money

Over the past several years, cryptocurrency has captured the imagination of investors looking for alternative ways to diversify beyond traditional stocks and bonds. Among the vast array of tokens, Bitcoin and Ethereum have emerged as two of the most mainstream options.

Yet, as with any asset class, some investors seek out opportunities that are more disruptive — though often far riskier, too. In the cryptocurrency realm, Shiba Inu (SHIB -0.20%) exemplifies this dynamic: a token surrounded by immense fanfare but still waiting to deliver the kind of multibagger gains its community hopes for.

With its price still trading at less than a penny, some might see now as a rare chance to get in early on a potentially explosive crypto token before it goes to the moon. Even a move to just $1 could generate life-changing returns. But price is not value, and those dreaming of that $1 level should be asking: Is such a milestone realistic, or merely rooted in fantasy?

Let’s break down some numbers.

Image source: Getty Images.

What is Shiba Inu?

Shiba Inu was originally created as an altcoin inspired by Dogecoin.

Built on Ethereum’s blockchain, Shiba Inu integrates with decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and smart contracts. Over time, its dedicated developer community has sought to push the token beyond its meme coin origins by adding real utility. Today, the Shiba Inu ecosystem includes ShibaSwap, a decentralized exchange (DEX) that allows users to trade, stake, and earn rewards, along with engaging in other projects tied to gaming and the metaverse.

Still, despite these efforts, Shiba Inu’s value remains heavily rooted in speculation, with prices often moving in tandem with swings in internet culture or hype-driven narratives.

Shiba Inu is a deflationary coin

In cryptocurrency, tokens can be inflationary or deflationary. An inflationary token sees its supply expand over time, while deflationary tokens have mechanisms in place to reduce the number in circulation. Shiba Inu falls into the latter category. Through its burning process, tokens are intentionally sent to inaccessible wallets — permanently removing them from the circulating supply.

In theory, this shrinking supply creates upward pressure on price since the underlying principles of supply and demand suggest that a scarcer asset should become more valuable.

Can Shiba Inu reach $1?

Let’s break down the math behind Shiba Inu reaching $1. Its price right now is $0.00001213, far from a dollar; far from a penny.

At launch, the token carried a staggering total supply of 1 quadrillion tokens. Today, despite years of burns, its circulating supply remains around 589 trillion tokens. If each token were worth $1, Shiba Inu’s market capitalization would approach $600 trillion — more than five times the value of global gross domestic product.

World GDP data by YCharts

This makes the idea of a $1 target mathematically out of reach under current conditions. The only remotely conceivable path would involve burning massive amounts of the token’s supply. But here’s the catch: Even after hundreds of trillions of tokens have already been burned, Shiba Inu continues to trade at mere fractions of a cent.

For the token to climb meaningfully higher, it would require either an unprecedented surge of global adoption or a highly coordinated, large-scale burn effort sustained over many years. Both of these scenarios border on implausible.

While it is technically possible for Shiba Inu to reach $1, the economics outlined above make it virtually impossible in practice. The sheer scale of supply, coupled with its dependence on speculation and internet-driven hype rather than durable utility, means Shiba Inu offers little in the way of fundamental value at the moment.

For investors, this positions Shiba Inu less as a prudent and credible long-term holding and more as a speculative gamble akin to a lottery ticket.

The XRP (XRP 0.10%) cryptocurrency was created by a company called Ripple. It was designed as a bridge currency for the Ripple Payments network, which helps global banks send money across borders instantly, and with negligible costs.

Ripple was locked in a brutal five-year legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), until the regulator dropped the case in August as part of President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto agenda. This was a key reason XRP recently reached the highest price since 2018, and many investors are betting on further upside.

However, XRP is still dealing with a few other hurdles, which could keep a lid on additional gains from here. In fact, history suggests that the token might be heading significantly lower instead. Here’s where I predict it will be five years from now.

Image source: Getty Images.

XRP’s latest rally was fueled by regulatory relief

The world’s largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, is fully decentralized, meaning it can’t be controlled by any person, company, or government. There will only ever be 21 million Bitcoin in circulation, and nobody can alter that number. XRP doesn’t share those attributes.

XRP has a total supply of 100 billion tokens, with 59.8 billion currently in circulation. Ripple controls the rest and gradually releases them as necessary to meet demand, which is what caught the attention of the SEC. The regulator sued Ripple in 2020, arguing that XRP should be classified as a financial security, just like shares and bonds which are also issued by companies.

This would have placed Ripple under a strict regulatory framework, potentially hampering its business model, so it’s no surprise that the lawsuit depressed XRP’s price for years.

However, a judge issued a ruling in August 2024 that favored Ripple. The SEC appealed the decision, but its plans changed when Trump took office earlier this year and appointed crypto-advocate Paul Atkins to run the agency. Under Atkins’ leadership, the SEC dropped its appeal against Ripple last month, putting an official end to the five-year battle.

Although the response from investors was positive, friendly regulation alone might not be enough to carry XRP higher over the long term.

XRP could be heading for another 90% collapse during the next five years

XRP plummeted by as much as 92% within a year after hitting its previous record high in January 2018. Five years later, in January 2023, it was still down by 90%. The token has already declined by more than 20% from its more recent peak, and I predict further downside is on the way.

Banks don’t have to use XRP to benefit from instant cross-border transactions through Ripple Payments, because the network also supports fiat currencies. Therefore, the network’s success won’t necessarily translate to a higher value for XRP over the long term.

Ripple also launched its own stablecoin called Ripple USD (RLUSD 0.02%) at the end of 2024. Since it’s pegged to the value of the U.S. dollar, it offers a new way to send money through Ripple Payments with practically zero volatility. The value of XRP can fluctuate significantly from day to day, so Ripple USD might be a better option for risk-averse banks, even if their holding periods are very brief.

Since stablecoins are fully backed by safe assets like cash and Treasury bonds, they tend to get preferential treatment from regulators compared to traditional cryptocurrencies. In fact, the U.S. government passed the Genius Act in June, which governs the use of stablecoins in the financial system. Clear rules typically give banks and consumers more confidence to adopt new financial technologies, especially when substantial amounts of money are at stake.

Finally, as I mentioned earlier, the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple suppressed the price of XRP after 2020. In other words, the token’s value is influenced by the issues facing its parent company, which is a pitfall of centralized cryptocurrencies. There is no guarantee that the U.S. government will maintain its crypto-friendly approach when the next administration takes office in 2028, which is a lingering risk for investors.

As a result, I predict that XRP will be substantially lower in five years. It might even decline by 90% from its recent peak, the same way it was down by 90% five years after setting its 2018 record high. That would translate to a price per token of just $0.36.

Published on
24/09/2025 – 9:33 GMT+2

ADVERTISEMENT

Shares in Alibaba rose around 9% in Hong Kong on Wednesday afternoon after CEO Eddie Wu said that he would lift the firm’s AI budget.

The e-commerce giant had already pledged to invest 380 billion yuan (€45bn) in AI-related infrastructure over the next three years, seeking to stay ahead as firms race to develop new models. Wu did not give details on the additional expenditure.

The pledge came as Wu was launching Alibaba’s most powerful AI model during a company conference in Hangzhou, China. The firm’s chief technology officer, Zhou Jingren, said that the Qwen3-Max model contains more than 1 trillion parameters. These are learnt values that determine how the system processes information and makes predictions.

In certain metrics, Alibaba claimed that its Qwen3-Max model outperformed rival offerings like Anthropic’s Claude and DeepSeek-V3.1, citing third-party benchmarks.

“The industry’s development speed far exceeded what we expected, and the industry’s demand for AI infrastructure also far exceeded our anticipation,” Wu said on Wednesday. “We are actively proceeding with the 380 billion investment in AI infrastructure, and plan to add more.”

Stressing that Alibaba must push ahead, Wu estimated that total global investment in AI will exceed $4 trillion (€3.4tn) in the next five years. Chinese rivals such as Tencent and JD.com, as well as US tech firms, have invested heavily in AI over the past year.

Complicating Alibaba’s progress, however, are access restrictions on AI processors from Nvidia.

Last week, China’s internet regulator banned the country’s biggest tech firms from buying Nvidia’s artificial intelligence chips, according to the Financial Times.

The reported ban comes as China seeks to boost its homegrown chip industry and wean itself off dependence on the US.

In August, Chinese firms had previously been advised not to buy Nvidia’s H20, a chip designed specifically for China, with officials in Beijing warning of perceived security risks to national data and systems.

The warning arrived after the US lifted its own ban on the export of H20 chips to China, imposed in April amid a trade spat.

Everyone wants to invest in Nvidia. The computer chip giant now has a market cap of over $4 trillion, making it the largest company in the world. Other technology giants have been left in the dust, trailing the performance of Nvidia shares.

One underrated stock at the moment is Amazon (AMZN -3.07%). Over the last five years, Amazon’s stock is up just 57% compared to Nvidia’s 1,350% gain, with the former’s performance actually trailing the broad market indices such as the S&P 500, which is up 101%. This means this narrative may flip through 2030.

Here’s why investors are underrating Amazon as an artificial intelligence (AI) stock, and why it could be worth more than Nvidia five years from now in 2030.

An AI beneficiary, competing with Nvidia

Amazon is not thought of as a huge AI beneficiary. Or, at least, it doesn’t come to mind first when you think of AI stocks. The company’s cloud computing division — Amazon Web Services (AWS) — is growing slower than the competition from Alphabet and Microsoft. AWS revenue grew 17% year over year last quarter, while Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure both grew over 30%, gaining market share from Amazon.

However, I don’t think AWS should be thought of as an AI loser. It is the largest cloud computing partner of Anthropic, the fast-growing AI start-up. Anthropic has raised over $10 billion in funding for spending on AI workloads, a lot of which will go to AWS.

Anthropic’s revenue is growing rapidly, up from annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $1 billion to start 2025 to $5 billion in August, making it one of the fastest-growing companies in the world. For AWS, this likely means a huge boost in revenue from Anthropic, which will lead to accelerating revenue growth.

On top of a cloud computing partnership, AWS and Anthropic are working closely to build custom computer chips to compete with Nvidia. One of the largest costs to Amazon’s business is buying computer chips from Nvidia. To cut down on these costs, it is building its own line of chips called Trainium, which will be used to train and run Anthropic’s AI tools. This will not only hurt Nvidia’s sales if scaled up over the next five years, but will save on costs for AWS and lead to rising profitability.

Image source: Getty Images.

Efficiency in e-commerce

An area of Amazon’s business even more underrated when it comes to AI is e-commerce and digital media. Amazon has built up a vertically integrated e-commerce network, hosting its own delivery business, web platform, and fulfillment centers to connect buyers and sellers of online goods. Layered on top are its subscription services and advertising.

All these businesses can be helped with AI tools. For one, Amazon is utilizing AI generative content to help small businesses build advertisements to be played on Amazon’s website and its Prime Video service. Growing advertising revenue as a percentage of Amazon’s overall sales will help increase profit margins.

There are plenty of efficiency gains to be made by utilizing AI and robotics in warehouses, cutting down on the need for workers doing manual labor. Moonshot programs in self-driving could help cut down on costs for the delivery network over the long haul.

Today, Amazon’s North American retail operations (a division that houses everything except AWS) had a profit margin of just 7.5% over the last 12 months. These slim margins will start to reverse due to all the efficiencies and high-margin revenue getting layered into the e-commerce division, combined with solid revenue growth and earnings from e-commerce, which will keep soaring in the years to come.

AMZN EBIT (TTM) data by YCharts

Why Amazon can be larger than Nvidia

Looking at earnings before interest income and taxes (EBIT), Amazon and Nvidia are right around the same level. Nvidia’s EBIT is $96 billion, compared to Amazon’s $77 billion. Both figures have grown quickly over the last five years.

Nvidia won’t go bankrupt in the next five years, but its earnings growth may slow. The AI data center boom has been kind to the company’s profitability, and now competitors such as Amazon are trying to build their own chips. Pricing power may come down, and revenue could slow if the semiconductor market hits a cyclical downturn.

On the other side of the equation, Amazon’s EBIT growth will remain strong over the next five years. Revenue will keep chugging higher — especially when considering the Anthropic partnership — and consolidated profit margins will keep expanding. Amazon’s consolidated revenue was $670 billion over the last 12 months, while EBIT margin was just 11.5%. By 2030, revenue can grow to $1 trillion with a 15% EBIT margin, leading to $150 billion in consolidated earnings power for the business.

I believe that will be larger than Nvidia’s earnings in 2030, leading to Amazon surpassing Nvidia in market capitalization.

Nvidia (NVDA -2.79%) is one of the most beloved stocks on the market today. The company has a dominant lead in creating the GPUs designed specifically for artificial intelligence use cases.

Most analysts are big fans of Nvidia as both a business and as an investment. But one analyst, Jay Goldberg, has a $100 price target for Nvidia stock, the lowest on Wall Street. Whether or not you agree with him, every investor should understand why he expects the stock to fall over 40%.

3 reasons Goldberg is bearish on Nvidia stock

Nvidia is growing by leaps and bounds. Sales are up by more than 1,000% over the past five years. And given that the AI market is expected to grow by more than 30% annually for years to come, Nvidia’s double-digit growth rates should be here to stay. But shares trade at a lofty 27 times sales, and Goldberg thinks there are cracks beginning to show in Nvidia’s growth story.

His first issue is with Nvidia’s exposure to China. The ongoing trade war has disrupted the company’s ability to sell its marquee chips to the country, a country that has an AI industry growing by 50% or more per year. Nvidia reportedly struck a deal with the U.S. to resume exports, but ongoing issues with the Chinese government may allow Chinese chipmakers to catch up and secure domestic market share.

Image source: Getty Images

Goldberg is also concerned with Nvidia’s bullishness surrounding agentic technologies. While agentic services do pose a long-term growth story, Goldberg thinks that the world is still many years away from any meaningful real-world adoption of this technology.

Finally, Goldberg cautions investors that there may be a short-term limit to the skilled labor pool that can scale for AI demand as much as forecasts predict. Even Nvidia has admitted that a huge workforce retraining will be required in an AI-enabled world.

While you may not agree with Goldberg’s contrarian outlook, even Nvidia’s most bullish investors can benefit from understanding the challenges the company faces.

On a mildly down day for many stocks, industrial tech company Crane NXT (CXT 14.75%) was quite a standout in Tuesday trading. On the back of a notable increase in guidance for a key business activity, investors assertively bought into the company’s stock to send it to a 15% gain. That contrasted positively with the fate of the S&P 500 index; the bellwether equity gauge sank by 0.6%.

A license to print money

Before the start of the day’s trading session, Crane NXT said that its U.S. currency printing activity should ramp up considerably next year.

Image source: Getty Images.

Specifically, it anticipates this alone will rise at high-single-digit rates in 2026 compared to this year. It’s basing this forecast on a print order recently published by the Federal Reserve. All told, the Fed is calling for 3.8 billion to 5.1 billion banknotes in total. The dollar amount of this order ranges from just under $109 billion to nearly $140 billion.

In its press release announcing the new 2026 currency printing guidance, Crane NXT quoted CEO Aaron Saak as saying that “The expected growth in the U.S. currency business and the continued strong performance in international markets gives us high confidence that Crane Currency is on-track for a successful 2026.“

More forecasts coming

Saak added that Crane NXT would provide further updates about its 2026 guidance in the conference call disseminating third-quarter results. He did not specify whether this would include estimates for revenue, profitability, or any other key fundamental metric.

The conference call has not yet been scheduled, but judging by the timing of the second-quarter discussion, it should occur in early November.

Tuesday wasn’t one of the more memorable days on the stock exchange for U.S. chip titan Intel (INTC 1.98%). There was little fresh news affecting the company directly, still it managed to drift 2% higher in price across the trading session. Lingering positive sentiment related to the recently announced Nvidia buy-in, in addition to recent analyst moves, played a role in this.

At any rate Intel beat the S&P 500 index, which fell by 0.6% Tuesday.

Chipping away

To a degree, investors are still reacting to the blockbuster news from the end of last week that Nvidia will invest a meaty $5 billion in Intel’s equity, and the two chip giants will collaborate on certain projects. More recently, on Monday a European bank upgraded its recommendation on the stock.

Image source: Getty Images.

Mind you, the analyst didn’t exactly join the bull stampede on Intel; still any upgrade is reason for renewed optimism. That pundit, Hans Engel of Austrian lender Erste Group, changed his recommendation to hold from his previous sell. It wasn’t immediately clear what price target Engel set.

According to reports, the analyst’s modification is due to what he considers to be progress in the company’s transformation program. He wrote in his Intel update that the chipmaker has successfully increased production speed, which should have positive knock-on effects with key fundamentals.

Potential flip into the black?

Speaking of Nvidia, Engel wrote that the company and fellow state-of-the-art chip manufacturer Broadcom are currently testing Intel’s production platform, which bodes well for its future. Also, in his view, if Intel can continue roping in new clients for its contract manufacturing business, the company has a shot at returning to profitability.

Chinese autonomous driving tech company Pony AI (PONY 3.84%) motored well higher on the stock exchange Tuesday. On the back of a fresh analyst update, investors crowded into the stock to leave it with a gain of nearly 4% the trading session. That contrasted with the trajectory of the benchmark S&P 500 index, which moved in reverse with a 0.6% decline on the day.

Ramping up service hours and road testing

Well before market open, Goldman Sachs prognosticator Allen Chang boosted his Pony AI price target by 13%. In his opinion the stock is now worth $27.70 per share, up from his previous level of $24.50. Chang maintained his buy recommendation, which is sensible given that the new fair value assessment is nearly 30% above the company’s latest closing price.

Image source: Getty Images.

The latest developments announced by Pony AI are the key factors in the analyst’s move, according to reports. The Goldman Sachs pundit pointed out that the company has started road testing its Gen-7 robotaxi in the major Chinese cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Additionally, in certain markets where its service is live, Pony AI has expanded operating hours from 15 per day to a full 24.

Chang also mentioned that the company began full commercial service in Pudong, a busy district in the country’s most high-profile city, Shanghai.

Self-driving success

Given these advancements in commercialization, Chang feels that Pony AI has more than a chance to increase its gross merchandise value (GMV) per robotaxi. That, combined with its ambition to grow its fleet to 1,000 vehicles by the end of this year, bodes well for growth in the fundamentals.

Bloom Energy (BE -10.83%) stock, one of the first hydrogen stocks to ever go public, is having a rough afternoon Tuesday, down 11.2% through 2:50 p.m. ET. And why?

This may surprise you: It all started when Bank of America raised its price target on Bloom stock today.

Image source: Getty Images.

What BofA said about Bloom Energy

BofA raised its price target on Bloom Energy stock to $24 today, as The Fly reports. That sounds like it should be good news — except for the fact that Bloom already sells for more than $76 per share.

Thus, while BofA is marginally less pessimistic about the shares today than it once was, the investment banker is still effectively predicting Bloom stock will fall 70% in price over the next year.

Unsurprisingly given this forecast, BofA thinks you should sell Bloom Energy stock.

Is Bloom Energy stock a sell?

Bloom stock rocketed this year — up 650% in 12 months — on the back of news that companies like American Electric Power and Oracle are using its fuel cells to help provide necessary electric power for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that despite announcing these contract wins, Bloom hasn’t raised its guidance for earnings this year, suggesting the contracts may not be profitable for Bloom. Total earnings for the last 12 months at Bloom remain less than $24 million, meaning that, at a market capitalization of $20.2 billion, Bloom stock sells for an astounding 852 times earnings.

That’s a very expensive valuation for a company that is still expected to lose money this year and that, even if it turns profitable next year as expected, will be selling for a forward P/E ratio well in the triple digits.

I agree with BofA. This stock’s probably a sell.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

DATE

Tuesday, September 23, 2025 at 10 a.m. ET

CALL PARTICIPANTS

Chief Executive Officer — Martin Kay

Chief Financial Officer — Coreen S. Hay

Operator

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

TAKEAWAYS

Revenue— $190,000 for the three months ended July 31, 2025, a 34% increase over the same period in 2024, driven by higher portal fees and service revenues exchanged for equity securities.

Customer concentration— One issuer accounted for 73% of total revenue after raising approximately $5 million through the platform between March 24, 2025, and May 30, 2025.

Operating loss— Operating loss of approximately $3.3 million, widening from $2.5 million in the same period of fiscal year ended July 31, 2025.

Loss per share— Loss per share of $1.27, narrowing from $5.10 in the same period of fiscal year ended July 31, 2025.

Cash position— $4.6 million in cash and cash equivalents as of July 31, 2025.

Strategic shift— Management reiterated a transition away from equity-based consulting revenue to focus on scalable business growth.

New advisory boards— The company established a crypto advisory board and a game advisory board to guide integration with blockchain technologies and deepen engagement with online gaming sectors.

SUMMARY

Netcapital(NCPL 2.09%) reported a significant increase in quarterly revenue, primarily attributed to a single issuer’s fundraising success. The company continues to rely heavily on a concentrated customer base, with one issuer responsible for the majority of revenue. Management emphasized ongoing efforts to reposition the business model toward scalable core operations and highlighted the formation of new advisory boards to drive innovation in digital assets and gaming.

CEO Martin Kay stated, “This initiative positions us to play a larger role in fintech and to explore opportunities in decentralized finance, or DeFi.”

Portal and broker-dealer operations serve both issuers and investors, with management expressing intent to enhance these services through blockchain, crypto, and digital asset capabilities.

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

DeFi (Decentralized Finance): Blockchain-based financial services that operate without traditional central intermediaries, enabling peer-to-peer transactions and programmable contracts.

Full Conference Call Transcript

With that said, I’d like to now turn to our financial results for the first quarter fiscal 2026. We reported revenues of $190,058 for the three months ended July 31, 2025, which was an increase of approximately 34% as compared to $142,227 during the three months ended July 31, 2024. The increase in revenues was primarily attributed to an increase in portal fees and an increase in revenues for the services that we provide in exchange for equity securities during the quarter. One issuer that accounted for 73% of our revenues in the three months ended July 31, 2025, was responsible for the increase. That issuer successfully raised approximately $5 million from March 24, 2025 to May 30, 2025.

We reported an operating loss of approximately $3.3 million compared to an operating loss of approximately $2.5 million for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025. We reported a loss per share of $1.27 compared to a loss per share of $5.10 for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025. As of July 31, 2025, the company had cash and cash equivalents of approximately $4.6 million. I’ll now turn the call over to our CEO, Martin Kay.

Martin Kay: Thank you, Coreen, and thank you again to all our shareholders for being on this call today and for your continued support and interest in the company. As Coreen mentioned earlier, we began the new fiscal year with encouraging results. Revenue and portal fee growth of more than 30% highlights the solid performance of our core business. On our recent fiscal 2025 year-end call, we emphasized the strategic shift in our business model, moving away from equity-based consulting revenue to focus on building a stronger, more scalable business. While fiscal 2025 presented challenges, we’re pleased to see this vision taking shape in the first quarter of fiscal 2026.

We remain committed to driving long-term growth through innovation, execution, and focus to build the best fintech ecosystem. In addition to improved financial performance, we achieved several significant milestones this quarter. We established a crypto advisory board composed of accomplished industry leaders to guide our efforts in integrating blockchain, digital assets, and crypto with traditional finance. This initiative positions us to play a larger role in fintech and to explore opportunities in decentralized finance, or DeFi. We also launched a game advisory board to advance our strategic growth initiatives and deepen engagement with the online game community. This board brings together innovative leaders whose expertise will help us expand our ecosystem and drive long-term growth.

With our Netcapital Funding Portal and our broker-dealer Netcapital Securities Inc., we already serve a broad base of issuers and investors. By enhancing our services through blockchain, crypto, and digital asset innovation, we hope to position the company to help lead the future of private market opportunities for companies raising capital and direct investment opportunities for investors. Thank you again for your support, and we look forward to continuing to share our progress in the months ahead. Operator, we’re ready for questions.

Operator: Certainly. Everyone at this time will be conducting a question-and-answer session. If you have any questions or comments, please press star one on your phone at this time. We do ask that while posing your question, please pick up your handset if you’re listening on speakerphone to provide optimum sound quality. Once again, if you have any questions or comments, please press star one on your phone at this time. Please hold while we poll for questions. Thank you. Once again, everyone, if you have any questions or comments, please press star then one on your phone. Please hold while we poll for questions. Thank you. That concludes our Q&A session.

I’ll now hand the conference back to Martin Kay, CEO, for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

Martin Kay: Thank you. Once again, thanks to all who joined today. We appreciate your continued interest and support of Netcapital. Have a good day.

Operator: Thank you. Everyone, this concludes today’s event. You may disconnect at this time and have a wonderful day. Thank you for your participation.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS 5.26%), a leading manufacturer of drones for the U.S. military, gained 4.6% through 12:20 p.m. ET after announcing a new five-year strategic manufacturing agreement with Elroy Air.

Image source: Getty Images.

Elroy who?

Elroy Air is hardly a household name, so it may not be immediately apparent why this is good news. Based out of San Francisco, Elroy Air is a 10-year-old start-up building “autonomous aerial cargo systems for middle-mile logistics and military resupply.”

In other words, it builds remotely operated aircraft that deliver supplies to military units in the field.

To further this effort, Elroy picked Kratos to serve as its “exclusive U.S. manufacturing partner for the Chaparral,” described as a hybrid-electric autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) cargo drone that can carry 300-lb. payloads up to 300 miles.

Is Kratos stock a buy?

Kratos notes that manufacturing of the Chaparral will begin in 2026, and says Elroy plans to build the aircraft at high volume. This suggests that revenue from the contract could be substantial. However, Kratos did not provide any specific figures for estimated revenue from the contract — nor even define precisely how many units “high volume” might entail.

What we do know is this: Kratos is a $13.6 billion company that earned less than $15 million last year. (That’s right, its price-to-earnings ratio is verging on quadruple digits, getting awfully close to a P/E of 1,000.) Kratos is also burning cash (negative $61 million in annual free cash flow).

Although Kratos does have nearly $500 million in the bank, and can afford to burn some cash for a while, longer-term these are not great numbers. Unless profits grow spectacularly over the next few years, Kratos stock will be a sell for me.

Shares of Opendoor Technologies (OPEN -5.67%) were trading lower for the second day in a row today after hedge fund manager Eric Jackson seemed to prompt a rotation to Better Home & Finance after naming it as his next 100-bagger pick yesterday on X.

Opendoor, which had gained more than 2,000% over the last three months on a meme stock rally, continued to give up those gains and was down 10.9% as of 10:22 a.m. ET. Better Home & Finance, on the other hand, was up 27.5% at the same time.

Image source: Getty Images.

Is the Opendoor rally fading?

Jackson has been the unofficial leader of the Opendoor meme stock surge, originally setting it off with the argument that Opendoor could be the next Carvana, as the online used-car dealer has jumped more than 100 times since avoiding bankruptcy nearly three years ago.

Opendoor’s surge over the last three months shows that that argument has resonated, and the rally even helped usher in a leadership change. However, the fundamentals of Opendoor’s business haven’t changed, and at some point, that will matter.

While falling mortgage rates should favor the company, that won’t make it profitable by itself.

What’s next for Opendoor?

Since stepping into the CEO chair last week, Kaz Nejatian has been tirelessly promoting the company on social media and touting changes it’s made.

Opendoor expanded its product to all 50 states, up from just 50 markets previously, and Nejatian said on X last night that the company has an exciting product coming out in the next week.

Changes are afoot at Opendoor, but it will take time for them to have an impact on the business. There are still good reasons to doubt the online home flipper’s business model, but investors clearly want to see disruption from Nejatian.

When it comes to making money in the stock market, stock price appreciation gets a lot of attention because it’s the most straightforward way to do so. You buy a stock for one price, sell it for a higher price, and make a profit. Simple enough. However, dividends can be just as effective at making money from stocks in many cases.

Assuming you’re investing in high-quality stocks or exchange-traded funds (ETFs), dividends are guaranteed income that investors can rely on quarterly (or monthly in some cases). Dividends can be an added plus when a stock is growing, as well as a buffer when a stock is falling.

If you’re looking for a high-quality dividend ETF to add to your portfolio, you should consider the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD 1.01%). A $1,000 investment today could go a long way with time and patience.

Image source: Getty Images.

SCHD has a criteria fit for high-quality companies

The saying “Everything that glitters ain’t gold” also applies to dividend stocks. Just because a stock has a high dividend yield doesn’t mean it’s worth owning. In some cases, it could be a yield trap, where the dividend is only high because the stock price has dropped due to bad business performance.

Investing in SCHD removes much of the risk of a yield trap because of the criteria it takes to be included in the ETF. It tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index, and to be included, a company must have the following:

• A strong balance sheet
• Consistent cash flow
• At least 10 years of dividend payouts
• Strong profitability metrics (such as return on equity)

These criteria is a good vetting tool for investors, removing some of the need to do more in-depth research on the companies within the ETF. Some notable dividend kings (companies with at least 50 consecutive years of dividend increases) in the ETF are Coca-Cola, Altria, PepsiCo, Target, and Kimberly Clark.

A sustained high dividend yield

You shouldn’t solely focus on dividend yields because they fluctuate with stock price movements, but it’s still worth paying attention to the dividend yield a dividend-focused ETF is able to sustain. At the time of this writing, SCHD’s dividend yield is 3.7%. This is above its 3.1% average over the past decade, and around three times what the S&P 500 currently offers.

SCHD Dividend Yield data by YCharts

At its current dividend yield, a $1,000 investment would pay around $37 annually. This isn’t early retirement type money, but it can snowball into meaningful income, especially if you take advantage of your brokerage platform’s dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP). With a DRIP, your broker will take the dividends SCHD pays you and automatically reinvest them to buy more shares of the ETF.

Add in the fact that SCHD has increased its payout by over 160% in the past decade and should continue to increase its payout over time, and you have a chance for a $1,000 investment to go a long way.

Don’t expect explosive stock price growth

Since SCHD hit the market in October 2011, it has underperformed the S&P 500, averaging 12.4% annual total returns compared to the index’s 15%. Despite the underperformance, those are returns that most investors would still be happy to receive.

^SPX data by YCharts

Past results don’t guarantee future performance, but for the sake of illustration, let’s assume the ETF continues to average 12% annual total returns. A single $1,000 investment today could grow to over $9,600 in 20 years. If you were to add just $100 monthly to the ETF, it would grow to over $96,000. And with a low 0.06% expense ratio, you can keep more of these gains in your pocket.

Meta Platforms (META -0.61%) is one of the most dominant companies on the face of the planet. Through its various social media apps, it counts a whopping 3.48 billion daily active users. There might be no other business that has this kind of reach, impacting so many people each and every day.

This “Magnificent Seven” stock has been a huge winner, more than tripling in the past five years. But can Meta shares turn a $10,000 investment into $50,000 by 2030?

Image source: Getty Images.

Lower expectations

If an investment rose five-fold in a five-year period, it implies a compound annual gain of 38%. This is an unbelievable result that might typically only come from hyper-growth companies or from struggling businesses trading at dirt cheap valuations that start reporting improving financials as they successfully turn things around.

To be clear, Meta isn’t going to put up a 400% total return between now and the end of the decade. This is a more mature company. However, if the stock price and valuation tank for whatever reason, like they did in 2022, there might be huge upside in the years that follow.

Should you buy Meta stock now?

While Meta won’t climb five-fold by the end of the decade, turning $10,000 into $50,000, it still looks like a smart investment. Revenue and earnings per share are soaring at impressive rates. And leadership is fully focused on developing artificial intelligence capabilities.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the stock double over the next five years. The current valuation is also reasonable, at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 26.4. Investors should consider buying shares today.

On Sept. 18, the S&P Index closed at a fresh all-time high. The popular benchmark continues to march higher. While that’s a good thing for investors, it might be a discouraging development for those searching to buy individual companies at a discount.

Even in this kind of market environment, there are still investment opportunities, like this growth stock that’s trading 42% below its record high from February 2021. Should you buy shares with $10,000 right now?

Image source: Getty Images.

Leading the travel industry

From its founding 17 years ago to today, Airbnb (ABNB -1.24%) has become a $78 billion company (based on market cap) that dominates its industry. Growth has been the key driver of value. Revenue, gross booking value, and nights and experiences booked have soared over the years. The company currently has 5 million hosts and 10 million homes, showcasing its scale.

The growth has revealed just how profitable the business can be. Airbnb raked in $642 million in earnings during the second quarter, which translated to a strong net profit margin of 21%. This is a major improvement from the $576 million net loss posted in Q2 2020. The company also produces ample amounts of free cash flow.

Management has the confidence to keep pushing for more growth. Within the core rental operations, there is a big opportunity to further penetrate international markets, like Brazil, Japan, Germany, and India. Airbnb is also noticing that long-term stays, those that are for 28 days or more, are popular.

There are plans to become a comprehensive travel platform. Earlier this year, Airbnb introduced Services (like a personal chef, massage, or photographer) and Experiences (like a wine tasting, scenic hike, or yoga session), revamping its app in the process. “It’s still early, but we believe that services and experiences can become sizable businesses for Airbnb,” said co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky on the Q2 2025 earnings call.

These initiatives will require capital investments, to the tune of $200 million just this year, so investors shouldn’t be surprised if margins decline. However, they certainly expand the company’s total addressable market, even if they require patience from investors. Airbnb is putting itself in a position to drive more revenue from its guests over time.

Airbnb’s economic moat

Airbnb is putting up solid financial results, and investors should have confidence that this type of performance will continue into the future. That’s because the business has developed an economic moat that supports its staying power in the travel industry.

CFO Ellie Mertz said on the Q2 2025 earnings call that 90% of site traffic comes from “direct and unpaid” sources. In other words, Airbnb has built a powerful brand that people might immediately think of when they consider taking a trip. The company’s name is also regularly used interchangeably as a verb, highlighting the mindshare it has commanded among consumers.

Airbnb also benefits from a network effect. It’s a classic flywheel. More hosts with more listings provide travelers with more options, increasing the value the platform provides. And with more travelers searching on Airbnb for accommodations, hosts benefit by being able to target a larger audience. Even better, the network effect is global, not restricted to a specific city in the way ride-hailing services might be.

Time to buy the dip

Airbnb has underperformed the market in the past year, with shares up less than 3%. The market is rightfully worried about key risks, like the persistent threat of changing regulations in certain markets, with governments focused on supporting housing supply and cost of living within their borders. A possible recessionary scenario will also put a damper on growth, at least temporarily. These factors shouldn’t be ignored, but Airbnb deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Shares trade at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 25. Given the company’s growth potential, high profits, and durable competitive strengths, Airbnb is worthy of a $10,000 investment right now.

Part of Intel‘s (INTC -2.82%) turnaround strategy, now under CEO Lip-Bu Tan and previously under former CEO Pat Gelsinger, is to exit noncore businesses and refocus on what the company does best. Intel has exited the memory chip business, wound down its Ethernet switch business, abandoned its Bitcoin mining chips, and scuttled a wide variety of smaller business lines. It has also spun off its self-driving unit Mobileye and sold a majority stake in Altera, raising cash in both cases.

Intel likely isn’t done simplifying its operations. Tan has initiated significant layoffs, and a new policy of “no more blank checks” will lead to the company being far more selective about which investments it chooses to make.

Anything outside of PC central processing units (CPUs), server CPUs, and manufacturing could very well get the axe, and even the manufacturing business isn’t safe if it can’t secure external customers.

Last week, Intel signed an unexpected deal with rival Nvidia to produce custom PC and data center CPUs that include Nvidia technology. In the PC business, this means that Intel CPUs with integrated Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) are on their way. The big question: What does this mean for Intel’s own graphics business?

Image source: Getty Images.

An unclear future

Intel sells CPUs with its own integrated graphics technology, and it also broke into the discrete graphics card market a few years ago with its Arc line of GPUs. The first generation of Intel’s Arc GPUs was plagued with software issues, while the second generation has garnered positive reviews. Intel focused on the mid-range portion of the market, offering a compelling alternative to Nvidia and AMD graphics cards.

Unfortunately for Intel, it hasn’t gained any meaningful share of the discrete graphics card market. In the first quarter, Intel’s GPU unit share rounded down to 0%, according to Jon Peddie Research. Nvidia dominates the market, and PC gamers may still be reluctant to try an Intel GPU due to the history of software issues.

The deal with Nvidia doesn’t cover discrete graphics cards, but partnering with a competitor raises questions about how serious Intel is about staying in the discrete graphics card market. It also raises questions about whether it will continue to invest in its own graphics technology for its CPUs.

Once CPUs with Nvidia graphics start shipping, it’s unclear whether Intel will continue to invest in its in-house graphics. An Intel CPU with Nvidia graphics should be an appealing product, but it could reduce demand for Intel’s non-Nvidia CPUs. Intel could also end up scrapping its discrete graphics card business, given that its main competitor is now a partner.

Not without risks

The deal with Nvidia makes a lot of sense for Intel. The company has lost considerable PC CPU market share to AMD, so upping its graphics performance with Nvidia’s GPUs should help Intel strengthen its position, particularly in the laptop market.

If Intel ends up pulling back on its own graphics technology, that move would reduce costs at the expense of the company becoming dependent on Nvidia, which is buying a $5 billion stake in Intel as part of the deal, so this appears to be a long-term arrangement. Even so, outsourcing graphics entirely could come back to bite Intel down the road.

Despite the deal with Nvidia, Intel may choose to keep plugging away in discrete graphics cards and to keep developing its own graphics technology. But with the company eyeing noncore businesses to dump, graphics could very well be next.