📊 Stocks Near 52-Week Lows

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Happy Sunday!

Americans are cutting back on alcohol.

Just 54% of U.S. adults now say they drink, the lowest share in Gallup’s 90-year trend and down from 62% in 2023.

• Women are driving the shift, with an 11% drop vs. 5% for men.

• By income, households under $40K fell 14%, while those over $100K dropped 13%.

• Politics show the sharpest divide: Republican drinkers fell 19% since 2023, compared to a 3% decline among Democrats.

And for the first time, a majority of Americans (53%) say even moderate drinking is bad for one’s health.

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

• Bank of America compiled a basket of 26 companies most at risk from AI.

• Perplexity offered to buy Google Chrome’s browser for $34.5B.

• Trump family’s crypto venture has generated $4.5B since election.

• Nvidia and AMD agreed to pay 15% of Chinese AI chip sales to U.S.

• Palantir needs to earn $60B in sales in 1 year to match peer valuations.

• U.S. national debt has reached a record $37T.

• U.S. government will cut 300,000 workers this year.

• Harvard bought $116.7M in Bitcoin and $101.5M in Gold ETFs in Q2.

• Norway’s $1.9T Sovereign Wealth Fund divested from 11 Israeli companies.

• Citi oversaw more than $1B in deals for trust tied to Russian oligarch.

• AST SpaceMobile plans to deploy up to 60 satellites into orbit by 2026.

• U.S. companies are on track to repurchase over $1.1T of stock in 2025.

• Ford is investing $5B in EV production, aiming to create nearly 4,000 jobs.

• Paramount purchased UFC rights in $7.7B, 7-year deal.

• Circle Internet Group saw revenue surge 53% on strong stablecoin growth.

• On saw sales jump 32% and raised full-year guidance.

• Amazon to offer same-day groceries delivery in 2,300 cities by end of 2025.

• Activist Starboard Value increased its stake in Salesforce by almost 50%.

• Inflation increased 2.7% annually in July, less than expected.

• Google is investing $9B for cloud and AI infrastructure in Oklahoma.

In today’s newsletter:

• ⚡️ Red Bull Leads Energy Drinks

• 🩸 Stocks Near 52-Week Lows

• 🍔 Best & Worst Restaurants

• 🐂 Michael Burry’s Stock Portfolio

• 🏋️‍♀️ 6 Companies Run The S&P 500

Let’s jump right in.

📣 Together With Pacaso

Big investors are buying this “unlisted” stock

When the founder who sold his last company to Zillow for $120M starts a new venture, people notice. That’s why the same VCs behind Uber and eBay also backed Pacaso. They made $110M+ in gross profit to date. They even reserved the Nasdaq ticker PCSO. Now, you can join, too.

Invest for $2.90/Share

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Energy drinks are jolting.

Two of the industry’s biggest players recently posted strong results.

Celsius revenue surged 84% to $739M, crushing the $652M estimate.

• EPS came in at $0.33 vs. $0.21 expected.

• After several quarters of declining sales, Celsius brand drinks rose 3% YoY.

• A big driver of the 84% jump was its recent Alani Nu acquisition, where sales skyrocketed 129% to $301M.

Monster Beverage also delivered, crossing $2B in quarterly revenue for the first time.

• Sales rose 11% to $2.11B, and EPS beat at $0.50 vs. $0.48.

Both stocks have rewarded investors this year, with Celsius up 111% and Monster up 24%.

Still, Red Bull remains the category leader with 37% U.S. market share.

• Since 2022, Monster’s slice has shrunk from 31% to 27%, while Celsius has surged from 6% to 17%.

• Red Bull has maintained its share near the 40% mark.

Looking for investment ideas?

Stocks trading near 52-week lows can be a great starting point.

• Often these declines stem from short-term issues or market overreactions.

• While not all will recover, and some may keep falling, the right ones can turn into attractive long-term opportunities.

Excessive pessimism is usually baked into these names, which means positive surprises or favorable news can spark strong rebounds.

• And since prices are already beaten down, the downside risk is often reduced, creating a margin of safety.

The key is research.

• This isn’t about blindly buying the dip, it’s about separating the true value opportunities from the falling knives.

Right now, well known names like Lululemon, Snapchat, Salesforce, Chipotle, and Adobe are among the many names trading near 52-week lows.

People are eating out less.

Cava shares tanked Tuesday after a disappointing earnings report.

• EPS of $0.16 topped estimates, but revenue missed at $280.6M vs. $285.6M expected.

• The real shock came from same-store sales, which rose just 2.1% vs. 6.1% expected, and a steep slowdown from last year’s 14.4% growth.

Cava also cut its 2025 same-store sales outlook to 4–6%, down from 6–8%.

The slowdown isn’t unique to Cava.

• Chipotle reported a 4% decline in same-store sales, while Sweetgreen trimmed its guidance for the second quarter in a row.

Not every chain is struggling, though.

• Dutch Bros continues to expand quickly, with same-store sales up 6.1%, an acceleration from last quarter.

• Meanwhile, Starbucks has now logged six consecutive quarters of declines, raising concerns Dutch Bros could become a real threat to the coffee giant.

What are the best investors in the world buying?

Thursday’s 13F filings gave us a look into the Q2 2025 moves of legendary investors.

Michael Burry, known for trading actively, shifted from bearish to bullish.

• In Q1, he held Puts on names like Nvidia, Alibaba, Pinduoduo, and JD, all of which he closed in Q2.

This quarter, he joined Warren Buffett, David Tepper, and Stephen Mandel in buying UnitedHealth Group, picking up 20,000 shares along with call options.

• Burry also placed new bets on Regeneron, Lululemon, and Meta.

Given how often he turns over his portfolio, it’ll be interesting to see where his bets land when Q3 filings come out.

Is the S&P 500 in trouble?

The top 10 stocks now make up 40% of the index, a record level of concentration.

• For perspective, the dot-com bubble peaked at 27%.

• The top 6 companies alone (counting both Alphabet share classes) represent 32.5%.

• Nvidia holds an 8% weight by itself, the largest ever for a single stock since the data began in 1981.

That dominance is raising concerns.

• The S&P 500, once viewed as a broad measure of diversification, is looking increasingly top-heavy.

• And here’s the kicker: while the top 10 stocks control 40% of the index, they generate only about 30% of total earnings.

Notable Companies Reporting Earnings Week of August 17th, 2025:

Buys

• Michael McCaul (R)

  • Company: Danaher ($DHR)

    • Amount Purchased: $518K - $1.095M

  • Company: Global Payments ($GPN)

    • Amount Purchased: $215K - $550K

  • Company: Microsoft ($MSFT)

    • Amount Purchased: $100K - $250K

• Lisa McClain (R)

  • Company: Nvidia ($NVDA)

    • Amount Purchased: $169K - $460K

  • Company: Taiwan Semiconductor ($TSM)

    • Amount Purchased: $132K - $380K

  • Company: Palantir ($PLTR)

    • Amount Purchased: $131K - $365K

Sells

• Dan Meuser (R)

  • Company: Nvidia ($NVDA)

    • Amount Sold: $750K - $1.5M

• Lisa McClain (R)

  • Company: Nvidia ($NVDA)

    • Amount Sold: $101K - $265K

• Laurel Lee (R)

  • Company: Alibaba ($BABA)

    • Amount Sold: $100K - $250K

• Michael McCaul (R)

  • Company: IBM ($IBM)

    • Amount Sold: $100K - $250K

  • Company: FedEx ($FDX)

    • Amount Sold: $100K - $250K

Buys

• Bausch Health Companies ($BHC)

  • Insider: John Paulson (Director)

    • # of Shares Purchased: 37,964,167

    • $ Amount: $333,757,793

    • SEC Forms: [1], [2]

• Shift4 Payments ($FOUR)

  • Insider: Jared Isaacman (Executive Chairman)

    • # of Shares Purchased: 104,705

    • $ Amount: $8,754,040

    • SEC Forms: [1]

• Eli Lilly ($LLY)

  • Insider: David Ricks (President, Chair, and CEO)

    • # of Shares Purchased: 1,632

    • $ Amount: $1,052,263

    • SEC Forms: [1]

Sells

• AppLovin ($APP)

  • Insider: Herald Chen (Director)

    • # of Shares Sold: 400,000

    • $ Amount: $92,938,609

    • SEC Forms: [1], [2]

• Astera Labs ($ALAB)

  • Insider: Michael Tate (CFO)

    • # of Shares Sold: 100,000

    • $ Amount: $19,118,988

    • SEC Forms: [1]

🤝 Review of the Week