money

The market has been rallying, pushing up valuations on lots of popular stocks to the point where they are no longer good buys. But there are still pockets of value to be found, even within the tech sector. This includes companies that are riding the wave of artificial intelligence (AI) growth.

Let’s look at three bargain basement stocks that are ready for a bull run that you might want to consider buying now.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Even after a strong run this year, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM 3.57%) still looks inexpensive relative to the role it plays in the semiconductor ecosystem. The stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 26.5 times 2026 earnings estimates, which is a bargain for a company that controls nearly all of the world’s most advanced chip production. Most investors focus on Nvidia when thinking about AI chips, but without TSMC’s technological expertise and scale, those AI chips would not even make it to market.

While Intel has been seeing a lot of investments recently, neither it nor any other rival has shown the ability to consistently shrink node sizes while keeping high production yields like TSMC. That has turned TSMC into a critical partner for chip designers who need its support for their future chip roadmaps. It has also given the company some nice pricing power at the same time that chip demand is on the rise. Management expects AI chip demand to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 40% annually through 2028, which is significant given how large the AI chip market has already become.

Between its growth and valuation, TSMC is a bargain AI stock to buy.

2. Pinterest

Pinterest (PINS 1.08%) does not get the same attention as rival Meta Platforms when it comes to AI. However, don’t let that fool you — Pinterest is also successfully using AI to drive growth. Meanwhile, investors can scoop up the stock on the cheap, with it trading at a forward P/E of just 15 times 2026 analyst estimates. For a company that has consistently been growing its revenue at a high- to mid-teens rate and seeing operating margin expansion, that’s a bargain price.

With the help of AI, Pinterest has transformed its platform from simply a digital vision board into a shoppable hub. It’s using AI to power visual search and improve personalization, which makes it easier for users not just to find inspiration but then to make purchases based on that inspiration directly from its site.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the company’s automated ad tool, Performance+, lets brands better target users and bid more effectively. It’s also formed a partnerships with Instacart so users who buy items from its site can get them delivered the same day.

Pinterest also has a big opportunity to better monetize its large international user base, and it has turned to Alphabet to help reach advertisers in emerging markets. Last quarter, its average revenue per user (ARPU) grew 26% in Europe and 44% in the rest of the world. That’s strong growth; however, its ARPU still trails peers by a wide margin, so there is still plenty of ARPU upside ahead.

Pinterest is a stock with a long runway for growth, trading at a discounted price.

3. GitLab

GitLab (GTLB 2.56%) may not be the first stock that comes to mind when you think of AI, but it is becoming an important player because of how much it improves developer productivity. Despite that role, the stock trades at a forward price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of under 7 times 2026 estimates, which is low for a company growing revenue close to 30% a year with gross margins near 90%.

Its Duo AI agent has been a game-changer by automating the routine work that clogs up a developer’s day. Developers spend only about 20% of their time coding, so freeing up more time to write code means more projects get done, which ultimately drives demand for GitLab’s platform. Early fears that AI might reduce the need for human coders have so far proven unfounded, with companies actually expanding their use of GitLab. This is evident in its net dollar retention number of 121%.

However, perhaps the most exciting part of the GitLab story is its announcement that it is shifting to a hybrid seat-plus-usage pricing model. This should let GitLab capture more value as usage scales, providing a built-in growth catalyst that is not yet fully priced in. With the AI-driven software buildout just getting started, the market seems to be overlooking GitLab’s role in that expansion.

With Tesla’s (TSLA 1.32%) core electric vehicle business struggling this year, analysts and investors were anxious to get a glance at how EV deliveries would trend in the third quarter. The company delivered big time, reporting close to 497,100 deliveries, smashing Wall Street estimates of of 447,600. However, Tesla’s stock dipped immediately following the news, as the strong beat was not enough to excite Wall Street. What gives?

Expiration of the EV tax credit

Tesla’s third-quarter deliveries of nearly 497,100 blew out estimates and rose 7% year over year. That’s a sharp reversal from the first two quarters of 2025, when the company reported deliveries that fell 12% year over year compared to the first half of 2024.

Image source: Tesla.

But analysts clearly knew the quarter was going to be strong because President Trump’s big legislative spending bill passed by Congress earlier this year eliminated the $7,500 EV tax credit on Sept. 30, the last day of the third quarter. It became evident that consumers would likely rush to purchase Teslas before the cost of the vehicles increased.

According to Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, Tesla saw a 35% year-over-year increase in its U.S. sales in the third quarter, which he attributes to the rush before the EV tax credit expiration. “Investors should largely throw out the positive number,” Munster said, noting that the “the future will be autonomy.”

Still, other analysts were more optimistic. Morgan Stanley analyst said that Q3 deliveries came in at the top end of hedge fund estimates ranging from 450,000 to 500,000 deliveries. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives called the quarter a “massive bounceback” and said he is still high on the company’s autonomous vehicles and humanoid robotics businesses, which Ives and Wedbush analyst Scott Devitt think could catapult Tesla to a $2 trillion to $3 trillion market cap by 2026 or 2027.

Ultimately, I’m guessing the disappointing share action could be attributed to Tesla stock’s recent run-up. The stock is up close to 60% over the past six months.

Current state of the bull-bear debate

Tesla is still one of if not the most hotly debated stocks on Wall Street, with the bulls confident that it is the most innovative AI company in the world and the bears pointing to its staggering valuation of nearly 250 times forward earnings. As of this writing, Tesla trades at nearly $440 per share. The lowest Wall Street price target is an astounding $19 per share, while the high is $600 per share, which shows just how split the Street is on the name.

But one thing I think both the bulls and bears agree on is that the future of Tesla is going to come down to its autonomous driving business, for which Tesla is in the early stages of building out an autonomous ride-hailing fleet, and the humanoid robots business. If these businesses are as successful as analysts like Ives believe, than the stock can keep moving higher. But hiccups or a more competitive market than people think could send it tumbling.

Tesla has begun to launch pilot autonomous driving programs in select cities, while humanoid robots are still in prototype stage. The advantage of Tesla’s robotaxi business is that the vehicles can reportedly be built at a fraction of the cost of rival WayMo, which is also operating in several cities. However, it remains to be seen whether the technology can truly be perfected and deemed safe enough to be fully commercialized.

The simple reason I choose to avoid Tesla is that I think the market has assumed too much success in businesses that the public still knows far too little about. If Tesla is successful and jumps to $600 per share, that’s 40% upside, but if robotaxis and humanoid robots don’t work out as well as hoped, who knows that the stock is worth. As stocks get larger and surpass a $1 trillion market cap, maintaining the growth to hold such a high valuation becomes more difficult. The risk-reward proposition is not attractive to me.

Palantir Technologies (PLTR 0.79%) is one of the most popular artificial intelligence (AI) stocks on the market, especially among retail investors. Shares have advanced 140% year to date, after skyrocketing 340% last year. And the company recently got a big vote of confidence from a Wall Street analyst.

Mariana Perez Mora, who covers aerospace and defense at Bank of America, recently raised her target price to $215 per share, up from $180 per share. Mora’s forecast is now the most bullish on Wall Street, and it implies 17% upside from the current share price of $183.

Here’s what investors should know about Palantir.

Image source: Getty Images.

Palantir is a leader in artificial intelligence platforms

In her recent note, Bank of America analyst Mariana Perez Mora highlighted two qualities that differentiate Palantir. First, the company uses what it calls forward-deployed engineers (FDEs), developers that work directly with specific clients to build custom solutions. FDEs are a particularly compelling value proposition as more companies look to integrate artificial intelligence into workflows.

Second, Palantir designed its software around an ontology, a framework that serves as the digital twin of an organization. Think of an ontology as a cause-and-effect diagram that uses digital information to define the relationship between physical objects. It lets clients easily troubleshot, automate, and optimize business processes with artificial intelligence.

In short, whereas most analytics tools are built around data, Palantir designed its software around a decision-making framework. Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar told analysts on the second-quarter earnings call, “Our foundational investments in ontology and infrastructure have positioned us uniquely to deliver on AI demand.”

Indeed, Forrester Research ranked Palantir as the technology leader in its most recent report on artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) platforms, awarding its AIP platform higher scores than similar products from Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet. And IDC ranked the company as the market leader in its latest report on decision intelligence software.

Bank of America says Palantir’s revenue could reach $18 billion annually by 2030

Palantir currently earns the majority of its revenue from government customers, and that business segment has regained its momentum due to demand for AI among defense and intelligence agencies. Government revenue growth has accelerated in six consecutive quarters and adoption is expanding beyond the U.S.

NATO earlier this year acquired Palantir’s Maven Smart System, an AI-powered warfighting platform already used across the U.S. military to improve battlefield targeting and supply chains. More recently, Palantir struck a five-year, 750 million-pound deal with the U.K. Ministry of Defense to help the U.K. military develop AI capabilities. That is the largest government contract outside the U.S. to date.

Mora at Bank of America thinks that momentum will continue as more countries consider the Maven Smart System. She estimates government revenue will reach $8 billion annually by 2030. However, Mora expects commercial revenue to eclipse that figure, reaching $10 billion by the end of the decade, as enterprises choose to buy Palantir’s AI operating system rather than build their own.

To summarize, Mora believes demand for artificial intelligence will be a major catalyst for Palantir, pushing total revenue to $18 billion annually by 2030. To put that in context, the company reported $3.4 billion in revenue over the last 12 months, so her forecast implies revenue growth of 35% annually over the next five-plus years.

Palantir is the most expensive stock in the S&P 500 several times over

Palantir is well positioned for future growth. Grand View Research estimates the data analytics market will expand at 29% annually through 2030, driven by demand for artificial intelligence and machine learning tools. As the market leader in decision intelligence software with deep expertise in AI/ML, Palantir is likely to report faster revenue growth than the overall market.

However, that still doesn’t justify the current valuation of 134 times sales. For context, the next closest stock in the S&P 500 is AppLovin with a price-to-sales multiple of 39. That means Palantir could lose 70% of its market value and still be the most expensive stock in the index.

Consider this scenario: If Bank of America is correct in forecasting $18 billion in revenue in 2030, Palantir would still trade at 24 times sales by that point if its stock price does not change at all. Only eight stocks in the S&P 500 currently have valuations above 24 times sales, so Palantir would still be one of the most expensive stocks in the index (by current standards) without any share price appreciation in the next five-plus years.

Here’s the bottom line: Palantir is an excellent business, but the stock is wildly overvalued. That does not mean shares will decline anytime soon. Palantir could very well reach Mora’s target price of $215 per share. But the risk-reward profile is undoubtedly skewed to the downside, so investors should make the prudent choice and look elsewhere. There are plenty of other AI stocks with more favorable risk-reward profiles.

Sage Capital Advisors, LLC reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation(COST -0.00%), selling 3,424 shares in Q3 2025. The estimated trade value was $3.28 million, based on quarterly average pricing for the period ended September 30, 2025, according to an SEC filing dated October 7, 2025.

What happened

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission dated October 07, 2025, Sage Capital Advisors, LLC sold 3,424 shares of Costco in Q3 2025. The transaction was valued at an estimated $3.28 million. Following the trade, the fund held 6,371 shares valued at $5.90 million as of September 30, 2025.

What else to know

The fund’s position in Costco decreased from 2.3937% to 1.4023% of reportable AUM as of 2025-09-30 following the sale.

Top holdings after the filing:

• NASDAQ:AAPL: $37.26 million (8.9% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025
• NASDAQ:MSFT: $21.92 million (5.2% of AUM) as of 2025-09-30
• NASDAQ:NVDA: $19.31 million (4.6% of AUM) as of 2025-09-30
• NASDAQ:GOOGL: $18.69 million (4.4% of AUM) as of 2025-09-30
• NASDAQ:AMZN: $16.32 million (3.9% of AUM) as of 2025-09-30

As of October 6, 2025, shares of Costco were priced at $910.94, up 4.3% over the past year, underperforming the S&P 500 by 13.7 percentage points

Company Overview

Company Snapshot

Offers a broad assortment of branded and private-label merchandise, including groceries, appliances, electronics, apparel, and specialty services such as pharmacies, optical centers, and fuel stations.

Operates a membership-based warehouse model

Operates in North America, Asia, Europe, and Australia

As of September 2025, the company operated 914 membership warehouses worldwide

Foolish take

Sage Capital Advisors sold off about 34% of its Costco holdings during Q3 2025, totaling about $3.28 million, dropping Costco from about 2.4% of its AUM to about 1.4%. This wasn’t a significant drop in its overall portfolio composition, even if it did represent a pretty significant sell-off of its Costco stock holdings.

Although Costco remains a strong retail company, investors have long worried it has been getting overvalued and has less room to grow in valuation in the near-term. For example, over the last year, Costco share values only increased by 4.3%, significantly underperforming the market. The company also had a very strong Q3, despite a resulting drop in its stock price.

Costco remains a desirable company for many investors, even if institutional investors like Sage Capital Advisors are selling significant shares. This may be a regular part of its portfolio management, and nothing to worry about, or it may have been taking gains at one of the near-$1000 peaks that occurred during the quarter. 

Either way, this looks more like a rebalancing move and less like a statement about Costco.

Glossary

AUM: Assets Under Management – The total market value of investments managed by a fund or firm.
Reportable AUM: The portion of a fund’s assets required to be disclosed in regulatory filings, often U.S. equities.
Top holdings: The largest individual investments in a fund, typically ranked by market value or portfolio percentage.
Membership-based warehouse model: A retail structure where customers pay annual fees to access bulk goods at discounted prices.
Dividend Yield: Annual dividends per share divided by share price, shown as a percentage.
TTM: The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.

Data by YCharts

The S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.58%) rose 0.58% to 6,753.72, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 1.12%) jumped 1.12% to 23,043.38. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI -0.00%) was essentially flat, slipping 0.0026% to 46,601.78. Technology strength drove broader gains even as yields held relatively firm.

In commodities, gold surged past $4,000/oz for the first time, fueled by safe-haven buying amid the ongoing government shutdown and rising hopes for Fed rate cuts.

The government shutdown continues to cast a shadow on economic visibility, elevating the role of inflation data and central bank signaling in driving markets. Meanwhile, rate cut expectations remain alive, supported by dovish cues in Fed minutes and underlying macro softness.

Looking ahead, traders will be watching whether the shutdown delays key releases like CPI or PCE, which in turn could ripple into timing for future Fed moves and even impact things like the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) announcement.

Market data sourced from Google Finance on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Date

Oct. 8, 2025 at 5 p.m. ET

Call participants

Chief Executive Officer — Kate W. Duchene

Chief Financial Officer — Jennifer Y. Ryu

Chief Operating Officer — Bhadreskumar Patel

Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email [email protected]

Takeaways

Revenue — $120.2 million in revenue for the fiscal first quarter ended Aug. 31, 2025, with outsourced services revenue up 4% year-over-year.

Gross margin — Gross margin was 39.5% for the fiscal first quarter ended Aug. 31, 2025. This was 300 basis points higher than the prior year quarter and significantly better than the high end of the company’s outlook range, supported by improved bill rates, benefits cost reductions, and higher consulting utilization.

Adjusted EBITDA — Adjusted EBITDA was $3.1 million.

On-demand segment — Revenue was $44.4 million, down 16% from the prior year; however, segment adjusted EBITDA rose to $4.4 million (10% margin), up from $2.6 million and a 4.9% margin in the prior year, driven by cost reduction.

Consulting segment — Revenue was $43.6 million, down 22% year-over-year; segment adjusted EBITDA totaled $5 million (11.6% margin), compared to $7.8 million and a 14.1% margin previously (non-GAAP).

Europe and Asia-Pacific segment — Revenue reached $19.9 million, up 5% year-over-year; segment adjusted EBITDA was $0.8 million (4.2% margin), up from $0.2 million and a 1.3% margin in the prior year.

Outsourced services segment — Revenue totaled $10 million, up 4% year-over-year, with segment adjusted EBITDA of $2.3 million (23.3% margin), compared to $1.4 million and a 14.7% margin in the prior year.

Average bill rate — Enterprise-wide average bill rate was $120 (constant currency), up from $118, while the consulting segment improved 11% from $144 to $160.

SG&A expense — $44.5 million, a 7% decrease from $47.7 million a year ago, due to reductions in management compensation, travel, and occupancy.

Balance sheet — $77.5 million in cash and cash equivalents; zero outstanding debt was reported.

Shareholder returns — Dividend distributions of $2.3 million; $79 million remained under the authorized repurchase program at quarter end.

Q2 revenue outlook — Guidance is $115 million to $120 million, with gross margin expected at 38%-39% and SG&A between $43 million and $45 million.

Annual cost savings — Management expects $6 million to $8 million in annual savings from the reduction in force initiated in early October 2025.

Consulting pricing — On new consulting projects, Patel said, “the value we’re bringing is warranting for us to be able to increase our rates, especially on net new projects,” despite ongoing pricing pressure in lower-value roles.

Summary

Resources Connection (RGP 2.47%) reported quarterly results for the fiscal first quarter ended Aug. 31, 2025, that outperformed its own expectations, credited to gross margin strength and cost controls rather than broad-based revenue growth. The company’s Europe, Asia-Pacific, and outsourced services segments posted year-over-year revenue growth and margin gains, differentiating from softness in U.S. consulting and on-demand. Management highlighted improved average bill rates and pipeline momentum in digital transformation and CFO advisory services, as well as strategic pipeline expansion through increased cross-selling initiatives across business lines.

Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Y. Ryu said business days, not foreign exchange, were the main factor in the reported year-over-year revenue decline, with currency accounting for “about a third of the business day impact.”

Outsourced services (County) is experiencing demand from venture-backed AI, fintech, and divestitures, combined with expanded AI and automation integration to extend client retention beyond early-stage companies.

New leadership was added in CFO advisory, with revenue pipeline described by management as benefiting from “a lot of momentum,” according to Kate W. Duchene, tied to leadership changes and ongoing pipeline development.

Ryu stated that the same day constant currency guide for the fiscal second quarter ending Nov. 30, 2025, implies a 16% decline at the top end of revenue guidance.

Recent board appointments added private equity perspective and transformation expertise, focusing the board on incentives, cross-team collaboration, and bottom-line optimization in a volatile market environment.

Industry glossary

Bill rate: The hourly charge to the client per professional deployed, inclusive of wage costs and overhead.

SG&A: Selling, general, and administrative expenses comprising all non-production operating costs.

Pipeline: The aggregate value or number of prospective client opportunities currently being pursued.

Adjusted EBITDA: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, excluding certain one-time or non-cash items.

Constant currency: A metric that removes the impact of exchange rate changes to show financial performance as if foreign currencies had not changed in value.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Kate W. Duchene: Thank you, Operator, and welcome everyone to Resources Connection, Inc.’s Q1 earnings call. We continue to make progress in evolving the company to become more integrated, diversified, and resilient. While the global macro environment remains uncertain, disrupted, and slow-moving for professional services, we are working aggressively to evolve the business to be well-positioned for the upturn. Our activities are producing meaningful progress, which I’ll highlight in Q1. We delivered results better than our outlook for all measures. Revenue was above our outlook range. Gross margin was significantly better and G&A also came in better than our outlook. As a result, we achieved more profit than expected by a significant amount.

While we have more work to do, we have a clear plan to deliver enhanced value creation. Several parts of the business are growing, and I want to highlight those. Europe and Asia-Pacific achieved a solid quarter, delivering 5% growth, and have built a strong pipeline for Q2. Japan and India delivered growth in Q1, again with solid momentum moving into Q2. Revenue from our top ten clients also grew year over year, reflecting the global transformation and transaction work happening in the very large company client segment counts. Grew in Q1 and is busy with strong proposal activity in Q2.

Jen will share more details about our progress, especially around double-digit fill rate improvements in our consulting segment, increasing deal size, and pipeline momentum. These are the indicators that we closely monitor to track our continued progress against our strategic goals. We are engaged in our transformation to deliver more for our clients and colleagues while improving return for our shareholders. We are transforming purposefully to increase our addressable market while becoming known for a focused set of solutions. We’ve taken the company from a professional staffing organization to a diversified platform combining on-demand talent with consulting and outsourced services. We are focused on two critical solution areas across all delivery models: CFO advisory and Digital Transformation.

These services are relevant to every business today, large and small. In these areas, we help our clients drive transformation from strategy through to execution by providing heightened value and impact. Our unique value proposition is built on five key differentiators. First, we bring agility, expertise, and experience. Unlike Big Four and large consultancies, we deploy skilled, analytical consultants paired with highly experienced professionals who can plug into client teams quickly without the heavy overhead, long timelines, or rigid methodologies. Clients value this model when they need execution and results fast, not just advisory. Also, our global Talent Network is unmatched.

Our experienced professionals tend to be mid to senior-level practitioners, with 10 to 20 plus years of experience who have worked in industry, not just consulting, and have operated in our client seats. This makes them credible to the client teams immediately. Second, our diversified services model is a strength. We serve clients across consulting, professional staffing, and managed solutions or outsourcing, giving clients flexibility in how they engage. Few firms combine all three effectively, especially on a global stage like ours. Clients increasingly want more choice, including blended delivery teams that can operate around the world.

In addition, with the US changing the H1-B availability and cost model, our global delivery centers in India and Asia-Pacific allow us to quickly access outstanding global talent without extra complexity or cost. Third, our focus on CFO advisory and digital transformation is right on target for the next several years. We specialize in the high-demand areas of finance transformation, including AI and data, risk and compliance, transaction integration, supply chain optimization, digital and cloud transformation. This is a sweet spot where clients need both deep functional expertise and execution support. Our pipeline of opportunities is growing in the digital finance, ERP, and data space, and we expect that to continue.

We have accordingly upskilled our talent communities to deliver the specialized skills clients need today. Fourth, our diversified model is scalable. Our clients can flex our team up or down depending on project demand. This gives clients more control over cost and outcomes compared with traditional consulting engagements. In today’s macro environment, cost efficiency and flexibility are critical considerations for clients in making procurement decisions. The models of yesterday with large, layered teams or inflexible playbook delivery are declining. This shift will play in our favor because we don’t deliver services with layers of inexperienced generalists or juniors, often learning skills on the client’s dime. We know that much of that work is being actively disrupted by automation and AI.

Our sweet spot is in the delivery of consulting and on-demand, specialized talent that embraces AI and automation to streamline, enhance, and cost optimize the delivery of complex change and transformation work. We take pride in knowing that when our clients demand teams and talent that have been in their shoes and had experienced the problems they faced, we can quickly provide that solution anywhere in the world. In digital finance work, for example, our consultants work collaboratively with modern tools for automating, processing, and analyzing, allowing focus to shift to capturing insights and designing innovative new processes and technical architectures that enable the use of these tools at scale.

As the on-demand environment improves and clients are reintroduced to the capabilities of our GP, today, we believe the market opportunity ahead is significant. The fifth differentiator is our client-centric approach. We partner to truly integrate with client teams. We do not engage as an external firm dictating solutions. Our model is designed to be collaborative, outcome-oriented, and more cost-effective than large consultancies. As one client buyer from a $6 billion enterprise undergoing finance transformation recently shared, Resources Connection, Inc. is positively unique because you deliver strategy when I need it and specialized talent when I need it. You are a trusted partner for both types of services, providing greater control and efficiency as every day brings something new.

Next, I want to comment on the qualitative aspects of our transformation as they are important to unlocking cross-sell and upsell opportunities in our exceptional client base. We are working more collaboratively across the Enterprise’s one GP and are accelerating the integration of our consulting capabilities. The mindset and attitude of our organization have significantly changed to understand the importance of sales, delivery, and talent working together. This mindset shift and accompanying behavioral changes are beginning to produce the right results. In sum, we’re transforming to build a more stable and profitable business. The past three years have been volatile and disrupted, especially in the staffing market.

During this time, we have been building our talent base and solutions to bring to market a new model of consulting that is more affordable, more flexible, and more impactful. Larger consulting projects are already beginning to help us create stickier business and higher-level client relationships. This new playing field and approach will pay dividends quickly in an improving global environment. We’re also building more outsourced services capabilities with County as it fits into our diversification strategy and the CFO and digital agendas. County is an outsourced finance and accounting service, combining automation, AI, and highly specialized fractional CFO talent to serve startups, scale-ups, and divested assets of larger enterprises and private equity firms.

We are currently expanding our offerings to incorporate more AI and automation in these outsourced services, in turn driving growth and longer-term revenue opportunity. We believe we will increase the market opportunity for County in two ways: one, adding clients that are divested assets of larger enterprises or private equity portfolios, and two, by maintaining clients longer as they mature. County is not just a solution for the startup and scale-up stage, but a long-term solution for finance and accounting services for a broader range of clients. For example, County’s newest client base is AI technology and fintech, who want FNA as an outsourced solution long-term.

County also delivers our strongest operating margins, which will continue to benefit our consolidated results and drive shareholder value. Finally, I want to share an update on our cost structure, which we are actively redesigning to fit the current size and scale of the business, our current technology platform, and our diversified services strategy. We are streamlining organizational structure, simplifying processes, embracing automation and AI, and evaluating all functions to ensure they are strategically aligned to what we need today and where we’re headed. We’ve made good progress in reducing our run rate and will continue to do so at a meaningful level.

From a holistic point of view, we will report continued progress throughout the fiscal year as we fully optimize our technology investments to simplify processes and drive efficiency. Jen will share more on our cost structure improvements in a moment. In closing, we have a clear strategy we are executing to allow us to rebound quickly as the demand environment improves. We believe the improvements we are making in the business today will enable us to return to double-digit profitability. Our strengths, including our brand, people, client base, technology, and flexible solutions, will allow us to capitalize on the opportunities ahead, driving long-term shareholder value. With that, I’ll turn it over to Bhadresh.

Bhadreskumar Patel: Thank you and good afternoon, everyone. We are pleased to report another quarter of progress in advancing our transformation strategy, positioning Resources Connection, Inc. at the intersection of professional staffing, consulting, and outsourced services. Our flexible, client-centric offerings continue to resonate with clients, supporting both their transformation and operational priorities. In the first quarter, we delivered results ahead of expectations in both revenue and gross margin. This performance reflects the ongoing stabilization of our operating model, stronger cross-practice collaboration, continued focus on value-based pricing within consulting, and disciplined cost management. Together, these actions are driving stronger bottom-line performance, which Jen will cover in more detail shortly.

Despite the still choppy demand environment that Kate referred to, our pipeline returned to growth during the quarter. Demand is strengthening across CFO advisory and digital transformation, directly aligned to client priorities around cost efficiency and process automation. This demand underscores the alignment between our sales organization and practice leaders, and our positioning at the intersection of staffing, consulting, and outsourced services. Europe and Asia, as well as outsourced services, continue to deliver year-over-year growth. On-demand is stabilizing, and consulting is building pipeline while achieving higher bill rates. We are making targeted investments in leadership and services to further accelerate this momentum. With that, let me turn to our performance by segment.

For the consulting segment, revenue declined year-over-year, but we did achieve revenue growth in a few areas, including ServiceNow, project and change management, and our federal digital offerings. Additionally, we saw meaningful improvement in bill rates and utilization compared to the same quarter last year. And importantly, we’re achieving notably higher bill rate increases on new projects. This validates client demand for our specialized solutions, supports our value-based pricing initiative, and contributed to the gross margin improvement year-over-year. In addition, stronger collaboration between our sales and consulting teams is expanding the pipeline with larger, more strategic transformation opportunities, particularly in our focus areas of CFO advisory and digital transformation.

As Kate mentioned, these areas remain directly relevant to client priorities, but the longer sales cycles and slower project starts in the current environment often translate into elongated revenue conversion. While this impacts near-term quarterly revenue, we believe these engagements represent durable demand that, over time, will translate into meaningful opportunity at increasingly higher margins. Notable wins this quarter include execution of a technology strategy across multiple work streams for a Fortune 500 financial services company, a master data management implementation for a multibillion-dollar food processing company, and employee experience modernization for a large multinational technology company.

On the pipeline side, we added several significant opportunities, including global program management support for a Fortune 500 energy company, finance transformation stabilization pods for cutover support and data validation for a complex, best-in-breed ERP and data platform deployment for a large energy distributor, and transformation advisor and implementation support of the source-to-pay function for an independent business unit of a FTSE 100 global consumer goods company. Many of these wins and pipeline additions are with clients we have historically served through our on-demand talent channel, which is a testament to our unwavering focus on the value of our integrated go-to-market strategy.

Finally, on consulting, as announced in August, I’d like to welcome Scott Rottman as our new leader for CFO advisory. Scott will oversee finance transformation, risk assurance, tax and treasury, and M&A offerings. He brings deep expertise from the Big Four and Morgan Franklin, a boutique transformation-focused consultancy with a proven track record of building practices and trusted teams, and helping clients navigate complex transformation agendas. Turning to on-demand, revenue declined year-over-year, but is showing signs of stabilization over the first quarter, with improved gross margins supported by moderate fill rate increases. After the expected seasonality of summer, the pipeline returned to growth in the quarter, driven by more net new opportunities and continued focus on extension management.

Pivoting away from operational accounting as these roles will continue to be replaced by AI and automation. We remain disciplined in pipeline management and qualification, with a particular focus in the areas of ERP, finance transformation, data, and supply chain, which are more relevant in today’s marketplace. In addition, as we continue to build leadership and capabilities in consulting, we’re increasingly positioning on-demand talent alongside consulting opportunities and engagements. This integrated approach not only strengthens client impact but also creates revenue growth across our service lines. Moving to international, our Europe and Asia segment delivered solid first-quarter year-over-year revenue growth.

Europe and Asia led the way with revenue gains, higher run rates, and stronger bill rates versus last year, underscoring the strength of client relationships and the effectiveness of our regional strategy. Growth in Europe and Asia-Pacific has been driven by a dual focus on deepening multilateral client relationships and expanding our local client base. Demand for our CFO advisory and digital transformation offerings remains strong, and our ability to combine local delivery with scalable global delivery centers continues to differentiate us. Together with management and ongoing optimization initiatives, these actions position us to maintain margins and sustain growth despite longer sales cycles and competitive dynamics. Lastly, on outsourced services, we delivered year-over-year revenue growth with continued gross margin expansion.

We added new clients to our platform while also exhibiting strong retention. While bottom-line performance benefited from both operating leverage and disciplined cost management. While our outsourced services focus continues to be on startups, scale-ups, and spin-outs, we are capitalizing on the broader venture funding environment by targeting venture-backed AI startups, where demand is increasingly robust. At the same time, we are advancing our AI strategy to support a rapidly expanding client base with scalable technology-enabled solutions. This includes enhancing internal tools, evolving our go-to-market approach, and exploring new delivery models such as AI-enabled accounting agents and innovative pricing structures.

To conclude, we remain focused on disciplined execution and delivering meaningful value for our clients as we wait for the demand environment to turn. With a diversified portfolio, strong client relationships, and a winning strategy, we are positioning Resources Connection, Inc. for sustained long-term growth and profitability. With that, I’ll now turn the call over to Jen.

Jennifer Y. Ryu: Thank you and good afternoon, everyone. We delivered strong performance this quarter against our expectations. Revenue of $120.2 million, gross margin of 39.5%, and expense of $44.5 million all beat the favorable end of our outlook ranges. We also delivered improved adjusted EBITDA of $3.1 million, or a 2.5% adjusted EBITDA margin. We’re pleased to see the return to growth in revenue for both our Europe and Asia-Pacific segment, and outdoor services segment, with 5% and 4% growth over the prior year quarter. Revenue within the on-demand and consulting segments continued to be soft as the operating environment in the US remains choppy this quarter.

Our continued focus on the number and quality of client outreaches and meetings, pipeline management, and cross-sell collaboration have yielded growth in the pipeline. Importantly, we believe the positive progress in our key operating metrics will lead to tangible improvement in revenue over time. Turning to profitability metrics, we achieved strong gross margin for the quarter at 39.5%, 300 basis points higher than the prior year quarter, and significantly better than the high end of our outlook range. Contributing to the strong gross margin are one, continued improvement in our average bill rate and expansion of the pay bill spread.

Two, significant reduction in employee benefit costs, including health care costs, holiday, and paid time off, and three, strategic management of our bench consultants. Utilization. Enterprise-wide average bill rate increased to $120 constant currency from $118 a year ago. The improvement came despite the revenue mix weighing more toward the Asia-Pacific region, and of note, we saw an 11% improvement in average bill rate in consulting from $144 to $160. As we continue to execute our pricing strategy and move up the value chain to deliver higher value, larger scale engagement, we expect more upside in bill rates, especially in the consulting business. Now on to SG&A.

Our enterprise run rate, SG&A expense for the quarter was $44.5 million, a 7% improvement from $47.7 million a year ago, primarily driven by lower management compensation expense and reductions in other G&A spend, such as travel and occupancy. Subsequent to the quarter, at the beginning of October, we further streamlined our organizational structure to rightsize leadership layers and headcount through a reduction in force. We expect approximately $6 to $8 million of annual cost savings associated with this effort. Going forward, we will continue to pull the cost levers within our control to improve operating leverage. Next, I’ll provide some additional color on segment performance. All year-over-year percentage comparisons for revenue are adjusted for business days and currency impact.

And as a reminder, segment adjusted EBITDA excludes certain shared corporate costs. Revenue for on-demand segment was $44.4 million, a decline of 16% versus prior year. However, segment adjusted EBITDA improved to $4.4 million, or a margin of 10%, from $2.6 million, or a 4.9% margin in the prior year quarter. The notable improvement is primarily driven by our cost reduction effort in this segment. For our consulting segment was $43.6 million, a decline of 22% from the prior year. First quarter segment adjusted EBITDA was $5 million, or an 11.6% margin, compared to $7.8 million, or 14.1% margin in the prior year quarter.

Turning to our Europe and Asia-Pacific segment, revenue was $19.9 million, a 5% growth from a prior year quarter. Segment adjusted EBITDA was $0.8 million, or a 4.2% margin. Both up from $0.2 million and a 1.3% margin in the prior year. Finally, our outsourced services segment revenue was $10 million, up 4% compared to the prior year quarter. Segment adjusted EBITDA was $2.3 million, or a 23.3% margin, up from $1.4 million, or a 14.7% margin driven by significant improvement in its gross margin as a result of more effective management of consulting utilization. Turning to liquidity, our balance sheet remains pristine, with $77.5 million of cash and cash equivalents and zero outstanding debt.

Quarterly dividend distributions totaled $2.3 million, with cash on hand. Combined with available borrowing capacity under our credit facility, we will continue to take a balanced approach to capital allocation between investing in the business to drive growth and returning cash to shareholders through dividends and opportunistic share buybacks. Under our repurchase program, which had $79 million remaining at the end of the quarter, I’ll now close with our second quarter outlook. Early second quarter, weekly revenue run rate has been largely stable compared to the first quarter. We expect to maintain revenue stability through the second quarter while continuing to push forward the momentum in the sales pipeline.

I’ll also note that while we have very limited U.S. government exposure and therefore are not materially impacted directly by our clients in the sector, the current government shutdown could lead to additional disruption in the operating environment. With that in mind, and based on our current revenue backlog and expectations on late-stage pipeline deals, our outlook calls for revenue of $115 to $120 million for the second quarter. On the gross margin front, we also expect similar trends to the first quarter with an outlook range of 38 to 39%, with Thanksgiving adding one additional holiday in the US compared to Q1.

Second quarter run rate SG&A expense is expected to be in a range of $43 to $45 million, reflecting the benefit from our cost reduction efforts. Non-run rate and non-cash expenses will be around $5 million, consisting primarily of non-cash stock compensation and approximately $2 million of restructuring expense associated with the reduction in force. In closing, we continue to be laser-focused on improving our sales execution as well as driving an efficient cost structure to deliver more value. Even in this operating environment, as better economic clarity emerges for our customers and new business prospects, we will be well-positioned for return to consolidated growth, accompanied by even stronger profitability.

This concludes our prepared remarks, and we will now open the call for Q&A.

Operator: Thank you. As a reminder to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one again. One moment for questions. Our first question comes from Jessica Lewis with Northcoast Research. You may proceed.

Jessica Lewis: Hi. Good evening. Thank you for taking my questions. First, I would like to congratulate you on such a positive first quarter. Amazing results. And second, I have a question for you. And then one brief follow-up. To start, what would you say regarding the trend in pricing? Are you seeing pricing pressure in any particular business?

Bhadreskumar Patel: Yeah. Hi Jessica, this is Bhadresh. From a trending perspective on our staffing business, we have been able to keep our rates pretty steady. However, in the consulting side, while we do see pricing pressures, the value we’re bringing is warranting for us to be able to increase our rates, especially on net new projects that we’re selling to our clients, which, you know, ultimately is bringing a different value to our clients than what we have historically. From a professional staffing perspective, because we’re bringing thought leadership to those projects. So there are pricing pressures for sure. Roles like operational accounting and things like that face a lot more pricing pressures from our space.

But we’re also pivoting away from those roles as AI and automation take over. And we’re focused on more high-value roles, especially around ERP data supply chain, digital transformation really aligned to the strategy that we’ve laid forth for our business.

Jessica Lewis: All right. Perfect. That’s very helpful. Thank you. And then as for the follow-up question, I know that you guys are having success with cross-selling. Looking at your pipeline now, how much of the pipeline would you attribute to cross-selling?

Bhadreskumar Patel: I mean, you know, we’re still building that pipeline, but the good news is that we continue to increase million-plus dollar deals into our pipeline. And we anticipate that with the motions we’re playing across both our sales teams and our practice leaders and consulting that pipeline will increase. And then, you know, for us to see the conversion as it relates to that increase.

Jessica Lewis: Okay. Awesome. I appreciate it. Thank you again for answering my questions. And another congratulations to the company on a great first quarter.

Bhadreskumar Patel: Thank you, Jessica.

Operator: Thank you. And as a reminder to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone. One moment for questions. Our next question comes from Mark Marcon with Robert W. Baird. You may proceed.

Mark Steven Marcon: Good afternoon. I was just wondering with regards to the revenue guide that you gave us, Jen, can you break that out between the segments and specifically, you know, what are you seeing for consulting and on-demand talent?

Jennifer Y. Ryu: Yeah. Hi, Mark. Sure. The revenue guide for Q2, we’re expecting across our business units, you know, our Europe and Asia-Pacific region will continue to show strength as they did in Q1. So we expect continued strength in that, if not, it might even get better than Q1. And the other two segments, on-demand and consulting, you know, the trend is going to be more or less the same. It really depends on especially on the consulting side, some of the deals in the pipeline in late stage and the timing of conversion of that. So I would say across all of our business units, performance in Q2 will be somewhat consistent with what you’re seeing in Q1.

Kate W. Duchene: Yeah, Mark, it’s Kate. Can I just add I think it really depends on how quickly we can get some of this pipeline, especially the improving pipeline. And CFO advisory. You know, we do have, as Bhadresh shared, a new leader who’s very dynamic and has a very clear plan to improve our performance there. So, you know, he has shared that there’s a lot of momentum right now. It just depends on how quickly I think we can move that through the pipeline.

Mark Steven Marcon: Great. And then just with regards to on-demand and consulting within the US, any regional differences that you’re seeing, either from your West Coast operations or Chicago or the tri-state area?

Bhadreskumar Patel: Yeah, I mean, we are, you know, we are seeing a lot of demand in the West Coast and the southeast as well. And I think it’s really attributed to the teams and the tenure of the teams there overall in the market. We’re seeing consistent kind of demand across our core offerings. You know, we’ve aligned in CFO advisory and digital transformation for a reason because those are the two agendas that are moving in client spaces. And, you know, we’re balancing this across, you know, the tenure and the leadership that we have in other markets. And really building pipeline. And, you know, work across those markets as well.

Mark Steven Marcon: Great. And your new leader, where is he going to be based?

Bhadreskumar Patel: He’s based in Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, actually.

Mark Steven Marcon: Okay. Great. Thank you.

Bhadreskumar Patel: Thanks, Mark.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Judson Lindley with J.P. Morgan. You may proceed.

Judson Garrett Lindley: Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my question. Maybe just the first one on this quarter’s revenue. I know, same day constant currency revenues were down 13.9%. So could you maybe break out for me the delta between same day constant currency and reported revenue growth? How much of that was from FX and how much was the days impact?

Jennifer Y. Ryu: Yeah. More days impact, business day impact. There are some currency impacts, but it’s probably about a third of the business day impact. Most of it is, as you know. The first quarter we have I think we have one less day in business days this quarter compared to last year.

Judson Garrett Lindley: Okay, great. Thank you very much. And then maybe as a follow-up, if there was any acquired revenue in the quarter. And if you could maybe those same three components for the second quarter guide.

Jennifer Y. Ryu: Yeah. In the first quarter, year over year, there’s very little acquired, as you know, we acquired reference point last year in the first quarter a month into the first quarter last year. So the inorganic piece is minimal.

Judson Garrett Lindley: And then for the second quarter, if you could.

Jennifer Y. Ryu: Yeah. For the second quarter compared. Year over year at the top end of the guidance range, it’s a 16% decline. On the same day constant currency basis.

Judson Garrett Lindley: Great. Thank you very much.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Joe Gomes with Noble Capital. You may proceed.

Joseph Anthony Gomes: Good evening.

Bhadreskumar Patel: Hi, Joe.

Joseph Anthony Gomes: Just a quick question. You know, when you talk to clients or potential clients. You know, what are they saying in terms of their general appetite to move forward and spend? And how has that changed over the past year? If it’s changed?

Kate W. Duchene: I would say it hasn’t changed much, Joe. I think we’re still, you know, in a choppy environment. As we’ve said before, I expect there’s probably more of the same for the next couple of quarters. Every time I think people feel like we’re getting more stability and the foundation is getting stable, then it seems like something else happens. You know, as Jen said, we don’t have a lot of exposure to federal government or federal work, but, you know, it feels destabilizing when there’s that level of uncertainty. And so we’ve reflected that in our outlook because we’re just uncertain. As I said before, there is work that’s progressing. I mean, there’s some really interesting work.

We’re talking to clients about right now. It just depends on how quickly we can progress that work through our pipeline. I’m very impressed with some of the new talent we’ve brought into the organization, especially around, you know, whether you call it Finance 4.0, which includes ERP, cloud migration, digital finance, automation, AI data work, everything that’s happening there that work is progressing. I mean, it’s happening in our client base right now. So again, I think a lot of it is timing and making sure we’re positioned and having the right conversations with clients.

Joseph Anthony Gomes: Okay. Great. Thanks for that. And one follow-up in the summer, you guys, you did a board refresh and added two new members to the board. I was wondering, you know, what, if anything, they’ve brought to the board here that is kind of new or different ways of thinking or different approaches that would be attributable to them.

Kate W. Duchene: Yeah. So let me speak to that. We have welcomed, I think, two strong board members. One brings more of a, I would say, private equity lens, if you will, to what we’re doing. Especially as we look at optimizing our bottom-line performance. Given that we all recognize the macro environment is difficult and difficult. Really across professional services. So that has been, I think, instructive for us to look at things with a fresh set of eyes. Our other board member brings a lot of operating experience and operating experience through transformation.

And I think what we’re learning from his experience is the importance of the behavioral changes that I’ve talked about, making sure that we’re getting incentive comp right, making sure that we are creating collaborative teams to hunt and farm together, and not creating silos or competitive, you know, mindset. So competitive. I by that I mean against each other and not competitive to the broader marketplace. So I think they’re both good adds to our board. And the work that we’re undertaking right now.

Joseph Anthony Gomes: Okay. Great. Thanks for that. Appreciate it. I’ll get back to queue.

Kate W. Duchene: Okay. Thanks, Joe.

Operator: Thank you. I would now like to turn the call back over to Kate Duchene for any closing remarks.

Kate W. Duchene: Yes. Thank you, thank you, everyone for joining us today. I want to highlight that we will be participating in the Noble Capital Markets Emerging Growth Virtual Equity Conference tomorrow. So we hope to engage further with investors. Then we’ll also look forward to updating you on our strategic progress and results following Q2 in early January. Thanks again, everyone. Good night.

Operator: Thank you. This concludes the conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

On October 7, 2025, Moulton Wealth Management, Inc disclosed a new position in VanEck Semiconductor ETF(SMH 2.68%), acquiring 8,932 shares valued at approximately $2.92 million.

What happened

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing dated October 7, 2025, Moulton Wealth Management, Inc disclosed a new position in VanEck Semiconductor ETF, adding 8,932 shares. The estimated transaction value was approximately $2.92 million. The fund reported 45 total positions and $137.49 million in reportable U.S. equity assets.

What else to know

This is a new position; SMH now accounts for 2.1% of the fund’s 13F assets under management.

Top holdings after the filing:

• SPLG: $12.93 million (9.4% of AUM)
• USFR: $10.40 million (7.6% of AUM)
• TFLO: $10.37 million (7.5% of AUM)
• SJNK: $9.82 million (7.1% of AUM)
• FLOT: $9.73 million (7.1% of AUM)

As of October 7, 2025, shares were priced at $337.05, up 35.79% over the past year.

Company overview

Company snapshot

The investment strategy seeks to replicate the performance of the fund’s benchmark index by investing at least 80% of assets in U.S. exchange-listed semiconductor companies.

The portfolio is concentrated in common stocks and depositary receipts of semiconductor companies, including both domestic and foreign issuers.

Fund structure is non-diversified with a passively managed approach.

VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) provides targeted exposure to the semiconductor sector by tracking a benchmark index of leading U.S.-listed semiconductor companies. The fund’s substantial asset base and focused portfolio offer investors a liquid and efficient vehicle for accessing this critical technology industry.

Foolish take

I’m a longtime bull on the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) for one very simple reason: Semiconductors are a critical component within the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem, and AI is the most important technological innovation of this decade.

Therefore, this fund’s core holdings read like a who’s who of top-performing stocks. There’s Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, Broadcom, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Intel, and many more.

Obviously, many of these stocks have soared to new heights as the AI revolution has picked up steam. Nvidia is now the world’s largest company by market cap; Broadcom is now the 7th-largest American company with a market cap north of $1.6 trillion.

What’s more, organizations are still spending tens of billions on new AI infrastructure investments — much of it coming in the form of purchases of semiconductors.

For example, according to estimates compiled by Yahoo Finance, Nvidia’s annual sales should rise to over $200 billion this year, up from $26 billion in 2022.

All that said, semiconductors have historically been a cyclical industry, and have endured many boom-bust cycles. So investors should remain cautious about how much exposure they may have to the semiconductor industry, given its volatile history.

However, for most growth-oriented investors, semiconductors are now a must-own sector. So for those investors, the Van Eck Semiconductor ETF is one fund to consider for the long term.

Glossary

ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund): An investment fund traded on stock exchanges, holding assets like stocks or bonds.

13F assets under management: The value of U.S. equity securities reported by institutional managers in quarterly SEC filings.

New position: The initial purchase of a security or asset not previously held in a portfolio.

Benchmark index: A standard index used to measure the performance of an investment fund or portfolio.

Depositary receipts: Negotiable certificates representing shares in a foreign company, traded on local stock exchanges.

Non-diversified fund: A fund that invests a large portion of assets in a small number of issuers or sectors.

Passively managed: An investment approach that aims to replicate the performance of a benchmark index, not outperform it.

Expense ratio: The annual fee expressed as a percentage of assets, covering a fund’s operating costs.

Asset base: The total value of assets held by a fund or investment vehicle.

Reportable position: A holding that must be disclosed in regulatory filings due to its size or regulatory requirements.

Shares of used car giant CarMax (KMX -1.11%) plunged 26.9% in September, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, drastically underperforming an otherwise positive month for the markets.

Not only is CarMax not a part of the AI tech stock cohort that saw massive interest in September, but the company also reported earnings during the month, which fell well short of expectations.

Image source: Getty Images.

CarMax reports declines and announces cost cuts

In its second quarter, CarMax reported revenue declines of 6% to $6.59 billion, and an earnings per share decline of 24.7% to $0.64. Both figures missed analysts’ expectations.

Management acknowledged the challenges of the current quarter, but pointed to new initiatives it anticipates will turn things around. The first is a cost-cutting initiative, by which management is seeking $150 million in selling, general, and administrative cost cuts over the next 18 months.

The second is on the marketing front, where CarMax unveiled its new “Wanna Drive?” campaign in August. The “Wanna Drive?” campaign highlights CarMax’s new omnichannel capabilities, a competitive reaction to online-first competitors such as Carvana (CVNA -2.22%) and others.

But while that all may sound promising, CarMax is fighting against an unfavorable macroeconomic environment. Late in September, the Conference Board reported a worse-than-expected decline in consumer confidence, with a reading of 94.2, down from 97.8 in the prior month and well below the 96.0 reading expected by economists.

Automobile purchases are big-ticket items, so consumers may hold off purchases if their confidence in the economy and their future prospects darkens. While the Federal Reserve did commence cutting interest rates in September for the first time in nine months, it likely did so in reaction to a weakening job market and economic outlook, even as inflation remains above its target.

Can CarMax turn it around?

After the September decline, CarMax looks somewhat cheap on the surface, now trading at 14 times this year’s earnings estimates and just 11.8 times next year’s earnings expectations.

It therefore appears CarMax may be a value stock that could be appealing to investors shying away from the high valuations of the AI and technology sector.

Of note, CarMax does have over $16.4 billion in debt, but that debt is backed up by roughly the equivalent amount of CarMax auto finance loans, which CarMax holds on its balance sheet, and from which it generates a positive interest rate spread.

So while CarMax shouldn’t be considered “heavily indebted,” its business is very economically sensitive, in that used cars are big-ticket items, while the auto loan financing business essentially functions like a bank. Overall, CarMax is also a low-margin business, with a net profit margin of just 1.4% last quarter.

So CarMax looks like a cheap stock at the moment, but investors need to bank on a cyclical recovery or stabilization in consumer spending for the stock to deliver on that promise.

If you want to watch every Dodgers game in 2026, you’ll likely need access to all of these outlets: SportsNet LA, Fox, ESPN, NBC, Peacock and Apple TV.

That is not, shall we say, fan-friendly.

Baseball’s holy grail is this: One place to watch your team, and every team, wherever you are. One price. No blackouts. No need to decide whether to pay up for a subscription to an outlet you may never watch after the game ends.

Rob Manfred, baseball’s commissioner, does not need to persuade fans about this. He does need to persuade the owners of all 30 teams about this.

Since Manfred would like to have this “All the Teams, All The Time” outlet up and running in 2029, he needs to start lining up votes among the owners. Manfred has talked about this goal for years, and I asked him if he can say this is really going to happen.

“I think that there is a lot of acceptance within the industry that, given what’s happened within the media environment, we need to be more national,” Manfred told me before the Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies met Monday at Citizens Bank Park.

“The idea of centralizing, and getting more games available on national platforms, is really appealing to people. Now, we’ve got some cards to play, still. But I remain optimistic that it can happen.”

So does Stan Kasten, the president of the Dodgers.

“We are supportive of the notion of all fans anywhere being able to watch any game, and doing away with blackouts,” Kasten said. “That takes a lot of steps, and every team has a different situation.

“We have a long way to go, but the goal is an admirable one, one I think all fans will benefit from, and that is what is most important.”

This all sounds lovely so far. But the Dodgers are not about to unconditionally surrender what fans outside Los Angeles consider their greatest competitive advantage: money, and lots of it.

The Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers are on course to meet in the National League Championship Series. The Brewers make about $35 million in local television revenue this year, according to Sports Business Journal.

The Dodgers make about 10 times that much in rights fees this year from Charter Communications, the parent company of Spectrum — and that annual rights fee will top $500 million by the end of the Charter contract in 2038. And there’s more: the Dodgers also own SportsNet LA.

If the 30 teams pooled their broadcast rights, Manfred believes they could generate interest not only from traditional outlets but from streamers such as Apple, Peacock, Paramount and Netflix. League officials believe the exclusivity of one package would generate more collective revenue than the combination of 30 individual team deals.

In theory, then, the Brewers would get significantly more than $35 million per year if the teams split the pot evenly. The Dodgers would get less, and probably much less. So would Manfred just lean on the Dodgers to go along for the good of the game?

“I don’t think you can make a change like this based on people saying this is for the good of the game,” Manfred said. “I think you make a change like this by people realizing who the buyers are, what they want to buy, and by packaging up a set of changes that make it kind of closer to an economic wash.”

Meaning cash-neutral for teams like the Dodgers — and the New York teams, Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs — still reeling in big bucks amid the collapse of regional sports networks outside large markets?

“Yeah, and there are a whole lot of ways to get there,” Manfred said.

He did not lay out his menu of options, but the first one is clear. Collective bargaining negotiations are scheduled to start next year, with the growing likelihood of a lockout after the 2026 season.

If owners can push through a salary cap — a cap that the players’ union insists will remain — then small-market owners could be guaranteed players would receive a guaranteed but limited percentage of league revenue. That cost certainty, coupled with the potential of increased revenue from a 30-team broadcast package, probably would win over small-market owners.

And that could be critical, because those owners currently make a fair amount of money from revenue sharing, under which teams are assessed a percentage of such money as ticket sales, concession sales and local media revenue. That money is pooled and shared equally for now, but Manfred could offer the Dodgers and other financial behemoths a chance to keep more of — or all of — that money for themselves.

The league also could offer to buy out SportsNet LA and other such channels, meaning more money for the Dodgers. And, although the Dodgers under current ownership do not appear interested in a salary cap, a cap would decrease player spending and thus increase team profits.

A wild card: With Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki and Hyeseong Kim on their roster, the Dodgers could ask for greater revenue from international broadcast rights, which are now shared equally among teams.

Those are a lot of balls for Manfred to juggle. Kasten adamantly declined to say what might work for the Dodgers.

“You’re delving into areas that are way too premature for me to discuss, other than for me to tell you we agree with the goal,” he said. “The goal is a good one, and we hope baseball can get there.”

On October 07, 2025, Carolina Wealth Advisors, LLC disclosed a buy of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE: NVO) shares, an estimated $6.01 million trade based on the average price for Q3 2025.

What happened

According to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing dated October 07, 2025, Carolina Wealth Advisors, LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk, adding 102,629 shares during the third quarter. The estimated trade size was $6.01 million, calculated using the average closing price for the period from July 1 through September 30, 2025. The updated holding stands at 116,973 shares.

What else to know

This transaction was a buy, raising Novo Nordisk A/S to 2.8% of the fund’s 13F reportable AUM as of Q3 2025.

Top holdings after the filing:

• NYSEMKT:SCHQ: $18.93 million (8.2% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025.
• NYSEMKT:BKAG: $13.22 million (5.7% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025.
• NYSEMKT:SCHP: $13.10 million (5.6589% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025.
• NYSE:DELL: $10.14 million (4.3781% of AUM) as of September 30, 2025.
• NYSEMKT:SPHY: $10.09 million (4.3568% of AUM) as of Q3 2025.

As of October 6, 2025, Novo Nordisk A/S shares were priced at $59.65. This price reflects an underperformance of 65.4 percentage points relative to the S&P 500 over the past year.

Company Overview

Company Snapshot

Novo Nordisk:

• Offers pharmaceutical products focused on diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular, rare blood disorders, and hormone replacement therapies, as well as medical devices such as insulin pens and smart diabetes solutions.
• Generates revenue primarily through the development, manufacturing, and global distribution of branded prescription medicines and medical devices, with a strong focus on chronic disease management.
• Serves healthcare providers, hospitals, and patients in Europe, North America, Asia, and other international markets, targeting individuals with diabetes, obesity, and rare diseases.

Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare leader specializing in diabetes and obesity care, with a robust presence in rare disease therapeutics. The company leverages extensive research and development capabilities to deliver innovative pharmaceutical products and smart medical devices. Its scale, diversified product portfolio, and global reach provide a strong competitive position in chronic disease management.

Foolish take

Carolina Wealth Advisors’ $6 million addition to its Novo Nordisk holdings is noteworthy as it grows the holding from a 0.5% position to a 2.8% stake in the firm’s overall portfolio.

This purchase makes the Ozempic and Wegovy maker the 11th-largest holding overall in the firm’s portfolio, and its sixth-largest stock holding.

With five bond and treasury ETFs making up 28% of Carolina Wealth’s holdings, this ballooning Novo Nordisk stake stands out.

Novo Nordisk’s shares have dropped nearly 60% from their highs in the last two years, so this could be a well-timed acquisition.

After receiving immense fanfare for its obesity and diabetic drug breakthroughs, the company’s price-earnings (P/E) ratio soared to 50 as the stock hit new all-time highs in 2024.

However, with revolutionary breakthroughs like these — paired with the subsequent fanfare — comes competition. Now the market has Novo Nordisk trading at a much more reasonable 19 times earnings as it tries to gauge just how much of its leading market share the company will be able to hold on to.

Ultimately, if investors believe in Novo Nordisk’s ability to maintain its leadership advantage and build upon its pipeline of promising treatments, today’s valuation could be a bargain — and Carolina Wealth is piling in.

Glossary

13F AUM: Assets under management reported in quarterly SEC Form 13F filings, covering U.S. equity holdings by institutional investors.
Reportable AUM: The portion of a fund’s assets under management that must be disclosed in regulatory filings, such as Form 13F.
Quarter (Q3 2025): The third three-month period of the 2025 calendar year, covering July 1 to September 30.
Stake: The ownership interest or position held in a company, typically measured by the number of shares owned.
Top holdings: The largest investments in a fund’s portfolio, usually ranked by market value or percentage of total assets.
Filing: An official document submitted to a regulatory authority, such as the SEC, disclosing financial or investment information.
Underperformance: When an investment’s returns are lower than a benchmark or comparable index over a specific period.
Chronic disease management: Ongoing medical care and treatment strategies for long-term health conditions, such as diabetes or obesity.
Pharmaceutical products: Medications developed and manufactured for diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of diseases.
Medical devices: Instruments or apparatuses used in the diagnosis, treatment, or management of medical conditions.
Smart diabetes solutions: Technology-enabled tools, such as connected insulin pens, designed to help manage diabetes more effectively.
TTM: The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.

Published on
08/10/2025 – 18:10 GMT+2

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It’s a narrow win — but a win nonetheless — for the opponents of the controversial trade agreement reached with the Mercosur countries in December 2024.

A show of hands from European lawmakers on Wednesday saw 269 of them reject a paragraph of a resolution on the EU’s political strategy for Latin America that welcomed the conclusion of the Mercosur agreement — offering a preview of the showdown taking shape in the European Parliament over the controversial trade deal.

The Strasbourg vote was decided by just 10 votes, as 259 other MEPs voted in favour, reflecting a divided hemicycle over this controversial agreement.

“The European Parliament is once again expressing its scepticism about the trade agreement with Mercosur,” French MEP Pascal Canfin (Renew) wrote in a post on LinkedIn.

“The political signal is very clear: there are more MEPs who have profound doubts about the merits of this agreement than MEPs who want it adopted immediately.”

The European Commission, which had been at the helm during more than twenty years of negotiations for this agreement, submitted it for ratification to the Council and for its consent to the European Parliament on 3 September.

However, it remains uncertain whether the final step for the EU to conclude the agreement will proceed smoothly.

The deal, which liberalises trade between Mercosur countries — Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay — and the EU, reduces tariffs on many products, including some agricultural goods, raising concerns among European farmers about facing unfair competition from Latin American producers.

‘We will continue fighting’

In the Parliament, a group of lawmakers is preparing to submit a resolution to their colleagues calling for the EU Court of Justice to be seized to suspend the deal’s approval.

Opponents of the agreement also fear that Mercosur countries will not comply with European phytosanitary and environmental standards.

The agreement “abandons agriculture and livestock, harms the environment, fuels deforestation, rolls out the red carpet for extractive multinationals,” Spanish MEP Irene Montero (The Left), who prompted the vote on Wednesday, told Euronews.

“We will continue fighting to ensure that this agreement is not ratified and to stop the danger it poses to the environment and our primary sector.”

Supporters of the deal argue, on the other hand, that this text — which creates a free trade area of 700 million people — is necessary in the new global trade context to face Chinese competition in Mercosur countries and diversify trading partners, especially as the US is raising tariff barriers around its market.

The part of the resolution that was rejected welcomed the conclusion of the deal’s negotiations, highlighting “the fact that the agreement would be a real game changer for the relationship between the two regions.”

The deal “would be the largest trade agreement ever signed by the EU in terms of population, covering more than 700 million citizens, and the most significant in terms of its economic impact,” the resolution emphasised.

The resolution also stressed the “geopolitical value” of the deal, “as an essential tool for advancing the EU’s strategic interests in the current international context.”

The plenary vote on the Mercosur agreement itself has not yet been scheduled. A source familiar with the matter told Euronews that the European Parliament’s administration hopes it will be on the MEPs’ agenda by the end of the year.

On October 6, 2025, TruWealth Advisors, LLC disclosed in an SEC filing that it sold all 450,162 shares of Synovus Financial (SNV 0.77%), an estimated $23.30 million trade based on quarterly average pricing.

What happened

TruWealth Advisors, LLC reported a complete sale of its Synovus Financial holdings in its quarterly Form 13F, published October 6, 2025 (SEC filing). The fund sold 450,162 shares, with the transaction value estimated at $23.30 million. The position, previously 1.3% of fund AUM, was fully liquidated, and no shares remain as of the filing.

What else to know

The fund sold out of Synovus Financial.

Top holdings after the filing:

• NYSEMKT:FBND: $124.17 million (6.3% of AUM)
• NYSEMKT:VTI: $110.40 million (5.6% of AUM)
• NYSEMKT:PYLD: $103.49 million (5.2% of AUM)
• NYSEMKT:JAAA: $103.49 million (5.2% of AUM)
• NASDAQ:BSCS: $90.20 million (4.6% of AUM)

As of Oct. 3, 2025, Synovus Financial shares were priced at $47.83, marking a 10.7% one-year gain and underperforming the S&P 500 by 7.8 percentage points.

Company overview

Company snapshot

Synovous Financial:

• Offers commercial and retail banking products, including treasury management, asset management, loans, deposit accounts, and investment services.
• Operates as a regional bank holding company based in Columbus, Georgia.
• Served individuals, small businesses, and corporate clients across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
• Leverages a diversified portfolio of banking and financial management services to address the needs of both retail and commercial clients in the southeastern United States.

Foolish take

While it may seem alarming to Synovus Financial shareholders to see TruWealth liquidating its position in the stock, the sale may not be an indictment of the bank’s operations.

Rather, Synovus plans to merge with Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ: PNFP) in a deal that should close in the first quarter of 2026.

The all-stock deal will have an exchange rate of .5237, implying a transaction value of $48.44 per Synovus share, based on Pinnacle’s current share price of around $92.

With Synovus already trading very close to this figure, TruWealth may not have seen enough upside in holding until next year. Or it simply may not have liked the look of the combined company.

For the bank itself, the new-look Pinnacle Financial Partners will not only become the fourth-largest regional bank in the Southeast, but also offer the best ten-year earnings growth rates among its peers in the area.

With the combined company set to have the best employee satisfaction, the highest customer net promoter score, and top-tier efficiency ratios compared to its peers, the new stock should be on banking-savvy investors’ radars.

Glossary

13F reportable assets: Securities holdings that institutional investment managers must disclose quarterly to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Form 13F.

AUM (Assets under management): The total market value of assets a fund or investment manager oversees on behalf of clients.

Fund liquidation: The process of selling all holdings in a particular investment, resulting in a zero balance for that position.

Dividend yield: Annual dividend income expressed as a percentage of the investment’s current price.

Regional bank holding company: A company that owns and controls banks operating primarily within a specific geographic region.

Treasury management: Banking services that help businesses manage cash flow, payments, and financial risk.

TTM: The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.

Form 13F: A quarterly report filed by institutional investment managers to disclose their equity holdings to the SEC.

Stake: The amount or percentage of ownership an investor or fund holds in a particular company.

Asset management: Professional management of investments such as stocks, bonds, and other assets for clients.

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.

Walmart’s stock is trading at elevated levels

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.

Walmart could have even more problems to worry about

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.

Should you buy Walmart stock right now?

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.

Shares of EchoStar (SATS -2.14%) rallied another 23.6% in September, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

EchoStar’s rally was all the more notable, given that EchoStar had already rallied nearly 90% in the prior month, when it managed to sell a big slug of its wireless spectrum at prices much higher than the market had anticipated.

September saw a repeat occurrence, with EchoStar selling even more of its wireless spectrum assets, bringing in even more cash, as well as shares of Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Management also gave a presentation regarding what it has done with all the cash, as well as its operational plan going forward.

EchoStar unloads more spectrum to SpaceX, with even more to go

Early in September, EchoStar announced it had agreed to sell another $17 billion worth of wireless spectrum to Elon Musk’s SpaceX. That deal followed EchoStar’s blockbuster $23 billion sale of wireless spectrum to AT&T (T 1.02%) in August.

Unlike the all-cash AT&T sale, the SpaceX sale was split between $8.5 billion in cash and $8.5 billion in SpaceX stock. The AT&T sale had essentially been enough to wipe out all of EchoStar’s debt, so a cash infusion wasn’t necessarily needed.

Meanwhile, EchoStar is now a SpaceX shareholder, which, though private, appears to be an exciting growth company that should serve the space economy for decades to come. That may be a refreshing “upside” play for EchoStar shareholders, whose main other businesses are the declining DISH TV satellite TV and broadband, as well as the low-growth Boost Mobile wireless service.

In a mid-month presentation, EchoStar management said that it will immediately pay down $11.4 billion in debt right away, taking out its highest-yielding notes that go up to an 11.75% yield. That should greatly lower the company’s interest expense, while leaving EchoStar with $24.1 billion in cash against just $13.4 billion in debt after the debt paydown. In addition, EchoStar will have its $8.5 billion stake in SpaceX also on the balance sheet.

EchoStar also still had about 45 MHz of spectrum remaining at the end of the month, down from the 140 MHz or so before the AT&T deal. On the last day of September, Bloomberg reported Verizon (VZ -0.01%) was interested in the remaining spectrum still held by EchoStar. That caused another jump in the stock, capping another great month for shareholders.

Image source: Getty Images.

Could EchoStar still be cheap?

EchoStar’s market cap has risen to about $21.6 billion. While that is a lot higher than early in the year, EchoStar now has $10.7 billion in net cash, along with $8.5 billion in SpaceX shares, and some extra spectrum of unknown market value.

That means the remaining “legacy” businesses are only valued at $2.4 billion — even valuing the remaining spectrum at zero. And while the remaining businesses technically are “losing” money, they have made $15.5 billion in revenue over the past 12 months. Meanwhile, the retirement of EchoStar’s debt should relieve lots of interest expense and could also enable lower capital spending.

EchoStar chairman and co-founder Charlie Ergen is a savvy operator, as evidenced by his purchase of wireless spectrum that later turned out to be very valuable. It wouldn’t be crazy to assume that he and his team will create more value going forward with the greater financial flexibility they have to work with today.

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Gold prices continue to climb as investors look for a safe place to park their capital during a moment of geopolitical uncertainty, with the US government shutdown entering its second week.

The precious metal has gained more than 55% this year, and market analysts say investors aren’t solely focused on its ability to protect against inflation.

“While stock markets have generally done well this year, gold has been a superstar,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“Traditionally, investors would load up on the shiny stuff when markets look gloomy, not when they’re motoring ahead. It shows that investors are hedging their bets, particularly as there are growing concerns that euphoria around AI has gone too far and the bubble could burst at some point.”

Gold sales often rise sharply when investors seek secure investments for their money and can’t find viable options in the stock market.

Even before the government shutdown in the US, gold saw dramatic gains as President Donald Trump’s barrage of tariffs threw the global economy into limbo.

More recently, falling interest rates have further boosted gold’s attractiveness, as interest-bearing investments promise lower returns.

Other precious metals have also risen in value amid the uncertainty. Silver futures are up over 65% since January, trading above $48 per ounce on Wednesday morning in Europe.

Why are prices going up?

Much of the recent economic turmoil stems from Trump’s trade wars.

Since the start of 2025, steep new duties imposed on goods coming into the US from around the world have strained businesses and consumers alike — inflating costs and weakening the job market. Due to higher costs and an uncertain outlook, hiring has plunged, and an increasing number of consumers are expressing pessimism about the US’ economic outlook.

A government shutdown in Washington has added to those anxieties. Key economic data has been delayed, leaving investors in the dark about the true state of the US economy.

Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS Global Wealth Management, also explained gold’s rise by pointing to the continued weakness of the US dollar and renewed rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. Last month, the Fed cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point — and projected it would do so twice more this year.

Gold is priced in US dollars, meaning that when the currency drops in value, the metal becomes relatively cheaper for foreign buyers.

What about jewellery?

Many jewellery merchants and dealers have increasingly reported surges in customers looking to check the value of gold they own — sometimes opting to melt or sell family heirlooms to cash in on the precious metal’s rising price.

At the same time, those in the market for gold jewellery may be feeling “sticker shock” if they can’t afford certain products anymore.

Larger retailers like Pandora and Signet, whose brands include Zales and Kay Jewelers, have acknowledged these headwinds in recent earnings calls.

“If I’m a guessing man here, we will see a general price rise for the category,” Pandora CEO Alexander Lacik said in an August earnings call, pointing to rising costs of gold and silver, as well as tariffs.

Is gold worth the investment?

Advocates of investing in gold call it a “safe haven” — arguing the commodity can serve to diversify and balance your investment portfolio, as well as mitigate possible risks down the road as a hedge against rising inflation. Some also take comfort in buying something tangible that has the potential to increase in value over time.

With high investment demand, Goldman Sachs has raised its forecast for precious metals from €4,300 to €4,900 per ounce by the end of 2026.

“There is a growing trend away from the classic portfolio structure with 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds. In the current environment, it is recommended to invest about 20% in alternatives such as precious metals and cryptos,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, FxPro chief market analyst.

Still, experts caution against putting all your eggs in one basket. And not everyone agrees that gold is a good investment. Critics say gold isn’t always the inflation hedge many claim, and that there are more efficient ways to protect against potential loss of capital, such as derivative-based investments.

“Gold is perceived by many market participants as a safe-haven asset. But investors need to be aware it has a volatility of 10-15%,” Staunovo noted. He added that smaller amounts of physical gold, such as gold coins or 1-gram bars, have larger ranges between buying and selling prices.

The Commodity Futures Trade Commission has also previously warned people to be wary of investing in gold. Precious metals can be highly volatile, the commission said, and prices rise as demand goes up. This means “when economic anxiety or instability is high, the people who typically profit from precious metals are the sellers”.

The commission added that it’s also important to be cautious of potential scams and counterfeits on the market.