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Oracle is making a massive bet on OpenAI and it could put the company in danger.

Oracle (ORCL -0.91%) is the hottest name in AI, but the company isn't a guaranteed winner in the space. Larry Ellison's bet on OpenAI is risk and the company's balance sheet is already stretched, so investors need to be aware of the risk.

*Stock prices used were end-of-day prices of Sept. 26, 2025. The video was published on Oct. 4, 2025.

Travis Hoium has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia and Oracle. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Firefly's revenue growth seems stellar, but expenses are acting as a gravity well, dragging the company's profits straight down.

Firefly Aerospace (FLY 2.13%) reported Q2 2025 earnings last week, its first official earnings report since holding an amazingly (if only temporarily) successful initial public offering (IPO) in August.

Firefly, you may recall, IPO'ed at $45 last month and quickly rocketed, closing its first day of trading up 33%. A stock's success can only be driven by pure momentum for so long, however, and Firefly stock began giving back its gains just as quickly, closing last week below $36 per share -- then falling 20% more on Tuesday after news that a Firefly rocket had exploded during testing drove the stock lower.

By Tuesday's close, Firefly stock was trading just over $29 a share -- and 36% below its IPO offer price.

The explosion was obviously bad news -- but Firefly's earnings report last week was arguably even worse.

Photo of Earth taken from Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander. Image source: Firefly Aerospace.

Firefly Aerospace Q2 earnings
What went wrong with this rocket stock last week? Let's start with revenue.

Firefly booked nearly $60 million in revenue in Q1 2025, the quarter in which it accomplished an astoundingly successful landing on the moon with its Blue Ghost spacecraft for NASA. The company's been hired to conduct three more such landings over the next four years, but even so, that's an event that can't recur every quarter.

Without revenue from Blue Ghost to boost it, Q2 2025 revenue fell steeply to just $15.5 million. Year over year, that worked out to a 26% revenue decline.

The good news is that with no lander to build, Firefly incurred a lower cost of sales in the quarter. As a result, gross profit grew 35% year over year.

The bad news is that Firefly has several irons in the fire beyond just building lunar landers. The cost of investing in multiple new products, from Eclipse medium-lift rockets to Elytra spacecraft, while at the same time growing the company to support a faster cadence of rocket launches and spacecraft missions, added expenses that quickly drained away all gross profit -- and left Firefly Aerospace with a big net loss on the bottom line.

All those darned expenses
As revenue fell, selling, general, and administrative spending grew 2% in Q2. Research and development costs rose 16%, offsetting the savings from the lower cost of goods sold. Factor in 40% greater interest paid on the company's debt and a fivefold increase in "other" expenses, and Firefly ended up with an $80.3 million loss on the bottom line -- $5.78 per share.

Ultimately, Firefly's sales fell 26% in Q2, and the company's losses increased by 26%.

Not all bad news
That's the bad news. Now here's the good.

Turning to guidance, Firefly management predicted that, despite the weak performance in Q2, total revenue this year will reach $133 million to $145 million, up as much as 138% year over year. What's more, with year-to-date sales now at $71.4 million, the company is still trending toward the top of that range.

Growth of 100%-plus is great news for Firefly. According to the analysts who've begun weighing in, the company's growth rate isn't just fast -- it's accelerating. Analysts polled by S&P Global Market Intelligence see Firefly's revenue tripling next year after just doubling in 2025.

Admittedly, because Firefly has numerous expenses, analysts don't expect the company to turn profitable in 2026, despite the rapid revenue growth. However, by 2027, revenue is expected to pass $765 million (and revenue growth will finally begin slowing down a bit, to 77%), and analysts are forecasting that Firefly will finally turn the corner and earn its first profit of $0.33 per share. Then that number is expected to double in 2028, to $0.73 per share.

Is Firefly stock a buy?
Admittedly, $0.33 a share (or even $0.73) still isn't a lot of profit to support Firefly's expensive price. Still, Firefly's 35% stock price decline since its IPO makes this space stock a lot cheaper than it used to be. If Firefly can figure out and fix the problem that caused its rocket to explode this week, it could present a pretty remarkable bargain, relative to how expensive the stock was on IPO day.

At 89 times projected earnings two years away, Firefly isn't an obvious buy yet -- but it's getting there.

Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Analyst’s Disclosure:I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of CP either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

CoreWeave announced several massive deals over the past few weeks.

CoreWeave (CRWV -2.30%) is making some big moves. Recently, it signed a deal to rent out $14 billion of its computing capacity to Meta Platforms (META -2.29%). It also expanded its agreement with OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, by $6.5 billion. These monster deals are pushing the stock higher, and CoreWeave's stock is up almost 34% since September started.

CoreWeave's business goal is to become the artificial intelligence (AI) cloud king. To do that, it will need to buy a lot more computing capacity, including chipsets from Nvidia (NVDA -0.77%). That leads to the question: Is it better to buy CoreWeave stock, or are you better off owning Nvidia? Let's take a look.

Image source: Getty Images.

CoreWeave's servers are filled with Nvidia GPUs
As mentioned above, CoreWeave's goal is to become the go-to cloud computing platform for artificial intelligence computing. This is an attractive business model for CoreWeave and clients alike. While most clients are building out their own computing infrastructure, having some flexibility to run workloads on CoreWeave's servers when demand is higher or not needing to build out AI computing capacity all at once is a smart move. On CoreWeave's side, the business model is fairly simple: Rent out the computing power for more than it costs to replace and operate the equipment.

For Nvidia, its graphics processing units (GPUs) are the most flexible computing units available and are a top option for AI companies to run workloads on. However, custom AI chips are starting to increase the competition that Nvidia has to deal with, but it's still the most commonly used computing unit due to its flexibility. Nvidia sells its GPUs to cloud providers like CoreWeave or its competitors because they have no idea what type of workload their computing units will see. AI hyperscalers can purchase their own custom AI chips because they know what workload will be run across them. This is a key distinction for Nvidia, so it's crucial for its success that CoreWeave and other cloud competitors continue buying up Nvidia's GPUs to meet capacity.

In a way, both companies are critical for each other's success, but there's one option that stands out as a much better pick.

CoreWeave isn't profitable during a once-in-a-lifetime boom
CoreWeave is growing at a rapid rate as demand for AI computing capacity explodes. During its most recent quarter, CoreWeave's revenue rose 207% year over year to $1.2 billion. Considering CoreWeave signed a $14 billion agreement through the end of 2031 with Meta and the total value of the OpenAI contract (which runs through 2029) is now $22.4 billion, there's a massive backlog for CoreWeave to churn through.

However, what remains unclear is what will happen after those contracts expire. Both Meta and OpenAI are building out internal computing capacity to meet AI demand. If they build out enough to satisfy capacity, using CoreWeave as a third-party cloud provider may be unnecessary. This would cause CoreWeave to lose substantial business.

For Nvidia, a complete AI computing capacity buildout may sound scary, but it really isn't. GPUs utilized for AI computing are run incredibly hard and can have lifespans of one to three years. This means that current computing capacity must be replaced every couple of years, which will allow Nvidia to maintain a strong revenue base. CoreWeave has no similar guarantee, and I think that's a key point investors must understand.

Furthermore, right now is about as good as it's going to get for CoreWeave. Demand for AI computing capacity is high, and although it's still growing, it's hard to imagine this growth lasting over the long term, say five to 10 years out. The current problem is that CoreWeave isn't profitable. It posted a net loss margin of 24% during Q2. CoreWeave losing money during arguably its best time to be making profits is a huge red flag, and it makes sense why companies like Meta and OpenAI are renting computing capacity from them; they can likely rent it from CoreWeave for cheaper than they can build it. If CoreWeave increases prices to become profitable, this may no longer be the case. At that point, customers will likely build their own.

This makes the future precarious for CoreWeave, and I'd much rather own Nvidia stock than CoreWeave as a result.

Keithen Drury has positions in Meta Platforms and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

UiPath stock could have a strong upside if these partnerships can help reaccelerate revenue growth.

UiPath (PATH 1.14%) finally gave the market something to get excited about. The stock popped after the company laid out a series of new collaborations with Nvidia, Alphabet, Snowflake, and OpenAI. For a business that has been slogging through a multiyear turnaround, this was great news, as it shows a company ready to play a central role in how enterprises actually use artificial intelligence (AI).

Going down a new path
UiPath is no longer trying to be just a robotic process automation (RPA) company that uses software bots to automate rule-based tasks such as data entry. Instead, it is shifting to agentic automation, where its AI agent orchestration platform can coordinate how humans, bots, and different AI agents all work together. These new partnerships are about pushing that vision into the real world.

Image source: Getty Images

The deal with Nvidia focuses on industries that have little room for error. UiPath will use Nvidia's Nemotron models and NIM microservices to power agents that can run on-premises in regulated environments like healthcare and fraud detection, where data can't leave secure systems. Meanwhile, it will bring Alphabet's Gemini models into its platform, so people can use automation with voice commands.

In addition, by linking up with Snowflake, it will tie Snowflake's Cortex AI to its orchestration platform to help customers act on data insights in real time. And finally, its OpenAI partnership adds a ChatGPT connector that lets customers weave advanced large language models (LLMs) right into their workflows without rebuilding everything from scratch.

When you look at these moves together, UiPath is trying to position itself as the Switzerland of enterprise AI agents: integrating with everyone and letting customers pick whichever models they want without locking themselves into a single vendor. That pitch resonates because companies are wary of vendor lock-in, and having one orchestration platform that can handle all these AI agents could become a valuable advantage. The collaboration with Snowflake looks particularly compelling because the combination should be able to offer an alternative approach to Palantir that can deliver similar data-driven automation and real-world insights using a customer's data that is already warehoused inside Snowflake servers.

Meanwhile, even before announcing these partnerships, UiPath was already seeing early signs that its turnaround was starting to take hold.

In its most recent quarter, the company's annual recurring revenue (ARR) climbed 11% to $1.72 billion, beating the high end of guidance. Cloud ARR jumped 25% to cross the $1 billion mark, proving that the migration to the cloud is moving along. Net revenue retention stabilized at 108% after several quarters of slippage, which is important because it suggests existing customers are still spending more. Its public sector business, which had been frozen earlier in the year, is starting to come back, and adjusted operating margins jumped to 17% as the company's past cost cuts and restructuring efforts began to show up in its numbers.

Is the stock a buy?
While UiPath still has plenty to prove, there are other encouraging signs. The return of founder Daniel Dines as CEO has given the company a steadier hand and clearer focus on its agentic automation vision. More than 450 customers are already building AI agents on its platform, and 95% of new customers are adopting its core automation products too, suggesting the new AI tools are complementing rather than replacing its traditional offerings.

Trading at a forward price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of roughly 4.1 times expected 2026 revenue, the stock's valuation is inexpensive for a business with improving fundamentals. If these partnerships can further help accelerate growth, UiPath's stock could have plenty of upside ahead.

That said, this is not a low-risk story, and there will likely be bumps along the way. However, for investors willing to bet on a company that looks like it is getting its act together and has some powerful partners lined up, the stock looks like an interesting buy.

Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Alphabet and UiPath. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Nvidia, Palantir Technologies, Snowflake, and UiPath. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Following some strategic acquisitions during the past year, this mortgage company looks like an attractive investment opportunity.

Rocket Companies (RKT -2.99%) has been a roller coaster ride since its initial public offering (IPO) on the stock market in 2020. After rising as high as $43 per share in March 2021, Rocket's journey went into reverse in 2022 as rising interest rates contributed to a slowdown in the housing market.

At one point, the stock plummeted as low as $6 per share. However, there has been a notable bounce back, and shares are currently priced at about $18, which is 58% off its all-time high (as of Oct. 2). Here's why Rocket stock may be worth a closer look.

Image source: Getty Images.

Higher interest rates have weighed on Rocket's business
Rocket Companies went public in August 2020 as the largest retail mortgage originator in the U.S. Initially buoyed by low interest rates and a pandemic-driven mortgage refinancing boom, Rocket posted strong earnings and solid growth.

However, interest rates climbed in response to inflationary pressures, and mortgage demand cooled as a result. Rocket's operating earnings fell sharply, exposing its reliance on cyclical mortgage origination activity. Investors grew skeptical, and the stock struggled to maintain momentum as Rocket's volumes declined.

RKT Revenue (TTM) data by YCharts

The housing market and mortgage rate volatility have left it in a tough spot, and Rocket has made some big moves to diversify its earnings and be more resilient across different market environments.

How Rocket looks to become more resilient
Rocket Companies has a strong position with its digital-native home lending products. However, this hasn't prevented it from being subject to the cyclical nature of the business. As a result, Rocket has made several moves to expand from being a mortgage originator to a platform company focusing on controlling the entire home-buying experience, from search through closing and servicing, angling to maintain a lifetime relationship with its customers.

The company has made two significant acquisitions in recent years: Mr. Cooper Group and Redfin. These acquisitions transformed it into a fully integrated real estate and mortgage company.

Earlier this year, Rocket announced its acquisition of Mr. Cooper Group, which closed on Oct. 1. The acquisition gives Rocket the nation's largest mortgage servicing platform -- over $2.1 trillion in unpaid principal balances. This generates stable, recurring fee income that cushions Rocket against some of the fluctuations in its mortgage origination business.

It also provides constant customer contact, opening doors for cross-selling, refinancing, insurance, and personal loan products. For shareholders, this stabilizes cash flows and reduces earnings volatility, making Rocket less sensitive to interest rate swings.

Meanwhile, its Redfin acquisition, which closed in July, adds to the top of the funnel. Redfin's brokerage and widely used real estate search platform bring millions of potential home buyers directly into Rocket's ecosystem.

Pairing Redfin's agent network and property listings with Rocket's origination, title, and servicing capabilities creates a one-stop shop for buying, financing, and managing a home. This vertical integration improves margins by capturing a larger share of the transaction value, while reducing acquisition costs.

Rocket has made its business more resilient
Rocket will continue to be sensitive to changes in interest rates and the conditions surrounding the housing market. However, the company has made strategic acquisitions to strengthen its position in the housing market and expand its revenue streams, making it more resilient in the cyclical industry.

If interest rates do fall in the coming years, Rocket could benefit from a thawing housing market and the potential for a refinancing boom for any homeowners who took out high-interest mortgages during the past couple of years.

With its digital platform and growing scale, as well as recurring revenue in the Mr. Cooper Group, Rocket has done a good job of making it a one-stop shop for customers' mortgage needs, which is why the stock is a solid buy today.

Courtney Carlsen has positions in Rocket Companies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Rocket Companies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The cloud computing giant is on track to become a much bigger company over the next three years.

Oracle (ORCL -0.91%) has made investors significantly richer in the past three years, turning an investment of $1,000 into the stock into almost $4,600, as of this writing. The stock's remarkable jump of 358% during this period has significantly outpaced the 84% gains clocked by the S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.01%).

Oracle's market-beating gains in the past three years have taken its market cap to $802 billion. Investors may now be wondering if this technology giant is capable of delivering more gains considering its massive market cap, which has now made it the 14th-largest company in the world. However, the good part is that Oracle has the ability to become a much bigger company in the next three years.

Let's look at the reasons why.

Oracle's business is primed for a massive liftoff over the next three years
Oracle concluded its fiscal 2025 on May 31 this year. The company ended the year with $57.4 billion in revenue, an increase of 8% from the prior year. What's worth noting is that Oracle's revenue at the end of fiscal 2022 was $42.4 billion. So, its top line increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of just more than 10.6% in the past three years.

The cumulative revenue generated by the company in fiscal years 2023, 2024, and 2025 stood at more than $160 billion. There is a solid chance that Oracle's growth could take off impressively over the next three years. Analysts are expecting its top-line growth rate to double in fiscal 2026. It is expected to finish the year with $67 billion in revenue.

Looking ahead, that growth rate is likely to accelerate in the next couple of fiscal years. That's because Oracle has started the current fiscal year with an astronomical revenue backlog. It reported a whopping $455 billion in remaining performance obligations (RPO) at the end of fiscal Q1, an increase of 359% from the prior year. That number is nearly thrice the revenue generated by the company in the last three fiscal years combined.

The massive size of this backlog is a result of the rapidly growing demand for Oracle's cloud infrastructure, which is being used by its customers to build, train, and deploy artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Oracle's wide presence in 51 regions across 26 countries where it is offering more than 150 cloud-based services, as well as its multicloud offerings through which customers can run apps on popular cloud services such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon's AWS, and Alphabet's Google Cloud, have made this company one of the best ways to capitalize on the cloud infrastructure boom.

Importantly, Oracle is ramping up its infrastructure at an aggressive pace. It plans to increase the number of multicloud data centers for its three hyperscale customers to 71 from the current reading of 34. It also plans to double the number of dedicated Oracle data centers this year to almost 60. In all, Oracle is going to build more data centers than all of its competitors combined, as chairman Larry Ellison pointed out earlier this year.

This puts Oracle well on its way to converting a significant chunk of its revenue backlog into actual revenue. And that's precisely the reason why this tech stock is likely to head higher in the next three years.

The company's accelerating revenue growth will result in more upside
Investors have already seen that Oracle's revenue growth rate is expected to pick up significantly this year. The good part is that this trend is expected to continue in the next couple of fiscal years. This is evident from the chart.

ORCL Revenue Estimates for Current Fiscal Year data by YCharts

By fiscal 2028, Oracle's revenue is expected to close in on almost $120 billion. That will be a significant jump from its projected revenue in the next fiscal year. This jump in Oracle's revenue growth after a couple of years can be attributed to its capacity-building efforts. As the company rolls out more data centers, it should be able to accelerate its revenue growth given its huge RPO.

If Oracle indeed generates $120 billion in revenue after three years and trades at 9 times sales at that time (in line with the U.S. technology sector's average sales multiple), its market cap could jump to $1.08 trillion. That points toward a potential jump of 34% from current levels. Oracle, however, could deliver a stronger jump if the market continues to reward it with a premium valuation (its current sales multiple is 14) on account of the bump in its growth.

Harsh Chauhan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, and Oracle. 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.

Warren Buffett's growing cash pile speaks volumes about the current state of the stock market.

One of the qualities that makes Warren Buffett one of the most successful investors in history is his patience.

He noted the importance of waiting for opportunities in his most recent letter to Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A 0.70%) (BRK.B 0.68%) shareholders.

"Understandably, really outstanding businesses are very seldom offered in their entirety, but small fractions of these gems can be purchased Monday through Friday on Wall Street and, very occasionally, they sell at bargain prices. ... Often, nothing looks compelling."

Buffett's willingness to wait for compelling prices has led him to sell more stocks than he bought for Berkshire Hathaway in each of the last 11 quarters. As a result, Buffett now sits on nearly $340 billion of investable cash and cash equivalents (excluding cash held in the railway business), looking for an investment opportunity.

Unfortunately, the stock market is sending a strong signal that there might not be very many compelling opportunities to find right now, and certainly not in Berkshire's investable universe. As a result, Berkshire's cash pile keeps growing.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

The massive warning to stock investors
Over the last few years, investors have pushed the prices of large-cap S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.01%) stocks significantly higher. However, fundamentals have failed to keep up.

As a result, stock valuations are now approaching record highs. Buffett's preferred valuation indicator, total U.S. stock market value divided by GDP, dubbed the Buffett Indicator, has climbed above 200%. When the indicator reaches that level, as it did in 1999 and 2000, Buffett says, "You are playing with fire."

Another indicator is also flashing similar warnings as the turn of the century. The Shiller P/E ratio has topped 40. The metric takes the 10-year moving average of inflation-adjusted earnings for the S&P 500, and divides that number into the current index value. The only other time valuations were this high was amid the dot-com bubble.

Here's what history says happens next
History is quite clear about what happens when the Shiller PE has exceeded 40. Every single time, it has produced negative 10-year annualized returns.

There's just one caveat: We've only ever had one prior period where the S&P 500 valuation climbed above a Shiller PE of 40. The dot-com bubble popping was followed in quick succession by the global financial crisis, which led to the so-called "lost decade."

Data by YCharts.

History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes. And there's no denying the fact that the Shiller P/E ratio is inversely correlated with 10-year forward returns. As such, as the S&P 500 valuation continues to climb higher, the expected returns going forward become worse and worse.

Considering Buffett is a value investor and heavily prefers large-cap U.S. equities, it's no wonder he's found very little to invest in over the last few years as valuations climbed. That said, that doesn't mean there aren't other opportunities that he's found that could be even more beneficial for smaller retail investors.

The hidden message under Buffett's $340 billion warning
It's important to put Buffett's position in context. Berkshire Hathaway is a $1 trillion U.S. company. Its marketable equity portfolio exceeds $300 billion. And when you combine that with its $340 billion cash position, there's practically no other investment fund with as much cash to move as Berkshire. That's severely limiting.

Buffett's investable universe is only the biggest stocks in the market. And since he's heavily focused on U.S. stocks, that means mostly S&P 500 companies.

That said, he's found several excellent opportunities outside the S&P 500 recently. He's notably invested billions in the five Japanese trading houses, including adding over $40 million to Berkshire's investments in August. Despite the strong performance of the Japanese stock market in recent years, the Shiller P/E ratio remains well below its 25-year average. That led Shiller to maintain his projection for relatively strong returns from the Japanese stock market over the next 10 years in his most recent market forecast.

Even in the U.S., there remain ample opportunities for investors. While the S&P 500 has seen its valuation climb, the mid-cap and small-cap index hasn't followed suit. What's more, a handful of companies have driven the S&P 500 P/E ratio higher, while earnings haven't necessarily followed suit.

There are still a good number of stocks with compelling valuations in the S&P 500 itself. Buffett has been a buyer when the opportunity arises, notably buying UnitedHealth last quarter, along with nine other stocks, most of which were on the smaller end of the Buffett's investable universe.

The message for investors to take away is that many of the biggest companies in the United States look expensive right now. That's weighing on the future expected returns of popular indexes like the S&P 500. But if you look beyond the biggest names in the U.S., there are still a lot of compelling opportunities that could produce better returns than the most commonly used benchmark index.

Adam Levy has positions in UnitedHealth Group. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool recommends UnitedHealth Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Every investor wants to see their portfolio increase substantially in value over time.

There might be a common misconception out there that investors must be skillful at picking individual stocks for their portfolios to achieve success. This just isn't true. A ton of available exchange-traded funds (ETFs) can provide investors with a passive strategy to take advantage of.

Many asset management firms offer these products. Vanguard is one of the most reputable. It's been around since 1975, and it had $11 trillion in assets under management (AUM) as of July 31. It might be a good idea to pick an ETF from this financial institution.

Investors should realize that serious wealth can still be generated by going the passive route. But can one of these Vanguard ETFs make you a millionaire one day?

Image source: Getty Images.

Impressive track record
The most popular investment vehicle offered by Vanguard is the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO -0.02%). It has $1.4 trillion in AUM, which showcases its gargantuan scale. As the name suggests, the ETF follows the performance of the S&P 500 Index. This benchmark consists of 500 leading companies that trade on U.S. stock exchanges.

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF's performance is worth highlighting. In the past decade, it has produced a total return of 314%, which includes dividends. This translates to a fantastic 15.3% gain on an annualized basis.

It's clear how someone could've become a millionaire by owning this ETF. Had you invested $3,750 per month in the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF over the past decade (between September 2015 and September 2025), making a total of 120 allocations, you'd have $1 million today. This is the power of compounding and dollar-cost averaging. Extending the time horizon would result in more robust gains.

You would immediately think that to achieve such a stellar performance, the costs would be extreme. That's not the case, as the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF carries a low expense ratio of 0.03%. On a hypothetical $10,000 investment, just $3 would go to servicing the yearly fee.

Betting on American companies
Besides understanding the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF's performance and fee structure, it's extremely important that investors learn what exactly they'd be owning. The S&P 500 is the most-watched gauge of the stock market's performance. It provides exposure to all the sectors of the economy. Investors immediately gain solid diversification in their portfolios in a hassle-free way. The benefit gained by buying this ETF is that investors can avoid having to choose individual stocks that will be the winners of tomorrow.

In the past decade, there probably hasn't been a tailwind as impactful as the rise of global technology businesses. The stock market's returns are being driven by these dominant enterprises. The "Magnificent Seven" constitutes 34% of the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF's asset base, so there is some concentration at the top. Investors will have exposure to powerful secular trends that are lifting these companies, most notably artificial intelligence.

Patience is key
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF's trailing-10-year returns have been incredible. There's no telling what sort of performance it will achieve in the decades ahead. However, I believe this investment product can turn you into a millionaire. Its long-term track record of compounding capital speaks for itself.

Just don't expect to get rich overnight. Successful investing, no matter what your exact strategy is, requires patience, maybe more than any other trait. Generating wealth takes time. Having the right mindset is critical.

It's also important to keep your emotions in check when there's heightened volatility or a market correction, things that are inevitable and can't be avoided. Keeping the attention fixated on the long term, as opposed to the next month or quarter, will also lead to success.

Neil Patel has positions in Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Success with this collaboration could secure Altria's ultra-high dividend for years to come.

Altria Group (MO -0.03%) is not only a Dividend King with over 50 consecutive years of dividend growth. The parent of Marlboro maker Philip Morris USA is currently the highest-yielding Dividend King out there, with a forward yield of 6.45%.

Altria's forward yield has been even higher in the past, prior to the stock's recent surge from around $40 a share at the start of 2024 to around $66 per share this month. Much of this run-up has been due to factors unrelated to the company's smoke-free diversification efforts. In fact, Altria has so far had mixed success capitalizing on the shift to tobacco-free nicotine pouch products like Zyn. Ironically, Zyn is owned by Philip Morris International (PM -2.14%), which, back in 2008, was a spin-off from Altria Group.

Future runup, though, may be directly related to the company's smoke-free diversification efforts. Last week, there was news of a major collaboration with its South Korean counterpart. The deal could help Altria bring to market products that not only help to partially offset declines in traditional tobacco products but also get the company back on track in terms of revenue and earnings growth.

Image source: Getty Images. 

Altria, dividend security, and a recent major announcement
Oddly enough, with Altria's shares rising since 2024, it appears that investors have grown more confident that the company's high-yielding dividend is secure. Admittedly, a closer look at Altria Group's financials calls this into question. During Q2 2025, its net revenue fell 3.6% year over year, with GAAP earnings per share falling 36.2%.

Even as the company's On! tobacco pouch product saw a big jump in sales recently, volumes still pale in comparison to those from market leader Zyn. For instance, last quarter, On! reported shipments of 52.1 million cans, whereas Philip Morris International shipped out 190.2 million cans of Zyn during that same time frame.

Yet while On! has so far failed to serve as a silver bullet for Altria's growth issues, a recent development could be the prelude to a much more successful smoke-free strategy. On Sept. 23, Altria announced that it has a memorandum of understanding to enter a non-binding global collaboration with South Korean tobacco giant KT&G.

This multifaceted deal includes plans for Altria and KT&G to collaborate on the development of non-tobacco nicotine pouches. Also, as part of the deal, Altria will acquire an equity stake in Another Snus Factory Stockholm AB, makers of Loop nicotine pouches. KT&G is in the process of purchasing Another Snus Factory.

How partnering with KT&G could pay off for Altria
Philip Morris International may be beating its former corporate parent on its home turf, but what if Altria starts to return the favor? That is, via the KT&G partnership, Altria could roll out On! worldwide. There may also be international expansion plans for the Loop brand.

For Altria, stronger non-U.S. growth coupled with continued modest market share gains in the U.S. nicotine pouch market may just well turn the tide, stabilizing net sales and securing modest earnings and dividend growth for years to come.

If this occurs, the impact on Altria's valuation could be meaningful. Right now, the company's shares trade for 11.7 times forward earnings. Philip Morris International trades for nearly 20 times forward earnings.

I'm not saying that this valuation gap could be fully bridged, but perhaps a partial catch-up in terms of valuation could be in the cards in the coming years.

Should you buy this stock today?
Although this recent announcement is promising, only time will tell whether it leads to a return to growth for Altria Group. Philip Morris International's first-mover advantage could limit Altria and KT&G's ability to grab a meaningful global share of the nicotine pouch market.

In my view, the combination of a high dividend yield plus potential for further multiple expansion makes Altria an attractive opportunity today. However, be well aware of the risks. If Altria's latest smoke-free gambit fails to move the needle, uncertainty about future dividends will likely spike once again. In turn, this could lead shares back toward prior lows.

Thomas Niel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Philip Morris International. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Every technological leap comes with its own unique risks and downsides. The looming advent of quantum computing is no exception.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has obviously taken existing computer hardware to a whole new level. The biggest-ever computing leap, however, has yet to come.

That's the looming explosion of quantum computing -- a new kind of platform that's completely different from binary code-based processors used by nearly every kind of computer today. See, quantum computers utilize the unique properties of subatomic particles -- broadly referred to as qubits -- making them shockingly fast. Problems that would take years (if not decades, or even centuries) for conventional AI to solve can be completed in a matter of minutes with a quantum computing platform.

As you might imagine, though, this power can be used for nefarious purposes just as easily as it can be for good. For instance, industry experts widely expect quantum computers to be used to unencrypt what are supposed to be individuals' encrypted connections to the internet, as well as simply figure out user passwords.

The solution to the impending problem? Finding new ways to secure the data, connections, and networks that will soon be very vulnerable.

One surprising company is leading the charge.

An oldie but a goodie
If you guessed Nvidia or Microsoft or one of its AI peers, you didn't guess poorly. These names have certainly been at the forefront of artificial intelligence's ongoing development. Most of them are also working with quantum computing tech in one way or another.

However, that's not the company in question. Rather, it's International Business Machines (IBM 0.65%) -- or IBM -- that will redefine cloud security in the era of quantum-powered hacking and cyberattacks.

Although you've likely heard little about it, this technology company has been pre-solving digital security problems that don't technically yet exist. It's called Quantum Safe™, which is just an IBM arm helping organizations create and execute a plan to defend themselves from quantum-based cyberthreats.

So far, this division's efforts are mostly aimed at encryption, which is where most enterprise-level institutions are most immediately vulnerable. It's worth noting, however, that the company's work has inched its way into the purpose-built hardware realm as well.

For instance, IBM's z16 and z17 AI-capable mainframe computers are the world's first and still-only servers of their type to be "quantum safe" thanks to their built-in Crypto Express security cards.

IBM's got the chops
And it's not like IBM is out of its depth. Remember, IBM was technically one of the very first players to enter the artificial intelligence race when it first introduced a commercial version of its Watson AI platform back in 2013. (although it first turned heads back in 2011, when Watson won on television game show Jeopardy!).

Watson's since been surpassed by far better solutions -- including IBM's own improvements -- like OpenAI's consumer-facing ChatGPT or Palantir's institution-focused lineup, having never become the commercial success IBM had hoped it would become.

Still, it's not been a waste. The company's learned a lot from its own artificial intelligence successes and flops.

It also merits mentioning that IBM has been working on its own quantum computing tech for some time, and technically speaking, introduced the world's very first commercial quantum computing system back in 2019. Again, it was likely before its time, and not quite ready to provide the sort of computing firepower that was really beginning to be needed at the time; the COVID-19 pandemic didn't help either. Nevertheless, it's a starting point, and IBM has since gone on to build a 1,121-qubit quantum computing chip, which at the time it was unveiled back in 2023 was the world's highest-qubit platform.

More qubits, of course, means more computing power.

Setting the standards
With all that being said, perhaps the chief reason IBM will be the leading name in quantum cybersecurity by 2030 -- when the company expects quantum-based hacks and attacks to really begin ramping up -- isn't so much a developmental one as it is a logistical one rooted in sheer presence. That is, IBM is heavily involved in setting the current and future standards of cybersecurity solutions in the quantum era.

Case in point: The National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST.

Just as the name suggests, this organization helps ensure that all companies within a particular industry manufacture their goods in a way that at least makes them reasonably compatible with components that may be used or made by other companies. The end result is production efficiency, and ultimately, a more functional end product.

Well, IBM doesn't just comply with NIST standards. It helps make many of them. For instance, just last year, three of IBM's algorithms for post-quantum encryption became NIST standards that other players in the industry should follow. In other words, the direction this business goes from here will ultimately reflect IBM's solutions.

And it's not just the National Institute of Standards and Technology. IBM is also a member of the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, or OASIS. Earlier this year, IBM joined Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, and a handful of other technology outfits to create OASIS's Data Provenance Standards Technical Committee, which will help standardize the handling of digital data in the AI era, which will soon become the quantum computing era.

IBM can't establish these minimum developmental expectations on its own, to be clear; other members of these organizations also contribute ideas and ultimately approve industrywide standards. It's got a seat at the table though, so to speak, and has been able to leverage its name and rich history as a means of exerting influence on the developmental direction that technology industries take.

Worth adding to your watch list, if not your portfolio
It's admittedly difficult to see where things are headed on this front, largely because quantum computer-powered artificial intelligence itself is still so new. Investors don't yet know where it's headed, so it's impossible to predict what it will take to secure it and the cloud-based connections that most users will almost certainly need to utilize it.

There's also no denying IBM hasn't exactly been a prominent player in the global AI revolution to date, making it a little difficult to see it becoming an important name in the business in the near future.

Nevertheless, IBM is quietly doing more on the quantum security front than any other company, and is equipped to remain the leading solutions developer in this area. In light of Dimension Market Research's expectation that the worldwide quantum-based cybersecurity market is poised to grow at an average annual rate of 32% between now and 2034, it wouldn't be crazy to pick up a little long-term exposure to this opportunity by buying a stake in IBM here.

James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Cisco Systems, Intel, International Business Machines, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft, short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft, and short November 2025 $21 puts on Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

By Reuters

October 5, 20258:10 AM UTCUpdated ago

The logo of Italian multinational energy company Eni is displayed at their booth during the LNG 2023 energy trade show in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

CompaniesTRIPOLI, Oct 5 (Reuters) - The North African branch of Italian energy company Eni

(ENI.MI), opens new tab has resumed its exploration drilling in an offshore area northwest of Libya after a five-year hiatus, the Libyan state-run National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Sunday.

In 2024, Eni and British oil giant BP

(BP.L), opens new tab have resumed exploration in Libya after onshore drilling was halted in 2014, the year when the North African country's civil war erupted and divided the country between two administrations.

Sign up here.

Eni resumed operations in a well where drilling operations were halted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NOC said.

Reporting by Ahmed Elumami, writing by Jaidaa Taha
Editing by Tomasz Janowski

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It's time to look well beyond your own borders for affordable opportunities worth plugging into.

If you're hesitant to put $1,000 into a new trade in any of the stock market's most popular picks right now, you're not crazy. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) is now priced at a frothy 25 times its trailing earnings, while data from Yardeni Research indicates the "Magnificent Seven" stocks that have led the market higher since 2023 sport an average forward-looking price/earnings ratio of more than 30. That's a lot, leaving them -- along with the overall market -- vulnerable to weakness. Factor in the tariff wars that don't appear to be cooling off, and it's easy to justify staying on the sidelines.

The situation doesn't require you to sit out altogether, though. It just means you should make a point of investing that $1,000 in growth companies with few (if any) direct ties to the United States, and stocks with more reasonable valuations relative to their potential growth.

One name worth a $1,000 investment comes to mind above all the rest.

 
What's MercadoLibre?
If you've ever heard of MercadoLibre (MELI -3.18%), then there's a good chance you've heard it called the "Amazon (AMZN -1.34%) of Latin America." And it's not an unfitting description. It isn't a perfectly accurate one, though. Yes, MercadoLibre helps companies sell goods online. Unlike Amazon, though, this company also operates a major digital payments business that looks more like PayPal's, yet also manages a logistics arm that supports its e-commerce, provides a range of banking and bank-like services to merchants, and even helps brick-and-mortar stores handle inventory and payments. It's a proverbial soup-to-nuts business.

And it's growing. Last quarter's revenue growth of 34% carried its top line to nearly $6.8 billion, accelerating long-established bigger-picture uptrends, and pumping up profits by almost as much.

Data source: Simply Wall St. Chart by author.

All of it's just happening in Latin America, with the bulk of its business taking shape in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina.

The thing is, this is exactly where you'd want one of your holdings to focus right now in the way MercadoLibre is positioning itself for the future.

Plugging into the continent's connectivity revolution
Getting straight to the point, where North America's internet connectivity industry was 20 years ago is in many ways where South America's is now. Although the internet has existed there since its infancy, it's only now becoming commonplace. For perspective, whereas Pew Research says 96% of U.S. adults now have access to broadband internet, Standard & Poor's reports that less than 60% of Latin American and Caribbean households are likely to even have the option of fixed broadband service before the end of this year.

There's a geographically unique nuance worth noting, however. That is, a wide and growing swath of the region's population uses their smartphones as their primary -- and sometimes only -- point of access to the World Wide Web. GSMA Intelligence suggests Latin America's 2023 count of 418 million mobile internet users should reach 485 million by 2030. Even then, though, there's room for continued growth. At 485 million, that would still only be a penetration rate of 72% of the region's population.

And just like here, it's not taking South America's consumers very long to figure out that their handheld devices are great tools for shopping online, and even making digital payments. Industry research outfit Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence expects the continent's e-commerce industry to grow 21% year over year in 2025, en route to nearly doubling in size between 2023 and 2027. Simultaneously, the research outfit reports 60% of consumer spending in Latin America is now facilitated by digital and electronic payments, led by Brazil -- where MercadoLibre is a force.

The company is simply riding this growth trend. Analysts expect MercadoLibre's top line to more than double between last year and 2027, more than doubling its bottom line with it.

Just focus on the bigger picture
There is some drama. Investors keeping tabs on this company may recall that shares tumbled in early August in response to the company's disappointing Q2 profit. Despite the strong sales growth, per-share earnings of $10.39 fell short of analysts' estimates of $11.93, falling 1.6% from the year-ago comparison. Blame free shipping, mostly. Taking a page out of Amazon's playbook, MercadoLibre spent more on free shipping in Brazil than investors were anticipating.

Now, just take a step back and look at the bigger picture that most investors seem to be seeing again, nudging the stock higher as a result. The free shipping strategy worked out all right for Amazon. It might work out even better for MercadoLibre in the long run, given just how fragmented the region's e-commerce market currently is. In this vein, eMarketer says MercadoLibre's market-leading share of the region's e-commerce business still only accounts for about one-third of the industry's total sales, with no other player accounting for more than 5% of the regional market's online shopping.

In other words, there's an opportunity for an enterprise that's willing and able to act on it. MercadoLibre seems to be that enterprise. Current and interested investors are just going to need to be patient, as the world was with Amazon.

This might help: Despite the added expense of free shipping that's likely to linger for a while as a means of turning consumers into regular customers, the analyst community isn't dissuaded. The vast majority of them still rate MercadoLibre stock as a strong buy, maintaining a consensus target of $2,920.91, which is 17% above the ticker's present price. That's not a bad tailwind to start out a new trade with if you have $1,000 available to invest.

James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, MercadoLibre, PayPal, and S&P Global. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2027 $42.50 calls on PayPal and short September 2025 $77.50 calls on PayPal. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

These stocks are poised for a comeback.

As the major market indices hit new highs, investors can still find undervalued stocks set up for attractive returns. We'll look at two discounted growth stocks trading between 60% to 80% below their previous peaks. These businesses are experiencing growing demand for their services and trade at low valuations relative to expected earnings.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Carnival
Despite rising 62% over the last year, Carnival (CCL -1.04%) stock remains deeply undervalued and trading 60% off its all-time high before the pandemic. Management has already raised its full-year guidance three times this year, as demand for cruises remains red-hot.

Carnival is a global leader in the cruise industry, with a portfolio of brands that include Costa Cruises, Aida, Seaborn, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, P&O Cruises, and Carnival Cruise Line. Strong demand is lifting ticket prices and leading to record revenues and profitability.

Carnival generated $4.3 billion in operating profit on $26 billion of revenue over the last year. In the most recent quarter, it reported another quarterly record in revenue and profitability, yet the stock is trading at just 14 times this year's consensus earnings estimate.

This is a cheap valuation, considering that Carnival just reported its 10th consecutive quarter of record quarterly revenue. The company is set to drive further demand by investing in exclusive destinations, such as the recent debut of Celebration Key and next year's launch of Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas.

These destinations are strategically positioned to be short trips from Carnival's ports, and, therefore, keep fuel costs down. This will benefit the bottom line and drive excellent earnings growth over the next few years. Analysts expect Carnival's earnings to grow at an annualized rate of 21%.

With nearly half of 2026 sailings already booked, demand is not fading. Carnival stock's low P/E with solid demand visibility should support a rising share price.

2. Roku
Roku (ROKU) is well positioned to capture a sizable share of advertising shifting from traditional TV to digital streaming platforms. It has more than 150 million total viewers starting their daily TV watching through Roku's connected TV platform, which is a valuable asset.

Connected TV is transforming the TV landscape, according to Nielsen, with nearly 44% of total TV watching time in the U.S. happening on streaming platforms. Consistent with that trend, ad spending in the connected TV market is estimated to hit $33 billion this year and grow to $47 billion by 2028, according to eMarketer. Roku's recent growth shows it is poised to benefit.

Roku earns a small amount of revenue from selling streaming devices, but the bulk of its business comes from platform monetization. Its platform revenue, which includes ads, subscription revenue sharing, and other services, grew 18% year over year last quarter.This shows ad spending following the viewers. This is the key signal that Wall Street has been missing the last few years, where the stock has significantly underperformed and is still down 80% from its all-time high.

The connected TV market is competitive, with Roku competing against Apple (Apple TV) and other providers. But Roku has an advantage as a budget-friendly alternative and also doesn't try to steer users to a walled garden of services like big tech companies. It offers free ad-supported content through The Roku Channel, which has been one of the most watched apps on the platform.

The stock is up 34% year to date, which is outpacing the broader market. Investor sentiment appears to be turning more positive, which is a good sign. Wall Street analysts expect the company's free cash flow to grow at an annualized rate of 42% to reach $1.2 billion by 2029. Assuming Roku meets these expectations, the stock could deliver market-beating returns over the next five years.

John Ballard has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple and Roku. The Motley Fool recommends Carnival Corp. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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By Selena Maranjian
–
Oct 5, 2025 at 4:34AM

Key Points

ASML is a compelling stock, with a monopoly on some costly semiconductor equipment.

Its future looks bright, and its stock is appealingly valued.

What would you say to average annual gains topping 27%?

Looking for an impressive growth stock? Well, consider ASML Holding (ASML 0.17%). It's averaged annual gains of 27.6% over the past decade, enough to turn a $3,000 investment into more than $34,000.

After such torrid growth, you might wonder if the stock is now way overvalued. I'm happy to report that it doesn't appear to be. Its recent forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 32 is a bit below its five-year average of 34.

But should you invest in this company? Well, you should only decide after having learned a lot about it. But for starters, know that ASML specializes in making the lithography equipment needed for semiconductor manufacturing. (Its machines etch intricate circuitry onto silicon wafers, and it was recently the only supplier of advanced extreme ultraviolet systems (EUVs). Its equipment is costly -- with its latest system priced above $400 million -- and its systems tend to last for several decades, which gives ASML a lot of nice, recurring revenue from servicing contracts.

It's fair to expect ASML to keep growing over time, but there could be some hiccups, such as if its business with China is affected by tariff wars or other geopolitical issues. One tailwind should be Nvidia's recent partnership with Intel to build out technology for artificial intelligence (AI).

Note, too, that ASML is a dividend-paying stock. Its recent dividend yield of 0.76% may seem small, but its total annual payout to shareholders has grown at a good clip, rising to a recent $7.15 per share from $6.21 in 2022 and $3.13 in 2019.

Given ASML's reasonable valuation and its dividend-paying status as well, it's certainly worth a closer look.

About the Author

Selena Maranjian is a contributing personal finance and investing expert at The Motley Fool. Selena has produced The Motley Fool’s nationally syndicated newspaper feature since 1997. She is the author of The Motley Fool Money Guide and Investment Clubs: How to Start and Run One the Motley Fool Way, and the co-author of The Motley Fool Investment Guide for Teens and several editions of The Motley Fool Investment Tax Guide. Prior to The Motley Fool, she worked as a high school teacher and public opinion analyst. She holds a master’s degree in teaching from Brown University and a master’s degree in finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Selena Maranjian has positions in ASML and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends ASML, Intel, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: short November 2025 $21 puts on Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Polarization isn't profitable for Disney.

Is the controversy over Jimmy Kimmel's comments regarding MAGA and President Donald Trump in the wake of Charlie Kirk's slaying a few weeks ago on his late-night ABC TV show now over? Maybe not.

Sure, The Walt Disney Company (DIS 0.30%) -- which owns ABC -- quickly ended its suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! And the two ABC affiliates that initially refused to air the show following Disney's reinstatement -- Nexstar Media Group (NXST 1.16%) and Sinclair (SBGI -0.62%) -- have also backed down.

But this saga playing out in a particularly divided America isn't necessarily finished, at least not for investors. Has President Donald Trump made Disney stock a lose-lose proposition after the Jimmy Kimmel controversy?

Image source: The Walt Disney Company.

Polarization isn't profitable
Following Disney's decision to put Kimmel back on the air, Trump posted his reaction on the Truth Social platform. The president seemed to threaten that he would file a lawsuit against the company. A few days later, Trump also suggested to reporters aboard Air Force One that the licenses of broadcasters that are "against" him should be revoked.

Those comments could simply be bluster. Regardless, Trump has the bully pulpit to keep attacking Disney. If he does, the company could become even more of a lightning rod for Americans on different sides of the political spectrum.

The dilemma for Disney is that polarization isn't profitable. When the company chose to suspend Kimmel's program, many people posted online that they were cancelling their Disney+ subscriptions in protest. Disney+ is a popular streaming service with around 128 million subscribers as of June 30, 2025. On his first night back on the air, Kimmel even joked about the issue, saying that Disney required him to read a statement that provided instructions on how to resume subscribing to Disney+.

But people on either side of this issue could easily cancel their Disney+ subscriptions. They could also cancel subscriptions to the two other streaming services owned by Disney, ESPN+ and Hulu. Or they could boycott any of the other businesses that Disney owns.

A major distraction at a bad time
Such a major distraction is always unwelcome. However, now is arguably a particularly bad time for Disney to be caught up in a highly publicized controversy.

The cord-cutting trend isn't waning. ESPN, the linear broadcasting crown jewel in which Disney owns an 80% stake, saw its U.S. operating income fall by 7% year over year in the second quarter of 2025. Programming and production costs continue to rise, but the number of traditional TV viewers isn't.

In August, ESPN announced plans to acquire the NFL Network. This deal should be good for Disney. However, it must be approved by federal regulators. According to Reuters, the U.S. Justice Department is scrutinizing the transaction.

Disney's actions could also negatively impact its affiliates. For example, Nexstar wants to acquire Tegna (TGNA -0.89%) for $6.2 billion. The deal requires Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval. And the FCC is chaired by Trump appointee Brendan Carr, who stated on a conservative podcast, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct to take action on Kimmel or, you know, there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead."

Can investors win by owning Disney stock?
Some investors might view all of this as a lose-lose situation. Can they win by owning Disney stock? I think so, but it will help if they have a long-term investing time horizon.

Granted, Disney's shares have held up relatively well in the midst of the Jimmy Kimmel controversy, but the stock could still be more volatile than many investors would prefer over the near term.

Wall Street remains bullish about the stock overall. Of the 31 analysts surveyed by S&P Global in September, 24 rated Disney as a buy or strong buy. The consensus 12-month price target reflected an upside potential of roughly 16%.

Disney also has several things going for it over the long run. Its brand remains popular. Kids and families will no doubt still want to go to the company's theme parks for a long time to come. The company is making smart moves to transition to a greater focus on digital content, and its studios continue to deliver blockbuster movies.

The current polarization could be a distant memory in a few years. If so (and maybe even if not), I suspect that long-term investors have a decent shot at winning with Disney stock.

Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends S&P Global and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Hyperscalers have turned to Broadcom to save costs on AI chips, but it may not be the cheapest alternative.

Broadcom (AVGO -0.00%) has become one of the leading players in the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure hardware race by leveraging its strength as a custom chip partner. The company built its reputation supplying networking gear to data centers, but its real growth engine today is with application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs. These are custom AI chips that large hyperscalers (companies that own massive data centers) are starting to turn to help reduce costs when training large language models (LLMs) or running inference.

Unlike graphics processing units (GPUs), these chips are preprogrammed for specific tasks before they are built. This can lead to better performance and efficiency for the tasks for which they were designed, but they lack to ability to be reprogrammed, and thus are a lot less flexible.

Image source: Getty Images.

The company's playbook is simple, but it's hard to replicate. Broadcom works side by side with a few select customers to create chips programmed for specific purposes, leveraging its deep library of intellectual property (IP) around interconnects and energy-efficient circuitry. It then uses its close ties with foundry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM 1.50%) to help produce the chips.

Broadcom has been seeing huge momentum in this area. It helped Alphabet (GOOGL -0.16%) (GOOG -0.04%) develop its Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) years ago to help power its cloud computing business and has stayed a key partner as those chips have evolved. It has also scored design wins with Meta Platforms and ByteDance.

Combined, it thinks these three customers are a $60 billion to $90 billion opportunity in fiscal 2027, which is huge considering it's on track to generate around $63 billion in revenue this year. It also recently announced that a fourth customer, widely believed to be OpenAI, has placed a $10 billion order with it for next year.

Broadcom's biggest risk
While everything appears to be clicking now for Broadcom, the same model that has propelled the stock higher is also where the biggest risk lies. Broadcom's ASIC business depends on a small set of very large customers. Losing even one would leave a noticeable hole in both revenue and profits. That concentration is not just a financial issue, as it gives those customers leverage and time to build their own chip design expertise.

We have already seen this story playing out in other corners of the tech world. Apple, one of Broadcom's biggest wireless component buyers, recently replaced one of the company's Wi-Fi chips with its own in-house developed Wi-Fi chip. Meanwhile, Alphabet previously found a cheaper Wi-Fi chip partner in Synaptics. This shows how determined big tech companies can be to lower component costs.

There are signs a similar shift could be coming in AI chips. Reports suggest Alphabet is working more closely with MediaTek on parts of its next TPU generation and taking on more of the design work itself. Hyperscalers have enormous capital budgets but are always looking to stretch every dollar spent on computing power. If they believe they can achieve the same performance with a cheaper partner or by doing the work in-house, they will ditch Broadcom.

As these companies learn more from working with Broadcom, they also gain negotiating power. This can lead to lower gross margins over time, even if the relationships remain intact. Meanwhile, the long design cycles in ASICs mean Broadcom commits resources years ahead of production, so any change in a customer's roadmap can make that investment less valuable.

For now, Broadcom has a technical edge. Its proprietary IP around high-speed SerDes (Serializer/Deserializer), its expertise in low-power design, and its ability to integrate advanced packaging at the latest TSMC nodes still make it the go-to partner for hyperscalers that want a custom solution. That has bought the company time and kept competitors like MediaTek at bay for now.

Investors, though, should not assume that the edge is permanent. History shows that once a few large tech companies can figure out how to lower costs by cutting out or switching to a new partner, they tend to do so. The stock's recent run-up is tied almost entirely to its custom AI-chip opportunity, which makes this a risk worth watching closely.

Broadcom is positioned well for now, but its success has armed its biggest customers with the know-how to one day go it alone or with a cheaper partner like MediaTek or AIChip Technologies. That is the kind of risk that does not show up in next quarter's numbers but can reshape the story over a few years if even one major customer decides it no longer needs Broadcom's help.

Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, Meta Platforms, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom and Synaptics. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

If you're seeking passive income and steady returns over time, here are three top-notch dividend stocks to consider today.

Dividend stocks can form a solid foundation for your investment portfolio. These stocks make regular cash payments, making them particularly appealing to retirees and individuals seeking a consistent income.

However, the allure of dividend stocks extends beyond the income. One study by Hartford Funds and Ned Davis Research reveals that companies that consistently increase their dividend payouts tend to deliver superior total returns with less volatility than those that either maintain or reduce their payouts. This insight reveals something important: investing in companies that are committed to increasing their distributions can lead to both stability and growth.

If you're looking to bolster your portfolio with these reliable performers and have $1,000 in cash to invest, these three companies that have successfully raised their dividends annually for 42 years or more could be smart buys today.

Image source: Getty Images.

Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola (KO 0.85%) owns several of the most iconic global brands around. With beverage sales spanning 200 countries, led by familiar products such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, Minute Maid, Schweppes, and Fanta, the company boasts a resilient business that benefits from steady global demand.

The company's competitive moat lies in its brands, as well as its global distribution system and relationships with retailers and bottlers, which provide it with a widespread reach. As a result, the company tends to display pricing power and resilience even during times of rising prices. As a result, Coca-Cola's business generates strong cash flow with solid margins, and demand tends to be steady over time.

For income investors, Coca-Cola has increased its dividend payout annually for 63 consecutive years, placing it in a special class of stocks known as Dividend Kings. With a 3.1% yield, Coca-Cola is a steady dividend stock to own today.

Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble (PG 0.10%) owns trusted brands across household cleaning, personal care, and health. Some of its products include Tide, Mr. Clean, Gillette, Old Spice, and Oral-B, among others. With its wide range of household products, the company enjoys shelf dominance in supermarkets worldwide.

Like Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble enjoys steady demand for its products from consumers during economic slowdowns or periods of rising inflation. That's because its products span high-demand items used daily by consumers, giving it pricing power. Looking forward, Procter & Gamble is focused on reshaping its portfolio by divesting from slower-growth brands and concentrating on its core, higher-margin products.

Procter & Gamble has raised its dividend for an impressive 69 consecutive years, one of the longest streaks of any publicly traded company. With a dividend yield of 2.8%, Procter & Gamble is another solid stock that consistently rewards shareholders with steady income.

Aflac
Aflac (AFL 1.49%) provides supplemental insurance policies that help its customers cover expenses not covered by traditional health plans. This includes options like cancer, accident, or disability coverages. Aflac has a strong business presence in the United States, but its earnings are primarily generated from Japan, where it holds a dominant market share.

Aflac has a strong moat due to its focus on supplemental insurance and a robust distribution network, thanks to partnerships with employers and brokers. The company has done a solid job navigating a challenging environment when interest rates were near historically low levels in the 2010s. This impacted its investment income but also put pressure on its fixed-benefit supplemental insurance and long-duration liabilities, where margins became more compressed.

The company struggled a few years ago amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a sizable impact on life insurers like Aflac. However, the insurer has improved in recent years as claims experience has seen positive trends. Rising interest rates have also been another tailwind for Aflac, boosting its investment income as it invests in higher-yielding fixed-income securities.

Aflac has consistently managed its capital effectively and increased its dividend payout annually for 42 consecutive years. With a dividend yield of 2%, Aflac is another solid income stock to consider today.

Courtney Carlsen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Nvidia believes data center capital expenditures could reach $3 trillion to $4 trillion by 2030.

During Nvidia's (NVDA -0.77%) Q2 conference call, it made a jaw-dropping market projection: Management believes global data center capital expenditures will reach $3 trillion to $4 trillion by 2030. That's a ton of money being spent on AI infrastructure, and if it's right, investors should be racing into AI stocks to capitalize on this spending.

However, I'm not referring to companies that are spending the money on AI infrastructure; I'm investing in the companies that are providing the infrastructure. I think Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM 1.50%), and Broadcom (AVGO -0.00%) are among the best buys in the market right now, and if this projection is correct, they will make investors a ton of money over the next five years.

Image source: Getty Images.

Nvidia's projection isn't as aggressive as one may think
At first, this projection may seem outlandish. However, it isn't as far-fetched as it seems when you break it down. During its Q2 conference call, Nvidia stated it projects 2025's data center capital expenditure figure to total $600 billion (originally, CEO Jensen Huang stated that this was the big four AI hyperscalers, but was later corrected to be all AI data centers). So, global data center expenditures are expected to rise $600 billion to $4 trillion by 2030, which would require a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 46%. That's huge growth, but is it realistic?

While AI hyperscalers are currently spending a lot on this infrastructure, all of them have stated that they expect substantial increases in capital expenditures in 2026. I'd expect this trend to continue, as many of the data center projects that were announced in 2025 will begin construction in 2026 and be outfitted with computing equipment in 2027 or 2028. This stretches out the record-breaking capex spend over multiple years.

Additionally, the U.S. isn't the only area where the AI revolution is ongoing. Chinese-based AI companies will also be spending a ton of money on AI, and it's unlikely that their American counterparts will vastly outspend them. Europe is just now getting into the AI game, and it has massive resources that could rival the U.S. or China when combined.

While the $4 trillion high end of this estimation is still incredibly optimistic, it underscores that there is still a ton of spending left to realize in the AI arms race. This makes a handful of stock genius investments, and I think investors need to ensure their portfolio has exposure to Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor, and Broadcom.

This trio is set to cash in on massive AI spending
Nvidia has been the king of AI investing since the start of the AI arms race. Its graphics processing units (GPUs) have become the computing unit of choice for training AI models due to their incredible flexibility and best-in-class performance. Nvidia is one of the companies most likely to benefit from increased AI spending, and if you don't own shares of Nvidia, now is not too late.

Broadcom is starting to challenge Nvidia in the AI computing unit field. While Nvidia's GPUs can be adapted to nearly any computing situation, Broadcom's computing units couldn't care less about that. Instead, they're partnering with an AI hyperscaler to design custom AI accelerator chips that excel in only one type of workload. Because the hyperscalers know what their AI workloads will look like, they can purchase chips through Broadcom that have better performance and cost less than an Nvidia GPU, but can only be used for one purpose. I think this option will become far more popular in the next few years, making Broadcom a worthy competitor to Nvidia.

Lastly, there is Taiwan Semiconductor. Neither Nvidia nor Broadcom has the capabilities to produce their own chips. So, they farm that work out to the world's leading semiconductor manufacturer. Because Taiwan Semi is acting as a fabrication company that's not trying to compete directly in the AI arms race, it is positioned nicely to benefit from any increased AI spending. Odds are high that any chip being used in the AI arms race originated from a TSMC facility, making it a winner as long as data center capital expenditures are increasing.

All three of these companies are promising and can continue their dominant run over the next five years. If you don't own shares now, it's not too late to buy, as there could be incredible upside if Nvidia's management is correct on the general market trend.

Keithen Drury has positions in Broadcom, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Toast shares have yet to recover after a pricing glitch, giving investors a nice buying opportunity.

Shares of Toast (TOST 1.25%) slid sharply last month after an analyst note from a Baird analyst on Sept. 22 pointed out that the company had slashed prices on some of its basic restaurant software packages by as much as 58%. Investors have recently become worried about increased competition in the space, and this news validated their concerns.

However, the price cuts apparently turned out to be news to the folks at Toast, too -- and not intentional. Once the company realized that the prices on its website had been lowered, it quickly restored them to previous levels. In fact, a few packages are now slightly more expensive than before.

The Baird analyst eventually retracted his note, but the damage to the stock was already done. This is the sort of thing that should have been cleared up with a phone call to management before publishing the report, especially since analysts typically have access to the management teams of the stocks they cover.

Despite the unwinding of those unintentional price cuts, the stock has not recovered, and therein lies an opportunity for investors to buy this solid growth stock. Nothing about Toast's business has changed because of a temporary pricing glitch, yet the stock continues to be punished as if the company were feeling real pricing pressure.

Image source: Getty Images

Toast's Opportunity
Toast has built a popular operating system for restaurants, and now is increasingly incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into its offerings. Its platform handles nearly every core management function for restaurants, including staffing, payroll, loyalty programs, menu planning, and marketing. The more of its modules a restaurant adopts, the more money Toast makes and the more ingrained in that location's operations it becomes.

Toast also collects a small slice of every payment that flows through its system, which ties its revenue directly to restaurant sales. That aligns its interests with those of its customers.

The company's growth has been strong. Last quarter, Toast added a record 8,500 net new locations, bringing its total to roughly 148,000, up 24% from a year prior. Subscription revenue jumped 37% to $227 million, while annual recurring revenue (subscription revenue and its payment processing gross profits annualized for the full year) reached $1.9 billion, up 31%. Adjusted EBITDA soared by 75% to $161 million, and management raised full-year guidance for both revenue and earnings. In other words, this isn't a company struggling to grow.

Moreover, Toast still has plenty of room to run. There are about 750,000 restaurants in the U.S., and many of them still rely on outdated legacy systems. Toast has been steadily gaining share and broadened its reach with tailored solutions for coffee shops, bakeries, hotels, and quick-service concepts. It's even started selling a solution to grocery stores. Each of these verticals adds new customers and more recurring revenue potential.

The company is also picking up steam outside of the U.S. It entered its fourth international market earlier this year when it launched in Australia, joining its operations in the U.K., Ireland, and Canada. Further global expansions are expected.

Time to buy the stock
Following the stock's recent pullback, and its failure to recover from it, Toast's valuation looks attractive. It trades at an enterprise value-to-ARR ratio of around 9 times my 2025 ARR estimate of $2.1 billion. The company's ARR is growing by close to 30% a year -- a rapid rate. For a leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) company with predictable revenue and a long runway for growth, that multiple looks cheap.

As such, this disconnect between the headline and the reality offers a rare chance to pick up a strong growth stock at an attractive price. My prediction is that this disconnect will not last too long, especially if the company posts strong Q3 results.

Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Toast. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Toast. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Michael Saylor of Strategy believes Bitcoin could reach a price of $21 million.

The cryptocurrency market has historically been driven by passionate retail investors. In recent years, however, several high-profile executives have also started embracing digital assets.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has frequently joked about Dogecoin, while Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood has consistently voiced strong optimism around Bitcoin (BTC 0.94%). Another corporate leader who has gone even further is Strategy co-founder, Michael Saylor.

Saylor has become one of the most outspoken Bitcoin advocates, going as far as to add the cryptocurrency directly to Strategy's balance sheet. More recently, he projected a long-term price target of $21 million per coin by 2046. For perspective, that represents more than 18,000% upside from Bitcoin's current price of roughly $114,000 as of this writing.

The question, then, is what underpins Saylor's extraordinary bullish outlook -- and how realistic is such a forecast? Let's examine the core drivers of Saylor's thesis and consider whether this path is truly feasible.

Michael Saylor and the power of 21
In June, Saylor spoke at a Bitcoin seminar in Prague, where he outlined 21 principles for building wealth -- many of which, unsurprisingly, touched on Bitcoin.

One of his core themes was the idea of scarcity. Unlike fiat currencies, which can be printed in unlimited quantities, Bitcoin's supply is permanently capped at 21 million coins. This hard limit creates a unique supply-and-demand dynamic: During periods of economic uncertainty, investors are more likely to seek out Bitcoin as a store of value or even a hedge against inflation.

Saylor also contends that the growing tokenization of traditional asset classes on the blockchain will accelerate institutional adoption of Bitcoin. He takes this a step further, pointing to recent developments such as the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs by major financial institutions as well as the emergence of sovereign interest, with some nations already building -- or actively considering -- strategic Bitcoin reserves.

Understanding the math behind $21 million per Bitcoin
If Bitcoin were to reach $21 million per coin, its implied market capitalization would be about $441 trillion.

To put this into perspective, global gross domestic product (GDP) currently stands at about $111 trillion. Even assuming steady annual growth of 2.5%, worldwide GDP would only expand to roughly $186 trillion by 2046 -- less than half of Bitcoin's projected market value under Saylor's forecast.

World GDP data by YCharts

For Bitcoin to reach this price target, its value would need to compound at an average annual rate of about 28% over the next two decades. This growth is nearly four times the long-term compounded return of the S&P 500.

Will Bitcoin reach $21 million by 2046?
Based on the analysis above, I view Saylor's model as overly aggressive and think his $21 million target serves best as a thought experiment. That said, his broader bullish perspective shouldn't be dismissed. The strength of his argument is not supported by an exact dollar figure; rather, it lies in the directional insight.

While Saylor's projected price appreciation is unlikely to be realized literally, he does a great job of underscoring the asymmetric nature of Bitcoin: a strictly fixed supply set against the possibility of expanding demand. If institutional investors and governments continue to adopt Bitcoin, its value could rise far more sharply than many skeptics anticipate.

For investors, the takeaway is to separate vision from probability. Saylor may be overstating the magnitude, but he is likely correct about the long-term trajectory of Bitcoin. For this reason, I see exposure to Bitcoin as a good idea for investors with a long-term time horizon and a willingness to accept pronounced volatility as the cryptocurrency landscape continues to evolve.

Adam Spatacco has positions in Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

American Eagle's bold moves could be paying off.

Apparel retailing is a challenging business. There are low barriers to entry, it's highly competitive, and fashion tastes tend to be fickle. What was a hot brand one year can be ice cold just a few years later, and poor inventory management can lead to widespread markdowns, crushing margins.

Just look at Nike or Lululemon. Both of those stocks are among the biggest winners in the history of the apparel sector, but have fallen on tough times lately for a range of reasons, including style misses and new competition, leading to declining sales for both companies in the U.S.

Teen apparel retailer American Eagle Outfitters (AEO -0.21%) has had a volatile history, swinging back and forth between peaks and valleys over the last 20 years, as the chart below shows.

AEO data by YCharts.

As you can see, American Eagle also appears to be in the middle of an upswing following better-than-expected second-quarter results and a hike in its guidance. Two new celebrity partnerships seem to be driving a recovery.

Image source: Getty Images.

American Eagle's splashy moves
American Eagle launched a controversial ad campaign with the actress Sydney Sweeney in July. The campaign, with the tagline "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans," featured video and photos of her in American Eagle jeans with a voice-over describing genetics.

The ad generated a lot of buzz, not all of it positive, but it did provide a measurable lift to the company's sales and even got a comment from President Donald Trump. Sweeney-branded items like a denim jacket and a wide-leg pair of jeans sold out quickly. According to The Wall Street Journal, the campaign helped bring in 1 million new customers between July and September.

The company plans to continue running those ads at least through the end of the year, and Sweeney has signed on as the brand's ambassador for the rest of the year as well, with her top-selling items set to be restocked ahead of the holiday season.

American Eagle is also collaborating with one of the country's most influential athletes, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who is now engaged to Taylor Swift. The retailer launched a tie-in with Kelce's Tru Kolors clothing brand the day after he and Swift announced their engagement.

According to early press coverage, the collaboration is doing well, leading men's web traffic. And a second collection is set to be released soon, with the campaign including a one-day pop-up store in Kansas City, Missouri. American Eagle also made Kelce creative director of the partnership.

The impact of that launch, which came at the end of August and after the second quarter ended, is likely to show up in American Eagle's third-quarter results.

Is American Eagle a buy?
It's been a challenging time for the apparel retail sector as consumer discretionary spending has been down in the U.S. due to the weakening job market and fears about tariffs and rising prices.

In American Eagle's second quarter, which mostly took place before the new campaigns, overall comparable-store sales (comps) were down 1%, though earnings per share rose 15%, due almost entirely to share buybacks. The company reduced shares outstanding by 13.2% over the last year, showing its commitment to returning capital to shareholders and taking advantage of its low stock price.

American Eagle's guidance is also looking up as the company called for comps to be up by the low single digits in the third and fourth quarters, its seasonally strongest times of year. Although the company does see margins falling, which factors in pressure from tariffs, leading to a decline in operating income.

Still, that guidance may be underestimating the impact of its campaigns with Sweeney and Kelce, and those moves also show why American Eagle has had staying power in an industry that is no stranger to bankruptcies, such as Aéropostale's.

If the momentum continues, the stock could have a pleasant surprise for investors in the second half of the year. At a price-to-earnings ratio of 17, there's certainly room for the stock to go higher if the results warrant.

Jeremy Bowman has positions in Nike. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Lululemon Athletica Inc. and Nike. The Motley Fool recommends American Eagle Outfitters. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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The Bitcoin price has hit a new all-time high, after staging a monstrous rally since the start of October, climbing above its previous ATH of $124,400. This comes as market participants look forward to several bullish market catalysts that could happen in this fourth quarter.

Bitcoin Price Hits New ATH Amid ‘Uptober’ Excitement
TradingView data shows that the flagship crypto has hit a new ATH of $125,500, rising from an intra-day low of around $121,500. This has come amid the ‘uptober’ excitement, with BTC already up over 6% to start this month, which is its best second-best performing month based on historical data.

Source: TradingView; Bitcoin Daily Chart
This Bitcoin price rally comes just less than two months following its run to its previous ATH of $124,400 in August, which came as market participants priced in the first rate cut of the year, which happened at the September FOMC meeting. Now, just as during that period, the market appears to be pricing in another Fed rate cut at the upcoming FOMC meeting this month.

As CoinGape reported, there is currently around a 97% chance that the Fed will make a 25 basis points (bps) rate cut at the upcoming meeting. This looks more than likely due to the softening labor market.

Meanwhile, CoinGape also reported that the Bitcoin ETFs have seen renewed interest, recording their largest weekly inflows of the year last week, with $3.24 billion flowing into these funds. As such, this demand from institutional investors has also contributed to the Bitcoin price rally to a new ATH.

With its rally above $125,000, BTC now boasts a market capitalization of $2.5 trillion and is the seventh-largest asset, just behind silver. The flagship crypto is well ahead of ‘Mag 7’ stocks, Meta and Amazon, which currently boast a market cap of $1.78 trillion and $2.3 trillion, respectively.

Source: CompaniesMarketCap
$148 million in BTC positions have been liquidated in the last 24 hours amid the Bitcoin price rally to a new all-time high, according to CoinGlass data. $132 million was short positions, while $16 million were long positions.

Source: CoinGlass

Investment disclaimer: The content reflects the author’s personal views and current market conditions. Please conduct your own research before investing in cryptocurrencies, as neither the author nor the publication is responsible for any financial losses.

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Bitcoin at $125k, new all-time high, $131 million in short liquidations in 24 hours, what is the next target?

Journalist

Posted: October 5, 2025

Key Takeaways
How dominant is Solana in tokenized stock trading?
Solana captured a staggering 95.6% of all tokenized stock trading volume in the past 30 days, far ahead of Gnosis (1.98%) and Ethereum (1.8%).

What’s driving Solana’s lead in tokenized assets?
$2B in new stablecoin inflows, major upgrades like Alpenglow and Firedancer, and record trading volumes have strengthened Solana’s network speed, reliability, and investor appeal.

Solana [SOL] has tightened its hold on the booming market of tokenized equities, grabbing an extraordinary 95.6% of all trading volume over the past month, according to a recent Solana Floor report.

That dominance leaves competitors far behind, with Gnosis managing just 1.98%, while Ethereum barely cleared 1.8%.

Apart from a brief dip on the 26th of September, Solana’s share of the daily trading flow never dropped below 89%, a sign of just how entrenched it’s become in this growing corner of the market.

Source: Solana Floor

A standout September for Solana
The numbers back the findings in Vaneck’s September report, which highlighted Solana as the clear winner among major networks.

Notably, Solana drew $2 billion in new stablecoin inflows last month, lifting the total to $14.3 billion, and holding a commanding 60% share of tokenized stock trades.

Two major upgrades — Alpenglow and Firedancer — have also helped.

Both are aimed at improving throughput and network stability, and analysts say they have strengthened Solana’s appeal to large traders who value speed and reliability.

Trading volumes climb to multi-month high
Momentum has not just come from upgrades. Solana’s trading volumes has recorded its highest numbers during this time, reflecting renewed confidence among investors.

Market watchers point to lower transaction fees, quicker settlement times and a growing developer community as reasons the network continues to pull ahead in tokenized assets — an area many see as one of blockchain’s most promising use cases.

The key on-chain developments paired with the aforementioned fundamentals could see SOL outperform ETH on the price chart as well.

Source: Token Terminal

What’s next for SOL?
Solana’s commanding share in tokenized stocks could translate into sustained demand for the SOL token itself, particularly if the trend continues to attract new issuers and traders.

But Ethereum and other rivals are not likely to stay at hold. Planned scaling upgrades could chip away at Solana’s lead, leaving the network under pressure to keep innovating to defend its gains.