📊 Build-A-Bear’s Insane Performance

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Happy Sunday!

This week was packed with major economic updates and policy moves.

• The U.S. economy continues to show surprising strength, with Q2 growth revised up to 3.8% and new home sales climbing to a 3.5-year high.

• U.S. investors are also sitting on a record $7.7T in cash.

Yet risks are building: global debt has reached a record of nearly $338T, and Bank of America warns the S&P 500 looks overvalued on nearly every metric it tracks.

• Washington is also ramping up trade measures, imposing tariffs as high as 100% on pharmaceuticals, 50% on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, 30% on upholstered furniture, and 25% on heavy trucks.

On the political front, the Trump administration is weighing a 10% stake in Lithium Americas and has valued TikTok’s U.S. business at just $14B.

Some key data bites from this week that you should know:

• 15 stocks that have beaten the S&P 500 and gotten cheaper.

• OpenAI revealed plans for a $1T AI infrastructure buildout.

• Nvidia will invest up to $100B in OpenAI.

• Huawei published its 3-year vision to overtake Nvidia in AI chips.

• Crypto giant Tether is looking to raise $20B at a $500B valuation.

• Warren Buffett exited his BYD position after 3,890% return.

• Electronic Arts is nearing a $50B deal to go private.

• Gold futures traded above $3,800/oz for the first time ever.

• Instagram now has 3B monthly active users.

• BofA believes nuclear energy could represent a $10T market opportunity.

• Dan Ives raised his Apple price target to $310 on strong iPhone 17 demand.

• Micron posted record quarterly revenue at $11.3B on AI boom.

• Alibaba will invest $53B in AI over the next 3 years.

• Disney+ will raise subscription prices for 4th consecutive year.

• Oura ring maker is raising $875M at an $11B valuation.

• Pfizer will acquire weight loss drugmaker Metsera for up to $7.3B deal.

• Oracle raised $18B in second-biggest bond sale this year.

• Amazon will pay $2.5B to settle FTC lawsuit over Prime.

• Starbucks will cut hundreds of jobs and stores in $1B restructuring effort.

In today’s newsletter:

• ⏥ Intel’s 25 Years Of Nothing

• 🧸 Build-A-Bear’s Insane Performance

• 💰 10 Cash Rich Companies

• 🛒 Costco Beats Earnings

• 🚕 Uber’s Revenue Breakdown

Let’s jump right in.

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Can Nvidia save Intel?

• Shares of Intel jumped 20% two weeks ago after Nvidia announced a $5B investment and plans to co-develop AI and PC chips. 

• The news sparked Intel’s best day in nearly 38 years, dating back to October 1987.

It follows a string of high-profile backers. 

• Just last month, the Trump administration announced the U.S. government would take a 10% stake, and SoftBank revealed a $2B investment.

• Investors are hoping Nvidia, Washington, and SoftBank can help turn the struggling chipmaker around.

• Additionally this week, reports that Intel is also approaching Apple and Taiwan Semi for investments also helped propel the stock upward.

Intel’s track record shows just how far it has fallen. 

A $10,000 investment in Intel 25 years ago, with dividends reinvested, would be worth only $10,554 today. 

• And when you take into account inflation, that investment would be deep in the red.

Forget Nvidia and Palantir.

Build-A-Bear has crushed them both.

• Over the last five years, the teddy bear retailer has delivered a staggering 2,706% total return.

• That’s more than double Nvidia’s 1,334% and ahead of Palantir’s 1,788%.

What explains this unlikely surge?

• Build-A-Bear embracing nostalgia and betting on adults.

• Analysts estimate grown-ups now account for roughly 40% of its business, fueling demand well beyond its traditional kids’ base.

The results are showing up in the numbers.

• The company recently posted record first-half results, with revenue hitting $253M, up 11.5%.

• To top it off, management raised guidance for 2025 revenue, pre-tax income, and net unit growth.

There’s always a reason to panic.

• This week, Fed chair Jerome Powell sent stocks lower after noting that valuations appear “fairly highly valued.” 

• At the same time, Mark Spitznagel, a Black Swan hedge fund manager, warned that he sees a massive rally followed by a 1929-style crash.

Headlines like these feed constant doom-and-gloom predictions.

• While it’s impossible to forecast markets, one way to prepare is by focusing on companies with resilient balance sheets.

• As Peter Lynch famously said, “Companies that have no debt can’t go bankrupt.”

A useful metric here is net cash, which subtracts total debt from a company’s cash and equivalents.

• A net cash position means cash outweighs debt, giving a company more flexibility in uncertain times.

Among large caps, Alphabet tops the list with $53B in net cash.

• Perhaps unexpectedly, it’s tied with Pinduoduo, the Chinese parent of Temu.

• Other names on the list include Nvidia, Apple, Tesla, JD.com, Alibaba, and several major pharma players like BioNTech, Regeneron, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Costco’s resilience shows why investors are willing to pay a hefty premium.

On Thursday, the retailer once again beat expectations in Q4.  

• EPS rose 11% to $5.87, topping the $5.80 estimate, while revenue climbed 8.1% to $86.16B, ahead of forecasts.

• Same-store sales increased 6.4%, though it marked a second straight quarter of slowing growth. 

• On the bright side, e-commerce sales jumped 13.5%, and membership fee income surged 14% as more shoppers signed up.

Costco’s stock trades at a very lofty 50x earnings, reflecting the strength of its brand and competitive edge. 

• Still, shares are basically flat on the year, lagging the S&P 500.

Long term, though, the story is hard to beat. 

• Over the past 20 years, Costco has returned more than 2,800%, about four times the return of the S&P 500.

Uber’s delivery business is booming.

The company expects non-restaurant deliveries to hit a $12.5B annual run rate in gross bookings by year-end, up 25% from the $10B pace it reported in May.

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi recently highlighted strong momentum in grocery and retail orders.

• And with 75% of rideshare customers still not using Uber for deliveries, penetration remains wide open.

Delivery now accounts for nearly half of gross bookings and 32% of revenue over the last 12 months.

• Since 2017, it has grown at a 54% CAGR, nearly three times faster than Uber’s rideshare business.

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Notable Companies Reporting Earnings Week of September 28th, 2025:

Buys

• Jonathan Jackson (D)

  • Company: Doximity ($DOCS)

    • Amount Purchased: $15K - $50K

Sells

• Tony Wied (R)

  • Company: American Express ($AXP)

    • Amount Sold: $15K - $50K

Buys

• Prospect Capital Corp ($PSEC)

  • Insider: John Barry (CEO)

    • # of Shares Purchased: 1,499,658

    • $ Amount: $3,958,307

    • SEC Forms: [1], [2], [3]

• Marvell Technology ($MRVL)

  • Insider: Matthew Murphy (CEO)

    • # of Shares Purchased: 13,600

    • $ Amount: $1,048,424

    • SEC Forms: [1]

  • Insider: Chris Koopmans (COO)

    • # of Shares Purchased: 6,800

    • $ Amount: $530,604

    • SEC Forms: [1]

  • Insider: Sandeep Bharathi (President, Data Center Group)

    • # of Shares Purchased: 3,400

    • $ Amount: $265,302

    • SEC Forms: [1]

  • Insider: Willem Meintjes (CFO)

    • # of Shares Purchased: 3,400

    • $ Amount: $265,302

    • SEC Forms: [1]

Sells

• Palo Alto Networks ($PANW)

  • Insider: Nikesh Arora (CEO)

    • # of Shares Sold: 846,408

    • $ Amount: $172,721,695

    • SEC Forms: [1]

• Broadcom ($AVGO)

  • Insider: Henry Samueli (Director)

    • # of Shares Sold: 368,797

    • $ Amount: $124,620,222

    • SEC Forms: [1]

• Affirm Holdings ($AFRM)

  • Insider: Max Levchin (CEO)

    • # of Shares Sold: 651,713

    • $ Amount: $58,175,590

    • SEC Forms: [1]

🤝 Review of the Week