After you smashed our Champions League top scorers quiz, we thought we’d mark the return of Europe’s premier club competition by testing you on appearances.
For this week’s big Tuesday quiz we want you to name every player who has played in at least 100 Champions League matches.
How many can you get? Good luck!
In the past five years, Walmart’s stock has surged by around 120%.
Walmart (WMT -0.63%) is a stock that most investors probably consider to be a safe investment. Its stores are go-to locations for consumers, whether they’re buying groceries, day-to-day essentials, or discretionary items. The business has been resilient over the years and has shown strength while other retailers have struggled.
That safety has lured in investors at a time of uncertainty in the markets. But has that bullishness pushed its value up too much, too quickly? Currently, Walmart’s stock is trading at not just a 52-week high, but also at an all-time high. Is it still a good buy at these levels, or could it be due for a pullback?
Image source: Getty Images.
Investors have been paying a premium for Walmart’s stock due to the safety it offers and the solid, resilient earnings numbers it has been posting in recent quarters. But there’s no denying that the premium is high right now, with Walmart trading at a price-to-earnings multiple of nearly 40, which is far higher than its 10-year average.
WMT PE Ratio data by YCharts
Usually, for retail stocks such as Walmart, whose businesses are growing in the single digits, investors aren’t willing pay more than 30 times their trailing earnings, unless they are expecting significantly more growth ahead. However, that doesn’t look to be the case with Walmart; it’s forecasting between 3.75% and 4.75% full-year growth for its net sales for the current fiscal year (which ends in January).
Meanwhile, the company admits that it is facing rising costs due to tariffs and it may have to absorb some of the increases. Not only might the business’ margins suffer, but consumer demand may also diminish in future quarters if prices increase. This could lead to some underwhelming quarterly results in the months ahead.
Another reason Walmart may encounter challenges is due to rising competition from Amazon, arguably its archrival at this point. Amazon recently announced that it is offering same-day grocery delivery in over 1,000 U.S. cities and its goal is to double that number by the end of the year. While Amazon’s grocery business hasn’t been a huge concern for Walmart in recent years, the tech giant is by no means giving up.
By offering same-day delivery options for groceries, that could be the move that puts Amazon head to head with Walmart in a key market, which could make it more challenging for the big-box retailer to not only grow its sales, but also its bottom line. And without strong earnings growth, Walmart’s already rich valuation could look much more expensive in the future.
Walmart has a solid business that has generated nearly $700 billion in sales over the past 12 months. It’s a beast in retail and it isn’t going anywhere in the foreseeable future. Based on its strong fundamentals, it can remain a solid long-term investment.
That being said, investors should never ignore valuation because buying a stock at a high price can limit your gains from owning an investment, and it leaves little to no margin of safety. If you’re paying close to 40 times earnings for Walmart’s stock at a time when there’s growing economic uncertainty and when competition is also intensifying, that can result in a lot of pain, at least in the short term.
Given the high share price and downside risk that Walmart possesses right now, I think investors may be better off looking at cheaper growth stocks to buy.
David Jagielski has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The pressure is on for AI-powered growth stocks to accelerate S&P 500 earnings growth.
At the time of this writing, the S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.34%) is less than 1% off its all-time high and up 73% since the start of 2023. Artificial intelligence (AI) and investor appetite for risk have contributed to the torrid gains, making the market relatively expensive.
You may have seen headlines saying that the S&P 500 is overvalued compared to its historical averages. Or that red-hot growth stocks have run up too fast. But that doesn’t tell the full story.
Three simple valuation metrics — earnings, trailing price-to-earnings ratio, and forward price-to-earnings ratio — explain what’s going on with the market’s valuation. Here’s why they matter, why the S&P 500 isn’t as expensive as it seems, and what that means for your investment portfolio.
Image source: Getty Images.
The S&P 500 is an index featuring the 500 largest companies in the U.S. by market cap. The more valuable a company, the greater its influence on the index through its stock price. So a $4.5 trillion-plus company like Nvidia has more than 10 times the influence as a $400 billion company like Home Depot. But that also means Nvidia has 10 times the impact on S&P 500 earnings.
Just like individual companies, the S&P 500 has an earnings per share (EPS) metric. This is just an average of the earnings of each company adjusted for weight in the index. So again, Nvidia’s earnings will have 10-plus times the impact as Home Depot’s.
Ten particularly influential growth stocks, known as the “Ten Titans,” now make up 39% of the S&P 500. But many of these companies are being valued for where they will be several years from now rather than where they are today. Meaning that their price-to-earnings ratios (P/E) and forward P/E ratios are elevated, thereby bloating the valuation of the S&P 500.
According to data from FactSet, the forward P/E of the S&P 500 is 22.5, compared to a five-year average of 19.9 and a 10-year average of 18.6. Based on forward earnings projections for the next year, which tend to favor growth stocks, the S&P 500 is 13.1% pricier than its five-year average and 21% more expensive than its 10-year average. Even if companies live up to expectations, their stock prices may not go up in the near term simply because these results may already be priced in.
Valuation matters less for investors with a long-term time horizon. If the S&P 500 goes nowhere for a year or two but earnings keep growing, the narrative will flip, and the index will look cheap. So the five- or 10-year return could still be solid, reinforcing the importance of approaching the stock market with a long-term time horizon rather than trying to make a quick buck.
Using P/E ratios and forward P/E ratios compared to historical averages only tells part of the story. Those two metrics alone may suggest that all stocks are expensive, but that’s not the case.
Data by YCharts.
As mentioned before, the S&P 500 is up 73% since the start of 2023, but the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index has returned just 33.3% — a nearly 40 percentage point difference. Instead of weighting by market cap, the S&P 500 equal-weight gives all S&P 500 components the same influence on the index. Nvidia moves the S&P 500 equal-weight index the same as any other company does.
When the S&P 500 outperforms its 500 equal-weighted index, it means that megacap companies are doing better than companies with smaller market caps. When the equal-weighted index outperforms, it means the megacap names are dragging down the index.
Since the start of 2023, megacap companies have drastically outperformed smaller S&P 500 names. Over the last decade, the S&P 500 rose 253.1% while the equal-weight jumped 161.6%. It would have been especially difficult for an individual investor to keep pace or outperform the S&P 500 during this period without significant exposure to megacap growth stocks.
The biggest takeaway from these metrics is that the S&P 500 is expensive because a handful of growth stocks are driving its returns. But that doesn’t mean that all S&P 500 stocks are pricey. In fact, that’s hardly the case.
Many consumer discretionary and consumer staples companies have dirt cheap valuations due to pullbacks in spending. Even pockets of the tech sector are beaten down, namely in the application software industry, due to concerns of AI disruption for software-as-a-service business models.
Investors looking for stocks at a better value may not want to buy the S&P 500 at an all-time high. Or at least have it make up a smaller percentage of their portfolios. Whereas folks who believe that the Ten Titans will keep driving market gains may argue that the S&P 500 can grow into its lofty valuation because these companies are extremely well run, have tons of growth potential, high margins, and exceptional balance sheets.
In sum, the S&P 500 is no longer a balanced index, but rather a growth index. And that means investors should only consider buying it if its composition and valuation suit their risk tolerance.
Daniel Foelber has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends FactSet Research Systems, Home Depot, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
These dividend stocks look like compelling opportunities right now.
The S&P 500 hit another record high this week. It’s now up about 18% over the past year. That has most stocks trading at much higher valuations than they were a year ago. The rally has also compressed dividend yields.
Despite the market’s rally, there are still some attractive opportunities, especially for investors seeking higher dividend yields. Enterprise Products Partners (EPD -0.58%), Energy Transfer (ET -0.80%), and Clearway Energy (CWEN -0.02%) (CWEN.A -0.11%) stand out to a few Fool.com contributing analysts right now. Here’s why they’re compelling buys even as the S&P 500 is at an all-time high.
Image source: Getty Images.
Reuben Gregg Brewer (Enterprise Products Partners): Nobody is going to accuse Enterprise Products Partners of being a hare. It is, decidedly, a tortoise. But given the huge 6.8% distribution yield, few income-focused investors aren’t likely to complain. That’s doubly true when you consider that this master limited partnership’s (MLP’s) distribution is covered by a huge 1.7x by distributable cash flow. A lot would have to go wrong before the distribution was at risk.
Adding to the feeling of security here is the fact that the company is investment-grade rated. Even if distribution coverage faltered, Enterprise Products Partners could lean on its balance sheet for a little while to muddle through a difficult period. But even that is unlikely because the MLP’s business is fee-based. Essentially, it charges customers for using its energy infrastructure assets, like pipelines. The prices of oil and natural gas are far less important than demand for these globally vital fuels. Even when commodity prices are weak, demand for energy still tends to be resilient.
This helps explain why Enterprise Products Partners has been able to increase its distribution annually for 27 consecutive years. That streak, meanwhile, is likely to continue, noting that the MLP is in the middle of a $6 billion capital investment program. As those new projects come online, cash flow will grow and support continued distribution growth. The level of the S&P 500 index, high or low, isn’t likely to change any of these facts much.
Matt DiLallo (Energy Transfer): Energy Transfer stands out in today’s high-priced stock market. Units of the master limited partnership (MLP) are currently down about 15% from their 52-week high. As a result, the company has the second-lowest valuation in the energy midstream sector, at less than nine times earnings, which is well below the sector average of 12 times earnings. That low valuation is a big reason why Energy Transfer’s yield is 7.5%.
Slowing growth is the main factor driving down the MLP’s unit price this year. Energy Transfer expects its earnings to be at or below the low end of its guidance range, implying less than 4% growth. That’s well below the 10% compound annual growth rate the company delivered from 2020 through 2024. Energy Transfer has fewer growth catalysts this year as it hasn’t completed many expansion projects or major acquisitions.
However, that’s about to change. Energy Transfer is investing $5 billion into organic capital projects this year, with most expected to come online by the end of 2026. These projects should begin providing meaningful incremental cash flow starting in 2026 and continuing into 2027, which should fuel a growth reacceleration during that period. In addition, the company has more projects in the backlog, including the $5.3 billion Transwestern Pipeline Expansion Project, which should enter service by the end of the decade. It also has several other projects under development.
Energy Transfer is currently in the best financial shape in its history. That puts it in a strong position to continue approving growth capital projects and make acquisitions when the right opportunity arises.
With its unit price down and an exciting growth reacceleration set to kick off in 2026 and ramp up into 2027 as new projects launch, Energy Transfer stands out as a compelling buy right now. It can provide investors with an attractive income stream and high-octane upside potential.
Neha Chamaria (Clearway Energy): Clearway Energy yields a hefty 6.3%. That high yield is backed by rising dividends, with the company even setting out dividend per share goals through 2027. The stock, however, has slipped nearly 15% in the past two months. It’s a compelling opportunity to buy.
Based on Clearway Energy’s last quarterly dividend payout, its annualized dividend per share (DPS) comes up to $1.78 per share. The company is targeting a DPS of $1.98 in 2027, which is a neat 11% growth in absolute terms. Since Clearway Energy typically raises its dividend every quarter, that goal looks easily doable. Also, it has its growth plans in place to back those dividends.
Clearway Energy is among the largest clean energy companies in the U.S. with a focus on wind, solar, and battery storage. Its parent company, Clearway Energy Group, has a renewables pipeline of 29 gigawatts. So there’s ample opportunity for growth for Clearway in the form of asset dropdowns from its parent. And it can always supplement growth through third-party acquisitions.
With 2025 kicking off on a strong note thanks to wind project repowering, acquisitions, and opportunities from its parent, Clearway Energy recently upped its guidance. It expects to generate $2.50-$2.70 in cash available for distribution (CAFD) per share in 2027. That should comfortably cover its targeted 2027 DPS, making this high-yield renewable energy stock a solid buy now.
Matt DiLallo has positions in Clearway Energy, Energy Transfer, and Enterprise Products Partners. Neha Chamaria has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Enterprise Products Partners. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The red-hot nuclear energy stock is up a staggering 330% in 2025.
With investor sentiment around nuclear energy gathering momentum by the day, Oklo (OKLO 12.02%) has become unstoppable. The nuclear energy stock surged 11.9% today to all-time highs of $92.48 per share, as of 1 p.m. ET Monday.
Oklo stock has risen a jaw-dropping 330% in 2025 so far, as of this writing. Yes, you read that right, and today, you may thank President Donald Trump for sending the red-hot stock to a new all-time high.
Image source: Getty Images.
In a press statement released this morning, the U.K. government of revealed a flurry of deals that it will sign with the U.S. this week during Trump’s state visit to the nation. The U.K. government says it is the “golden age of nuclear power.”
The landmark partnership between the U.S. and the U.K. called the Atlantic Partnership for Advanced Nuclear Energy seeks to speed up the development and deployment of nuclear energy projects in both countries. The list of projects to be inked include multibillion-dollar deals, including plans to build up to 12 advanced modular reactors and develop data centers powered by small modular reactors (SMRs) in the U.K.
Although most of the deals are between private companies for now, the partnership will open the U.K. market to U.S. nuclear energy players, potentially paving the way for billions of dollars in investments between the two countries.
Investors believe Oklo could benefit, too, especially given its relationship with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
Oklo is developing a small, modular fast-fission nuclear power plant called the Aurora powerhouse that can supply clean nuclear energy 24/7 and can even use recycled fuel. Oklo already has a site permit from the DOE to set up a commercial plant in Idaho, is in a DOE reactor pilot program, and has fuel supply agreements with the DOE, among other things.
Oklo is also focused on nuclear waste recycling. Just days ago, the company announced plans to build a $1.68 billion fuel recycling facility in Tennessee.
Oklo’s multifaceted relationship with the DOE and recent partnerships for data centers have sent the stock to the moon. The attention isn’t unwarranted, but with its market capitalization already crossing $13 billion, the valuations for a start-up that could still take years to commercialize its first product and generate any revenue look too stretched for comfort now.
Neha Chamaria 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.
This little-known company is leveraging AI to provide solutions to its customers.
Shares of little-known company Ibex (IBEX 36.38%) went parabolic today, shooting 41.1% higher in early-morning trading. The stock was still trading around 33% up at 1:15 p.m. ET Friday.
Ibex is a business process outsourcing company, providing a wide array of services such as customer and technical support, lead generation, surveys, and business intelligence and analytics.
Turns out, Ibex’s efforts to build a digital business have already started to pay off, and that is drawing attention to the stock today. The keyword here is artificial intelligence (AI).
Image source: Getty Images.
Ibex reported numbers for its 2025 fourth quarter and fiscal year (ended June 30) after the Sept. 11 market close. Ibex’s Q4 revenue jumped 18% year over year to $147 million, driven by strong growth in its top three markets: retail and e-commerce; healthcare; and travel, transportation, and logistics.
The real deal, however, is what Ibex’s full earnings report looked like:
These are big milestones, but they’re not really why Ibex stock is going to the moon. It’s these words from CEO Bob Dechant: “Importantly, this quarter marked the shift from proof of concept for our AI solutions to full-scale deployments, setting the table for future growth.”
Ibex is “transforming into a digital-first business” by leveraging AI through its Wave iX platform, which uses generative AI to improve customer experiences. Earlier this month, Ibex said it is targeting the government sector now.
The company’s capital expenditures more than doubled to $18.4 million in 2025, driven by capacity expansion. Ibex generated record free cash flow of $27.3 million in the year and repurchased nearly 3.9 million shares, almost 23% of its outstanding shares.
Following Ibex’s strong earnings report, analysts at RBC Capital were quick to raise their price target on the stock to $39 per share from $31 a share. Ibex stock already hit an all-time high of $42.99 per share today.
With Ibex projecting 7.5% revenue growth at the midpoint for FY 2026 and capital expenditure of $20 million to $25 million on further expansions, this is one stock you should have on your radar.
Neha Chamaria 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.