🤯 Nvidia Announces More New AI Chips

MARKET UPDATE

Good Morning Investor! Shares of computer hardware titan Dell (DELL)took a 16% nosedive on Friday after the company reported earnings. The big bad wolf? Their AI servers, which apparently aren’t the cash cows they were hoping for. Meanwhile, over in the land of moonshots and satellites, AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) shares rocketed up 56% last week. The fuel for this meteoric rise? A shiny new partnership with Verizon. Talk about dialing up success.

TODAY’S BIG HEADLINES

Nvidia Announces More New AI Chips

Ulta Beauty Mounts a Comeback

Bank of Japan Fails to Save the Yen

SEMICONDUCTORS

Nvidia Announces More New AI Chips 🤯

People Pleaser: Just in time for the COMPUTEX tech conference in Taipei, Nvidia (NVDA), the Wall Street darling and AI chip wunderkind, announced a shiny new lineup of AI chips named “Rubin.” This comes hot on the heels of their Blackwell range, which they showed off just this past March. And because Nvidia likes to keep the excitement rolling, CEO Jensen Huang let slip that a souped-up Blackwell Ultra chip is revving up for a 2025 debut.

Chip-tastic: On a recent episode of Tickergeek, we dove into the idea of Nvidia being the Cisco (CSCO) of the modern era—but on steroids.

• Nvidia's chips are as complex as a soap opera plot, and the hefty capital expenditure required to keep up, coupled with their rapid-fire innovation, has built a moat so wide, not even Cisco could dream of it during the dot-com bubble. Apparently, Nvidia's not just resting on its silicon laurels; they're kicking their innovation into warp speed.

Innovation Overload: In a bold move that’s sure to keep competitors scrambling, Nvidia has promised to drop new chip models every year, stepping up from their previous two-year cycle. The kicker? The hyped Blackwell chips aren't even out the door yet—they'll start shipping in late 2024.

• Meanwhile, the Rubin platform, set to debut in 2026, will feature new GPUs and a central processor called “Vera.” Sunday’s sneak peek didn’t spill all the beans, but it’s enough to have tech enthusiasts buzzing.

• With an iron grip on a staggering 80% of the AI chip market, Nvidia is the undisputed king of silicon valley. Their relentless pace of innovation and strategic moves suggest they’re not planning to hand over the crown anytime soon.

CONSUMER DISCRETIONARIES

Ulta Beauty Mounts a Comeback💄

Wall Street Makeover: Ulta Beauty (ULTA), the not-so-secret weapon in the discount beauty wars, dazzled investors with its latest quarterly earnings report on Friday morning. The beauty titan posted a surprise earnings beat that sent its stock soaring over 9% in pre-market trading. All this excitement despite giving a bit of a haircut to its full-year outlook.

A Subtle Stunner: Even with a positive earnings surprise, Ulta's sales decided to just meet expectations, like a model nailing the runway walk but skipping the twirl. The real head-turner? Management's snazzy new strategy to lift sales out of their recent funk. Here’s the 411:

• Revenue for the quarter came in at $2.7 billion, roughly inline with analyst expectations of $2.72 billion. Additionally, the company’s same store sales grew slightly faster than expected, growing 1.6% year-over-year, just enough to catch a few admiring glances.

• Adjusted earnings per share shimmied in at $6.47, beating the $6.29 forecasted. Talk about a catwalk conquest!

Facelift Forecast: After consulting their crystal ball (and probably a Magic 8-Ball), management adjusted their full fiscal year forecast to a more conservative $11.5 billion in revenue and $25.20 in earnings per share. Think of it as a slight trim rather than a full makeover.

Comeback Gameplan: CEO David Kimbell, the maestro of makeovers, is keeping the big reveal for October's analyst day. However, he gave us a sneak peek at the five glam moves Ulta plans to use to boost sales:

• Expanding the Collection: Launching 25 new brands, including Ulta-exclusive lines with stars like Serena Williams and Bella Hadid. Get ready to see those aisles shine!

• Amplifying Social Buzz: Scaling up its creator network to flood your feeds with Ulta fabulousness.

• Digital Glow-Up: Enhancing the online shopping experience, because your cart deserves the VIP treatment.

• Loyalty Love: Doubling down on their loyalty program. Ulta’s rewards system is about to get even more rewarding.

• Promo Power-Up: Tweaking promotions to keep customers coming back for more.

Wall Street Whispers: Ulta isn’t the only one trying to keep its complexion clear. Rivals like Estee Lauder (EL) have had their share of blemishes, with Estee Lauder's shares taking a 16% tumble over the past year. Ulta, on the other hand, has only seen a minor 4% dip, proving it’s still got that glow.

Beauty Bargain: Ulta’s current valuation is like finding your favorite luxury brand at a discount. With its hefty recurring revenue and impressive cash flow, it's a minimal-risk, high-reward situation. Plus, with zero debt weighing it down, Ulta is poised to start snapping up its own stock and create some serious shareholder value!

MACROECONOMICS

Bank of Japan Fails to Save the Yen💴

Generational Lows: The Japanese Yen has officially slid to a 34-year low despite the Bank of Japan (BoJ) revealing the scale of its market intervention.

A Tight Squeeze: The Bank of Japan (BoJ) rolled up its sleeves and threw a whopping $62 billion into the ring between late April and May, hoping to give the yen a much-needed boost. But despite this heroic effort, the yen decided it had other plans, continuing its nosedive amidst rising expectations of further interest rate hikes.

• The BoJ's got its work cut out for it. The economy is under serious pressure, and consumer spending has hit the brakes hard, turning conspicuously negative. This has everyone buzzing about the possibility that the BoJ might need to hike rates faster than a caffeine-fueled sprinter.

Rates Are Everything: One big, glaring problem? The gigantic chasm between borrowing costs in Japan and the US. While analysts think the Fed will hold its ground with rates, Japan’s rates are chilling near zero, making the yen the darling of the “Carry Trade.”

• The carry trade, where investors borrow cheap yen to invest in higher-yielding assets elsewhere, has been having a field day. It's like the yen has become the financial equivalent of a discount shopping spree.

Bond Boom: Japanese 10-year bond yields have hit a stratospheric 1.1%, the highest since 2011. After a decade of negative interest rates, the BoJ finally decided to join the rate hike party, stepping out of the deflation shadows. But this shift has sent the yen into a tailspin this year, falling 11% in value against the US Dollar.

Stubborn Yen: The yen’s potential rebound seems as elusive as a cat in a dog park. Investors are sitting tight, waiting for significant interest rate hikes to be priced in. Until then, it looks like the yen is content to keep everyone guessing.

MORE NEWS

Additional market-moving events🌎

Big Oil, Big Money: Saudi Aramco has began a massive share sale in an effort to raise $12 billion. (CNBC)

Printing Rockets: Indian space startup Agnikul has made history with the world’s first 3D-printed rocket engine launch. (MSN)

Downpayment? What’s That?: Zero percent down mortgages are making a comeback in the US after a new program was launched two weeks ago by one of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders. (CNN)

China Serves Up Justice: China is currently weighing up its largest ever fine of potentially $138 million, for auditing firm PwC, over its inability to forsee the collapse of real estate developer Evergrande. (Bloomberg)

EARNINGS

This Week’s Earnings Calendar📅

OUR PICKS

Our selections performance👾

On Monday the 11th of March, we released our “two superperformers” stock picks which we believe will provide significant outperformance compared to the S&P 500.

Here’s how the two stocks have performed since then:

• Evolution AB: 1,128.00 SEK (📉-14.05%)

• Hims & Hers Health: $19.42 (📈+34.21%)

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