to the mean. This is what happened in the early 2000s, when technology stocks crashed over the course of three years, but cheaper value stocks in other sectors of the market went on to outperform.

Currently, the VTI trades at a weighted average 27.2 times earnings, with a 1.14% dividend yield. It has risen 13.9% year to date, which is a strong performance, albeit behind that of the VOO and QQQ. Its expense ratio is 0.03%, which is so minuscule the fund is practically free.

Torn between momentum and value? Buy everything

The VTI is therefore a nice middle ground between those who are enthusiastic about the general prospects for AI technology, but are squeamish about tech stocks’ sky-high valuations relative to lower-priced sectors today. Therefore, it’s a great choice for investors looking to allocate money to stocks in October as part of their investment plan.

About a year ago, Nvidia (NVDA 0.86%) was facing one of its biggest moments ever. The artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant was launching its new Blackwell architecture, a system that was being met with “insane” demand as CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC at the time. The company announced Blackwell in March 2024 and the fourth quarter of the year was the first to include Blackwell revenue.

Blackwell was to be the first release of a new routine for Nvidia: launching chip or entire platform updates on an annual basis. Since that time, this new architecture has helped Nvidia’s earnings roar higher, with Blackwell data center revenue climbing 17% in the most recent quarter from the previous one. In the report, Huang said, “The AI race is on, and Blackwell is the platform at its center.” Meanwhile, Nvidia stock has reflected all of this, advancing 40% so far this year.

Now, it’s logical to wonder where Nvidia will be as this story progresses, for example, 24 months after the Blackwell launch. Here’s what history says.

Image source: Nvidia.

Nvidia’s path in AI

First, though, let’s consider Nvidia’s path in the AI market so far. The company has always been a graphics processing unit (GPU) powerhouse, but in its earlier days, it mainly sold these high-performance chips to the gaming market. As it became clear that their uses could be much broader, Nvidia developed the CUDA parallel computing platform to make that happen — and then, as the potential of AI emerged, Nvidia didn’t hesitate to put its focus on this exciting market.

That proved to be a fantastic move as it helped Nvidia secure the top spot in the AI chip market — and the quality and speed of its GPUs has kept it there. All of this has resulted in several quarters of double- and triple-digit revenue growth as well as high profitability on sales — gross margin has generally surpassed 70% in recent times.

To keep this leadership going, Nvidia committed to ongoing innovation, with the promise of updating its chips once a year. The company kicked this off with the launch of Blackwell about a year ago, then released update Blackwell Ultra a few months ago. Next up on the agenda is the Vera Rubin system, set for release late next year.

From platform to platform

All of these platforms operate together seamlessly, so customers don’t have to wait for a specific one and instead can get in on Nvidia’s current system and easily move forward with the latest innovations when needed. Still, as mentioned earlier, demand from big tech customers for the latest systems has been great — they want to win in the AI race and to do so aim to get their hands on the best tools as soon as possible.

So, where will Nvidia be 24 months after the Blackwell launch? The clues so far suggest revenue will continue to climb in the double-digits — and Wall Street’s average estimates call for a 33% increase in revenue next year from this year’s levels. And as Rubin is released, demand is likely to increase for that system as customers’ interest in gaining access to the latest AI technology continues.

But what about Nvidia’s stock price? History offers some clues. Prior to this time, Nvidia’s major recent releases happened every two years. We can look back to the launch of the Ampere platform on May 14, 2020, and the release of Hopper on Sept. 20, 2022. And each time, over the next 24 months, Nvidia stock soared in the triple digits. It climbed 120% in the two years following the Ampere release and more than 700% following the release of Hopper.

NVDA data by YCharts

What history says

History shows Nvidia stock is on track for a triple-digit gain two years after the Blackwell launch. If we use the starting point as the first quarter of Blackwell revenue — this quarter ended on Jan. 26, 2025 — we can see the stock has climbed about 30% so far. But Nvidia still has plenty of time to post more Blackwell sales and potentially see its shares advance in the triple-digits from their level earlier this year through the first month of the 2027 calendar year.

To illustrate, a 100% gain from early 2025 levels would bring the stock price to $284, and that would result in $6.9 trillion in market cap by the start of 2027. This fits into a scenario I wrote about recently, predicting Nvidia will reach $10 trillion in market value by the end of the decade.

Of course, it’s impossible to guarantee this outcome — any negative geopolitical or economic news, or even an unexpected problem like a decline in tech spending could hurt Nvidia’s revenue and stock performance. But, if these potential risks don’t materialize, history could be right — and Nvidia stock may find itself significantly higher 24 months after the Blackwell launch.

In September, the Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate for the first time this year. And there’s a good chance we’ll see at least one more rate cut before 2025 comes to a close.

In light of this, you may be inclined to put some of your money into a CD before rates fall further. And if you’re near or in retirement, I’d say that’s probably a good idea.

Image source: Getty Images.

But I’m not planning to open any CDs this year despite rates still being around 4%. Although that’s a good return given the risk profile, it’s not right for me because of where I am in my retirement savings journey.

The problem with CDs

At first, putting money into a CD might seem like a no-brainer. You can lock in a virtually risk-free return on your money in the ballpark of 4%, which might seem like a great deal if you’re someone who dreads stock market volatility.

The problem with CDs, though, is that they probably won’t pay you enough in the long run to outpace inflation. And you need your retirement savings to beat inflation so that by the time your career wraps up, you’ll have a large enough nest egg to live comfortably.

Imagine you’re able to get a 4% return on a $10,000 CD over the next 30 years (it’s unlikely since rates are still near a high, but this is just to illustrate a point). At the end of that savings window, you’d potentially be sitting on a little more than $32,400.

Meanwhile, let’s say you were to invest $10,000 in a portfolio of stocks or an S&P 500 index fund. There’s a good chance you’d score an 8% yearly return, since that’s a bit below the stock market’s average. In that case, after 30 years, you’d be looking at a little more than $100,600. That’s more than three times the total CDs would give you in this example.

And yes, this is just one example. The point, however, is that if you’re in the process of building wealth for retirement, CDs are generally not a good bet.

It makes sense to put money into CDs when you’re saving for a near-term goal and can’t risk losing money in the stock market. For example, if you’re aiming to buy a home in early 2027, go ahead and put your current down payment savings into a 12-month CD. It wouldn’t be safe to put that money into the stock market since you’ll be needing it pretty soon.

However, if you’re retiring in 20 or 30 years, then it doesn’t make sense to put your money into CDs. And it’s for this reason that I’m not opening CDs right now, either.

I’m not close to retirement age, so I still need my money to grow at a decent pace. To put it another way, a 4% return is not one I’d be happy about in my investment portfolio, which is why I’m sticking to my strategy of loading up on stocks and various ETFs.

CDs are great for near and current retirees

While it doesn’t make sense for me to put money into CDs right now, I have different advice if you’re someone who’s on the cusp of retirement or already retired. In that case, I’d say it could make sense to lock in a CD before rates fall.

It’s a smart idea for people who are close to or in retirement to have one to two years’ worth of living expenses in cash. That way, if the stock market slumps and the value of your investments drops, you won’t have to sell assets at a loss to get access to the money you need to pay your bills.

I would never recommend having all of your cash in CDs, but it’s not a bad idea to start a CD ladder. This means opening a series of CDs that come due at regular intervals — for example, every three to four months, or whatever cadence works best for you. That way, you can earn a guaranteed return on some of your money while also ensuring that it’s available to you at regular intervals.

All told, CDs have their purpose. But they’re not a good choice for me right now. And if you’re years away from retirement, they may not be right for you, either.

Most people know that a higher credit score is better — but how much better? What does it really cost to fall just one tier below?

The average credit score in 2025 is 715, according to Motley Fool Money research. Yours might be above that, or below. And while a few points here or there may not change how lenders treat you, once the gap widens, the financial impact gets real. Especially when you’re moving between major credit tiers.

For example, a credit score of 680 sits at the lower end of the “good” range, while 740 breaks into “very good” territory. Both of these scores aren’t too far from the national average, but they unlock very different rates, terms, and perks.

1. Mortgage rates: A small score gap can cost tens of thousands

Let’s start with the biggest loan most people ever take on: a mortgage.

Suppose you’re applying for a $400,000, 30-year fixed mortgage. Here’s how your credit score might affect the interest rate you’re offered:

Data source: Author’s calculations.

Total difference: over $71,000

To be fair, a lot can change over a 30-year mortgage. If your credit score improves down the road, you may be able to refinance into a lower rate and save money over time. But this example shows just how much a lower score can impact your finances right now — especially if you’re locking in a loan with today’s rates. Even a small bump in your score before applying could lead to serious savings.

2. Auto loans: Higher monthly payments, even on smaller balances

Auto lenders are also score-sensitive. According to MyFICO, here’s the rate difference you could expect with different credit scores, based on a 60-month new car loan:

• 680 score (prime): ~9.963%
• 740 score (prime): ~6.695%

On a $35,000 car loan, that difference could cost you an extra $55 per month, and over $3,300 extra in interest over the life of the loan.

Even though both of these scores fall into the “prime” range for FICO® Scores, there’s quite a big difference in the rates that are offered.

3. Insurance premiums: A hidden cost many don’t realize

In many states, your credit score plays a role in how much you pay for car and home insurance. It doesn’t show up as an interest rate — just a higher premium.

According to Motley Fool Money research, drivers with poor credit often pay more than double what those with excellent credit are charged. Even a modest difference, like $50 more per month, can add up to over $6,000 in extra premiums over a decade.

Got good credit? You may qualify for better rates. See our top insurance carriers for people with strong credit scores.

4. Credit cards: Missed rewards and higher APRs

Most of the best credit cards (including travel cards, 0% intro APR cards, and big cash back cards) prefer applicants with higher credit scores.

That doesn’t mean you’ll be approved or denied strictly on your score (I’ve been denied for some cards even with an 800+ score). But when your score is lower your approval odds typically drop.

That also means missing out on premium rewards rates, long 0% intro APRs, or welcome bonuses worth $750 or more. These can be incredibly valuable perks. But you need the credit score to unlock them.

Raising your score is worth it

Here’s the bright side: moving from a 680 to a 740 (or higher) isn’t some impossible leap.

Many people can see a 40- to 60-point boost within a year or two by practicing good credit habits. Here are a few that make a huge difference:

• Paying down credit card balances (lowering your utilization)
• Setting autopay to never miss a due date
• Not opening or closing too many accounts at once (and keeping your oldest cards open to improve history length)
• Asking for a credit limit increases on existing cards slowly over time

By far the biggest factor is making sure your bills are paid on time, every time.

Even small tweaks can have a big payoff. The difference between “good” and “very good” credit could be tens of thousands of dollars over your lifetime.

Want to put your credit score to work? Check out our favorite credit cards for good-to-excellent credit — including top rewards cards and 0% intro APR offers.

BYD (BYDDY -1.09%) produces far more vehicles than Tesla. But you wouldn’t be able to tell based on stock prices alone. The Chinese electric vehicle maker’s market cap is around $990 billion, while U.S.-based Tesla is valued at more than $1.3 trillion.

Part of the valuation gap is explained by BYD’s recent struggles. Shares are down 20% in value since May. Tesla stock, meanwhile, has gained more than 40% in value over that time period. Is this your chance to buy BYD at a rare discount?

There’s no doubt that shares look compelling. But there are two critical factors to consider before jumping in.

1. Warren Buffett changed his mind about BYD

Legendary investor Warren Buffett was one of the first major investors in BYD. He first acquired shares 17 years ago, paying $230 million for a 10% stake in the business. It wasn’t actually Buffett that spotted the opportunity, but rather his longtime business partner, Charlie Munger.

Earlier in its history, BYD was focused on battery technology. Through vertical integration and affordable labor in China, the company was able to keep costs low, leading to major customer wins. It launched its first vehicles in 2003, gradually expanding its portfolio to include two of the most popular EVs in the world. This year, analysts expect the company to produce more EVs than Tesla, making it the number one EV maker worldwide.

Over the last 17 years, Buffett has made more than 2,000% on his original investment. This year, however, he liquidated his entire position. Why? Even though it has massive scale, BYD is still primarily a Chinese company. Around 80% of its sales are domestic, a reality that creates two critical headwinds.

First, the Chinese economy has been gradually slowing. Last year, GDP in the country grew by just 5% — one of the lowest figures in decades. Accordingly, BYD’s domestic sales have struggled in 2025, leading to a sales forecast cut by management.

Second, the Chinese government has a heavy influence on BYD. The company has received significant financial support from the government over the years. But that generosity may be ending. BYD failed an audit this summer, which may force it to repay more than $50 million in subsidies. The Chinese government’s involvement in the auto industry has ramped up this year, with the ultimate results still uncertain.

Buffett hasn’t yet commented on his stake sale. But with rising political uncertainty and a shaky domestic market, it appears as if the Oracle of Omaha has had enough with this long-term position.

Image source: Getty Images.

2. Don’t compare BYD to Tesla

Due to China’s sluggish GDP and falling population growth, it will be difficult for BYD’s sales to maintain historical growth rates over the long term without expanding international sales aggressively. Increasing regulatory oversight may complicate efforts to do so, but BYD is making moves to shift its focus away from China.

A recent deal with Uber Technologies, for instance, attempts to make its vehicles more accessible to drivers in Europe and Latin America. The deal also paves the way for BYD to help power Uber’s robotaxi division in certain parts of the world.

On the surface, now looks like a compelling time to pick up BYD shares. While challenges exist, the company has an impressive manufacturing base, with the ability to sell cars at a price point that few competitors can match at scale. Its recent Uber deal, meanwhile, gives it exposure to the robotaxi market, which could eventually be worth more than $5 trillion globally.

Add in that shares trade at roughly 1 times sales versus Tesla’s valuation of nearly 17 times sales, and it’s not hard to get excited. Here’s the problem: BYD isn’t Tesla. Tesla, for instance, has a leading position in the robotaxi market, making it far more than a simple auto manufacturer. BYD’s position in the market is simply as a supplier to operators like Uber.

Is BYD stock a buy today? Patient investors comfortable with Chinese regulatory uncertainty may think so. But the valuation gap between BYD and Tesla shouldn’t be a motivating factor. These are two very different businesses.

The artificial intelligence (AI) megatrend has dominated the stock market over the past three years, and with massive AI spending projections stretching out through 2030 and beyond, that doesn’t look likely to change anytime soon. Two of the most successful stock picks in that part of the tech sector in recent years have been Palantir (PLTR 0.11%) and Nvidia (NVDA 0.86%). They aren’t competitors, as they operate on different sides of the AI value chain. Nvidia is a largely hardware provider, while Palantir makes software.

Both have made their long-term investors a ton of money, but the question is, which one provides the better investment opportunity from here? Let’s break that question down and consider it by category.  

Business model

Nvidia makes the world’s leading graphics processing units (GPUs), and its wares are by far the most popular parallel-processor chips for powering and training AI models. Nvidia has enjoyed solid market dominance over the past few years, but rising competition from AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) and Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) could challenge that. Additionally, the AI infrastructure buildout won’t last forever. There will eventually be a time when companies aren’t racing to add high volumes of computing capacity, but instead mostly replacing processors as they reach the end of their useful lifespans.

Palantir sells its customers artificial intelligence-powered data analytics platforms, and it has a large client base in both the commercial and government spaces. Palantir’s software enables those with decision-making authority to act quickly and with the most up-to-date information possible. Furthermore, it also offers automation tools that can task AI agents with jobs that humans have traditionally done, freeing up employees to do work that requires original thinking.

Even after the initial stages of the AI revolution are over, the use cases for AI will continue to grow. Palantir’s software is also a subscription service, so for customers to continue using it, they must pay their Palantir bills every year, while data center operators may be able to put off replacing their Nvidia GPUs for a while. This makes Palantir’s business model more sustainable, giving it the edge here.

Winner: Palantir

Growth rates

Both companies are growing at similar rates, although Nvidia’s sales have decelerated on a percentage basis, while Palantir’s continue to gradually accelerate.

NVDA Revenue (Quarterly YoY Growth) data by YCharts.

Whether Palantir will take the lead on growth or not, only time will tell, but with massive demand for AI services still out there, each will likely maintain a relatively rapid growth rate for the foreseeable future, leading me to view them as fairly evenly matched by this criterion.

Winner: Tie

Valuation

From a valuation standpoint, the comparison isn’t particularly close. Palantir’s stock has delivered incredible returns alongside Nvidia, but a large chunk of Palantir’s share price gains has come from its valuations rising to outsized levels, and that condition is not sustainable.

NVDA PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts.

Nvidia trades at a comparatively cheap 42 times forward expected earnings, while Palantir’s ratio tops 275. For comparison, if Nvidia had the same forward P/E as Palantir, it would be worth over $30 trillion, versus the $4.6 trillion it’s actually worth.

This shows that Palantir is overvalued. It will have to deliver years of sales and earnings growth to return the stock to a more reasonable level, even if it simply moves sideways from here. If we set Nvidia’s current valuation of 42 times forward earnings as that “more reasonable” level, and Palantir’s revenue rises at a 50% compound annual growth rate while it maintains a 35% profit margin, it would take over five years’ worth of growth to bring its P/E down to the target. And again, that assumes the stock doesn’t rise during those five years.

That means that Nvidia has basically a five-year head start on Palantir’s long-term stock performance. Given that AI spending is projected to grow rapidly over the next five years, Nvidia shares should easily outperform Palantir moving forward, as Palantir will spend most of the next five years growing into its already expensive valuation. Which is why, despite the two companies’ similar growth rates and Palantir’s more attractive business model, it’s not the AI stock I’d suggest buying now.

Overall winner: Nvidia

In the U.S., virtually all of the income you earn is subject to federal income tax. There are specific rules you need to follow regarding how much you pay, as well as the deductions that you are allowed to claim.

The IRS recently announced some changes to the tax rules for 2026, and those changes could affect how much you end up paying. Since these changes are for the 2026 tax year, they will be in effect for income you earn starting in January of 2026 and will affect the tax return that you file in April of 2027.

Here’s what you need to know about two of the big changes that will impact your finances in the 2026 tax filing year.

1. Tax brackets are changing

The first change that is taking place relates to the tax brackets. As the tables below show, the income ranges within each tax bracket are changing.

Tax brackets exist in the U.S. because we have a progressive income tax system. You do not pay the same tax rate on all of the income that you earn. Tax brackets set the rates that you will pay at different income ranges.

For example, everyone — no matter how much they earn — pays 10% on the first $11,925 in earnings they have in 2025. And in 2026, everyone will have a little more of their income taxed at that ultra-low tax rate since they won’t move up to the 12% bracket unless they have earned more than $12,400.

With these changes to the tax brackets, the taxes that most people pay should decline because they can now earn more income before moving up to the next tax bracket and paying a higher rate.

2. The standard deduction is changing

There’s another big change coming for the 2026 tax filing year. As the table below shows, this change is to the standard deduction.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

The majority of tax filers claim the standard deduction, which means they can subtract this set amount from their taxable income when determining how much they owe.

For example, if you make $45,000 a year, you are not taxed on $45,000. You can subtract the amount of the standard deduction from this amount. If you are a single filer or married filing separately, this would mean you could subtract $15,750 in 2025 and $16,100 in 2026. So, you would be taxed on $29,250 in income in the 2025 tax year and on $28,900 in 2026.

Not everyone claims the standard deduction because some people opt to itemize deductions on their return. Itemizing means claiming deductions for specific things like mortgage interest and charitable contributions.

It only makes sense to itemize if the value of your itemized deductions adds up to more than the standard deduction — which is not the case for most people. And, as the standard deduction increases, itemizing makes sense for fewer and fewer people.

How will these changes affect your taxes in 2026?

With a higher standard deduction and income thresholds to move into higher tax brackets increasing, your tax bill should go down in 2026.

You will pay tax on less income due to being able to deduct 2.22% more money, and more of your income will be taxed at lower rates since it takes more income to move up to a higher bracket.

This makes sense, since tax brackets increase each year because of inflation. Each dollar you earn buys less every year as prices rise, so if the tax brackets never changed, taxpayers would be pushed into higher brackets without a real increase in earning power.

Other tax changes will take effect in 2026, thanks to the Big Beautiful Bill, including an added deduction for seniors. All of this means that many people should expect their federal income tax bill to look very different for the 2026 tax year.

This is an uncertain world and there are very few sure things. As Ben Franklin once observed, “nothing is certain except death and taxes.” But I think investors can almost add a third thing to that item — the trusty real estate dividend stock Realty Income (O 1.10%) and its ability to keep paying investors, no matter what the market looks like.

Realty Income is perhaps the most reliable dividend stock you can find. And it’s a well-deserved mantle. Realty Income just declared its 664th consecutive monthly dividend since the company was founded in 1969 — a streak that goes back more than 55 years. The company has also increased its dividend 132 times in that period, giving Realty Income shareholders a rare blend of growth and income.

This California-based real estate investment trust (REIT), is a no-brainer dividend stock to buy, and is a perfect investment for anyone looking to build their dividend portfolio over a long period of time.

About Realty Income

Realty Income is based in California, but it has a massive presence. The company has 15,600 commercial properties, located in every U.S. state and much of Europe. Realty Income’s customers represent 91 separate industries and include more than 1,600 clients.

And most importantly, the company’s portfolio has an occupancy rate of 98.5% — meaning that Realty Income is assured of a consistent revenue stream. That’s how it can afford to pay a consistent, reliable monthly dividend. Industries the company leases property to include grocery stores, convenience stores, home improvement stores, dollar stores, restaurants, drug stores, health and fitness centers, and more.

The company also diversifies its portfolio, which means a catastrophic failure in an industry or by a single business won’t hurt its operations. Convenience store chain 7-Eleven is the biggest tenant  for Realty Income, and even then it’s only a 3.4% weighting.

Data source: Realty Income. Data as of June 30, 2025. 

Realty Income stock performance

Unsurprisingly, real estate stocks haven’t done well for much of the year. The S&P 500 real estate sector as a whole is up only 4%, thanks to the weak housing market and high interest rates that make borrowing more expensive. But Realty Income has been able to shake off those pressures. The stock is up 11% on the year, and when you calculate the total return of reinvesting dividend payments, the return is more than 15%.

O data by YCharts

The company recorded $1.41 billion in revenue in the second quarter, up from $1.34 billion a year ago. Income was down, however, thanks to borrowing costs — the company recorded $196.9 million and $0.22 per share versus $256.8 million and $0.29 per share a year ago.

Realty Income lowered its full-year guidance, with net income now expected to be $1.29 to $1.33 per share, from previous guidance of $1.40 to $1.46 per share.

Image source: Getty Images.

The case for Realty Income

There’s nothing flashy about this stock. But that’s fine — not everything in your portfolio needs to be a shiny new toy. Realty Income’s strength comes with its consistency and long-term growth window.

An investment 10 years ago in Realty Income would give you $20,270 today, assuming that you reinvested all those dividends back into your stock. Had you pocketed the money, you’d still have $12,880 — which all goes to show the power of compound interest.

O data by YCharts

And remember, because Realty Income is a REIT, it’s required by law to disburse 90% of its profits back to shareholders (the current yield is 5.4%). Because it’s a monthly payout instead of a quarterly check, investors get the proceeds quicker, and those funds can work for them rather than working for Realty Income.

If you are an income investor, you really can’t beat Realty Income for its business plan, diversification, and combination of growth and income. If you are a patient investor with a long-term view, Realty Income is a perfect dividend stock.

The S&P 500 index (^GSPC 0.53%) has a miserly yield of just 1.2% or so today. That’s a number that you can beat pretty easily, but you want to make sure you do it with reliable dividend stocks. There are some companies that have huge yields, but the risk involved isn’t worth it.

That’s why you’ll probably prefer to buy (and likely hold forever) companies like Realty Income (O 1.13%), Prologis (PLD 2.40%), and UDR (UDR 0.50%). Here’s a quick look at each of these high-yield dividend stocks.

1. Realty Income is boring, which is a good thing

Realty Income is the largest net lease real estate investment trust (REIT) you can buy. It owns over 15,600 properties and has a market cap that is more than three times larger than its next-closest peer. Add in a dividend yield of 5.4% and a 30-year streak of annual dividend increases and you can see why dividend investors would like this stock.

The key, however, is how boring a business it is. It starts with the net lease approach. A net lease requires the tenant to pay for most property-level expenses. That saves Realty Income cost and hassle, leaving it to, in a simplification of the situation, sit back and just collect rent. On top of that, the company’s primary focus is retail properties, which are fairly easy to buy, sell, and release if needed. But that isn’t the end of the story, either, since Realty Income is also geographically diversified, with a growing presence in Europe.

Slow and steady is the name of the game for Realty Income, which makes sense given that the REIT has trademarked the nickname “The Monthly Dividend Company.” This high yielder isn’t going to excite you, but that’s basically the point. Investing $1,000 into Realty Income will leave you owning roughly 16 shares.

2. Prologis is building from within

Prologis is another industry giant, this time focused on the industrial asset class. It is one of the largest REITs in the world, with a market cap of more than $100 billion. (It’s about twice the size of Realty Income, which has a roughly $50 billion market cap.) The dividend yield is around 3.5%, which isn’t nearly as nice as what you’d get from Realty Income, but there’s more growth opportunity. To put a number on that, Realty Income’s dividend has grown 45% or so over the past decade while Prologis’ dividend has increased by over 150%.

Like Realty Income, Prologis offers global diversification. It has operations in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, with assets in most prominent global transportation hubs. It has increased its dividend annually for 12 years, with a high likelihood of years of dividend growth ahead. That’s because the REIT has a $41.5 billion opportunity to build new properties on land it already owns. What’s exciting now is that the dividend yield happens to be near the high end of the range over the past decade, suggesting today is a good time to jump aboard. A $1,000 investment will allow you to buy eight shares of the stock.

3. UDR is diversified and provides a basic necessity

UDR is an apartment landlord, offering the basic necessity of shelter. That’s not going to go out of style anytime soon. The company underwent a painful overhaul a few years back when it sold a portfolio of lower quality apartments, leaving it focused on its remaining and better-positioned assets. This was a good move for the REIT, but it led to a dividend reset (the painful part for shareholders). However, the dividend has been growing ever since, with an annual streak that’s now up to 16 years. There’s no reason to believe another cut is in the cards.

What dividend lovers get now, however, is fairly attractive. For starters, the portfolio is well-diversified by geographic region in the United States and by quality (A and B level assets only, the fixer-uppers it once owned are gone). Technology has been an increasingly important aspect of the business, with UDR working to use the internet to lease and serve tenants more nimbly. Essentially, UDR is a great way to get diverse exposure to apartments.

UDR’s dividend yield is 4.7% right now, which is fairly high for the REIT and well above the REIT average of around 3.8%. If you want to own a REIT that provides a basic necessity, UDR is worth looking at today. A $1,000 investment will get you roughly 27 shares.

Three high-yield, buy-and-hold options for your portfolio

If you are focused on yield, Realty Income is likely to be the most appropriate choice for your portfolio. If you like dividend growth, take a look at Prologis. And if you are fond of companies that provide basic services that everyone needs, that would be UDR. All three have lofty yields and are worth buying and holding for the long term.

On October 17, 2025, Nixon Peabody Trust Company disclosed in an SEC filing that it sold 25,734 shares of General Dynamics (GD 0.22%), an estimated $8.11 million trade.

What happened

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission dated October 17, 2025, Nixon Peabody Trust Company reduced its stake in General Dynamics by 25,734 shares during Q3 2025. The estimated transaction value, based on the quarter’s average price, was $8.11 million. The fund now reports holding 30,224 shares in General Dynamics, worth $10.31 million.

What else to know

This reduction brings the stake in General Dynamics to 0.75% of Nixon Peabody Trust Company’s 13F assets, as of Q3 2025. Previously, the position made up 1.26% of the fund’s AUM, as of Q2 2025.

Top five holdings after the filing:

• IDEV: $88.54 million (6.48% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025
• MSFT: $81.41 million (5.96% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025
• AVLV: $71.50 million (5.24% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025
• AAPL: $67.89 million (4.97% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025
• NVDA: $65.25 million (4.78% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025

As of October 17, 2025, shares of General Dynamics were priced at $331.15, up 7.4% for the year through October 17, 2025 and underperforming the S&P 500 by 3.2 percentage points over the same period.

Company Overview

Company Snapshot

General Dynamics offers business jets, naval vessels, combat vehicles, weapons systems, and advanced IT solutions through four segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies.

The company generates revenue primarily through manufacturing and servicing defense platforms, business aviation, and technology solutions for government and commercial clients.

It serves U.S. and allied government agencies, defense departments, and commercial aviation customers worldwide.

General Dynamics is a leading global aerospace and defense contractor with a diversified portfolio spanning business aviation, shipbuilding, land combat systems, and defense technology.

Foolish take

Nixon Peabody Trust Company scaled back its position in General Dynamics, but even before the sell, this stock accounted for only a small fraction of the fund’s overall portfolio at just 1.26% of AUM — well outside its top five holdings.

It’s worth noting that although General Dynamics has lagged behind the S&P 500, it’s up by more than 25% year to date and 133% over the last five years, as of October 17, 2025. With the timing of this sell-off, it’s not surprising that institutional investors are cashing in on those earnings.

General Dynamics remains a major name in the defense sector, recently securing a $1.5 billion contract with U.S. Strategic Command to modernize its enterprise IT systems.

The company also has a long history of dividend growth, increasing its dividend payout for 28 consecutive years. Defense companies like General Dynamics can already offer some stability and predictability for investors thanks to contracts with the U.S. government, while consistent dividends can be appealing to income investors, too.

Glossary

13F: A quarterly SEC filing by institutional investment managers disclosing their equity holdings.
Assets Under Management (AUM): The total market value of investments managed on behalf of clients by a fund or institution.
Quarter (Q3 2025): The third three-month period of a financial year; here, July–September 2025.
Position: The amount of a particular security or asset held by an investor or fund.
Top five holdings: The five largest investments in a fund’s portfolio by value.
Stake: The ownership interest or share an investor holds in a company.
Defense contractor: A company that provides products or services to military or government defense agencies.
Segment: A distinct business division within a company, often reporting separate financial results.
TTM: The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.

Nvidia (NVDA 0.86%) has grown to become the largest company in the world, but the question on many investors’ minds is if the company has more upside ahead in the coming years. The answer looks to be yes.

Powering the AI infrastructure ecosystem

Nvidia is much more than just a chipmaker that makes graphics processing units (GPUs). It is the company whose ecosystem is most responsible for powering the current artificial intelligence (AI) revolution that is taking place.

Nvidia’s biggest advantage starts with its CUDA software platform, which it developed to allow its chips to be easily programmable for tasks outside their original purpose of speeding up graphics rendering in video games. While it took time for other markets to develop, the company smartly gave CUDA away for free to universities and research labs that were doing early work on AI.

This led to nearly all foundational AI code being written on its software and optimized for its chips. Since rewriting code and retraining developers for another platform would be both costly and time-consuming, this has created a huge moat for the company. This can be seen both in the company’s market share and growth. Last quarter, it held a more than 90% market share in the GPU space, while its data center revenue climbed to $41.1 billion, up from just $10.3 billion two years ago.

Nvidia’s moat does not end with CUDA, though. It developed its NVLink interconnect to allow its GPUs to act as a single unit. That keeps customers from mixing in AI chips from other vendors in an AI cluster. Meanwhile, its 2020 purchase of Mellanox gave it a networking component that allows it to provide end-to-end AI factories. Last quarter, its data networking revenue nearly doubled to $7.3 billion, showing how important this has become to the company.

The company is not stopping there. Its up to $100 billion investment in OpenAI gives it a stake in one of the companies at the forefront of AI models and helps give one of its largest customers financing to buy or rent its chips. While OpenAI has struck deals with other chip companies, no one else is getting an equity stake in the ChatGPT maker.

AI infrastructure spending, meanwhile, is showing no signs of slowing. Nvidia estimates that the total addressable market for AI hardware and systems could climb from roughly $600 billion today to as much as $4 trillion in the next several years. Nvidia is bound to get more than its fair share of this spending directed its way.

Image source: Getty Images.

Nvidia’s two-year outlook

Nvidia has indicated that it has the ability to continue to grow revenue at a 50% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next few years. The revenue consensus for its current fiscal year ending in January is around $206.5 billion. At that pace of growth, its 2027 revenue (essentially its fiscal year 2028 ending in January) would be around $465 billion.

If the company’s adjusted operating expenses were to rise by an average of 7% quarter over quarter during this stretch and its gross margin remained around 73%, and we apply a 15% tax rate on its operating income, Nvidia could generate nearly $260 billion in adjusted earnings by 2028 (fiscal 2029), or $10.50 per share, at its current share count of 24.5 billion. Place a 25 times-to-30 times price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) multiple on the stock, and its share price would be between $265 and $315 in two years.

Here is a basic model of what its revenue and earnings growth would look like.

Data source: Estimates based on author’s calculations.

All this means that while its stock has been a huge winner already, Nvidia’s stock still has plenty of upside potential over the next two years and beyond.

Satellite telephony company Viasat (VSAT -1.30%) had quite a memorable week as far as its stock went. Driven by broad investor optimism on space-related titles generally and recent positive company-specific news items, it booked a near-double-digit gain over the period. According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, Viasat’s share price rose in excess of 9% across the week.

Viable Viasat

What also helped was a live demonstration of its capabilities. On Thursday in Mexico City, Viasat put its direct-to-device satellite service through its paces.

Image source: Getty Images.

During the demonstration, Viasat sent text messages between two Android smartphones, one of which was linked to its satellite network and one through a traditional cellular matrix. It also flexed its satellite-powered services through a different device, the HMD Offgrid.

In the press release detailing the demonstration, the company quoted its general manager of Viasat Mexico Hector Rivero as saying that “This technology has the ability to bridge the connectivity gap in areas where traditional services are unreliable or non-existent, opening up possibilities for millions of individuals and devices to connect through satellite.”

“We are confident that this will have significant advantages for consumers and various industries worldwide,” he added.

Major contract in force

Viasat’s services seem to be striking a chord with major institutional customers, at least. Earlier this month, the company announced, no doubt happily, that it had earned a prime contract award from the U.S. Space Force. This will see it contribute to a dedicated satellite network for that branch of the American military.

KLA (KLAC 0.81%), a company that makes crucial equipment for the manufacturing of microchips, was producing some tasty gains for its shareholders this week. These are frothy times for U.S. chip companies, and by extension, KLA should do well too. Over the course of the past few days, two bullish new takes from analysts bolstered the buy case for this company in particular.

According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, KLA’s share price increased by nearly 13% over the course of the week on these tailwinds.

Components maker to the chip stars

Both of those prognosticator updates were published before the market open on Monday, helping to set the bullish tone for KLA stock in the subsequent days.

Image source: Getty Images.

The first came from Bank of America Securities’ Vivek Arya, who cranked his KLA price target a full 30% higher to $1,300 per share from his previous level of $1,000. He also maintained his buy recommendation on the stock.

According to reports, Arya wrote that he’s detecting signs of higher investment into dynamic random access memory (DRAM) production. On top of that, the great thirst for the advanced processors necessary to power artificial intelligence (AI) functionalities should help raise the fortunes of chipmakers generally — and their suppliers.

Another bull maintains his buy rating

Soon after that report was disseminated, Stifel‘s Brian Chin pulled the lever on a more modest raise. Chin lifted his KLA price target to $1,050 from $922. Like Arya, he kept his buy recommendation on the shares intact.

Both these takes feel realistic. Broadly speaking, this is a fine time to be invested in stocks throughout the chip sector, provided they’re not (yet) too expensive on their valuations.

Shares of database and cloud giant Oracle (ORCL -6.72%) plunged as much as 8.1% on Friday, before recovering slightly to a 6.9% decline on the day.

Oracle held an analyst-attended Investor Day presentation yesterday, where the company clarified some of its long-term targets. While the guidance to 2030 was fairly impressive, it appears investors are “selling the news” after the stock’s tremendous gains over the past couple of months.

Oracle lives up to some of the hype, but investors wanted more

In the presentation, Oracle gave some more detail around its cloud infrastructure growth and margins out over the long term. Oracle’s cloud growth has been a subject of some debate, especially after the company announced a massive 359% growth in its cloud RPO in September to $455 billion, with the majority of that growth coming from a single contract with OpenAI.

Some were skeptical about that projection, as well as the margins on the project, given the huge customer concentration around OpenAI, with one analyst noting that Oracle was only making a 14% gross margin on its cloud infrastructure services today.

However, Oracle disclosed yesterday that it predicts between 30% and 40% gross margin on its large cloud infrastructure deals, which is higher than what was feared. Moreover, Oracle projected a whopping $225 billion in revenue by 2030, as well as $21 per share in earnings. Of that revenue, management expects about $166 billion to come from Oracle’s cloud infrastructure unit by that time.

Those targets were actually above the analyst consensus heading into the day. And yet, the stock still sold off on that news. After today’s plunge, Oracle’s stock trades around $291 per share, or 13.9 times that 2030 earnings figure.

That seems strikingly cheap, but investors should remember that it’s only 2025, and there is a time value of money to account for when valuing a stock through the discounted cash flow method.

Moreover, a 30% to 40% gross margin on the cloud operations may still be disappointing to some, given that leader Amazon Web Services has already achieved a 36.8% operating margin — not gross margin, but operating margin — over the past 12 months.

Image source: Getty Images.

Oracle made its big AI play, and investors are divided

It should be noted that while investors are selling the news today, analysts are actually raising their Oracle price targets, with sell-side analysts at Guggenheim and T.D. Cowen both raising their price targets to $400, up from $375, after the event.

Oracle has made its AI gambit by partnering with OpenAI, betting big on the success of the current industry leader. OpenAI has committed to hundreds of billions in cloud contracts, even though it’s currently losing money, having made a reported $4.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2025 and burning through $2.5 billion in cash.

So, Oracle’s anticipated growth may carry more risk than the typical cloud giant, and it appears investors took some of that risk off the table on Friday.