Ticker Reports for March 24th
These 3 Beaten-Down Stocks Just Announced Massive Share Buybacks
Stock buybacks are generally bullish for shareholders. In addition to signaling that a company's management may view its stock as undervalued, share repurchase programs also reduce the number of shares outstanding and, by extension, can increase earnings per share.
Recently, Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), DocuSign (NASDAQ: DOCU), and Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM)—three big names in the tech sector that have all experienced dramatic drawdowns this year—announced massive buyback programs that should be catching investors' attention.
As all three have fallen at least 30% from their respective 52-week highs, their management teams are signaling confidence through huge buyback announcements at levels they likely see as depressed and likely to reverse.
Salesforce Announces Record $25 Billion Accelerated Repurchase
Salesforce has been one of the poster children of the so-called "SaaSpocalypse," with CRM shares down around 35% from their 52-week high. "SaaSpocalypse" is a shorthand some market observers use to describe broad declines across many Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) stocks, partly tied to investor concerns that new artificial intelligence (AI) tools could reshape software economics.
As AI makes computer coding easier, there are considerable concerns about the future growth of legacy SaaS companies. That concern stems from the idea that would-be customers could simply use AI to code an application that replicates Salesforce’s functionality. In addition, emerging AI-native vendors could build similar tools at a lower cost, which would undercut Salesforce's pricing.
Salesforce, however, sees AI as an enabler for its business, not a hindrance. Notably, its AI add-on AgentForce recently hit $800 million in annual recurring revenue, a 169% year-over-year (YOY) increase.
Overall, Salesforce management remains confident in its outlook and is putting its money where its mouth is. The firm recently announced its largest-ever $25 billion accelerated share repurchase (ASR), which accounts for roughly 14% of the firm’s approximately $180 billion market capitalization.
ASRs are a particularly strong sign of confidence, representing the fastest way that a firm can repurchase its stock. This suggests that Salesforce sees its share price as significantly undervalued—a sentiment shared by Wall Street.
Analysts see nearly 44% potential upside in CRM over the next 12 months and have given the stock a consensus Moderate Buy rating, with 27 of the 39 analysts covering the stock assigning it a Buy.
DocuSign Lifts Repurchase Authorization to $2.6 Billion
DocuSign has faced many of the same broad AI-related questions that have pressured other software names.
Overall, the stock is down nearly 50% from its 52-week high, including a loss of around 30% in 2026. Shares of DOCU now trade at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of approximately 11x, narrowly above its all-time lowest P/E multiple.
Like many software stocks, negative impacts from AI disruption haven’t shown up in the company's financials yet. DocuSign generated tepid sales growth of 8% in 2025, relatively in line with the growth seen over the prior two years, and expects the same number again this year alongside relative margin stability.
However, the stock market is a forward-looking mechanism, and the questions it is weighing are whether results could start to deteriorate in the future, and whether DocuSign’s guidance will hold up.
But like Salesforce, DocuSign is signaling confidence through buybacks. Alongside its latest earnings release—which marked its 13th consecutive quarterly earnings beat dating back to Q3 2023—the company increased its buyback authorization by $2 billion. That move brings DocuSign's total authorization to $2.6 billion, or equal to a massive 28% of DocuSign’s approximately $9.5 billion market capitalization.
Notably, the firm spent around $269 million on buybacks in its latest quarter, an increase of 66% YOY. The firm’s new authorization suggests the pace of buybacks could continue accelerating, suggesting that management is bullish. So are analysts, who are calling for more than 41% potential upside over the next 12 months.
Qualcomm Boosts Buybacks as Memory Woes Weigh on Shares
Shares of semiconductor giant Qualcomm are trading approximately 35% below their 52-week high.
Generally speaking, Qualcomm has little exposure to the AI data center megatrend. This has led to vast underperformance compared to many large and mega-cap chip stocks over the past several years.
Somewhat ironically, Qualcomm’s biggest market is being negatively impacted by the AI buildout.
In its latest quarter, handsets—essentially smartphones—accounted for around 64% of the company’s revenue. In its next quarter, the company expects handset sales of around $6 billion, a decrease of 13% YOY. Smartphone makers are cutting back their orders of Qualcomm’s processor chips due to one key supply shortage: memory chips.
Specifically, these customers cannot secure enough dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), limiting their ability to assemble complete phones. This comes as memory chip makers are repurposing their DRAM capacity to increase high bandwidth memory (HBM) capacity, which is the type of memory needed in advanced AI systems, providing larger and higher margin opportunities for memory makers. This leaves Qualcomm as the odd man out.
Still, Qualcomm is confident in its long-term outlook, having significant traction in automotive markets and seeing a large robotics opportunity ahead. The company demonstrated this by announcing a $20 billion buyback authorization, bringing its total share repurchase authorization to $22.1 billion, equal to an enormous 17% of its approximately $137 billion market capitalization.
The buyback announcement comes at an opportune time, with analysts forecasting more than 29% potential upside over the next 12 months.
When Shares Slide, Buybacks Speak
Across Salesforce, DocuSign, and Qualcomm, the common thread is scale: each company is allocating substantial capacity to share repurchases after significant drawdowns from recent highs. Buybacks don’t erase the risks driving these selloffs, but they do put real money behind management’s view that valuations have become more attractive.
Within this group of stocks, Salesforce’s accelerated share repurchase is the most powerful statement, reflecting urgency as well as conviction. The bigger test, though, won’t be the size of the authorization; it will be whether execution and results over the coming quarters persuade the market that the AI-related fears hanging over legacy software are overstated.
Elon's Private AI Empire: The Backdoor Under $100
Elon's Private AI Empire: The Backdoor Under $100
These Insider Trades Look Like Clear Signals—Until You Read the Fine Print
Insider trading can look like a flashing buy-or-sell signal, but the story is more nuanced in three market leaders.
Big sales of Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) and AppLovin (NASDAQ: APP) largely reflect routine mechanics like tax-withholding and pre-set plans, while a sizable Coupang (NYSE: CPNG) purchase stands out as a deliberate vote of confidence.
While the implications of these moves may seem obvious at first, insider trades are often not what they seem, requiring careful analysis. The key is separating automatic or scheduled transactions from genuinely discretionary moves that may carry more informational weight.
Broadcom Insider Selling Tops $88 Million: Red Flag or Business as Usual?
Semiconductor lynchpin Broadcom is the world’s leader in custom-designed artificial intelligence (AI) processors.
But recently—and notably—the company has seen significant insider selling. So far in March, insiders have sold about $88.3 million in Broadcom stock, part of roughly $123 million in insider sales since the start of the first quarter.
Those transactions come from four individuals, including two who hold particularly important roles at Broadcom. Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer Kirsten Spears sold approximately $19 million, and President of Broadcom’s Semiconductor Solutions Group Charlie Kawwas sold approximately $21 million. This comes on the heels of $250 million in shares sold in Q4 2025.
The headline number can look unsettling, especially given the stock’s recent volatility. But the key detail is why the shares were sold.
All of Broadcom’s insider sales in March “were sold through automatic transactions to cover withholding taxes due upon vesting of restricted stock units (RSUs)," per the Form 4 SEC filing.
RSUs are stock-based compensation that converts into shares when the award vests. Because vesting is generally treated as taxable income, insiders are required to pay taxes on it. Companies often use a “sell-to-cover” process that automatically sells a portion of the newly vested shares to satisfy withholding obligations. In other words, these sales are not discretionary by nature and are not a bearish signal for AVGO.
AppLovin: Insider Selling Picks Up as the Stock Pulls Back
AppLovin has become a dominant player in the mobile game advertising and user acquisition space, helping drive its market capitalization to nearly nearly $150 billion.
There are numerous reasons why the stock has fallen nearly 40% from its 52-week high, including the ongoing software sell-off that began at the start of the year.
There were no insider sales in AppLovin during the first two months of the year, but that changed quickly as Q1 progressed. So far in March, insiders have sold roughly $160 million in AppLovin shares.
Most of these sales are of no concern to investors as they fall under 10b5-1 plans. Under those plans, insiders determine when to sell shares far in advance of when transactions take place, which significantly reduces the likelihood that those insider sales are a bearish signal.
But CEO Adam Foroughi's $42 million sale did not come under a 10b5-1 plan.
While it is never inspiring to see a company’s CEO sell shares, it is also important to consider the magnitude of these sales, which in Foroughi's case is negligible. After the recent sales, his direct ownership stake in AppLovin was reduced from around 2.55 million shares to 2.43 million shares—a relatively minor decline of less than 5%. Considering this, insiders' recent AppLovin sales are not particularly concerning.
Coupang: Institutional Insider Ups Position as Shares Tank
On the other side of the equation, insiders are buying into e-commerce stock Coupang.
Coupang has established itself as the largest player in the South Korean e-commerce industry, amassing a market capitalization of approximately $35 billion.
However, the stock has struggled and is down nearly 44% from its 52-week high, including a loss of more than 19% in 2026.
A large data breach has been a significant headwind for the stock, having exposed the personal information of 33.7 million users—the largest breach in South Korean history. The incident has hindered Coupang’s growth, with the firm noting that revenues from its Product Commerce segment rose conservatively at just 12% year-over-year (YOY) in its latest quarter. This is a notable deceleration from the 18% YOY growth the prior quarter, which the company attributes to reduced customer activity following the data breach.
However, amid the carnage, Neil Mehta—a director and member of Coupang's board—disclosed a purchase of approximately $137 million in CPNG shares via his investment firm Greenoaks Capital Partners LLC, increasing his position by about 11%.
Because the buying was done via Greenoaks-managed funds, it reflects institutional accumulation, which is typically viewed as a more constructive signal than routine insider selling.
What These Trades Might (and Might Not) Say
Broadcom’s and AppLovin’s insider selling may look bearish at first glance, but the context matters: sales tied to RSU tax withholding or pre-set plans often say more about compensation and scheduling than about executives’ views on the business. That also means they don’t automatically validate the stock’s recent pullback.
Coupang’s disclosure is the clearer “signal” candidate because it reflects added exposure during weakness through Greenoaks-managed funds. Even then, it doesn’t guarantee a near-term bottom; it suggests the buyer may view the breach fallout as more temporary than the market is pricing in, with a longer time horizon in mind.
Elon Musk already made me a "wealthy man"
Elon Musk already made me a "wealthy man"
Regulatory Jackpot: Gaming Stocks Surge on a Surprise Bill
A sudden jolt of activity from Washington, D.C., sent shockwaves through the U.S. gaming and entertainment sector on March 23, 2026.
Shares of industry leaders DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG) and Flutter Entertainment plc (NYSE: FLUT) surged in heavy trading, marking a significant deviation from recent trends. This sharp upward movement was not tied to an earnings report or a market-wide rally, but to a powerful and direct legislative catalyst.
The introduction of a new bipartisan Senate bill, the Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act, immediately altered the competitive landscape. The bill targets a new and disruptive class of rivals that have operated in a regulatory gray area. For established players like DraftKings and Flutter, this development signals a fundamental shift in the rules of the game that could be highly profitable.
The Catalyst and the Moat: A Rival Threat Neutralized
To understand the market’s enthusiastic reaction, investors must first understand the competitive threat that was just neutralized.
In recent years, prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket have emerged as disruptive forces. These platforms allow users to buy and sell contracts based on the outcome of future events, and they have increasingly encroached upon the core territory of traditional sportsbooks.
The primary threat posed by these platforms was their unique operating structure. By obtaining regulatory approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), they were able to offer services nationwide. This allowed them to bypass the complex, expensive, and time-consuming state-by-state licensing process that licensed operators like DraftKings and Flutter’s FanDuel must undertake. This structural advantage created an uneven playing field.
The new Senate bill aims to level that field by banning sports-related contracts on these platforms. This legislative action creates what is known in business as a regulatory moat, a powerful competitive barrier built by government rules that favors established, compliant companies.
By pushing unregulated competition out of the sports vertical, the bill effectively builds a protective wall around the businesses of DraftKings and Flutter. This moat solidifies their existing market share, reduces long-term pressure to compete on price with unregulated entities, and validates their methodical, state-licensed business models as the industry standard.
Why Investors Are Rushing Into DraftKings
The legislative news boosted DraftKings' stock price, with the market sending several clear bullish signals.
The stock’s immediate price spike on high trading volume showed strong investor approval. From a technical standpoint, this rally is significant as it pushed the stock price up to test its descending 40-day moving average. For chart-focused investors, a sustained break above this key level often signals a reversal of a downtrend and can trigger further buying.
Investor sentiment was also on clear display in the options market. Call options, which are bets that a stock’s price will rise, saw a massive surge in volume. On the day of the news, the volume of calls traded outpaced that of puts, bets the price will fall, by more than four to one. This heavy skew suggests that sophisticated traders are positioning for continued upside in the near term.
Beyond the immediate market reaction, the development strengthens DraftKings’ fundamental outlook. The removal of a competitor class means DraftKings' path to sustained profitability is now clearer. Marketing dollars may become more efficient as they target a less crowded field, potentially accelerating margin improvement and enhancing the return on DraftKings's significant brand-building investments.
This positive momentum is supported by Wall Street analysts. The majority of firms covering DraftKings rate the stock as a Buy or Outperform. The median price target of $37.09 suggests solid potential upside from its current trading price, reinforcing the view that DraftKings's growth story is far from over.
Why Flutter Stands to Gain the Most
As the parent company of FanDuel, the definitive market leader in U.S. online sports betting, Flutter Entertainment is uniquely positioned to benefit from a more consolidated and rational competitive environment. A less crowded market allows FanDuel to further leverage its powerful brand recognition and operational scale, reinforcing its leadership and creating a clearer path for growth in its most important market.
Confidence from company leadership provides another key indicator. While recent filings showed some executives selling shares, this is often part of pre-arranged financial planning. A far more powerful and direct signal is the board's recent authorization of a substantial share buyback program. This action uses company capital to repurchase its own stock, signaling a clear belief from the top that the stock is undervalued.
Furthermore, Flutter’s extensive and profitable operations worldwide, including in the UK and Australia, provide a stable financial foundation. This global strength allows Flutter to continue its aggressive, highly successful investment in the U.S. market from a position of security, a key advantage over competitors focused solely on the U.S. market.
This strong position is endorsed by Flutter’s analyst community. Like its primary competitor, Flutter enjoys strong consensus among Wall Street firms. The average price target of $234.65 points to over 100% upside, underscoring broad confidence in Flutter’s strategy and its ability to continue executing on the massive U.S. market opportunity.
Betting on a Favorable Future
The introduction of the Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act represents more than just a daily headline; it signals a fundamental and positive shift for the U.S. sports betting industry. The legislative action is decisively favoring the established, licensed operators who have invested billions in building compliant businesses.
For DraftKings and Flutter, the creation of this regulatory moat provides a durable competitive advantage, strengthening the long-term investment case for both companies. It removes a layer of uncertainty and validates their strategic approach. This event serves as a clear example for investors of how legislative news flow can be a powerful catalyst. Identifying the well-positioned incumbents who stand to benefit when regulators finally draw clear lines in the sand can be a key to unlocking significant shareholder value.
MAJOR BUY ALERT: Mar-a-Lago/Trump/Elon
MAJOR BUY ALERT: Mar-a-Lago/Trump/Elon
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