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Quantum computing holds a lot of promise to impact fields such as climate science, pharmaceuticals, artificial intelligence (AI) modeling, and much more. Many investors are keen on getting in on the ground floor of new tech trends because, as artificial intelligence stocks have proven, buying early can pay off in spades.

That optimism may be fueling the staggering gains of more than 600% that IonQ (IONQ 5.29%) has returned over the past year. Some investors, no doubt, are wondering if they’re missing out by not owning IonQ. But there are a few reasons why investors may want to pause before buying IonQ stock. Here are a few.

Image source: Getty Images.

Expenses are rising, and losses are widening

IonQ is in growth mode right now, which means that the company is investing heavily into building its technology so that it can, ideally, outpace its competitors and generate significant revenue and earnings down the road.

There’s nothing wrong with that, and many growth companies, especially in the tech sector, do this. But it’s important to highlight how much money IonQ is losing in relation to its revenue. The company’s research and development spending spiked more than 230% in Q2 as the company invested in new tech and acquisitions. For reference, IonQ spent more on R&D in Q2 of 2025 than it did in the first nine months of last year.

That spending contributed to significant losses for the company of $177.5 million, up from a loss of just $37.5 million in the year-ago quarter. If we look at IonQ’s loss on an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization basis (EBITDA), things look a little better, but not great. The company’s EBITDA loss was $36.5 million in the quarter, an increase from $23.7 million in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue is growing quickly, with sales jumping 81% in the quarter, but it’s still a modest amount of about $21 million. With losses expanding and IonQ likely to continue spending on R&D and potential acquisitions, revenue will have to accelerate dramatically for the company to eventually offset its losses.

The stock is pricey, and quantum computing is speculative

Even if you’re comfortable with the company’s losses, I think IonQ’s valuation and the speculative nature of the quantum computing market are two more reasons to hold off on buying IonQ. The company’s shares have a price-to-sales ratio of 303, which is very expensive even by tech stock standards — with software application and infrastructure stocks having an average P/S ratio of just 4.

That means IonQ’s sales have to grow at a tremendous rate in order to justify its stock’s current premium price tag, making its most recent revenue increase of 83% in Q2 appear relatively modest.

What’s more, quantum computing is still in its early stages, and even some technology heavy hitters, including Alphabet and Microsoft, believe its practical use cases are still years away. This means IonQ could continue investing in quantum computing technologies, widening its losses, with revenue increases that don’t keep pace with spending, all while betting that quantum computing demand will be there years from now.

IonQ is not a buy

When you add up all of the above, I think IonQ is too risky to buy right now. Its share price has surged at a time when it seems like nothing could dent the stock market’s returns, and I think a little too much optimism has crept into the market, pushing valuations very high.

I think investors would be better off monitoring how well the company’s revenue grows over the coming quarters, see if it can narrow its losses, and find out whether the quantum computing market delivers on its high hopes. But for now, IonQ looks too speculative for my liking.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM 1.50%), also known as TSMC, is one of the premier manufacturers of advanced processors, many of which are used for artificial intelligence. The company’s strong position in this space and its growth over the past few years have resulted in its stock price soaring nearly 200% over the past three years.

Recent research from The Motley Fool sheds some light on how TSMC’s manufacturing technology is a step ahead, how it makes the majority of its revenue, and where most of its customers are located. Importantly, all of these factors work together to set TSMC apart from the competition and make its stock a smart one to own for years to come.

1. The company is a leader in advanced chip manufacturing

TSMC manufactures some of the world’s most advanced processors, and the breakdown of the company’s revenue shows just how much comes from its different manufacturing capabilities. Chip companies use the term chip node to describe how many transistors will fit onto a semiconductor, with the unit of chip measurement being nanometers (nm). Generally speaking, the smaller, the more advanced the processor.

Here’s a snapshot of Taiwan Semiconductor’s top five revenue generators, by chip size:

Data source: Taiwan Semiconductor.

This revenue composition is important to highlight because it shows that a whopping 60% of the company’s semiconductor sales are from the smallest and most advanced processors (3nm and 5nm) on the market.

No other company compares to TSMC’s manufacturing prowess, and it’s likely to continue outpacing the competition. TSMC has already sign 15 deals with tech companies for 2nm semiconductor manufacturing, leaving rivals, including Samsung, far behind.

2. Its advanced processors are driving its growth

Just as important as the technology behind TSMC’s revenue is what technologies those processors power. If we go back five years, smartphones were the driving revenue force for TSMC. Now, it’s high-performance computing (think AI data centers).

The company has dominated the manufacturing of advanced processors so well, in fact, that TSMC makes an estimated 90% of the world’s most advanced processors.

Here is the company’s revenue distribution over the past four quarters:

Data source: Taiwan Semiconductor.

TSMC’s making the majority of its revenue from high-performance computing is important because it shows that the company successfully adapted with the times, moving from its previously dominant smartphone segment to sales from chips to AI data centers.

More growth could be on the way, too, considering that semiconductor leader Nvidia believes technology companies could spend up to $4 trillion on AI data center infrastructure over the next five years.

3. U.S. tech giants drive demand

Taiwan Semiconductor is based in, you guessed it, Taiwan, but the vast majority of its sales come from selling processors to North American companies. About five years ago, North America accounted for just over half of TSMC’s sales, but that’s jumped to 75% currently. China and the Asia-Pacific region tie for second place with just 9% each.

Why does this matter? Some of the most advanced artificial intelligence companies, including Nvidia, OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta, and Alphabet, are based in North America. Taiwan Semiconductor’s shift toward sales in this geographic area is a reflection of the company successfully attracting the world’s leading AI companies to have their chips made by TSMC.

Is Taiwan Semiconductor a buy?

With TSMC making an estimated 90% of the world’s most advanced processors, the company outpacing its manufacturing competition, and artificial intelligence companies poised to spend trillions of dollars to build out and upgrade data centers, TSMC is well positioned to be a great AI stock for years to come.

Just keep in mind that the stellar gains TSMC stock has experienced over the past several years have been a result of the early AI boom, which means future returns may not be quite as impressive.

Rigetti Computing Inc (RGTI 18.29%) closed at $35.40, up 18.59%. Trading volume reached 144 million shares, about 3 times its three-month average of 54 million. The stock hit an intraday high of $35.81, matching its 52-week peak.

U.S. markets moved higher. The S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.06%) edged up 0.062% to 6,715.35, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 0.39%) gained 0.39% to 22,844.05, with select technology names helping indexes close in positive territory.

Among quantum peers, D-Wave Quantum Inc (QBTS 13.75%) advanced 13.97% to $29.21, while IONQ Inc (IONQ 10.13%) rose 10.32% to $69.60.

Rigetti’s surge was fueled by its September 30 announcement of purchase orders for two Novera quantum systems totaling about $5.7 million, underscoring progress in moving from research toward commercial deployment. This momentum follows earlier news from September 18, when Rigetti was awarded a three-year, $5.8 million contract from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory in collaboration with QphoX. Together, the developments have reinforced investor confidence in Rigetti’s transition toward commercialization and driven sustained strength in the shares.

Market data sourced from Google Finance and Yahoo! Finance on Thursday, October 2, 2025.

Shares of Alibaba (BABA 4.26%) are rallying again today, up as much as 5.5% before settling into a 4.4% gain as of 12:34 p.m. ET.

Alibaba held a big cloud event last week, giving a bullish outlook and raising its cloud spending forecast above its prior target of $53 billion over three years. Apparently, the outlook was encouraging enough for several Wall Street analysts to significantly raise their price targets on shares to start the week.

Morgan Stanley and Jefferies up their BABA targets

On Monday, analysts at Wall Street banks Morgan Stanley and Jefferies raised their price targets on Alibaba. Morgan Stanley’s Alibaba analyst team raised its target from $165 to $200, largely on the back of increased cloud computing growth. The analysts now actually see cloud growth accelerating 32% in fiscal 2026 and 40% in 2027. For reference, last quarter Alibaba grew its cloud revenue 26%, which was already an accelerating figure.

Obviously, generative AI is sparking huge new demand for Alibaba’s cloud services and models, with the Morgan Stanley analysts projecting the number of tokens doubling every two to three months. An AI token is a word or part of a word in an AI prompt or response that acts as essentially a “unit” of AI processing.

Meanwhile, investment bank Jefferies raised its price target from $178 to $230. The analysts cited “remarkable” progress on Alibaba building out AI infrastructure, innovating with its Qwen series of models, and developing useful software agents.

Image source: Getty Images.

Alibaba is still cheaper than the “Magnificent Seven”

Alibaba’s stock has rallied 113% this year in a remarkable AI-fueled turnaround. However, shares only trade at 20.7 times earnings, which is still cheaper than the large U.S.-based tech giants.

There are certainly risks to investing in China; however, it appears the government is now more supportive of the tech sector than the hostile posture it took back in 2021-2022. As such, it’s no surprise to see the country’s tech leaders doing much better today.

In this podcast, Motley Fool contributors Rick Munarriz, Lou Whiteman, and Jason Hall discuss selling decisions they wish they could take back. They also look at some stocks that could thrive in the new normal. There’s also a sporty look at some of this year’s biggest winners and losers.

To catch full episodes of all The Motley Fool’s free podcasts, check out our podcast center. When you’re ready to invest, check out this top 10 list of stocks to buy.

A full transcript is below.

This podcast was recorded on Sept. 08, 2025.

Rick Munarriz: Don’t go on a path to sell destruction. Motley Fool Money starts. I’m Rick Munarriz, and today I’m joined by two of my favorite voices in Fooldom, Jason Hall and joining us for Hidden Gems, Lou Whiteman. We’re going to take a look at some stocks that we believe will head higher in the coming months. We’re also going to play a new game called Double Trouble. But first, investors spend a long time treating their stocks as soul mates. Sometimes they should be treated as cell mates. We spend a lot of time discussing meat cutes when it comes to stock ideas. Today, I want to talk about breakups. More to the point, what’s the decision to sell that you regret the most? Mine is easy, but I want to start with you, Lou. Like trying to figure out what to do with a blank spreadsheet square, let’s talk about your worst sell decision.

Lou Whiteman: I’m a terrible person to ask this because it’s so boring, Rick. Not because I’m brilliant, not because I don’t have terrible mistakes, but rather I don’t tend to dabble in the early stage companies that get these great explosions later higher. I assure you, if I would have owned Amazon or if I would have owned Tesla back in the day, I would have sold them, and I would have regretted them now. But I do have a lot of regrets, and I do think there’s a lesson there because I share a theme. Two really good companies I sold years ago. One, Axos Financial, the online bank. I think it’s up like 200% since then. I really regret that. The other is Loews, not the home improvement company, but the financial hotel conglomerate. It’s almost a double since then. The similarities, the reason I regret them, these aren’t the oh, my gosh, I’d be a trillionaire now, but I’ll be honest, I sold them without any good reason. I had no magic process. I had no guiding principle. I basically got bored with them, and I saw something shinier and flashier, and that is the worst reason to sell. Not dramatic declines. This just eats at me because this is the danger of acting on the whim instead of with real intent. Every time I look at those, I get a little sad inside.

Rick Munarriz: A lot of real world relationships end for the same reason, Lou. Jason, what’s on your plate?

Jason Hall: I could go with one that Lou mentioned. I could go with Tesla. I bought I believe in around 2016. I sold a couple of years later for a decent little profit. Stocks up 2,000% since I held. Rule Breaker investors that that followed the Rule Breakers portfolio have enjoyed 16,000% in wins owning Tesla. Now, clearly a financial mistake, but not sure that I regret it because I didn’t sell it for concerns about the business as much as just concerns about Elon Musk’s ability and interest in staying focused on Tesla, and concerns about the company’s ability to deliver more than just EVs and maybe batteries. I could also go with selling half of my Nvidia stake about two years ago. Stock is up 446%, and it’s never been below the price that I sold. I don’t really regret that though because I sold it at this point in my financial life where I’m thinking about position sizing, and it had become such an out-sized position in my portfolio. I’m still OK with that decision even though maybe I should have let that problem become a much bigger problem. But the one that I really regret, Rick, I even wrote about it on fool.com in August of 2013, and that was selling Microsoft, and it was right as Steve Ballmer was leaving and set to be replaced by Satya Nadella. I sold entirely because I just ran out of patience at really the absolute wrong time to have been running out of patience with Microsoft, and it’s been an 18-bagger since I wrote that article and since I sold my shares.

Rick Munarriz: Ouch, Jason. I have a story to share too. Invest long enough, and you’ll get a 10-bagger. If your aim is true, you may even wind up with 100-bagger, 1,000-bagger, a 10,000-bagger, or understandably even more rare. I have 100,000 bagger in my portfolio, and it’s killing me. I bought 500 shares of Netflix in October 2002 when it was a broken IPO, just a few months after hitting the market. After a pair of stock splits, I would have 7,000 shares worth $8.7 million today. Unfortunately, I have sold 99% of my shares over the past 23 years. I sold 80% just a couple of months into my shareholder tenure, and I regret that a lot more than the other 19% I paired back much later as the position became a larger part of my portfolio.

Lou Whiteman: My heart goes out to all of us, and terrible stories. Also, I don’t think we should be afraid to sell. If anything, I feel like I should be more open to selling for the right reasons. I think you can make bad decisions if you refuse to sell. But again, I come back to, looking at mine, you have to have a reason. You have to have a process and stick with it. If the thesis has changed, you should probably sell. If you don’t believe it anymore, it’s selling because you actually want to use the money for a life event, if you’re going to get married or you have kids. Look, that’s a reason to sell. We’re going to use the money. I’ve tried to work on being more purposeful to slow things down, to not react, not look for shiny objects. I think you can avoid the worst regrets by just have a plan, stick to it. It’s just, gosh, Jason, there’s so much stimulus coming at us. How do you stay on a plan?

Jason Hall: Yeah, Lou, you’re right. I think regret minimization is something that as investors, we have to sharpen that skill and really build that muscle. That doesn’t mean ignoring mistakes and pretending like they don’t happen. You have to learn from them. But one of the things that I’ve learned to do is to build a framework that helps me reduce the unforced errors, basically making short term decisions with long term investments. That’s a lot of times the things that leads us to sell too soon, and better align my actions with all of my financial goals, whether they are the long term ones, but also the short term ones too. Aligning those decisions based on what the asset itself is can be one of the most important steps to take. It’s certainly the one that’s helped me avoid most of the worst mistakes. You know what? My heart doesn’t go out to you, Rick. My heart doesn’t go out to you, Lou. I don’t feel sorry for myself here because I look at my portfolio, and overall, mistakes are part of the process, and I know all three of us have done quite well and we’re set out to reach all of our short term and long term financial goals. It’s part of the process, and hopefully, sharing these stories with others that have made mistakes. Fools listening, I hope this helps you out a little bit too.

Lou Whiteman: Yeah.

Rick Munarriz: My lesson is that you should never buy a stock just because it goes down. By the same metrics, you also shouldn’t sell a stock just because it goes up. I agree with you both, not dwelling on the selling, learn something and move on. Or in the words of Nicole Kidman as she walks into an empty AMC theater, somehow heartbreak feels good in a place like this. Coming up next, we shift gears to talk about stocks we like right now. Lou, Jason, we’re not a boy band yet, but like NSYNC, we’re going to go over some buy-buy-buys.

The market came under pressure on Friday after a week jobs report made it even more likely that the Fed will start to cut rates later this month. Every move creates an opportunity. I want to go around the room and see what stocks is on your radar as a potential buy ahead of what could be three months of small but potent rate cuts. Jason, what’s one stock you think will rise in the fall?

Jason Hall: I’m going to go on a limb here, and I’m going to bring up one that I don’t think that rate cuts directly are the reason that the stock is going to go up, and I’m going to give you a hot take on Starbucks. I’m going to give it to you in a lot less time than it would have taken you to get your favorite cup of caffeine from that coffee giant over the past couple of years. Starbucks’ shares are basically on a six-year highly volatile losing streak. Revenue growth has stalled. Tons of legit competition has emerged all over the world. We’ve got another IPO that’s coming up pretty soon in that coffee space. I know that sounds like a terrible stock to expect to go up, right, Rick?

Rick Munarriz: Yeah, but you had me percolating, Jason. Why do you think Starbucks will rise in the fall?

Jason Hall: In short, Starbucks looks like it’s finally working through years of problems that have hurt the business, and these problems were happening before we realized they were problems. The collision of too much technology that was driving a ton of orders ran into too much complexity behind the counter, along with a number of other poor operational decisions, hurt the customer experience, hurt the company’s relations with its workers. Here’s a stat. Starbucks hasn’t had a positive quarter of comps. That’s that important measure of retail of sales at stores that have been open for at least one year. Hasn’t had a positive comps quarter since the end of 2023. That’s seven straight negative comp quarters, seriously. Now, Brian Niccol, I believe is the best operator in the restaurant industry, was brought in just 13 months ago to fix really a broken business that’s attached to an incredible brand. There have been signs of life the past couple of quarters. Comps have still been down, but much less worse than prior to Niccol’s implementing the Starbucks’ Back to Starbucks initiative. When we combine that positive momentum over the past six months with a really brutal comp period that was last year’s fall quarter. It was particularly bad, comps were down a brutal 7%. I think the combination of low expectations and a low bar for what could look like pretty good results that sets Starbucks up to beat expectations when it reports in October, and I think there’s going to be momentum that can drive the stock up.

Rick Munarriz: Yeah, let’s hope so. Lou, tell us about a stock that you like here.

Lou Whiteman: Conventional wisdom has it that small caps do better in a rate cut environment because the cost of borrowing should come down, and smaller companies tend to be more on the edge when it comes to debt. With that in mind, what I’m watching is a stock called Montrose Environmental, ticker MEG. They’re only about $1 billion market cap. They’re a roll up, and they’re an active acquirer, so they have a lot of debt, specifically 330 million debt compared to just 11 million in cash. They’re the type of company that gets a longer lifeline or life gets a lot easier for them if their cost of debt can come down.

Rick Munarriz: Lou, I remember you writing about Montrose a couple years ago when it was a beneficiary of COVID-related testing. Why do you think it will rise in the fall?

Lou Whiteman: Yeah, that was more of a distraction. What they do at a core, they provide necessary services with environmental cleanup and environmental air quality monitoring, water quality monitoring. These are long term needs, Rick. These are things that we just any administration, whatever’s going on, there’s a need for this. Montrose has a lot of patents in areas like neutralizing micro plastics and getting them out of the water. What sets them apart from me is this roll up. It is a risk, but in an industry full of, basically, small and regional players, they are a national player. They’ve been a consolidator. They have the scale to take on bigger projects, and also large corporate customers that have operations all over the country. They have the option with Montrose to just do business with one vendor. If you’re a mining company, you can work with them nationwide instead of having to find a partner in every market they operate. This is no sure thing, but it’s intriguing, and if they can get borrowing rates down, their odds of success improve.

Jason Hall: One of the things that’s so compelling about what you’re talking about, Lou, is the market is littered with these sleepy little underappreciated companies in markets like that that are massively fragmented that have a good record of rolling up and consolidating. I think that’s worth taking a look at.

Lou Whiteman: It’s just expensive, and if the debt gets cheaper, just life gets easier.

Rick Munarriz: Yeah, find a consolidator in a fragmented sector, and you can make a lot of money that way. My stock is Zillow Group. There are two classes of shares here, but I’m going with the Class A voting stock trading on the ticker symbol ZG. Zillow operates the leading residential real estate portal with 243 million average monthly unique users.

Jason Hall: Wow, housing, not a beautiful market right now, Rick. What’s got you thinking that Zillow can rise in the fall?

Rick Munarriz: If financing rates start moving markedly lower in the coming months, it’s going to breathe new life into the depressed residential real estate market that has seen its transaction volume inch just 1-2% higher over the past year. Demand will spike as homebuyers cash in on getting more bang for their mortgage buck. Supply will also finally start to ease once homeowners aren’t afraid to cash out of their low rates on existing digs. Zillow lights the housewarming candle on both ends. The surge in demand creates more app and website traffic, and that’s a dinner bell for the real estate agents and other advertisers paying for exposure to this lucrative audience. More homes hitting the market will make it even more important to pay up to stand out on the platform. Zillow’s stock is beating the market over the past year, but it’s also flat with where it was five years ago. It doesn’t seem fair. Zillow is back to posting double-digit revenue growth, and adjusted earnings is growing even faster. It’s doing well now. It should really be doing well a few months from now.

Lou Whiteman: Rick, I love the stock idea, but I’m more intrigued with the three of us as a boy band. We need to talk about that more after this is over.

Rick Munarriz: We will, in harmony. When we get back, I break out a new game to see if Jason and Lou can sort this year’s biggest gainers from its biggest losers. Stick around. We’ll end the show in sync.

Jason, Lou, from our culture Exchange Program with Hidden Gems, let’s play Double Trouble. Let’s go over the rules because it’s a brand new game. I will mention a stock that’s been on the move this year. If you think it has more than doubled, say double. If you think it’s lost more than half of its value in 2025, say trouble. Simple enough, let’s go. First one, Freshpet, FRPT, the company behind refrigerated dog and cat food. Double or trouble, Jason?

Lou Whiteman: I’m going to say trouble. I hear about it so much, but maybe. I was going to say double. Well, just let’s have fun.

Rick Munarriz: We are having fun. But Jason is right, trouble, down 63%. Freshpet is still posting double digit sales growth, but it began the year with a steep valuation that’s high even in dog years. Next up, Wayfair. ticker symbol W, online furniture retailer. We probably know this company. Double or trouble, Lou?

Lou Whiteman: I haven’t personally bought anything in a while, but I think other people have. I’ll say double here.

Jason Hall: I think it’s bounced back. It’s struggled so much coming out of the pandemic. I think there’s been a little bit of a recovery.

Rick Munarriz: Yeah, it’s been quite a recovery, at least for the stock. Up 103%, so a double, you’re both correct. Wayfair is getting market share during a cyclical downturn, but in its latest quarter, adjusted earnings nearly doubled. Third up, we’re traveling far away for Banco Santander, SAN is the ticker symbol, Spain’s largest bank. Double or trouble? Start with you, Jason.

Jason Hall: Man, I think I’m wrong here, but I’m going to say double because I know European banks have just taken it on the chin, but I think there’s some life coming back into that sector.

Lou Whiteman: Yeah, definitely double for me, just where Europe’s going.

Rick Munarriz: Yeah, up 110%. The banking giant has been expanding across Europe and Latin America for some time, and early this year, it formed a partnership with Verizon to boost its presence in the US. Next up, C3.ai. Ticker symbol, AI. A provider of AI software tools for the energy industry and other enterprises. Double or trouble, Lou?

Lou Whiteman: This is trouble.

Jason Hall: Yeah, absolutely trouble. I don’t want to get sued, so I’m not going to say anything but trouble.

Rick Munarriz: Yeah, down 55%, net losses keep widening, and revenue is now going the wrong way. Having some challenges there, despite its awesome ticker symbol for the times. Finally, Newegg Commerce, NEGG, consumer electronics retailer. Double or trouble, Jason?

Jason Hall: I’m going to say double. I’m making a wild guess here. Completely coming from the perspective of a consumer of computer electronics, they’re still the gold standard.

Lou Whiteman: They were crazy a while ago. They’ve come back to Earth. It’s not trouble. It’s got to be a double.

Rick Munarriz: Yeah, not just a double. Up 452%.

Lou Whiteman: Still, wow.

Rick Munarriz: Yeah, revenue growth has turned positive in 2025 after three years of decline. That’s the good thing. But what’s really carrying it is mostly the fact that it’s riding the new wave of meme stock, so that’s happening right now for that stock. But clearly, the company that’s fundamentals at least are starting to turn the corner. Jason and Lou, thank you for going over the highs and lows of investing and price moves with me today. If you want to give the boy band a shot, we can try try try.

Lou Whiteman: Rick, I’m bullish on you. You’re a double.

Rick Munarriz: That sounds like trouble. Thank you. Thank you to the two of you. A double dose of wisdom to my me them. As always, people on the program may have interest in the stocks they talk about, and the Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against, so don’t buy or sell stocks based solely on what you hear. All personal finance content follows Motley Fool editorial standards and is not approved by advertisers. Advertisements are sponsored content and provided for informational purposes only. To see our full advertising disclosures, please check out our show notes. For Jason Hall, Lou Whiteman, and the entire Motley Fool Money team, I’m Rick Munarriz. May your days be sunny and your life, Motley Fool Money.

Shares of APA (APA 3.02%) rallied 4.1% on Wednesday as of 1:30 p.m. ET, continuing a second straight day of gains for oil stocks.

As was the case yesterday, oil prices leapt higher, albeit off of a low price, as tensions between NATO countries and Russia ratcheted up once again. But this time, the source of increased tensions came from President Donald Trump, in an unexpected reversal from his prior conciliatory tone toward Russia.

Trump gives his blessing to NATO strikes and Ukraine retaking territory

Yesterday, President Trump wrote on Truth Social that:

After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.

The comments reveal a significant about-face for the president, who seemed to be more sympathetic to Russia than Ukraine at the beginning of his term. But it now seems the president is taking an adversarial tone with Russia, which could have implications for oil markets.

In a separate Truth Social post, Trump also advocated for Europe to cease all energy purchases from Russia, noting:

In the event that Russia is not ready to make a deal to end the war, then the United States is fully prepared to impose a very strong round of powerful tariffs… But for those tariffs to be effective, European nations would have to join us in adopting the exact same measures… they have to immediately cease ALL energy purchases from Russia.

Tariffs or sanctions on Russian oil or countries that buy Russian oil could have the effect of lowering supply, which could shoot prices higher, given that Russia accounts for about 10% of all global oil supply. Russia also sells lots of natural gas to Europe, so curtailing that could also boost international natural gas prices as well.

APA is a large upstream oil and gas company with operations outside of Russia, in the U.S., South America, the U.K., and Egypt. So, its production stands to benefit from higher prices if Russia supply is curtailed, either by sanctions or due to Ukraine’s new attacks on Russia storage depots.

Image source: Getty Images.

Think of traditional energy as a dividend-paying hedge

Oil price shocks usually come from geopolitical conflicts, which have the potential to harm the economy — and many of your stocks along with it. However, traditional energy stocks in oil and natural gas can benefit from those shocks, as we saw in 2022. Therefore, APA and its peers can act as a hedge against geopolitical conflict, while the stock also pays out a 4.2% dividend yield in the meantime.

Shares of UiPath (PATH 10.83%) rallied on Monday, with shares up 10.5% as of 3 p.m. ET.

UiPAth received a positive sell-side analyst note today, and was discussed extensively on Reddit message board Wall Street Bets (WSB) over the weekend. The combination sent UiPath shares rising, given that shares still trade some 85% below their 2021 all-time high.

Truist gives a thumbs-up, but WSB takes it from there

On Monday, Truist Financial analyst Terry Tillman wrote a note saying he came away “increasingly confident” in UiPath being able to meet or exceed its full-year outlook given on its recent earnings release, following a meeting last week with the company’s CFO, chief operating officer, and investor relations team. That being said, Tillman didn’t change his price target on the stock, leaving it at $12 per share and giving UiPath a hold rating.

While the commentary on full-year guidance is nice, the note by itself probably wasn’t enough to get the stock moving as much as it did today. Likely, the extra boost was provided by meme stock traders on the Reddit message board Wall Street Bets. Mentions of UiPath have increased recently, with one WSB monitor citing a 500% increase in mentions for the stock over the weekend. That likely came when one popular WSB Redditor posted Friday that his next big stock bet is UiPath. If other message board traders follow this poster’s bet, that could be spurring buying and short covering action on Monday.

Image source: Getty Images.

Do your own due diligence

UiPath is still down hugely from its 2021 highs, so if it can harness the power of AI to boost its automation software, the stock could stage a comeback. However, AI also has the potential to raise competition for UiPath, given that a number of AI companies, from the “Magnificent Seven” to OpenAI, are all looking to serve enterprises with AI automation tools.

That being said, that competitive threat has made UiPath trade rather cheaply for a software company, at just 4.3 times sales and 18 times next year’s adjusted earnings estimates.

Despite how much Americans spend to look younger, some pretty nice perks accompany aging. If you’re getting older, there are reasons to celebrate: Not only are you wiser, you’re also eligible for discounts at some of your favorite places. Here’s a sample of what you can find when you want to make the most of your Social Security or pension benefits.

Image source: Getty Images.

Cell Phones

Groceries

Hotels

Restaurants

Retailers

Travel

This list represents a tiny percentage of the discounts available to those 50 and older. Rather than taking more than you want from your retirement savings, here are tips for landing more discounts:

• Don’t be shy about asking: Even if it’s not advertised, many businesses are interested in catering to established consumers and offer price breaks to keep them coming back. You can save real money by making it a habit to ask.
• Consider AARP: If you’re not a member of AARP yet, that’s where you’ll find a shocking number of discounts. A standard AARP costs around $20 annually, although a discount may be available when you join. Spending $20 or less annually may just help you fight inflation.
• Carry ID: Some places require proof of age before granting a discount. You should be good to go as long as you have ID.
• Make banks work for your business: Despite being in the business of making money, here’s a breakdown of the some of the most common perks banks offer seniors:

-Waived fees: Banks often eliminate monthly maintenance fee for checking and savings accounts.

-Free checks: Some banks offer free or discounted checks.

-Safe deposit boxes: Ask your bank about discounts available to seniors on safe deposit boxes.

-Higher interest rates: Some senior discount programs offer a higher rate on savings accounts.

-Miscellaneous savings: Banks may offer additional perks like free bank drafts, discounted money

orders, and even prescription discount cards.

The power is in your hands as a consumer. For the most part, you get to choose where to spend your money. Whether you’re saving for a vacation or making sure you’re ready for the next bear market, it’s OK to make businesses work for your patronage.

AI stocks are soaring after Oracle and others posted record levels of investment, and most sector stocks are now trading near all-time highs.

However, one big name is getting left behind. That’s ASML (ASML 0.92%), the world’s only maker of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, which are used to make the most advanced semiconductors. ASML plays a crucial role in the global semiconductor supply chain, serving foundries like TSMC with its mammoth machines that cost tens of millions of dollars.

While ASML stock is up 17% year to date, it’s still down significantly from its all-time high, off 26% from its peak in July 2024, showing that the company hasn’t lived up to earlier expectations.

ASML was in the news last week after it invested in Mistral AI, following in the footsteps of tech titans like Nvidia that have invested in smaller AI companies. ASML is investing 1.3 billion euros in the European AI start-up in a Series C funding round. As part of the deal, they formed a collaboration agreement around the use of AI models across ASML’s product portfolio and to team up on research and development to benefit ASML customers.

Investors seemed to like the deal as the stock moved higher last week. Is it a sign of things to come? Let’s take a closer look at where ASML stands today to see if it’s a buy.

Image source: Getty Images.

Can ASML bounce back?

ASML’s deal with Mistral seemed to breathe some new life into the stock as Arete upgraded it to a buy, and Bank of America said that the Mistral investment could expand the stock’s multiple. In recent quarters, ASML has struggled with volatile demand for its machines, including in China, though it has touted strong demand related to AI. Unlike chip designers like Nvidia or even manufacturers like TSMC, ASML is exposed to a different product cycle as a semiconductor equipment manufacturer.

In the second quarter, the company saw strong growth with revenue rising 23% to 7.69 billion euros and net income up 45% to 2.3 billion euros. Bookings in the quarter were flat at 5.5 billion euros.

For the full year, management expects revenue growth to slow, calling for 15% revenue growth for 2025. For 2030, the company continues to target 44 billion to 60 billion euros, or 52 billion at the midpoint, up from 28.3 billion in 2024. That implies a compound annual growth rate of just around 11% at the midpoint.

ASML has a competitive advantage in the industry based on technology, but the demand cycle is outside of its control. The long-term guidance is subject to change, and ASML said, “Looking at 2026, we see that our AI customers’ fundamentals remain strong. At the same time, we continue to see increasing uncertainty driven by macroeconomic and geopolitical developments.”

Is ASML a buy?

The Mistral AI deal is a smart move as it gives ASML some direct exposure to a promising AI start-up and leverages its market power into a new revenue stream. The tailwinds from AI are encouraging as well, but near-term expectations are muted as analysts expect essentially flat growth for the second half of the year and just 4% in 2026.

Following the stock’s recent rebound, ASML shares trade at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of around 30 based on current estimates.

That’s pricey for a stock with single-digit revenue growth, but ASML has enough of a competitive advantage to make holding the stock worthwhile.

At this point, getting a small position in ASML makes sense as estimates are low enough over the coming quarters that the company could top expectations, sending the stock higher. Looking out further, if the AI boom continues, ASML will eventually be a winner even if it got off to a slow start.