| Written by Leo Miller 
Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors of all time, with many market participants closely watching the Oracle of Omaha's stock picks. While markets focus on flashy artificial intelligence plays, Buffett is staying true to form. Through Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B), he’s quietly built a position in a little-discussed name. That stock is Pool (NASDAQ: POOL), the world’s largest wholesale distributor of swimming pool supplies, equipment, and related leisure products. The firm’s relatively unexciting industry begs the question: what does Buffett see in this consumer discretionary stock? The investment was at least somewhat validated after the company’s latest earnings, as shares spiked afterward. Below, we’ll detail Berkshire’s investment history, looking to understand whether it still sees value in this name. We’ll examine the company’s latest results and posit why Berkshire invested in the stock. Ultimately, does Pool represent a compelling investment? Berkshire Data Indicates Opportunity Is Still Available in POOL Shares According to Berkshire’s 13F SEC filings, the company initiated a position in Pool back in Q3 2024 of around 404,000 shares. During that quarter, Pool’s average closing price was around $342, indicating that Berkshire saw the stock as a good buy near this level. Berkshire continued purchasing shares in Q4 2024 and Q1 2025. In Q1 2025, Pool’s average price was $336, but it closed as low as $317. As shares fell, Berkshire massively increased its stake. At the end of Q1, Berkshire held 1,464,000 shares, a 145% increase versus Q4 2024. As of the July 28 close, Pool trades at $321. This figure is below the stock’s lowest closing price in Q1, the quarter when Berkshire added around 865,000 shares to its position. All else equal, this indicates that investors have not missed out on whatever opportunity Berkshire saw in Pool. So, what do Pool’s latest results tell investors about the company, and why was Berkshire comfortable having approximately $466 million invested in the name at the end of Q1? Financials Hold Steady Through Weak Demand; Buffett Eyes Long-Term Tailwinds In Q2, Pool’s sales came in nearly in line at $1.78 billion for a growth rate of just under 1%. However, the stock did manage a moderate beat on adjusted earnings per share (EPS), with the figure coming in at $5.17. This growth rate was approximately 3.8%, compared to expectations of 2.8% growth. Despite this beat, the company adjusted the midpoint of its full-year EPS guidance down 2.2% to $11.05. Overall, the firm’s results suggest it is doing a better-than-expected job of managing costs, but a weak demand environment is weighing on expectations. This comes as pool construction is in a downturn, and the company doesn’t expect a rebound in 2025. High interest rates are affecting this. They reduce housing turnover, and people often build pools when they switch homes. Shares spiked as much as 8% on July 24 after the results, but closed up only around 3%. Known as a long-term investor, Buffett is likely betting on a long-term trend toward swimming pools becoming a larger part of society. Driving this trend is the fact that scientists estimate that average global temperatures will increase by between 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) and nearly 5 °C (9 °F) by the year 2100. The company says that new pool construction makes up only about 15% of sales. Still, it's crucial for long-term growth. New pools expand the customer base to which the firm can sell its pool maintenance products. This allows the company to generate higher recurring sales over time, which drives the majority of its revenue. Pool also notes population migration to warmer Southern U.S. states as a long-term growth driver. Indeed, the last Census found that the South was the fastest-growing region in the country. Interest Rate and Temperature Changes Would Be Huge for Pool Shares Long-Term Since 2000, the average monthly effective federal funds rate has been around 2%. Currently, it is at 4.33%. This suggests there could be a significant reversion back to these average levels in the long term. If this happens, pool construction should recover, benefiting demand for the ancillary pool products the company sells and thus shares. Should the trend of rising temperatures continue, this adds a powerful long-term tailwind to Pool stock. Wall Street analysts see very limited 12-month upside potential in Pool shares. However, as Berkshire is likely betting on, the stock has a significant opportunity to appreciate over an extended time frame if the trends discussed above come to fruition.  Read This Story Online |  |
| Written by Leo Miller 
AT&T (NYSE: T), Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), and T-Mobile US (NASDAQ: TMUS) dominate the telecommunications industry in the United States. Together, investors know them as the “Big Three” telecom stocks. They compete fiercely to win wireless cell phone customers. This competition extends to providing internet to homes and businesses, often referred to as broadband. So, which big name impressed the most in Q2? Let’s break it down. AT&T: Beats Q2 Estimates With Solid Subscriber and Revenue Gains AT&T reported Q2 financials on July 23. At a high level, the results were positive. The company beat sales estimates by more than $400 million and surpassed adjusted earnings per share (EPS) forecasts by 1 cent. Shares closed up by a little more than 1%, underscoring the firm’s solid results. Diving in further, the company added 401,000 net postpaid cell phone subscribers. Despite a 4% drop in additions compared to the same period last year, the figure was significantly better than anticipated. The company’s broadband business also performed well. AT&T added around 243,000 fiber optic customers and around 203,000 AT&T Internet Air customers, and fiber revenues grew by just under 19%. The company’s “converged customers” percentage also ticked up to just under 41% compared to just over 40% last quarter. This metric measures the percentage of fiber and cell phone customers. The increasing percentage indicates that the firm is continuing to progress in cross-selling these services, a highly positive sign. Overall, it was a very solid report for AT&T. The cherry on top was the fact that the firm expects to see $6.5 billion to $8 billion in cash tax savings through 2027 due to the One Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBB). Verizon: Shares Spike Nicely, But Postpaid Losses Are a Concern For Q2, Verizon posted results on July 21, beating expectations on both revenue and adjusted EPS. It also slightly increased its full-year guidance on multiple key metrics, including adjusted EPS growth and free cash flow. The free cash flow boost comes as the company sees tax reforms in the OBBB benefiting the metric by $1.5 billion to $2 billion in 2025. These solid headline results led to shares closing up 4% on July 21. However, there was a significant negative in the report. The company’s net postpaid cell phone customers fell by 9,000, while Wall Street expected the figure to rise. This came as the firm added 42,000 business phone customers but lost 51,000 consumer customers. However, the 50,000 net prepaid cell phone additions did soften the blow. The company’s broadband business held strong, adding 293,000 net customers, although this was down from 391,000 a year ago. Overall, Verizon also had a solid quarter, but its loss of postpaid wireless customers is not a great forward-looking signal. T-Mobile: Earnings Growth Crushes Estimates, Company Breaks Q2 Records Last up is T-Mobile, which reported Q2 results on July 23. The company slightly beat estimates on sales growth, but its adjusted EPS beat was particularly impressive. The figure increased by 14% to $2.84. Wall Street only anticipated a rise of 8%. The firm also boosted guidance. It expects to add around 500,000 more net postpaid customers when combining wireless and broadband, versus previous forecasts. These headline figures led to shares rising more than 6% on July 24. The company also added 830,000 net postpaid cell phone customers, a record Q2 figure for T-Mobile. It also posted 1.7 million total net postpaid adds, another Q2 record. This figure includes net postpaid cell phone adds, net 5G broadband adds, and net postpaid wireless adds for other devices like tablets and wearables. 5G broadband adds were industry-leading, coming in at 545,000. The company also noted that its revenue per account (ARPA) increased by 5%, its highest clip in eight years. The company expects $1.5 billion in OBBB-related cash tax benefits in 2026. For T-Mobile, Q2 2025 was an unmitigated win. T-Mobile Takes the Telecom Cake in Q2 Overall, all three of the United States' telecom giants performed solidly in Q2, each beating expectations on headline metrics. However, T-Mobile clearly walked away with the best showing. It massively surpassed adjusted EPS estimates and notched multiple personal bests. After the results came out, analysts at Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) boosted their price target on T-Mobile from $265 to $285. This figure implies 17% upside in shares versus the stock’s July 25 closing price. Read This Story Online |  A new gold discovery has been drilled just 500 meters from Aris Mining's 2.3-million-ounce Juby deposit, deep in Ontario's Abitibi Greenstone Belt, one of the most productive gold regions on Earth.
This junior explorer intercepted 48.5 meters of 0.85 g/t gold, with higher-grade zones up to 2.97 g/t. Learn about the Abitibi's next possible gold corridor. |
| Written by Leo Miller 
As Q2 earnings season rolls on, some of the world’s most influential tech and infrastructure companies have delivered strong results—but what’s catching Wall Street’s attention isn’t just the numbers, it’s the upgraded outlooks and rising price targets. In particular, three stocks—each deeply involved in the growth of artificial intelligence—have seen analysts sharply raise their expectations. While all three are in or nearing mega-cap territory (market caps of $200 billion or more), their post-earnings share performance hasn’t fully reflected the bullish sentiment now taking shape. Here’s a closer look at the names that are drawing analyst upgrades and why the market may be underpricing them. GOOGL: Wall Street Lifts Average Target by Nearly 7% as Shares Stagnate First up is Magnificent Seven stock and Google parent company Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL). The firm boasts a market capitalization of over $2.3 trillion, and consumers and investors alike recognize it for its Gemini large language model. Alphabet reported earnings on July 23, and the company solidly beat estimates on both sales and adjusted earnings per share (EPS). Despite posting strong results, shares didn’t do too much afterward, closing up just 1% over the next trading session. However, Wall Street analysts indicated that the results may have warranted a much more bullish move up. MarketBeat tracked nearly 20 analysts who boosted their Google price targets on July 24. This is because the average price target among these analysts has increased by 6.7%. Because this number is much higher than the stock's actual rise, untapped opportunities could exist for investors in this name. The MarketBeat consensus price target on Alphabet is around $211, implying around 9% upside in shares. However, the average price target among those analysts who updated their forecasts on July 24 is $215, implying more than 11% upside. Wall Street analysts are moderately more bullish on the stock now than they were before the release. Notably, Google still trades at the lowest forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of any Magnificent Seven stock at just under 20x. Wall Street Massively Upgrades GEV, Seeing Further Upside Ahead Next up is GE Vernova (NYSE: GEV), a company that is really helping power the AI revolution. With a market cap of around $175 million, GE Vernova is quickly approaching mega-cap territory. The company had an absolute blowout quarter in Q2, crushing estimates and boosting guidance. Orders for its natural gas-powered turbines are spiking as utility companies work to keep up with booming electricity demand, primarily due to AI data centers. After reporting results on July 23, shares spiked nearly 15% that day. Then, on July 24, MarketBeat tracked just under 10 Wall Street analysts who boosted their price target on the stock. Overall, the average price target among these analysts increased by a whopping 27%. The MarketBeat consensus price target on GE Vernova stock is $541, implying around 16% share downside. However, honing in on price targets updated on July 24 completely flips the script. Among those targets, the average is nearly $698. That figure implies an 8% upside in shares. This comes as GE Vernova shares have already provided a total return of more than 96% in 2025. NOW: Latest Price Targets Indicate +20% Upside After Strong Earnings Last up is agentic AI player ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW). As of the July 25 close, ServiceNow trades at a market capitalization of $201 billion, barely a mega-cap stock. Reporting Q2 results on July 23, ServiceNow moderately beat expectations on sales but surpassed adjusted EPS estimates by a wide margin. This resulted in shares seeing a solid 4% rise afterward. MarketBeat tracked nearly 10 analysts who raised their price targets on the stock. However, a couple of them slightly lowered or reiterated their targets. Overall, the average price target among these analysts increased by a little less than 6%, not too far off from the stock’s actual gain. Still, analysts continue to see upside in shares. The MarketBeat consensus price target on ServiceNow is around $1,115, implying 15% upside in shares. That number rises even further when only considering targets updated on July 24. Among them, the average target is around $1,176, implying a 22% share upside. Analysts Are Noticing What GOOGL, GEV, and NOW Bring to the Table Taken together, Alphabet, GE Vernova, and ServiceNow are not only delivering solid quarterly results—they’re earning renewed confidence from Wall Street. The sharp uptick in analyst price targets, particularly in cases where share prices haven’t yet responded in kind, points to underappreciated upside potential. These names could represent meaningful opportunities in the quarters ahead for investors tracking the intersection of mega-cap growth and AI-driven innovation. Read This Story Online |  Have you traded with Compression Zones?
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