The 7investing Podcast

It's an exciting time to invest in the banking sector.

Newly-elected President Donald Trump has promised to relax regulations on banks, which could boost lending volumes. The Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates twice during the past two months, which could make companies more eager to borrow.

In response, several publicly-traded financial services companies including Upstart Holdings (Nasdaq: UPST), Affirm Holdings (Nasdaq: AFRM), and SoFi Technologies (Nasdaq: SOFI) have seen their share prices skyrocket and are generating fantastic gains for their investors.

But will this momentum continue? What impact will Trump's administration really have on banking? And what, specifically, should those of us investing in banking be watching for?

In today's podcast, 7investing CEO Simon Erickson gets the answers to those questions from banking expert John Maxfield. The two discuss why the macro is favorable for banking, yet also a few cautionary things to watch out for at SoFi.

Disclaimer: 7investing and its guests may have active positions in the companies mentioned in this podcast.

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Veeva Systems (NYSE: VEEV) is helping pharmaceutical companies create and sell new drugs more efficiently. It's cloud-based software platforms Veeva CRM and Veeva Vault have become industry-standards; deeply embedded with Big Pharma's largest companies.

There's an upcoming catalyst next year, as Veeva's CRM platform will migrate from being hosted by Salesforce to its own infrastructure. That will unlock opportunities for it to develop new software products -- perhaps even beyond life sciences -- to make the pie larger with its largest customers.

As interest rates fall, it's likely new VC funding will flow into smaller biotech companies and will unlock a new SMB revenue stream as well.

7investing CEO Simon Erickson describes both of these catalysts, as well as why he believes the stock is undervalued, in today's 7investing podcast.

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The Dutch lithography juggernaut ASML (Nasdaq: ASML) has been one of the semiconductor industry's best performing stocks of the past decade. Yet its high-flying shares have sold off 33% in the past three months, perhaps due to its underwhelming forward guidance that could indicate slowing demand.

ASML has looked to Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) for much of its growth this past year. Intel has been all-in on expanding its foundry group and aggressively placed orders for six of ASML's latest-and-greatest EUV machines last year. That was a huge sign of confidence, and ASML's shares shot up 50% during the first half of 2024.

Yet now facing a cash-crunch, Intel is delaying its new $30 billion Germany fab and is pushing out many of its previously-expected orders. That caused ASML to pull back on its fiscal year forecast and to suffer the wrath of a displeased and suddenly-very-grumpy market.

With ASML regain the confidence of investors? Will Intel be an opportunity or a liability going forward? 7investing CEO Simon Erickson shares his thoughts in today's podcast.

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Lululemon (Nasdaq: LULU) has expanded from being a niche yoga retailer to an international fitness super-brand. New CEO Calvin McDonald has tripled its sales in five years and maintained its industry-leading 20% operating margin.

Yet recently, perhaps due to concerns of a slowdown in consumer spending or of rising competition, the stock has been selling for a dirt-cheap valuation. Now priced at just

Would you like to see our official Conviction Rating on Lululemon - meaning whether we think the stock is a "Strong Buy", "Buy", or "Hold"?

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Disclaimer: The 7investing podcast should not be considered personalized financial advise. Its host and guests may have positions in the stocks that are mentioned.

Our newest stock recommendation is now live!

On the 1st of each month, 7investing issues its newest official recommendation. This is the one stock it feels most confident in adding to its scorecard (which we also track in real-time at 7investing.com/recommendations).

What led us to recommend this Large Cap, Moderate Risk, Retail company this month?

In today's episode, Simon describes 5 specific metrics that investors should consider when selecting stocks -- especially now that the Fed's cutting rates and we're in a more growth-friendly environment.

Booking Holdings (Nasdaq: BKNG) is one of the most efficient publicly-traded companies in the world, converting 50% of its 2024 revenue into cold, hard cash flow.

Furthermore, it's using those operating cash flows in shareholder-friendly ways, such as repurchase large amounts of its stock and a newly-initiated dividend.

7investing CEO Simon Erickson takes a look at the company's second quarter results and discuss several initiatives that could be even better news for investors going forward.

To sign up free for 7investing and see our most recent five Best Buys for September, visit 7investing.com/subscribe

7investing's Watch List of New Ideas introduces stocks that we've never formally recommended yet are worth considering as future scorecard additions. You can think of this as our pipeline of new investment opportunities.

This month, 7investing CEO Simon Erickson is adding two new two European companies: BE Semiconductor (OTC: BESIY) and Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO). He describes why Besi's advanced packaging leadership makes it a natural winner from innovative new chip designs, and why Novo Nordisk is still in the earliest innings of introducing Ozempic as a treatment for obesity.

7investing makes its formal recommendations available through its Premium Membership. To see all of our stock market recommendations through a 100% free 7 day trial, join today at 7investing.com/subscribe.

Fertility benefits company Progyny's (Nasdaq: PGNY) stock is selling off 33% in today's trading session after announced it's losing its largest customer who accounted for 13% of the previous year's revenue.

This customer was unnamed, but it's most likely Amazon. Even though Progyny has historically had nearly 100% client retention and receives excellent net promoter scores, this could be a red flag for investors.

7investing CEO Simon Erickson shares his thoughts about the company's previous struggles, the Alabama Supreme Court's recent ruling about IVF embryos, and how investors should think about Progyny's stock going forward.

Upstart Holdings (Nasdaq: UPST) has been one of the investing world's most volatile stocks. Since peaking at $400 per share in late 2021, its stock has fallen more than 90% and sits at just $35 today.

Many believe this roller coaster ride has followed the American macroeconomy. The Zero Interest Rate policy directly following COVID was replaced by the fastest rise in interest rates the United States had ever seen in 2022.

Yet Upstart might be seeing signs of life. It issued optimistic revenue guidance for the upcoming Q3 and Q4. Not coincidently, this aligns with the Fed suggesting that a rate cut is most definitely on the table.

But investors aren't out of the woods just yet. In today's episode, 7investing CEO Simon Erickson describes the fundamental challenges Upstart still faces and why it doesn't have the most shareholder-friendly leadership team.

See more of our coverage on Upstart and 200 other publicly-traded companies at 7investing.com!

Sometimes in investing, it's important to change your mind.

Such is the case for Celsius Holdings (Nasdaq: CELH). This energy drink company represented one of our highest-conviction ideas in August.

Yet further diligence revealed multiple red flags, which 7investing CEO Simon Erickson considers to be deal-breakers for long-term investors.

In today's podcast episode, he describes several of those warnings signs and why he's turned from bullish to bearish about Celsius' future opportunity.

Note: This podcast mentions 54% ownership for the DeSantis family, which is an incorrect number. Due to overlap between the beneficial ownership of three family trust funds, the actual family ownership stake is closer to 23%.

To learn more about our long-term investing approach and to see all of our official stock market recommendations, visit 7investing.com.