With the tech selloff, investors are looking to other parts of the market. Defensive stocks have held up well. But the real value in this market is buying into companies that can raise their prices to deal with inflation… and not lose customers doing so. Offering everyday low prices, one such area is fast food. These companies have streamlined operations, a loyal customer base, and haven’t performed as well as some of the faster-moving parts of the market in the past year. One such play is The Wendy’s Company (WEN). The hamburger giant just reported solid earnings that beat expectati...

The rise of electric vehicles over the past few years has proven strong even with a global pandemic. Companies have sprouted up over the past year to take advantage of the trend. Any company that can offer a significant innovation is capable of grabbing a big market share for itself. But it also has to be able to scale up that technology to commercially-viable levels. One promising company isQuantumScape (QS). A recently-public company, they’re working on a new solid-state battery. The company reported poor earnings, but gave some key technical updates. So far, the market is a bit sk...

Colonial Pipeline shut down on Friday following a ransomware attack. The pipeline moves about 45% of the fuel used in the Northeast from facilities in Texas. The company has a tentative date to restore operations by Friday, leaving the pipeline off for a whole week. The impact is raising gasoline prices and the possibility of shortages in some areas, but also bringing an eye once again towards cybersecurity companies. As the first cyberattack in the energy sector specifically, it’s clear that players in the sector large and small will look to beef up their cybersecurity capacity. ...

While tech stocks have been out of favor the past few months, companies continue to innovate and roll out new products. Some are mere ideas, others are on the cusp of massive profitability. The 5G network is in the second category. It’s been discussed for years, and started slowly rolling out shortly before the pandemic started. With an end to the pandemic, it’s likely to speed up, and one company stands to dominate no matter how the sector unfolds. That company isQualcomm (QCOM). The company is the leader in mobile chip technology. Its products appear in major brands. And the compan...

Fintech payment companySquare (SQ) has been a big pandemic winner. Cashless transactions are on the rise, and the company’s touchless technology has done a lot to avoid the physical exchange of cash, on top of its other features. So it’s no surprise that the company smashed its latest earnings report, bringing in $5.06 billion in revenue against expectations of $3.3 billion. The company even reported making $3.5 billion in Bitcoin transactions, up 10-fold from a year ago when it was just getting started. With revenue growth of 140 percent, and with the company reporting a $75 million...

Residential real estate has been a strong performer in the past year. Sales trends suggest that home prices will continue to appreciate as demand remains strong and supply remains tight. That bodes well for a number of companies that play to housing trends. That’s why most names in the space have beaten their quarterly estimates so far, and why they’re likely to perform well in the months ahead. One such play isZillow Group (Z). The company saw revenue rise 8 percent over the past year, and the company’s guidance came in as expected. Even with this strong operational performance, ...

Even before the pandemic, sales of video games were topping box office receipts. And with a world loaded with small indie studios to developers producing popular titles, video games are a growing source of revenue for the entertainment sector. That’s a trend likely to continue, thanks to the latest generation consoles and an endless stream of new games in production. The strong cash flows from creating video games has made for a massively profitable niche in the entertainment sector with room to grow. One big player isActivision Blizzard (ATVI). The company just beat estimates and ev...

The pandemic’s effect on the economy can be measured in many ways. One simple way to track its effects is by looking at the level of global commerce. A number of companies can provide a one-stop look at this information as they report earnings. That may be why shipping companies likeUPS (UPS) andFedEx (FDX) have been in rally mode the past few months. They reflect a hot economy. Both companies are also getting analyst upgrades ahead of their next earnings report. That also comes on the back of improving jobs numbers, strong GDP data, and a rise in global commerce that may get back to...

The past few years has seen the rise of entirely new businesses online. Areas such as e-Sports are overtaking physical sports in terms of value and customer interest. That’s also true with sports gambling, which, thanks to some legal changes, is now widely available online. The big player in that space isDraftKings (DKNG). The company went public last year via a SPAC and was an early winner in that way of going public. Like many SPAC and post-SPAC companies, however, shares have fallen on hard times. The company has lost 25 percent of its value since March. And that’s in spite of the...

With most of the tech space focused on the semiconductor shortage, a few areas are performing well in spite of the industry effects. One area? Memory. From solid state drives to flash drives, demand for storing more and larger amounts of data has remained constant. That’s great for companies that produce these products. And based on the latest earnings numbers, it’s clear that these companies are in an uptrend. For instance,Western Digital (WDC) just reported better-than-expected financial results. While revenue was down 1 percent from a year ago, the company greatly exceeded on earn...