Year: 2024

Comcast hasn’t had a huge sell-off recently; it’s doing poorly because investors simply haven’t seen a big reason to invest in the business this year. Since January, the stock has declined by around 2%. The Summer Olympics gave the company’s revenue a bump up in the current quarter as Comcast reported 7% revenue growth for the period ending Sept. 30 (it was down 3% just a quarter earlier), while adjusted earnings per share improved by 3%. But that wasn’t enough to get investors excited about the business. It is, after all, just a short-term boost.

Heading into next year, however, there could be another growth catalyst to watch out for, and that’s the opening of Universal’s Epic Universe theme park, which is scheduled for May. Comcast’s theme park segment hasn’t been doing well this year, as guest attendance is down, and sales declined by 5% for that area of its operations last quarter.

Things have slowed after the past couple of years have been record ones for theme parks and keeping up that growth is proving to be a challenge. But the launch of a massive, 750-acre park should spur some excitement in an already-popular tourist area such as Orlando. CEO Brian Roberts says the new park will be “the most ambitious and technologically sophisticated theme park ever created.”

Strong numbers from the Epic Universe next year could make 2025 an epic year for this underrated stock. And with Comcast recently announcing plans to spin off of its cable networks, the business could be a much better investment moving forward.

With those assets accounting for less than 6% of its revenue, it won’t make the business drastically smaller but it could help with its potential in the long run, by being able to divert more funds and resources into more attractive growth opportunities (such as theme parks).

Comcast is trading at an incredibly low forward P/E of 10 and it could make for an excellent contrarian buy right now.

Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you’ll want to hear this.

On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a “Double Down” stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you’re worried you’ve already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it’s too late. And the numbers speak for themselves:

• Nvidia: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009, you’d have $368,053!*

• Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you’d have $43,533!*

• Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you’d have $484,170!*

Right now, we’re issuing “Double Down” alerts for three incredible companies, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.

See 3 “Double Down” stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of November 18, 2024

David Jagielski has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AbbVie. The Motley Fool recommends Comcast. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The Stock Market Is Soaring but These 2 Stocks Are Still Dirt Cheap Buys was originally published by The Motley Fool

Retirement accounts may be distributed directly, with one spouse receiving the assets or their cash equivalent at the time of divorce. Assets can also be shared in retirement, with each spouse taking income or distributions according to the terms of their divorce. This is most common with a more structured retirement asset, like an annuity or a pension, which can be difficult to split apart.

Whether you’re just starting the divorce proceedings or have completed them, a financial advisor can help you set and plan for new financial goals given this major life change.

There are two main ways that states deal with divorce assets: community or equity.

Community property has become increasingly disfavored, so relatively few states (nine in total) still practice it. Under this scheme, a court will order marital assets split evenly between the spouses upon divorce, with each spouse taking half. Here, for example, under a community property scheme a court would simply give each spouse 50% of the marital component of the 401(k).

Equity, or “equitable distribution,” is increasingly the standard model. Under this approach, courts will attempt to distribute divorce assets equitably, not necessarily evenly. The court will consider several factors including (but not limited to) length of the marriage, child custody arrangements, work and careers, financial and personal contributions to the marriage, earnings potential, and in some cases, fault and bad actions.

In the case of a retirement fund, a court might also consider issues like age of spouses (who has more time to save up), future Social Security benefits of each spouse, and other retirement assets held by each spouse. For example, if you are 55 and your spouse is 45, the court might give you more of the 401(k)’s assets since you have less time remaining until retirement. On the other hand, if you hold $800,000 in your 401(k) and your spouse has $750,000 in theirs, a court might transfer few (if any) assets between two similarly-situated parties.

Whether you live in a community property or equitable distribution state, a financial advisor can help you consolidate the assets you receive in a divorce and construct a comprehensive financial plan around them.

The truth is, there are few legitimate ways to protect your marital assets from divorce proceedings. Much advice on this subject shades on illegality, since trying to hide your assets or obscure their marital history may constitute fraud. As a result, most advice to move your assets or change their tax status is at best unhelpful, at worst legally suspect.

Some advice recommends that you stop contributing to a 401(k) during divorce proceedings. While this will (modestly) reduce the gains that your spouse can claim, it will equivalently reduce your own gains, and will not change the distribution of the underlying cash.

While a financial advisor can be a valuable resource during a divorce, there are a few basic steps you can take:

First, once divorce begins, establish your own bank accounts. Cash flow will be critical. You will need to pay legal bills, establish your own household, begin building a separate credit history and more. You also may want to buy your spouse out of their share of the retirement portfolio. For example, say that you hold an $800,000 401(k) based on stock options from your employer. You might want to keep those assets invested. In that case, you might want to accrue cash so that you can pay your spouse the equivalent value for their share of the 401(k), trading the cash for the more-valuable portfolio assets.

Although your spouse may choose to decline your offer if they also prefer the long-term value assets.

You’ll also want to immediately speak with your divorce attorney and 401(k) plan administrator. It is not uncommon in divorce proceedings for spouses to attempt to sell, move or spend assets. In some cases, this is an effort to disrupt the proceedings, for example by converting identifiable securities into obscure personal property. In other cases, it is simply an attempt to destroy or devalue shared assets out of spite.

Regardless of the purpose, you want to address this up front. It’s far easier to prevent your spouse from cashing out the 401(k) than to try and claw that money back.

You want know exactly what you own and where. Clearly document any financial transactions that you make and pay attention to any conducted by your spouse. This paperwork includes addressing the beneficiaries on all policies, like your 401(k) and life insurance. You don’t want your spouse to retain authority or rights under those accounts, regardless of how they’re divided up.

Finally, pay attention to the tax status of your settled assets. For example, say that you have an $800,000 Roth IRA in addition to your $800,000 401(k). Don’t accept a divorce settlement that treats those as equivalently valuable assets, because the Roth account likely has far more value than the other. Make sure that you and your lawyer insist on treating your 401(k) as the pre-tax asset it is, and not the $800,000 asset it appears to be.

Protecting your assets during a divorce is difficult, because as far as the law is concerned they aren’t your assets. They belong equally to your spouse. But you can put yourself in a better position by remembering to track your money and valuing it for its long-term, after-tax value.

• Getting a divorce is stressful and painful, especially since it involves some of the most complex financial transactions any household will conduct. While it’s important to have legal and financial professionals there to help you through the process, you should also understand exactly what goes into it.

• Finding a financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can have a free introductory call with your advisor matches to decide which one you feel is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

• Keep an emergency fund on hand in case you run into unexpected expenses. An emergency fund should be liquid — in an account that isn’t at risk of significant fluctuation like the stock market. The tradeoff is that the value of liquid cash can be eroded by inflation. But a high-interest account allows you to earn compound interest. Compare savings accounts from these banks.

• Are you a financial advisor looking to grow your business? SmartAsset AMP helps advisors connect with leads and offers marketing automation solutions so you can spend more time making conversions. Learn more about SmartAsset AMP.

Photo credit: ©iStock.com/Jacob Wackerhausen, ©iStock.com/Vimvertigo, ©iStock.com/Rawf8

The post I’m Getting Divorced This Year at 55 With $800k in a 401(k). How Do I Protect My Finances? appeared first on SmartReads by SmartAsset.

At this point, the biggest risk to the stock appears to be its valuation. Based on its EPS guidance for this year, the stock trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 35, which is well above most of its retail peers, and puts it in league with the big tech companies that make up the trillion-dollar club like Microsoft and Apple.

Walmart has earned that premium thanks to its recent execution and its track record of steady growth and expanding margins. Ten years ago, many thought the company would be elbowed aside by Amazon, but it has responded to the challenge by building out its omnichannel business, tapping new growth opportunities like advertising, and strengthening its competitive advantages in areas like price and convenience.

As Walmart’s valuation has soared, its dividend yield has fallen to just 1%, but the company’s track record of dividend hikes is unmatched by any company in the trillion-dollar club. It has raised its dividend annually for 51 years in a row, making it a Dividend King.

Walmart’s third-quarter earnings report was virtually flawless, and it’s a reminder to investors that the company still enjoys several competitive advantages, such as economies of scale; a recession-proof business model that leans toward food and groceries; and growth opportunities in advertising, e-commerce, and beyond.

The stock might seem expensive at its current valuation, but the company has just proved its ability to grow in a difficult environment. As it sharpens its focus on general merchandise, the business looks prepared to continue its steady growth toward a $1 trillion market cap. If you’re looking for a balance of growth and income, Walmart looks like a great fit.

Before you buy stock in Walmart, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Walmart wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $869,885!*

Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of November 18, 2024

John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Jeremy Bowman has positions in Amazon and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tesla, and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

This Dividend King Is on Track to Join the $1 Trillion Club. Is It a Buy? was originally published by The Motley Fool

Let’s exclude trading fees and taxes for simplicity (but don’t exclude them in real life because they can add up). If an investor used this strategy and started with a $10,000 investment, they’d have over $800,000 by year 10.

Again, these sensational returns weren’t achieved by predicting which stock would be the best in the coming year. It would have been achieved by simply buying what already had been the best stock — no prophetic powers needed.

Therefore, history suggests Vistra stock is headed higher in 2025.

Before I go further, I should note that Vistra stock was added to the S&P 500 in May. So, unlike the stocks in my example, it wasn’t a part of the index for the entire year. Returns from my above strategy aren’t quite as good when including mid-year additions to the S&P 500, though these stocks still went up in value the following year more often than not.

However, investors need to be extremely careful with what they take away from this historical data. Rather than look at this as some surefire approach to investing, there’s a far better takeaway.

Stocks bounce around day by day for any number of reasons. But the longer the time horizon, the more stock movements are tied to business results. At the risk of sounding overly simplistic, positive results send shares higher, whereas poor results drop shares lower.

To put this another way, it’s the difference between correlation and causation. History shows that the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 tends to go up the following year as well. But that’s correlation, not causation.

The cause, however, is the strong underlying business results. And those business results tend to stay strong for multiple years, if not longer.

For this reason, investors would do well to give Vistra stock a close look. Whether from AI or the general electrification of the grid, the company’s services will enjoy growing demand in coming years. The company is leaning more into nuclear power by buying out minority investors in its Vistra Vision business. And it’s a company with a history of profitability and returning cash to shareholders.

So, while Vistra stock is on pace to be the top stock in the S&P 500 for 2024, this doesn’t mean the stock has peaked. To the contrary, the best performers in past years have gone on to deliver even more gains because in many cases, their soaring stock prices reflected positive developments within the business that extended beyond the end of each year. And it’s that core business investors should focus on, whether it’s with Vistra or any another company.

Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you’ll want to hear this.

On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a “Double Down” stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you’re worried you’ve already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it’s too late. And the numbers speak for themselves:

• Nvidia: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009, you’d have $368,053!*

• Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you’d have $43,533!*

• Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you’d have $484,170!*

Right now, we’re issuing “Double Down” alerts for three incredible companies, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.

See 3 “Double Down” stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of November 18, 2024

Jon Quast has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Align Technology, Netflix, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends Occidental Petroleum and Southwest Airlines. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The Top S&P 500 Stock of 2024 (So Far) Isn’t Nvidia. Here’s Where History Says the Soaring Stock Is Headed in 2025. was originally published by The Motley Fool

I help clients develop tailor-made financial plans that are designed to move with them through each stage of life. I excel in empowering clients to take control of their financial destinies with confidence.

My passion lies in helping families with young children build a more secure financial future. I sweat the big stuff for you, from college planning to retirement planning, so you can manage the smaller stuff and enjoy life.

I assist high-net-worth clients with developing long-term plans for wealth preservation that also allow them to further their philanthropic goals. My approach is proactive and client-centric. And my focus is on helping you create a comprehensive estate plan that incorporates a legacy of giving.

My clients’ financial well-being is a number one priority. I specialize in helping them develop custom pathways to reach their objectives. It’s my goal to ensure that you’re fully prepared for not only your financial future, but the here and now.

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Writing a branding statement requires some internal reflection and research to make sure you’re conveying what you want to say clearly and effectively. Here are five general tips that can help you craft a branding statement that sticks with prospects and clients alike:

• Think with your target audience in mind. Who is your ideal client? What messaging is most likely to convince that person to choose your firm over another advisor’s? How you answer those questions can help you draft your brand statement.

• Look at the competition. Pick three to five of your top competitors and review their branding statements. Where do you see similarities? What are the key differences? How would you feel reading each of these messages as a prospective client? Comparing competitor branding statements may spark inspiration for what to include in yours.

• Assess your values, mission and strengths. Your branding statement is a chance to highlight your strengths and broadcast your core message. Consider what you value most and what makes you unique, then use that to start formulating a first draft.

• Ask for feedback. It never hurts to have a second set of eyes look at your branding statement, and offer feedback on where you might be able to improve. If you have one, you could ask your mentor, or reach out to another advisor in your network who’s willing to review your branding statement.

• Modify as needed. Don’t be afraid to change up your branding statement if your business’s values, mission or niche change. You don’t have to do a complete rebrand. But you should make sure that your branding statement is always aligned with what your business is about.

If you’re having trouble creating your statement, you might consider working with a professional branding agency. Branding agencies can help you flesh out a winning brand image from scratch and manage it for optimal results.

Creating a brand statement for yourself or your firm can help you forge stronger connections with the prospective clients you’d like to serve. Whether you use the examples included here as a blueprint or develop a template of your own, taking time to develop a financial advisor branding statement can help you connect with more targeted prospects.

• Good branding tells a story about you and your firm, and storytelling is a critical component in marketing. Marketing, in turn, is critical for long-term growth. If you’re looking for a simpler way to promote your business and attract new clients, you might consider partnering with an advisor marketing platform. SmartAsset AMP (Advisor Marketing Platform) is a holistic marketing service financial advisors can use for client lead generation and automated marketing. Sign up for a free demo to explore how SmartAsset AMP can help you expand your practice’s marketing operation. Get started today.

• Cultivating your brand image is a facet of business development for financial advisors. Business development spans all of the things you do to encourage growth, from conducting marketing research to tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) to building strategic partnerships. Having a business development plan can help you scale at a pace that’s realistic and comfortable for your firm.

Photo credit: ©iStock.com/courtneyk, ©iStock.com/ijeab, ©iStock.com/Pattanaphong Khuankaew

The post 7 Examples of Financial Advisor Branding Statements appeared first on SmartReads by SmartAsset.

This pivot set the stage for the generative AI revolution that kicked off early last year. It’s estimated that Nvidia controls as much as 98% of the data center GPU market, according to semiconductor analyst company TechInsights. Since the vast majority of AI processing takes place in data centers, the accelerating adoption of AI directly benefits Nvidia, as its GPUs are the cornerstone of the technology.

The company delivered five consecutive quarters of triple-digit, year-over-year growth, so a slowdown was inevitable. However, its most recent results are still enviable. For its fiscal 2025 third quarter (ended Oct. 27), Nvidia generated record revenue of $35 billion, surging 94% year over year and 17% sequentially. This resulted in adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.81, which soared 103%.

Management is predicting its growth spurt will continue, albeit at a more moderate pace. The company is guiding for Q4 revenue of $37.5 billion, which would represent growth of 70%. The biggest unknown, at this point, is the ongoing supply constraints, which management predicts will persist well into next year. However, if Nvidia’s suppliers can accelerate output, sales could jump.

Given the company’s pivotal position in the AI revolution, Wall Street is understandably bullish on the company’s prospects. Of the 64 analysts who have offered an opinion thus far in November, 94% rate the stock a buy or strong buy, and none recommend selling. Furthermore, an average price target of roughly $170 suggests there’s still upside potential of 16% compared to Nvidia’s closing price on Wednesday.

Rosenblatt analyst Hans Mosesmann continues to be the biggest Nvidia bull on Wall Street. In the wake of the company’s impressive results and robust guidance, the analyst maintained a buy rating on the stock while increasing his price target to a Street-high $220, which represents potential gains for investors of 50%.

Mosesmann cited Nvidia’s “beat and raise” quarter, strong demand for its Hopper chips, and the upcoming ramp of its Blackwell architecture as catalysts to push the stock higher. He isn’t the only one that’s bullish: A whopping 15 analysts boosted their price targets for Nvidia on the heels of its results.

Some investors may be hesitant to buy the stock given its lofty valuation, and on the surface, that argument has weight. After all, Nvidia is currently selling for 69 times earnings and 38 times sales, which certainly appears expensive. However, Wall Street expects Nvidia to generate EPS of $4.36 in fiscal 2026, which begins in late January. That works out to roughly 33 times forward earnings.

I’d argue that’s an attractive price to pay for an industry leader with unrivaled market share and a solid runway for growth ahead. For my money, Nvidia is a buy.

Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you’ll want to hear this.

On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a “Double Down” stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you’re worried you’ve already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it’s too late. And the numbers speak for themselves:

• Nvidia: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009, you’d have $368,053!*

• Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you’d have $43,533!*

• Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you’d have $484,170!*

Right now, we’re issuing “Double Down” alerts for three incredible companies, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.

See 3 “Double Down” stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of November 18, 2024

Danny Vena has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Intel, Nvidia, and S&P Global. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: short November 2024 $24 calls on Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Meet the Newest Stock-Split Stock in the Dow Jones. It Has Soared 910% Since Early Last Year, and It’s Still a Buy Right Now, According to Wall Street was originally published by The Motley Fool

Describing demand for the Blackwell chips on the earnings call, CFO Colette Kress said, “Every customer is racing to be the first to market.”

Management stressed how broad Blackwell’s reach is in terms of applications and customer base, and how vast its partner ecosystem is. “[A]lmost every company in the world seems to be involved in our supply chain,” Huang said.

Beyond the concerns that rivals could make headway against it, the other bearish case about Nvidia revolves around the idea of an “AI bubble.” Some onlookers think that market demand for AI applications won’t justify the massive capital expenditures on AI infrastructure that are fueling Nvidia’s growth.

However, when asked about it on the earnings call, Huang pushed back on the idea that AI is reaching scaling limitations, saying, “Our foundation model pre-training scaling is intact, and it’s continuing.” He also said that it was key for post-training and inference to scale in order for large language models and other AI models to become more capable.

After having successfully withstood competition from AMD and Intel, and delivering another blowout quarter, Nvidia looks unstoppable.

Its guidance for the fourth quarter calls for another surge in revenue to $37.5 billion, up 70% from the quarter a year ago even as “demand greatly exceeds supply. Huang has described a vision for the future that has Nvidia’s technology at the center of AI factories — data centers tasked with powering artificial intelligence applications — and companies of all stripes are racing to get to that future.

Nvidia’s stock pulled back slightly in after-hours trading Wednesday, but that seemed to be more of a reflection of the stock’s valuation and management’s guidance. However, that misreads the business. Based on its run-rate EPS, the stock trades at a P/E ratio of 45, and its profits are likely to soar over the next year. Relative to its growth rate, the stock doesn’t look overpriced.

Nvidia remains in the driver’s seat of the AI revolution, and the stock continues to look like a screaming buy.

Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $869,885!*

Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of November 18, 2024

Jeremy Bowman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Intel, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: short November 2024 $24 calls on Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Can Anything Stop Nvidia? was originally published by The Motley Fool