📊 19 AI-Resilient Stocks

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Happy Monday!

The economy is showing signs of cooling inflation without cracking growth.

• Annual CPI slowed to 2.4% in January, below the 2.5% economists expected.

At the same time, the labor market surprised to the upside.

• The U.S. added 130,000 jobs, double forecasts, and unemployment ticked down to 4.3%.

One soft spot in all of the recent macro data coming out was retail sales.

• This figure came in flat in December after a 0.6% increase in November.

Putting it all together, the data has reinforced expectations that the Fed will remain cautious and hold rates steady in the near term.

Meanwhile, President Trump said his Fed nominee, Kevin Warsh, could help drive economic growth to 15%.

• For context, U.S. GDP has averaged 2.8% annual growth over the past five decades.

Key Data Bites Over The Last Week:

• 20 S&P 500 stocks delivered double-digit sales growth and expanding profit margins this earnings season.

• U.S. slipped to 29th place in a global corruption index.

• Microsoft AI chief said AI could automate most white-collar jobs in 12–18 months.

• Google raised $32B in debt, including a rare 100-year bond issue.

• Anthropic raised $30B with a $380B valuation.

• ChatGPT is back to exceeding 10% monthly growth.

• Bill Ackman purchased a $2B stake in Meta.

• Stripe is arranging a tender offer with a $140B valuation.

• Databricks completed $5B funding round at $134B valuation.

• Novo Nordisk aims to capture 15M new patients with Medicare coverage.

• Heineken will cut 6,000 jobs due to slump in beer sales.

• Taiwan Semi posted a 37% increase in January revenue.

• Wall Street Bonuses helped shrink NYC’s budget gap by $5B.

• Delta Airlines will pay its employees $1.3B in profit sharing for 2025.

In today’s newsletter:

• 💳 3 Companies Rule Credit

• 🎵 Spotify Hits 750M Users

• 🏎️ Ferrari’s Incredible Margins

• 🚨 19 AI-Resilient Stocks

• 🛒 Walmart Is Expensive

Let’s jump right in.

📣 Together With Masterworks

3 Tricks Billionaires Use to Help Protect Wealth Through Shaky Markets

“If I hear bad news about the stock market one more time, I’m gonna be sick.”

We get it. Investors are rattled, costs keep rising, and the world keeps getting weirder.

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Have 3 long-term investing tips UBS (Swiss bank) shared for shaky times:

1. Hold extra cash for expenses and buying cheap if markets fall.

2. Diversify outside stocks (Gold, real estate, etc.).

3. Hold a slice of wealth in alternatives that tend not to move with equities.

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Sounds crazy, but it’s real. One way to help reclaim control this week:

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Even the credit rating giants aren’t immune to AI anxiety.

S&P Global, Moody’s, and Fitch control roughly 93% of the global credit ratings market, a heavily regulated industry used by governments and debt markets worldwide.

• Recently, shares of S&P Global and Moody’s have sold off as investors question whether AI could erode their high margin data analytics and market intelligence businesses.

• The concern is that AI native platforms and LLMs can aggregate and analyze financial data at a fraction of the cost of traditional subscription products, pressuring pricing power.

Those concerns intensified after S&P Global’s latest earnings report.

• The company guided 2026 adjusted earnings to roughly $19.53, below the $20 consensus estimate.

• Growth slowed across several segments, and its Market Intelligence division, viewed as most exposed to AI, also missed expectations.

Spotify is marching toward a billion listeners.

The company closed out 2025 with a strong Q4.

• Monthly active users rose 11% YoY to 751M, ahead of the 745M estimate and the largest net user addition in a single quarter.

• Paid subscribers climbed 10% to 290M.

• Growth was driven by Latin America, Europe, and other international markets.

Spotify posted earnings per share of €4.43 on €4.53B in revenue, comfortably ahead of analyst expectations.

• For the current quarter, the company expects monthly active users to reach 759M and premium subscribers to grow to 293M.

Another impressive feat?

• Spotify shared that its best developers have not written a single line of code since December, all thanks to AI.

Ferrari is operating in a different league.

• The company reported €2.14 EPS on €1.8B in revenue, ahead of the €2.10 on €1.77B expected, in the most recent quarter.

More importantly, 2026 guidance impressed.

• Ferrari expects €7.5B in revenue and an adjusted operating margin above 29.5%, ahead of analyst profitability estimates, assuming the 15% U.S. tariff on EU imports remains unchanged.

• Those margins are strong on their own. In the context of the auto industry, they are exceptional.

Demand remains firm, with the order book stretching through late 2027.

• Ferrari will launch five new models this year, including its first EV, the Luce, in May.

Strong pricing power, disciplined supply, and high-margin personalization have allowed the company to weather the storm while other automakers have struggled.

• For example, Mercedes-Benz recently reported a 57% drop in full-year profit, on the back of a $1.2B tariff hit and tough competition in China.

The SaaSpocalypse has erased roughly $2T from software valuations. But not all declines are created equal.

Analysts at J.P. Morgan argue the market is pricing in a worst-case AI disruption scenario and has identified 19 high-quality software names now trading at discounts.

• Cybersecurity companies, like Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike, make up a large portion of the list.

The firm sees potential catalysts ahead, including upcoming earnings reports and investor days that could help reset expectations and drive a rebound.

Walmart’s business may be defensive, but the stock is priced like a growth name.

• As investors rotate out of perceived AI risk, capital has flowed into steadier companies like Walmart.

• Shares are up nearly 180% over the past five years and the company recently joined the $1T market cap club.

Yet long-term earnings growth is estimated at roughly 8% annually, per Fiscal AI.

• Despite that, Walmart now trades at a valuation multiple roughly double several major tech companies, including Nvidia, Alphabet, and Microsoft.

Many investors are now starting to wonder: Is Walmart priced too richly, or is Big Tech priced too cheaply?

📣 Presented by Fisher Investments

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Notable Companies Reporting Earnings Week of February 16th, 2026:

Buys

• Michael McCaul (R)

  • Company: International Flavors & Fragrances ($IFF)

    • Amount Purchased: $150K - $350K

  • Company: FTI Consulting ($FCN)

    • Amount Purchased: $100K - $250K

Sells

• Michael McCaul (R)

  • Company: Dollar Tree ($DLTR)

    • Amount Sold: $100K - $250K

Buys

• Reddit ($RDDT)

  • Insider: Sarah Farrell (Director)

    • # of Shares Purchased: 50,500

    • $ Amount: $7,482,139

    • SEC Forms: [1]

• KKR ($KKR)

  • Insider: Timothy Barakett (Director)

    • # of Shares Purchased: 50,000

    • $ Amount: $5,246,500

    • SEC Forms: [1]

• S&P Global ($SPGI)

  • Insider: Joly Hubert (Director)

    • # of Shares Purchased: 2,500

    • $ Amount: $997,459

    • SEC Forms: [1]

Sells

• Amphenol ($APH)

  • Insider: Richard Norwitt (President & CEO)

    • # of Shares Sold: 515,281

    • $ Amount: $75,883,166

    • SEC Forms: [1]

• BlackRock ($BLK)

  • Insider: Robert Goldstein (COO)

    • # of Shares Sold: 54,190

    • $ Amount: $58,920,187

    • SEC Forms: [1]