🥐 The French Connection

Plus, the founders of Carvana are worth this much after a 3,000% stock surge

Happy Friday afternoon to everyone on The Street. Here's a snapshot of where markets ended the trading session, plus tomorrow's trade idea delivered to you today.

  • 🟩 | US Stocks Rose Sharply on Friday, as a softer-than-expected April jobs report boosted the hopes of investors who believe this may encourage the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates sooner.

  • 📈 | One Notable Gainer: Shares of Apple jumped 6% after investors flocked to the stock due to its record stock buyback plan and its promises of expected sales growth.

  • 📉 | One Notable Decliner: Travel booking company Expedia saw its stock sink 15% after lowering its full-year guidance and reporting weakness in its rentals segment, Vrbo.

  • 🥐 | Tomorrow's Trade: The French Connection. Scroll down for more.

YESTERDAY’S POLL RESULTS

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 CSL (CSL.AX)

S&P 500 Heatmap. Credit: Finviz

All stocks on US exchanges. Credit: Finviz

Global ADR snapshot. Credit: Finviz

MARKET MOVERS

LYV (+7%) Live Nation reported 21% revenue growth to $3.8 billion in the first quarter, exceeding estimates by a stunning $520 million (The Motley Fool)

SQ (-1%) Shares of financial tech company Block fell despite surging earlier in today’s session off better-than-expected first-quarter results (CNBC)

DVA (-5%) Healthcare provider DaVita saw its shares drop despite posting a beat on top and bottom-line estimates and raising its full-year guidance (SA)

AMGN (+12%) Biopharmaceutical company Amgen hinted at the existence of encouraging interim trial data on its experimental obesity drug (Reuters)

NET (-16%) Cloudflare’s stock plunged after the global cloud services provider issued weaker-than-expected current-quarter sales guidance (Investopedia)

TOGETHER WITH MONEY

Safeguarding your retirement with a Gold IRA can help you shield your wealth from market shifts, economic uncertainty, and inflation. And with gold’s value projected to increase in 2024, now is a good time to invest. Planning for retirement involves more than saving, so fortify your portfolio with gold today and plan for a better tomorrow.

OVERHEARD ON THE STREET

CNN: US job growth slowed considerably last month, with just 175,000 positions added in April, and unemployment rose to 3.9%.

Bloomberg: SVB Financial Group, the former parent company of Silicon Valley Bank, said it will sell its venture capital unit to Pinegrove Capital Partners.

Fox Business: Fast-food restaurant sales are falling as more people eat at home, as seen in the quarterly updates from Yum! Brands, Starbucks, and McDonald’s.

Axios: Teen fashion retailer rue21 plans to close all of its 540 stores after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the third time Thursday.

Reuters: Alaska Air Group has received $61 million in credit memos from Boeing as additional compensation for the temporary grounding of 737 MAX 9 jets.

TOMORROW’S TRADE IDEA, TODAY

Code on computer monitor

Best of Both Worlds

According to Barron’s analysts, little-known French company Thales (THLLY) is the perfect mix between defense and AI. The company has three divisions, but its defense division accounted for over half its first-quarter revenue – about $2.5 billion. 

The defense arm also produces the fastest growth, with sales up 13.1% and orders up 128% over the past 12 months. 

The company recently announced that it hopes to increase organic sales between 4% and 6% this year and increase margins by 12%.

Moving the Needle

Thales only recently began presenting itself as an AI company. In its March media day, it announced the start of a research group to hone in on its AI advances. The company is so confident in its AI abilities that its CFO reassured that it doesn’t need to acquire another organization as it has everything it needs in-house. 

In fact, AI is already benefiting the company in a big way. In Q4 alone the company inked 13 large AI orders, including a $2.1 billion contract with the UK Ministry of Defense and a pilot training deal with the UAE.

Upside Potential

Barron’s analysts are drawing comparisons between Thales and Palantir (PLTR), but note that it has a long way to go before reaching the American software company’s level. 

Thales currently trades at 17.8 times 12-month forward earnings, which is in line with many of its global peers. The stock is up around 10% over the past 12 months and Deutsche Bank (DB) analyst Christophe Menard has given it a price target of around $193, around 14% higher than current levels.

Menard says Thales is “at the forefront of Cyber and Artificial Intelligence.” How high it can go remains to be seen, but investors have the option to gain exposure to the unique stock.

Are you bullish or bearish on Thales (THLLY) over the next 12 months?

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TOGETHER WITH MONEY

Safeguarding your retirement with a Gold IRA can help you shield your wealth from market shifts, economic uncertainty, and inflation. And with gold’s value projected to increase in 2024, now is a good time to invest. Planning for retirement involves more than saving, so fortify your portfolio with gold today and plan for a better tomorrow.

ON OUR RADAR

MW: The cost of labor for U.S. companies accelerated in the first quarter at the fastest pace in a year and a half.

YF: The father-son duo behind Carvana Co. have seen their fortunes grow to $11 billion as shares of the used car dealer have surged 3,000% from historic lows.

Bloomberg: Russia’s Gazprom group reported its first net loss in 24 years due to falling shipments to Europe and lower fuel prices.

WSJ: The Treasury Department extended eligibility for cars containing Chinese graphite, giving EV makers a two-year reprieve on tax-credit restrictions.

MW: The Biden administration is rolling out a new regulation that allows “Dreamers” to access health plans through the Affordable Care Act.

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